Sweet and Savory Honey Soy Shrimp

There is this saying that’s been around for ages. We all use it. Or at the very least have heard it. It’s so good, really, such an accurate depiction of what anticipation feels like. We use it to describe our reaction to movies. To stories. To cliff hangers. Sometimes, even, when something is dull as death, we use it dripping with sarcasm. This phrase, “sitting on the edge of my seat,” is a good one.

Especially, for someone like me. Who quite literally, sits on the edge of her seat. Every seat. Everywhere. I’m not speaking metaphorically here, this is real life. My butt sits on the edge of every seat I happen to sit on. I do not know why. I’ve been sitting this way as long as I can remember. In classrooms, at desks, in restaurants. I am an edge sitter.

There’s no real right or wrong to this, except possibly being extremely inconvenient to waiters in crowded restaurants and probably detrimental to my posture. I’ve never run into any problems with this particular habit. It’s mildly annoying to Jeff, who often sighs and rolls his eyes when trying to move past me at the dinner table, but, let’s face it, after this many years it’s too late to call it a deal-breaker.

Except for this past weekend, when I was doing my usual, sitting on the edge of my seat, and it all came crashing down around me. Or better, yet, I came crashing down.

Let me explain….

I was at a Beautycounter make-up event on Saturday. I had been looking forward to this for weeks, mostly because it was centered around education. Meaning–when I apply make-up I look like a monkey slathering banana (at best) all over my face. It’s not pretty. But this event, with a bonafide and fabulous make-up artist teaching us step by step application tips, was sure to improve my primate ways and turn me into a makeup rockstar. So I was, as you can guess, on the edge of my seat. I was totally engaged in the session, watching with rapt attention. ALL IN.

And well, all in for me obviously means the edgiest of edge sitting. Which is, honestly, the only way I want to be. Unless, of course, I’m sitting in a rickety wooden folding chair. And unless the table in front of me, also of the folding variety, is not in any way equipped to catch me if I lose balance and is also covered in very spillable stuff–coffee, makeup, water.

Because rickety wooden folding chairs are in no way equipped to handle a full grown woman in a full forward lean. They’re just not. So I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.

In front of a room full of strangers. In front of women I admire and look up to. I took a total dive. As my fully engaged posture became too much for the chair, it folded out from under me–propelling me forward onto the table with surprising force. The table, if you remember, was also folding so therefore unable to withstand the impact of my momentum. Therefore it sent me crashing down straight onto my rear, chair shooting out from behind me, table nearly topped in front.

Y’all, I cannot make this stuff up.

Everything stopped. It was a slow-motion event of the “Is this really happening? Oh, yes, this is really happening right now” nature. I’m sure I yelped, at best, but I’m pretty sure it was more of a scream. Everyone stopped. Ran towards me. Helped me up. Asked if I was ok. Made a big deal of it. Because it was pretty dramatic.

Sitting there on the ground, stunned, embarrassed and in a teeny bit of pain, the only thing I wanted to do, guys, was pretend like nothing had happened. I wanted to just move along. Nothing to see here. Nothing to see….

Now luckily, other than a pretty sore rear end, some coffee spilled and a few embarrassing minutes (that felt like hours), there was no major harm done. I recovered easily and was able to move it all along and take the spotlight off of my reddened cheeks.

But as I sit here and ponder the fall, think back on it, I realize this is not the first time in my life where I have taken a fall and bruised my ego.

I mean, this is life, isn’t it? It’s a delicate balance of engagement, safety, mistakes, and recoveries. The falls I can think of in my life, they’re not often dramatic physical falls, but more mistakes and missteps of a personal nature. Things I wish I could have just popped back up from, moved right along, nothing to see, nothing to see. But mostly, couldn’t. Falls, it seems, aren’t something new to me.

But here’s the thing, this is how I want to live despite the risk of falling. The good stuff, the meat of life, and where I’ve learned the most, is in standing up. The going down but not out. Character is built when we rise. And without being engaged, we’ll never see it. Because living safely, tucked deep in a comfortable seat, is never where it happens.

