Michael and I attended our first ever shrimp boil. It was a perfect afternoon for a bunch of family to gather at my Uncle Ed’s and Auntie Barb’s place to say goodbye (they are leaving Edmonton) and attend Uncle Ed’s now world famous Shrimp Boil.

The premise is quite simple. Fill a pot with vegetables (onions, potatoes, garlic, corn), some sausage and something tomatoey.  Then when these bits are done, add a bunch of shrimp. The shrimp were huge, but again, I ate mine before taking a picture.

The shrimp feast itself was surrounded by other delicious nibbles – prosciutto wrapped and grilled asparagus, fresh peppers of every colour, dips, breads, coleslaw, Caesar salad and heavenly coconut cake, brownies and plump fresh berries.

Good food tastes better when surrounded by friends and family, and today was exceptional. The weather held, mosquitoes absent, my beer (a 9% La Fin du Monde) was strong and delicious (and on sale at Sherbrooke Liquor Store – a shameless plug).

Today was my first visit to Sherbrooke, and I got lost in the beer cooler. Even Michael, who does not drink beer was impressed with the selection. My heart did a little pitter patter when I heard they have a beer-of-the-month type of club, but being the sole beer drinker in our home, it wouldn’t be feasible.

And kids, let this be a lesson to you. Drinking beer can make you see strange things. I spotted this and nearly jumped out of my skin:

Friendly enough, but he didn’t have much to say. Had I had TWO La Fin du Mondes we might have had one helluva chat.