Ok, so yesterday I went to the BBQ with the girls & we had a blast. Uncle Leroy thankfully was not there, there were no ribs, just chicken & fish (which was delish), moscato (not a fan...I'm a pinot grigio kind of girl), there were only about 15 people there so it was quite intimate (cool), the weather was great...not too balmy, not too chilly...perfection. The conversation was nice. All in all a great time. Afterwards we went to this bar nearby that was relatively new & the bartender who was a friend of Madison & Honey's let us eat & drink for free AND he gave us plenty of credits on the jukebox which we played everything from the essential Earth, Wind, & Fire's "Can't hide love" (my fav) to Erykah Badu's "Otherside of the game".
It was oh so fabulous fun :-D
Anywho, I made it back home about 1:30 in the morning with the rest of my shrimp from the bar in a take out box & feeling mellow & content.
Today I woke up feeling pretty good. I went light on dinner today since I went HELLA hard yesterday & cooked grilled mesquite shrimp with couscous. It is really good, filling, & not to mention pretty healthy.
Don't worry. I will hook you up with the recipe at the end.
Anywho, after I ate I left out for a few hours, ran some errands, hit up my favorite smoothie spot then came back supposedly to tell you all a whole bunch of nothing about how I went to a BBQ then a bar then came home.
Boring as shit huh ?
Instead I curled up on the couch to watch one of my all time favorite classics, "Claudine". I love this movie for a number of reasons, besides Diahann Carroll being absolutely beautiful in this film I love the strong black woman that she projected. She had 6 kids, no man (until James Earl Jones came in on his golden garbage truck & swept her off her feet), had "Mr. Welfare" on her ass, worked as a housekeeper, then came home at the end of the day & worked her ass off in her OWN house all while raising 6 damn kids.
Damn. Do they even make them like her anymore ?
I watched the movie as I had countless times before but this time I wondered quietly to myself ?
Where have all the Claudine's gone ?
It was oh so fabulous fun :-D
Anywho, I made it back home about 1:30 in the morning with the rest of my shrimp from the bar in a take out box & feeling mellow & content.
Today I woke up feeling pretty good. I went light on dinner today since I went HELLA hard yesterday & cooked grilled mesquite shrimp with couscous. It is really good, filling, & not to mention pretty healthy.
Don't worry. I will hook you up with the recipe at the end.
Anywho, after I ate I left out for a few hours, ran some errands, hit up my favorite smoothie spot then came back supposedly to tell you all a whole bunch of nothing about how I went to a BBQ then a bar then came home.
Boring as shit huh ?
Instead I curled up on the couch to watch one of my all time favorite classics, "Claudine". I love this movie for a number of reasons, besides Diahann Carroll being absolutely beautiful in this film I love the strong black woman that she projected. She had 6 kids, no man (until James Earl Jones came in on his golden garbage truck & swept her off her feet), had "Mr. Welfare" on her ass, worked as a housekeeper, then came home at the end of the day & worked her ass off in her OWN house all while raising 6 damn kids.
Damn. Do they even make them like her anymore ?
I watched the movie as I had countless times before but this time I wondered quietly to myself ?
Where have all the Claudine's gone ?
Now I don't mean where did all the welfare mom's struggling to survive go ? I mean where did all the strong black women who believe making it was not JUST an option, but the ONLY option. What happened to that woman that would bust her ass daily at a job she didn't necessarily care for (& probably caught the bus there), but did it because she was a survivor. A fighter. She was independent & took no shit from anyone, especially a man,
Oh, & her hair STAYED laid, pants with a crease that could cut butter & she smelled like Chanel No. 5.
Where is SHE at ?
You had women who worked during the day & took business classes at night to better themselves & give them an edge for when they went for that promotion. They had small apartments probably no more than 600 square feet but when you walked inside it was neat, clean with fabulous dime store knick knacks, Chaka playing in the background & smelled of incense sticks. Women were strong, proud, & demanded respect.