We’re not called to live safely. Yes, we can bubble wrap our lives, live the standard quo. We can follow a straight line and climb up the corporate ladder. We can get married, have 2.5 kids, a dog and a white picket fence. We can protect against all the unknowns. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But if we’re called to something else, and we don’t step out no matter how messy the road, we’re just bubble wrapping the good stuff out too. Engagement in life, investment in the scary future, comes at a price. The price is that you’re going to fall. You’re going to make mistakes and take missteps and grab on to shaky support systems and tumble. It’s just going to happen. We can’t keep ourselves or our children isolated from it. In fact, I’d argue that if you never take a wrong turn and have to fight your way back up from the ashes, you’re doing life wrong.

Guys, I’ve learned a lot about picking yourself back up. I’ve learned it the hard way. I’ve made more mistakes in life and parenting and relationships than I can count on both hands and both feet. Sure, I have regrets. I don’t think you can make it to 40 without them. But man, this ride has been wild and crazy and the best parts of my life have been in the rise.

I strongly urge you to sit on the edge of your seats more often. Engage. God is calling you to it. He really is. He’s out there in the wild, waiting for you to fire it up and join in. Yes, you’ll fall. Yes, you might make a big embarrassing scene a few times and end up on your behind in front of a group of strangers. But man, when you get up, bruised butt and all, you’ll have a story to tell and a lesson learned. That’s the good stuff.

The best part of it all, at least in my life so far, is looking back at those times when I did fall, those times when I ended up with egg on my face coupled with a healthy dose of embarrassment and shame and realizing that no matter how alone and how low I might have felt, God was there. He was working. And as long as I trusted Him and got back up and back into the fight, it was going to be ok.

And it’s been more than ok if I’m being honest. It’s been magical.

Sweet and Savory Honey Soy Shrimp

Ok. Enough of the life philosophy (that was a deep one, no?). Onto the meal. I cannot stress enough how mouth-wateringly delicious this shrimp is. Close to my Cilantro Lime Shrimp and a few steps away from Sweet Chili Shrimp, this is an easy peasy 15-minute #toolboxrecipe if there ever was one. A perfect marriage of sweet and savory, this 5 ingredient meal is a weeknight dream.

I like to pair this with brown rice and steamed broccoli (mainly to convince myself that I am healthy). It makes plenty of sauce so your rice will be well flavored once you add the shrimp. The honey in the marinade will cause the shrimp to carmelize quickly so don’t freak out if they turn a deep brown. That’s not a burnt part, I promise. The key to getting crisp and not wimpy shrimp is letting it sit once you put it evenly in a screaming hot pan. I know the temptation is to stir. DO NOT. Resist that urge and let them sit, getting a nice crust on one side before stirring for a minute to cook through. I did these in two batches before combining and adding the sauce. If the pan is too crowded they steam rather than saute, and you don’t want that.

Make these this week for dinner. Your whole family will love. I swear it.

Peace, love and rising,

Meg

Sweet and Savory Honey Soy Shrimp

March 17, 2020

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By: Meaghan Dawson

Ingredients

• 2 pounds large (16-20 count) shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peel and grated (alternately 1 teaspoon grated ginger)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup honey
• pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

• Step 1 Pat shrimp dry and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Step 2 In a small bowl, combine garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey and crushed pepper (if using). Whisk to combine.
• Step 3 Pour sauce into a gallon ziploc bag. Add shrimp and toss to coat.
• Step 4 Put in fridge for about 5 minutes to quickly marinate.
• Step 5 Heat a large skillet to high heat with a drizzle of oil.
• Step 6 Using tongs, add half of the shrimp in an even layer once oil is hot and shimmery.
• Step 7 DO NOT MOVE for 2-3 minutes.
• Step 8 Stir for the last minute or so until cooked through and remove from pan.
• Step 9 Add second half the same as the first.
• Step 10 Once the second batch is cooked through, add first batch and combine.
• Step 11 Pour in sauce from the bag and cook for 3-4 minutes, until slightly thickened.
• Step 12 Serve over rice or noodles.

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