Good Bye Ann Arbor News!

So you’re probably asking yourself why is there a front page of a newspaper on this cooking blog? Well you’ll see that’s it’s the farewell edition of our hometown newspaper, the Ann Arbor News, which after 174 years of getting out the news (such as it sometimes was) has now been shuttered and we have gone 21st century with Ann Arbor.com. I have to say it was a sad day for me even though the paper was not all that exemplary. It was still my welcome friend each night after work and I’ve happily and sometimes unhappily read a lot of pretty important news over the 33-year span that this paper has appeared in my mailbox. So, I figured how best to mark the passing of the News but with a commemorative meal!

Many years ago my husband, son, and I made yearly pilgrimages to The Sunshine State to celebrate the holidays with both sets of parents—we had them on the East and West Coast. My mother was always trying new recipes that she was learning from her snowbird southern friends. One, in particular, was delicious and had one necessary ingredient: NEWSPAPERS!

Tonight we bid adieu to the AA News with the following:

Low Country Shrimp and Sausage Boil

A T of sliced jalapeno peppers
2 celery stalk, halved
1 medium onion quartered
1 t chopped garlic
2 T Old Bay Seasoning
1 lb new potatoes
2 ears corn, quartered
1 lb andouille sausage cut in 1-inch pieces
1 lb large shell on shrimp
2 T melted butter
1 t hot sauce
Lots of NEWSPAPERS!

In large pot combine, peppers, celery, onion, garlic and 1 T Old Bay and 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes and reduce to simmer. Cook until potatoes are almost tender, 10 minutes

Add corn, and sausage to pot-cook another 7 minutes. Remove pot from heat, stir in shrimp and let stand about 1 1/2 minutes until shrimp are opaque. Reserve 1/4 cooking liquid. Drain shrimp mixture and return to pot. Add butter, 1 T Old Bay, reserved cooking broth and hot sauce and toss to combine. Spread lots of newspapers on the table and spread the whole mess out for folks to share! Yum! So long Ann Arbor News Snooze!