Well here is a recipe with everything I had on hand in the pantry. I picked up some shrimp and we have some parsley and basil from the garden.  It came out great!!

Shrimp and Noodles with Coconut Sauce

1 1/2 lbs. of fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, 1/4 finely chopped onion, 3 finely chopped garlic cloves, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh peeled ginger root, 1 small bunch chopped fresh  parsley, 1 small bunch chopped fresh sweet basil, 3-4 sundried tomatoes (soak in hot water for 10 minutes), chopped, 1 (13.5 oz.) can coconut milk, 4 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 package pasta(I used Di Marlino fresine)cooked al dente, 1 Tbsp. of Old Bay seasoning, juice of 1 lemon(if you have lime that would work also), salt and pepper to taste, Parmesan cheese.

Peel and devein shrimp.  Add shrimp to a bowl with Old Bay seasoning, stir together. You can do this step a head of time and refrigerate until you are ready to cook. In a large skillet on medium heat, add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and shrimp with half of the lemon juice.  Cook just until pink.  Remove shrimp and reserve in a bowl while removing skillet from heat. Return skillet to medium- low heat and add remaining oil with onion, garlic, ginger, 1/2 parsley, 1/2 basil and tomatoes. Sautee  for a few minutes.  Add coconut milk and rest of lemon juice. Keep temp. on low heat and simmer while stirring occasionally to prevent burning.  Add salt and pepper to taste. While sauce is simmering, boil a pot of water with 1-2 tsps. of salt.  Add pasta to boiling water and cook as per package instructions. When pasta is cooked, before you drain, add a couple of Tbsp. of pasta water to coconut sauce.  Drain pasta and add to sauce.  Add shrimp and remaining parsley and basil to the pasta and sauce.  Stir together.  Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Individual Meat Pies from the Recipe Picture

Sweet Potato Pie Crust

This is a recipe that I formulated and entered in a recipe contest.  I did not win, but I think it is a winning recipe.  I used this sweet crust that tastes great with savory meat pie filling. The original recipe is for a shepherd's pie, but you can make individual pies with a little of the topping with the meat filling.
For the pie and topping:  2 large sweet potatoes, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. salt, 3 Tbsp. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. orange juice, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/4 ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. cloves, 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1 Tbsp. butter, 1/4 cup milk and 1-2 Tbsp. cold water.
     Wash and pierce sweet potatoes and wrap in plastic wrap.  Cook in the microwave 10-15 minutes and checking every few minutes until soft in the middle with a fork.(Note: you can cook the sweet potatoes in the oven wrapped in foil until tender.) When potatoes are soft, allow to cool to touch and scoop out middle in a medium bowl.  Mash with potato masher.  Add brown sugar, orange juice and spices; mix until well blended.  Reserve 1 cup of mixture in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This reserved mixture will make the pie crust. Add butter and milk to the remaining sweet potato mixture and using mixer, blend well. Cover and refrigerate sweet potato topping.
Crust:  Mix flour, baking powder, salt and reserved mixture for crust in a medium bowl. Cut the mixture into the flour with dough cutter or 2 knives.(Note: If you have made pie crust, you are using the sweet potato mixture as butter to cut into the flour.) Add 1-2 Tbsp. of very cold water to have the dough come together.  Form a ball with the dough and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Meat filling:  While dough is chilling, brown 1 lb. of ground beef, turkey or lamb or combination of the meats. Add to drained off fat of browned meat, 1/2 finely chopped onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 2 Tbsp. finely chopped red bell pepper, 1/4 cup finely chopped peeled baby carrots, 1 finely chopped celery stalk, 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley and green onions, 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. each of cayenne and black pepper, 3 Tsp. of molasses  and allow to cook until veggies are tender. You may need to add a little water to prevent burning. Add 1/4 cup shredded cheese blend and stir well.
Pie:  Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface into a 9 inch circle. Mold to an oiled sprayed pie plate and crimp edges.  Bake in pre-heated 375 degree F oven for 10 minutes.  Remove pie crust from oven and fill the center with the meat mixture.  Reduce the oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat up the sweet potato topping in the microwave and apply to the top of meat filling and smooth over as if you are icing a cake.  Return pie to the oven and bake another 15-20 minutes.  This recipe makes 8 servings.  To make individual pies, simply roll out dough and put in pie press.  Add some filling and topping, press close.  Continue to use up dough. Make a small slit in the top of each pie, brush with canola or olive oil and bake on foil lined oil sprayed baking sheet.  Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25-30 minutes.  Makes 5 2" by 4 1/2 " pies.  I made both of these recipes myself and they came out great!! I hope you try this.