Don't get me wrong. We still have a lot of chicks that are out there making the donuts, but where did our strength go ? Can we all agree that today's woman appears to be a largely watered down version of the strong, black woman of yesterday ? Did we get soft because a lot of our men stopped acting like real men & instead became glorified & celebrated gigolos ? Are we now getting more paranoid & desperate because more & more of our men are either in jail, gay (or downlow), or already married (& not a lot of them to US)
Misogynist lyrics have been increasing in not only rap, but in some r&b songs since the 90's, but when you are in a club & you see the women singing along louder than the men - ladies we have a serious problem.
My girlfriend & I were just talking about Lil Wayne's "Every girl" song in which he expresses oh so eloquently "I wish I could f%*k every girl in the world". Why are their women singing this song & LOVING it ?!
He couldn't want to just love them ?
*sigh*...bless them babies...
Yes ladies & germs, Claudine has left the building...hopefully she will find her way back soon because she was a class act & lord knows we need her.
XOXO
Barbii
P.s...
Here is the recipe for the shrimp & couscous (YUMMY) !
Enjoy kids :-D
Grilled Mesquite Shrimp
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 minutes
Ingredients:
3 pounds large shrimp, peeled with tails on and de-veined
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
8 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
skewers
Preparation:
Place peeled shrimp in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients, except for shrimp. Once butter has melted pour marinade over shrimp, cover, and allow to marinate in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Place 4-5 shrimp on each skewer. Place shrimp on grill rack and allow to cook for 2 minutes her side. Remove and serve.
Couscous
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup couscous
2 3/4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add salt and stir. Add couscous and remove from heat and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Couscous should be light and fluffy, not gummy. Be sure to allow the couscous to absorb the water.
*tip* Prepare couscous with chicken broth instead of water. It really makes for a nice flavor :-D
Oh, & her hair STAYED laid, pants with a crease that could cut butter & she smelled like Chanel No. 5.
Where is SHE at ?
You had women who worked during the day & took business classes at night to better themselves & give them an edge for when they went for that promotion. They had small apartments probably no more than 600 square feet but when you walked inside it was neat, clean with fabulous dime store knick knacks, Chaka playing in the background & smelled of incense sticks. Women were strong, proud, & demanded respect.
Don't get me wrong. We still have a lot of chicks that are out there making the donuts, but where did our strength go ? Can we all agree that today's woman appears to be a largely watered down version of the strong, black woman of yesterday ? Did we get soft because a lot of our men stopped acting like real men & instead became glorified & celebrated gigolos ? Are we now getting more paranoid & desperate because more & more of our men are either in jail, gay (or downlow), or already married (& not a lot of them to US)
Misogynist lyrics have been increasing in not only rap, but in some r&b songs since the 90's, but when you are in a club & you see the women singing along louder than the men - ladies we have a serious problem.
My girlfriend & I were just talking about Lil Wayne's "Every girl" song in which he expresses oh so eloquently "I wish I could f%*k every girl in the world". Why are their women singing this song & LOVING it ?!
He couldn't want to just love them ?
*sigh*...bless them babies...
Yes ladies & germs, Claudine has left the building...hopefully she will find her way back soon because she was a class act & lord knows we need her.
XOXO
Barbii
P.s...
Here is the recipe for the shrimp & couscous (YUMMY) !
Enjoy kids :-D
Grilled Mesquite Shrimp
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4 minutes
Ingredients:
3 pounds large shrimp, peeled with tails on and de-veined
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
8 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
skewers
Preparation:
Place peeled shrimp in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients, except for shrimp. Once butter has melted pour marinade over shrimp, cover, and allow to marinate in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Place 4-5 shrimp on each skewer. Place shrimp on grill rack and allow to cook for 2 minutes her side. Remove and serve.
Couscous
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup couscous
2 3/4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add salt and stir. Add couscous and remove from heat and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Couscous should be light and fluffy, not gummy. Be sure to allow the couscous to absorb the water.
*tip* Prepare couscous with chicken broth instead of water. It really makes for a nice flavor :-D
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