I was going grocery shopping today and planning menus, and I thought, "I could get some seafood for tonight." Because I like to cook the seafood the same day I get it.

I mentioned this to moorewr and he added, "Scallops! Get scallops! In a nice cream and wine sauce nom nom nom..."

I looked up Coquille St. Jacques, but decided it would be too labor-intensive. But I remembered that archangels on horseback (scallops wrapped in bacon and broiled) was easy.

And while I was looking up the recipe for the archangels, I found a recipe for Welsh Rarebit. I've always wanted to make Welsh Rarebit.

"Hmmm." I said to myself. "The kids might like rarebit* but they won't eat archangels on horseback. They do like boiled shrimp, though..."

And then I thought that there ought to be a salad to balance all this out.

So tonight's dinner ended up being:

Spring Greens with Pear and Walnuts, dressed with raspberry vinaigrette
Boiled Shrimp (for the kiddies)
Archangels on Horseback
Welsh Rarebit

The Welsh Rarebit turned out nicely, although the recipe was clearly deluded as twice the amount of cheese stated was required to make the cheese sauce the right consistency. Fortunately, I had bought two blocks of cheese, because I wasn't sure if I'd need more. (Imported. Cheddar. Because it can't be the normal kind. You have to spend a nice amount of cash for this supposedly "economical" dish. *rolls eyes*) Next time, I will melt the cheese with a dab of butter and a little splash of ale and add butter and ale as needed until the consistency is right, instead of starting with the liquids. Using two blocks of cheese meant that this was the most expensive grilled cheese I have ever eaten.

The archangels were also lovely, but they were overkill -- especially as I had forgotten that they are rich as all get-out and after one or two archangels, you really don't want any more. Next time I make this dish, I need to keep this in mind and make two scallops per adult. And not serve it with a creamy cheesy dish, but with a nice big salad.

Because the salad was perfect. And easy. Mmmmm, pears.

I did have one shrimp, and they were nice. Meg ate a good amount (for her), but the rest are in our fridge, waiting to decorate a salad tomorrow. And there are a few archangels in there, too.

Of course, I don't think I will want to eat again for several days. BLUH.

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*Neither child liked the rarebit; Rob loved the cheese and ate a ton of it while I was cooking... which meant he didn't eat any dinner.