Thoughtful Thursday!

Better to do something imperfectly than do nothing flawlessly!

Gratefully,

Deborah...xoxo

Your Place or Mine?

In need of some comfort food?

We are still dealing with up and down temperatures, mostly down and rainy! And in the tradition of hibernation we are all about the comfort food these days. And with all the rainy weather we just wanted to stay in. Shortly after we moved here 3 years ago, my husband re-discovered Blue Runner beans in the grocery store. Not only do they make life easier, the company is right here in Ascension Parish and we love that! So for the record I received permission from JT to use this handy and delicious short-cut. In fact, because red beans and rice is such a traditional dish here I often make it for our guest visiting from out of town as a "taste of Louisiana". We have had several family members take cans back with them in their suitcase or have them shipped to their doorstep from the website. It's traditionally a Monday dish in Louisiana but we enjoy them anytime! 



Red Beans and Rice



You will need:

27 oz. can of Blue Runner Creole Style Red Beans

1 cup of frozen seasoning blend (in the freezer section: chopped onion, bell pepper & celery)

2 cups of smoked sausage, cut in small chunks (I used turkey sausage)

1 tsp. of oil (I used E.V.O.O)

Cajun seasoning, to taste

1 cup of cooked rice (I did use white rice this time, but I have used brown rice in the past and it was great and much better for you!)

 Brown off the sausage in the oil, then add the veggies and saute till soft. Add the can of beans and mix well. Sprinkle with the Cajun seasoning. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15-20 mins. You want the beans to be a creamy gravy type consistency so add a little water while cooking if needed.  

Cook your rice as directed while the beans simmer.

Pour the beans over a scoop of rice. Add hot sauce, if desired.

Garnish with chopped parsley and red or green onion. 

It will serve 4 hearty portions or up to 6 as a side dish.

Enjoy!

If you would like to order Blue Runner Beans here is the link:

http://www.bluerunnerfoods.com/ 

Gratefully,

Deborah...xoxo  

   

   

Your Place or Mine?...and a special birthday!

This week's post is a special one as we celebrated JT's birthday at home with family. I planned the menu around some of his favorite dishes but prepared them as more of a casual atmosphere. In addition to the menu, I made a special video for JT. It includes his childhood love of fishing along with his current "pa-doo's" (a word my husband uses to describe his friends)....enjoy!

The Menu:

Antipasto Skewers

Pecan Stuffed Mushrooms

Cajun Filet Sliders

Olive Oil & Rosemary French Fries

Blackberry-Apple Upside Down Cake

Antipasto Skewers

Alternate Peperoncini peppers, grape tomatoes, canned quartered artichoke hearts, mozzarella squares wrapped with Genoa salami and kalamata olives on a wood skewer. Place in plastic bag, pour a balsamic-vinaigrette dressing over skewers and let marinate for at least 8 hours.

Cajun Filet Sliders

Grill a beef tenderloin filet to medium rare. Let sit for 5 minutes then slice thinly. Saute small cocktail shrimp in a little butter and chopped green onion, put aside. Prepare sauce by combining mayonnaise, A-1 steak sauce, creole mustard and ketchup. Spread the sauce on each half of the small rolls. Stack sliced steak on each bottom half of roll, top with 2 small shrimp, then top shrimp with small slice of provolone cheese. Wrap sandwiches in foil and heat till cheese melts. I had a small pint of oysters in the fridge so I fried them off with Louisiana fish fry and stuck an oyster on top of each sandwich with a toothpick for added presentation. You could also put the fried oyster in the bun with the shrimp. I served with Alexia's Olive Oil, Rosemary and Garlic steak fries right from the freezer section in the grocery store! 

   Blackberry-Apple Upside Down Cake

This cake recipe is straight from Southern Living recipes on-line. JT loves blackberries and apples so I thought what I great combo for his birthday cake. It is an easy recipe, and would be excellent for a breakfast or brunch cake. I used frozen blackberries, they were huge, fresh, gorgeous and way more affordable! But keep them frozen till you put them in the batter!! I added a little dollop of Cool Whip on each slice...Yum!

Click on the link below and get the entire recipe:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000002011098 

 The Birthday Boy!  

Gratefully,

Deborah

Happy Birthday To My Wonderful Husband!

Happy Birthday JT!

We Love You!!

Thoughtful Thursday!




Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life!

 



Country Strong is stronger than I thought it would be!

My daughter and I decided to plan a diversion from a cold and gloomy day and go to the movies to see Country Strong this afternoon. We have both been waiting to see the movie since the previews started and I am a huge Gwyneth Paltrow fan and hoped the movie would do the Oscar winner justice. Well the movie did not disappoint! The entire cast including Gwyneth's movie husband Tim McGraw were fantastic but it wasn't much of a stretch for him. The break-out star in the movie is supporting actor Garrett Hedlund who portrays a rising country music song-writer that becomes close with Gwyneth while working at the rehab facility where she is in recovery. But it wouldn't be a true country drama without a few tears so don't forget the tissues. And for all you country music fans, the movie was filled with a lot of original music and one of Gwyneth's performances "Coming Home" is up for best original song at the Golden Globes this weekend!   

A New Year and a Very Special Cookie!

Hello Again,

It's been a while since my last post. A lot has happened since then and until now I haven't been emotionally available to commit to my blog. We learned that my Mom's courageous battle with cancer was coming to an end. I took this surreal time to spend time with her, stay in touch with her daily and pray for strength to see this through. As you know from my past post on "Your Place or Mine" my Mom was a huge lover of cooking and baking and she made a huge impact on me! She was an amazing mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She left us on her terms 10-10-10, very fitting for such a treasure....

         

Much to my surprise, one of the things that gave me the most comfort over the holidays was making a very special Portuguese cookie for my family. I had never made this cookie before because it was important to me to save the enjoyment for when my Mom made them. I thought if I learn to make the cookies then it would take away from the experience. But as I was organizing and searching for special memento's from Mom's house I came across her original recipe card. The card is worn, stained and has her notes in the margin...one of my favorite finds! So I made the decision to make the cookies and compelled to carry on the tradition for my family. But as I started to make the cookies I realized that I had never even seen her make them. If I had just watched her once so I would know what to do! I knew the wonderful taste and all the special shapes that mom would make (candy canes for Christmas)  but not the technique. But as if my Mom was "nudging" me along and pushing me not to be a quitter I proceeded. I combined all the ingredients carefully and using a hand mixer I was on my way. That was until the cookie batter started to clump and jam the hand mixer to the point of disaster! I thought, "well this is it"! It's over! Then as if my mom took my shaking hand and led me to my pantry where I had safely put her Kitchen Aid mixer away for my daughter I realized there was still hope. I took it out of the storage box, it still had flour and dried batter on it that represented my mother's fingerprints from all the times she used it and the last time right before she became ill. As I cleaned it up and felt guilty about washing it, it occurred to me that it would make my Mom very happy that I used her mixer and she wanted me to now leave my own fingerprints...

        

I baked only one cookie sheet at first because I was very concerned they were not going to turn out. I wanted to see if they were going to taste good before I wasted my time and oven heat. I removed the first batch from the oven, tried to give them a little time to cool but anxious to test them. They filled the house with that so familiar wonderful smell that I remember from Mom's house. As I took my first bite, JT came out of his office drawn in from the smell only to find me speechless and sobbing. He tried to console me as he thought they had come out horrible and that is why I was upset. The truth is they were everything I had hoped for, I had done it! The tradition is not lost! Silly to think that a "cookie" could mean so much....it wasn't just the cookie but that I had finally baked them with my Mom!

R.I.P Mom.....we miss you so much!!