Shrimp & Jalapeno Nachos for Cinco de Mayo or Cinco de Anytime

These simple and addictive shrimp and jalapeno nachos are not only a nice alternative to more common versions, but a great reminder of how this iconic snack was actually intended to be served. Contrary to current fashion, nachos didn’t start out as a giant pile of chips drenched in ladles of florescent gold cheese sauce.

The earliest versions were made by simply broiling a single layer of cheese-topped chips, which were then garnished with jalapeno peppers – simple and elegant, with every chip genetically identical to the next. Over time we’ve added hundreds of toppings, as well as replaced the broiled (real) cheese with something that you can also use to grease an axel.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the aforementioned version just as much as the next guy wearing pajama jeans, but once in a while it’s good to revisit a simpler time in American snacking. If you’re planning to party, I wish you a fun and safe Cinco de Mayo, and hope you give these very tasty chips a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 Portions:

1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (I used 50-60 per pounds size, which are ideal for this)

1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil

pinch of cayenne

1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper

salt and pepper to taste

50-60 large tortilla chips, or as needed
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced very thin

about 3 1/2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese

avocado creama (1 avocado, 1 cup sour cream, and juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes; liquefied in a blender)

sliced cherry tomatoes and freshly chopped cilantro to garnish

View the complete recipe

A State of Trance 611

A State of Trance 611
Armin van Buuren
Intense Album Special
May 02, 2013

01 Future Favorite: Armin van Buuren ft. Miri Ben-Ari - Intense
02 Armin van Buuren ft. Cindy Alma - Beautiful Life
03 Armin van Buuren - Pulsar
04 Armin van Buuren ft. Laura Jansen - Sound Of The Drums
05 Armin van Buuren & NERVO ft. Laura V. - Turn This Love Around
06 Armin van Buuren ft. Lauren Evans - Alone
07 Armin van Buuren ft. Emma Hewitt - Forever Is Ours
08 Armin van Buuren pres. Gaia - Humming The Lights
09 Armin van Buuren - Last Stop Before Heaven
10 Armin van Buuren ft. Richard Bedford - Love Never Came
11 ASOT Radio Classic: Armin van Buuren ft Gabriel & Dresden - Zocalo
12 Armin van Buuren ft. Fiora - Breathe In Deep
13 Armin van Buuren ft. Fiora - Waiting For The Night (Beat Service Remix)
14 Armin van Buuren - Orbion
15 Armin van Buuren - Control Freak (Sander van Doorn Remix)
16 Armin van Buuren ft. Winter Kills - Take A Moment (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Full Vocal Remix)
17 Armin van Buuren ft. Trevor Guthrie - This Is What It Feels Like (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix)
18 Armin van Buuren ft. Ana Criado - I'll Listen
19 Armin van Buuren - Who's Afraid of 138?!
20 Armin van Buuren vs. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Not Giving Up Of Love (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix)
21 Armin van Buuren vs. Arctic Moon vs. OneRepublic - If I Lose Myself Coming Home (Shura Vlasov Mashup)
22 Armin van Buuren ft. BT - These Silent Hearts
23 Armin van Buuren & Bagga Bownz - Reprise

Caught the second half of the broadcast with Zocalo. Liking how Armin mixed Breathe In Deep and Waiting For The Night. Amazing mix of Intense tracks and Armin's older tracks. Imagine every Armin Only show ending with Reprise.. epic!

Armin van Buuren - website | Armin Radio | Facebook | Flowd | G+ | iTunes | Ping | SoundCloud | YouTube | A State of Trance | @ArminvanBuuren

Global DJ Broadcast

Update:06/27/13

Global DJ Broadcast
Markus Schulz
Guest DJ - Ben Gold
May 02, 2013

01 Offshore Wind & Roman Messer ft. Ange - Suanda (Aurosonic Intro Progressive Mix)
02 Pryda - Power Drive
03 Anivia - In Search of Yourself
04 Rex Mundi - Seek and Destroy
05 Essonita & K.I.R.A. - Lost My Heart to You
06 Meridian - Winter Outside
07 Ferry Corsten - Black Light
08 Orjan Nilsen - Violetta
09 M.D.K. - Vanquish (Solid Stone Remix)
10 Harry Square - Royal Flush
11 Vinny Troia ft. Jaide Neveda - Fade Into You (Jerome Isma-Ae & Bluestone Remix)
12 Ferry Corsten - F The Bull$h1t
13 Temple One - Illusions

Guest mix: Ben Gold
01 Ben Gold - Where Life Takes Us (Juventa Remix)
02 Ben Gold - Mesocyclone
03 Luke Bond - 1Up
04 Rob Naylor - Yes
05 Solis and Sean Truby - Meerkat
06 Ben Gold - Amplified
07 Ben Gold ft. Glass Child - Fall With Me (Tom Fall Remix)

Back to Markus
14 Rank 1 - Floorfiller
15 Lisa Lashes - Wanted to Feel
16 Purple Stories - Locust
17 Perry O'Neil - Wave Force (Mike Saint-Jules Remix)
18 Dave Schiemann – Heartless
19 KhoMha - Hydra
20 Global Selection: Lange & Susana - Risk Worth Taking

Dark beats to start the episode before mellowing out to the tune of In Search of Yourself. Lost My Heart to You and Winter Outside are lovely tracks.

