Grandma Kitty's Shrimp and Special Sauce

    Grandma Kitty and Bill are with us for just one night and I'm holding down the fort so that Alex can be with them this evening.  One of the difficulties of living in Colorado is that we are so far from the people who are dearest to us.  When someone actually makes the trek out here we like to be able to spend some time with them.  Unfortunately in this business it's not always possible.  But tonight at least one of us can have the evening off.
    Over the years I have heard so many stories about Kitty that revolve around food that in my mind I cannot separate the two.  Back in the day Kitty had her own television cooking show in Springfield MA.  When we visit her in Longmeadow it's like traveling with mayor, everyone knows her.  People still come up to tell her how much her show meant to them.  She's that kind of a lady.  Alex has his own set of special memories which he has shared with me.  I think of them whenever we see or speak to her.
    One of my favorites is about Kitty's shrimp cocktail.  Anyone of a certain age has memories of shrimp cocktail.  It was staple at the parties we had at home when I was growing up.  As far as I was concerned, the jumbo shrimp were a reason to have a party.  Jumbo shrimp in restaurants were never as satisfying.  Either they weren't very jumbo, they were over cooked or there just weren't enough of them.  When we had parties at home the bowl of extremely large shrimp was overflowing.  I always disdained the sauce, preferring to enjoy the sweet flavor of my shellfish unadorned.  It is a practice I continue to this day, extending it through the ranks of crab meat, lobster and langoustines.  If I'm eating for my own pleasure, I prefer it plain, but well seasoned and in abundance.
    Alex has an entirely different view of shrimp cocktail.  He grew up eating it at all of the family gatherings.  It was there during the cocktail hour for every holiday and every special occasion when the family gathered.  He thinks that it should always be served with Kitty's special sauce, a combination of ketchup, mayonnaise and chili sauce.  The shrimp is equally a pleasure in itself and as a vehicle for the sauce.  In his world, there are never quite enough shrimp to satisfy.  He says that as kids he and his sister Meredith would have to sneak the shrimp because their parents would cut them off early to save more for the adults.  So the pleasure of the shrimp was an illicit one, greatly enjoyed but never fully satisfied.  The grand kids now are allowed to eat their fill.  He eyes them with slight animosity as they park themselves next to the platter at family gatherings.  I think that he is the better off.  They will never feel as strongly about them as he does.  They will never have the pleasure of sneaking one past their parents watchful eyes.  They will never savor those moments of adulthood when he became free to eat as many as he wanted.  He never did though, by the time he was old enough to eat his fill, he was also sensitive enough to want to make sure that there was enough left for everyone else.  He never orders it in restaurants because it just doesn't have the same flavor.
    When I was first getting to know Alex's family, the kitchen was a refuge.  I could help out with the preparations and buy some myself space before joining the extremely large group that is now our family.  In the kitchen I heard all of the stories about Kitty.  I learned to make the strawberry pie, the special sauce, the Montana breakfast and countless other dishes from other times,places and special people.  Now, when he gets hungry for those people and those memories I can create the dishes that bring them just a little bit closer for a moment or two.