Homemade Delicatessen Creamy Coleslaw

This recipe was in my grandmother's recipes taken from McCall's Magazine February 1960. I have made it and you will like this one.

Dressing: 2 cups mayonnaise(today I use a lower in fat mayo or salad dressing), 1/2 cup prepared horseradish(if you cannot find this, green wasabi paste, which is horseradish, could be used), 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1Tbsp. lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. grated onion, 2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. paprika.
Slaw:  3 quarts finely shredded green cabbage, 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots, 1/2 cup shredded radishes. Another note is that now we are lucky enough to have the slaw mix cleaned and chopped in a bag now to help with prep time.
     Make the dressing: In a large bow, combine mayo, horseradish, sugar, lemon, onion salt and paprika.  Add cabbage, carrots and 1/2 the radishes.  Toss vegetables until well coated with dressing.  Refrigerate, covered until chilled for several hours or overnight.  To serve, garnish with green pepper strips and remainder of shredded radishes.  Makes about 12 servings.  This will keep for several days well covered in Tupperware dish in the refrigerator. 

Now I copied the recipe that was in my grandmother's handwriting from the magazine.  Note you will have to add green peppers to your ingredient's list (I think the red peppers would be great also) and I love that you store it in Tupperware!!! It was in 1960 anyway!!!

"Baptism on the Mississippi" by Al DeForest Print Information



Do you see Jesus in the clouds?

First, let me apologize for the quality of the picture.  The print is simply beautiful and this picture does not do it justice.  This was my sisters' and I have it on my wall. I will give information from an article written by John Michael Lockhart in the Morning Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA).  I do not have the exact date it was written because I just have the article that was placed in the back of print. I believe it was written in 2008 since it indicates West's death 40 years prior to this article. The river preacher, as Lockhart calls him, is George West.  He was a modern day John the Baptist who would be on the banks of the Mississippi in Baton Rouge in the 1940s. He would preach and baptize while dressed in his white garb. He was born on February 13, 1885 (per Lockhart's article) and died on Saturday, June 22, 1968 according to another article from the Tuesday June 25, 1968 Morning Advocate article entitled Holy Man of River Bank Leaves "Flock" Forever. Also an iconic picture was taken in the 1960's by Ken Armstrong of West in his "preaching" garb and in Lockhart's article.  Another picture was painted on the side of Brian's Furniture Store in Port Allen by artist Troy Hotard (he was a classmate of mine and is a phenomenal artist) is also in Lockhart's article. Now about the print. The artist is Al DeForest and this print not only captures Mr. West, but within the clouds is Jesus. Thank you all for having documentation of this wonderful disciple of Christ. 

Thank you School Nurses!!!

I wanted to send a special thank you to my cousin, Aunt Jerris' daughter, who works so hard as a school nurse.  She is the only practicing nurse in the family.  She loves the children she takes care of and has a lot of responsibilities.  Her day does not end when she gets home.  She has care plans work that she does on top of her home life.  I talked to her this morning and she said the teachers work so hard also.  We also have teachers in our family. Say prayers for them and God Bless Them!! So a big THANK YOU!!! for all you do.  God sees your work. Hug a school nurse and remember she is somebody's family.  We love you nurses and teachers!!!!

Revision on Etouffee

So sorry that I forgot my friend sautéed the vegetables in about 2-3 Tbsp. butter until softened, then added the roux.  You have to have butter!!!! Please forgive me.  I have to get my hands on some crawfish.  I also added to not forget the hot sauce.  Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce is the BEST!!!