Markus Schulz - website | Facebook | G+ | iTunes | MySpace | SoundCloud | Spotify | YouTube | Global DJ Broadcast | @MarkusSchulz
Ben Gold - website | Facebook | G+ | MySpace | SoundCloud | YouTube | @BenGoldOnline

Brockley Beaver shortage reaches crisis point

Last year, BC mentioned the Crofton Park Beavers' leader recruitment drive as the group was running at full capacity. We're sad to report that the situation has now reached a "critical point". Adam explains:

Our Beaver colony is currently at a critical point. As things stand, we do not have a uniformed Beaver Leader in our group. We are currently just getting by with the assistance of district leaders, however these leaders are tied to other projects and will not be around in the very near future. We need more volunteers to become leaders at 3rd Crofton Park, and we need them fast.

We urgently require a leadership team to run our Beaver Colony. This can be a team of two who can commit every week or it can be a team of five, six, seven who rotate depending on availability. Without new  volunteers, we will have to close the Beavers colony in the near future.

If you are interested, or know someone who is interested, please come get in touch, via email (longhurst_uk@hotmail.com) or give me a call on 07543 596260

Lebovic to Lecture on Information and Cold War Politics

The Center for the United State and the Cold War announces the seminar, “The National Secrecy State: The Politics of Information in America’s Cold War,” by Sam Lebovic, a fellow at NYU’s Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center, on May 9, 2013, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.  The seminar will take place at the Tamiment Library, located at on the 10th Floor of NYU’s Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South.  (Last November, Dr. Lebovic received a Paul Murphy Award from the American Society for Legal History for his research.  For a copy of the paper, email Zuzanna Kobrzynski at zk3@nyu.edu.

Hat tip: H-Law

Kahn's "Mrs. Shipley's Ghost"

This week, the University of Michigan Press publishes Mrs. Shipley's Ghost: The Right to Travel and Terrorist Watchlists, by Jeffrey Kahn, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.  The press explains:

Today, when a single person can turn an airplane into a guided missile, no one objects to rigorous security before flying. But can the state simply declare some people too dangerous to travel, ever and anywhere? Does the Constitution protect a fundamental right to travel? Should the mode of travel (car, plane, or boat) or itinerary (domestic or international) make a constitutional difference? This book explores the legal and policy questions raised by government travel restrictions, from passports and rubber stamps to computerized terrorist watchlists.

In tracing the history and scope of U.S. travel regulations, Jeffrey Kahn begins with the fascinating story of Mrs. Ruth Shipley, a federal employee who almost single-handedly controlled access to passports during the Cold War. Kahn questions how far national security policies should go and whether the government should be able to declare some individuals simply too dangerous to travel. An expert on constitutional law, Kahn argues that U.S. citizens’ freedom to leave the country and return is a fundamental right, protected by the Constitution.

A blurb that matters:

“Despite an avalanche of writing about post-9/11 security policies, far too little attention has been paid to the increasingly important world of watchlists and their impact on the ability to travel. Jeff Kahn has filled this gap with a definitive account that deftly blends historical, legal, and policy analysis. And he has done it with real narrative flair. Mrs. Shipley’s Ghost will be required—and thoroughly enjoyable—reading for anyone interested in the intersection of data, security, and liberties.”
 —Robert M. Chesney, University of Texas School of Law

Haven (no place like it!)

Hello all! Hope you’re having a beautiful day so far!

My fellow team members and I are getting SO excited for the upcoming Haven Conference this summer:

Last year was our first year for this DIY/design conference and it was a huge success – we are pumped for another year! This year Haven will be held at the beautiful Buckhead Grand Hyatt in Atlanta, Georgia from Thursday, August 1 to Saturday, August 3.

Just in case you don’t know the Haven team, here we are:

It includes myself, Beth from Home Stories A to Z, Chris from Just a Girl, Rhoda from Southern Hospitality and Traci from Beneath My Heart. Oh, and we can’t forget rock star Kristin who is a BIG part of making the details of the location and logistics happen.

First and foremost, we need to give a BIG shout out to our awesome sponsors – The Home Depot, Frogtape, Rustoleum and GMC just to name a few:

 

We’re busy finalizing the sessions for the conference and we have an incredible group of designers, bloggers and business people who will be sharing their knowledge with attendees. Go here to see who will be joining us (we are still adding them so check back often!).

The conference is sold out but we will be offering five ticket giveaways on our blogs over the next few weeks:

May 13th:  Just a Girl
May 20th:  Home Stories A to Z
May 27th:  Beneath My Heart
June 3rd:  Southern Hospitality
June 10th:  Thrifty Decor Chick

If you’d like to join us and don’t have a ticket keep an eye out for each of those! And if you aren’t already following us on Facebook here than please do so – many have to sell their tickets as we get closer to the conference and will announce it there. (Just a reminder to ticket holders – there will be no transfers honored after July 1st!)

If you already have your ticket you should have received an invite to the Haven Mavens Facebook (private) page – if you didn’t email one of us {thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com} to let us know so we can get you added on. It’s a great place to chat and “meet” each other before the conference! We’ve also created a Haven Conference Instagram account – you can follow it at “havenconf”.

We’ve also started up a linky party over at the Haven Conference site (for attendees) – if you are joining us please link up your blog and visit those who will be attending as well!

And of course, feel free to add the Haven Maven button to your blog to let everyone know you’ll be there!Are you attending the conference this year? It’s only three months away – I can hardly believe it! Can’t wait to see you there!