My loved and cherished Granny.

As this summer truly begins with the passing of memorial day, my blogging for the summer will soon take off. This summer began differently than expected as my sweet Granny passed away just two weeks ago. My heart aches and my eyes fill with tears as I write this post. Granny did not lose her battle to cancer but fought until the end and WON because she now is rejoicing eternally with our Heavenly Father. I could sit here for hours and list my favorite memories and stories about my Granny but instead I will share one moment and one precious little gift I have to remember this lady who my heart longs to be with again. 

Granny getting her pedicure. 

 In february, Granny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and began chemo soon after that. On my spring break, in the beginning of march, I was home and took her to get a pedicure. I helped her to the car, got her to the nail salon and watched her get a pedicure while I got one too. My eyes filled with tears when I looked over and saw her eyes softly closed and her face relaxed as she got her stubborn, worn out feet cleaned and rubbed. The woman giving her the pedicure had no idea what she was doing in that moment, but as I looked on I saw a beautiful lady losing her hair and her strength to an awful illness have a moment of complete peace and relaxation. It's in recalling this moment that I see the goodness of the Lord and that even in this nasty illness she had many moments of peace and relaxation like this one. I believe God gave her moments like this with my cousins, mom, aunts and uncles to show to us all that one day (sooner than we expected) she would be in heaven and those little glimpses of peace, relaxation, and joy are now permanent. 

My Granny's cameo. 

Lastly, 3 years ago my Granny gave me  her cameo that was her grandmothers. On the day of my Granny's funeral it was the only jewelry I wore. This cameo is the first piece of jewelry in my life that I will hold onto and never let go of. It is not because it is worth a ton of money but because it is from my granny a woman who knew and loved her children and grandchildren so well. She gave us all gifts perfect for who we are whether they were time or special trinkets. We will all hold on tightly to these gifts and never let go. So, thank you, granny for the gifts of all kinds that you gave your 5 children, 16 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, they will be cherished and held onto tightly until we rejoice along side you in heaven.

xoxo, 

Anna Crew 

Happy Summer! Easy Shrimp for the Grill

    It is finally summer for me, and the true blogging journey starts. I NEVER again in my life will live in a dorm so I will forever have a kitchen, and I could not be more excited. I will be living at home until August WITH a kitchen, and then I will be moving into a house in Charleston WITH a kitchen. Okay, I have gotten that excitement off my chest, so now time for the kick off recipe for this lovely summer.

      My dad, who only cooks on the grill, and I cooked a kick off summer dinner the other night. We made  grilled shrimp, grilled vegetables, grilled red potatoes and homemade cornbread. It kills my heart to make cornbread because nothing about it is healthy or good for you. I pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients with much resistance. I actually did not eat it because I try and steer clear of anything with dairy especially when I am out of Lactaid... So here is the "how to" for this yummy dinner: (disclaimer- this is not my healthiest recipe ever but it's delicious.)

My dad and I bought shrimp (deveined and shelled). We marinated them in a  recipe from my uncle that is super easy and they only need to sit in the marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Here is the recipe for the marinade for 1 lb of shimp:
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/6 a cup of mayo
1/6 of melted butter
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper  
Just whisk all the ingredients together.


After the marinade is ready pour it into a ziplock with the skewered shrimp and place in the fridge for 30 min. Once you take out the fridge place on grill until pink (5ish minutes on each side but keep a close eye on them).


Along with  the shrimp I sliced squash and zucchini and cooked them as long as I did the shrimp.
I poured a little olive oil on them along with Nature's seasoning (my go to seasoning- not fancy at all).

The potatoes need to cook a bit longer than the shrimp and veggies. I cute them up into slices and wrapped them in foil (camping style) and cooked them on the grill for about 45 minutes. I  covered them in olive oil and nature's seasoning but you could add a different seasoning to spice it up













Lastly, the glorious cornbread. It is one of my favorite recipes from Pioneer Woman. Like I said it is not healthy and you end  loading it with honey to make it even more wonderful, I like to call it a dessert to make myself feel better about it. Check out the link for the recipe:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/skillet-cornbread/