For the love of Scraffy; get me a beer!

My grandfather on my dad’s side was quite a guy! He was always cracking jokes and making fun of my grandmother behind her back when my family used to go to their house for dinner on Tuesdays. Every day, he would return home from work, put his pajamas on, put up his tray table and grab a cold Schlitz or Pabst Blue Ribbon from the fridge. He would pour it into his frosty glass with such finesse; making sure there was just the right amount of foam on the top. After the first sip always came that same contented, “AHHHH”… now he was ready to play. Looking back, as much as my grandmother complained about his beer drinking, she would always get him another when his glass was empty. Come to think of it, she always had clean sheets, a pillow and a blanket on the couch for him as well; apparently, snuggling up together in bed was not high up on their priority list… practicality & comfort before affection I guess.



My grandfather never had a car; instead he walked anywhere he had to go and made many friends along his routes. He knew everyone in our small town and they used to call him “Scraffy” which makes no sense to me… his name was Frank! He worked his whole life at the local pocketbook factory and I mysteriously showed up in school with every newly designed bag before they even hit the store shelves! He was a hard worker and always held his head high. He upset me just one time though; he told me there was no Santa Claus. It wasn’t too long afterward that I thanked him for it though… apparently I was WAY too old to believe anymore and he did me a huge favor! He always gave us money for special occasions and also managed to slip some coins to my brothers & me when our parents weren’t looking. He had a scrufty voice and a big smile with a space between his two front teeth. He was always tanned (I later found out it was because he & his friends would sunbathe in the nude but that’s a story for a different day) and he always smelled like a cool, crisp beer. To this day, the smell of beer still reminds me of him; pouring that first cold one of the evening, letting out that unmistakable “AHHHH”, then looking at my brothers and I with laughter in his eyes; coins jingling in his pocket, a new pocketbook behind the couch and a heart full of pride. After all… he worked hard to afford these simplest of pleasures and I loved him immensely.


Time for me to grab a cold one out of the fridge but before I do and in Scraffy’s honor… an easy yet sumptuous recipe that is prepared with beer… CHEERS!

 Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Caribbean Marmalade

1 ½ lb. Large (26-30) Uncooked Shrimp (peeled & deveined)
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Dry Pancake Mix
½ Can of Beer
1 Large Package of Shredded Coconut
Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying


Make sure to leave the tail on the shrimp after peeling then, with a paring knife, slice each shrimp down its back from the top to the beginning of the tail so they lay almost flat.


Pour flour into a shallow bowl. In a medium bowl, stir pancake mix and beer until smooth. Pour coconut into a medium bowl then set the 3 bowls up as an assembly line.


Heat about an inch or so of the oil in a large frying pan until very hot. Take one shrimp, dredge it in flour, dip it in the pancake batter, roll in the coconut then place in the middle of the hot frying pan; the first one is just to test the oil. Repeat this process working in batches of six or seven and cook just long enough for a crunchy coating to form on the shrimp; remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Caribbean Marmalade

1 Small Jar of Orange Marmalade
¾ Cup of Spiced Rum
Dash of Tabasco Sauce
Sprinkle of Brown Sugar
Lemon & Lime Wedges


Mix marmalade, spiced rum and Tabasco sauce with a spoon in a small bowl; sprinkle with brown sugar.


Arrange the shrimp on a platter with the Caribbean Marmalade in the middle and serve with lemon & lime wedges.