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FEATURED AUTHOR RECIPE Beth Harbison's
I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s – a time of Shalimar perfume, long (and forgiving) print dresses, Bridge Nights, and lots of foods involving cream cheese or Jell-O. Sometimes both. When I grew up and had kids and my own house, I found that life was different from what my parents had when I grew up. The houses were smaller. But the food was so much better. But we did cook often, and it was always good stuff. Our little block of townhouses in the D.C. suburbs was filled with bartenders and gourmands! Truly not one week would pass that children didn’t cross the parking lot delivering portions of hot Shrimp Diavalo, Butternut Saffron Risotto, Buttermilk Panko Chicken breasts, warm-from-the-oven chocolate macadamia cookies, or something equally tempting to neighbors’ houses. We all sat together at night in the parking lot on summer nights, pulling up grills and folding lawn chairs, laughing, cooking and drinking while the children played and the sky stretched from twilight to the deep purple of midnight. And it was on one of those nights that this recipe was born. A recent Florida transplant to the neighborhood mentioned how much she loved grilled pineapple. I was intrigued. Grilled pineapple? It wasn’t just for breakfast while on vacation in the south? I was willing to try it out. I put a slice on the hot grill, and one taste of that thin edge of caramelized crispiness, complimented with the juicy tropical succulence of the fruit turned me into a believer. And an inventor. What if I paired that sweetness with the heat of, say, wasabi, I wondered. And the crisp bite of red onion. I swear to you I really think that way. All. The. Time. So I tried it. And the resulting recipe, below, is, in my estimation, the finest summer recipe there is. Apart from fresh lemonade, that is (trick: juice the lemons by beating them on low in your KitchenAid mixer). One bite and you are in summer heaven, whether your summer heaven is a beach in Maui, under a palm tree in Key West, the plains of Kansas, or a back yard in New Jersey. Or a tiny postage stamp of a yard in a parking lot for sixteen townhouses in the suburbs of Germantown, Maryland. We’ve all moved on now, to bigger houses, further away. But we (and our kids) still talk regularly and see each other as often as possible. And the food still comes, only now it’s usually just an email. How does this relate to my book, Secrets of a Shoe Addict? That’s easy. Books – more importantly characters – aren’t created from nothing. They come from life, from experience, from friends, and – when you’re lucky – from lots of happy memories. Secrets of a Shoe Addict is about the camaraderie among women, the friendships that face occasionally-stark reality with humor and support. The book takes all the stories we told and heard those boozy/munchie summer nights and turns them into something else, but the feeling of fun and friendship remains. And so does the Pineapple-Shrimp Teriyaki Kabob recipe! Pineapple-Shrimp Teryiaki Kabobs The best skewers for kabobs are ones that are flat instead of round, because it’s easier to flip the kabobs on the grill. If you’re having a salad on the side with this dish, it’s nice to grill extra pineapple and add it to the salad. For the kabobs:
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