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!!!

Crawfish Etouffee

I promised a recipe and I will give you one that my mom used to make, but I do not put in the tomato paste or tomatoes in the sauce.  I learned another way to make the "etouffee" from a friend who was from Beaux Bridge, LA.  That is where they have a crawfish festival every year.  We made the sauce and also put shrimp in the place of crawfish.  The original New Orleans recipe calls for fish stock, but you can make stock with shrimp shells when making it with shrimp or use a fish stock if you can get your hands on some. 

1 teaspoon tomato paste, 2 cups fish stock or seafood stock by boiling the shells and then drain the broth or water, 1-2 pounds of crawfish tails that have been peeled and cleaned, 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, 1-2 tsp. of salt or to taste, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1/2 cup chopped green onion, 1 finely chopped sweet white onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1 cup of tomatoes seeded and cut up.  To make the roux you can either use 4 Tbsp. of butter and 3-4 Tbsp. of flour.
In a large saucepan(I use a large black iron skillet) melt the butter and remove from heat.  Stir in the flour and stir until smooth.  Return to heat and continue stirring until the roux browns. This takes about 10 minutes and the color will be dark brown like the color of chocolate.  Stir in the white onions and celery and cook about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, seasonings, tomato paste (if using) and stock and stir into roux.  Add crawfish and tomatoes(if using) and simmer about 20 minutes.  Add the parsley and green onion about 5 minutes before serving.  Serve over steamed white rice. 
My friend from Breaux Bridge used the same ratio of canola oil to flour for the roux.  She then sautéed the vegetables except for the green onion and parsley in the about 2-3 Tbsp. butter for about 15 minutes until they softened. She then added the roux.  She did not use fish or shrimp stock, just water to thin roux out. She then added the crawfish or shrimp and did not use tomatoes or tomato paste.  We always in my family put the parsley and green onion in about 5 minutes before serving.  You may find the some Cajun families make the etouffee  a little different.  The shrimp version may also be called Shrimp Creole.  We visited St. Genevieve in Missouri on the way to St. Louis one vacation and I purchased this cookbook entitled La Cuisine Francaise des Premieres Annees de l'Amerique du Nord which means The French Cuisine the First Year in North America. This  paperback cookbook is by Patricia B. Mitchell.  The French Canadians settled also along the river in Missouri, as well as in Maine and some northern states when the disposition happened, not just Louisiana.  The recipes in this cookbook are in French. One day I may type up the Ecrevisse Etouffee recipe.  Ecrevisse is the word that the Cajun French called crawfish.  They gave the crawfish this name since it was new to them in the new land. Enjoy! Do not forget the Louisiana Hot Sauce!!!

Resurrection Lily 'Lycoris squamigera'

Spring break has been very busy.  We went to the camp in Warm Springs for a couple of days. We call it the camp because it is loaded with deer, wild turkeys and has a pond for fishing.  My parents have passed away and this was their home and estate. We have inherited the estate and maintain the property with care.  Mom planted these wonderful resurrection or surprise lilies a long time ago.  I transplanted some about 5 years ago when she was living with us after Dad died while we still maintained her estate. I dug some more up and sold them at a yard sale.  I  have posted a picture of the foliage of mine here in the flower bed. They show themselves in the Spring with foliage and then the foliage dies down.  These lilies are forgotten until August or September when beautiful lilies pop out of the ground and surprise!! It is as if early Spring comes back in late Summer or early Fall.  These bulbs will multiply and can be dug up and transplanted  to a new area for more happiness. I will put a link for more information.
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a464

Aunt Jerris' Watercolor " Echapper"

Aunt Jerris' Water Color" La Famille"

My Aunt Jerris was such a wonderful lady.  She was an RN, like myself, and loved to paint in watercolor.  She took our Acadian life and gave us some memories.  This is of a family of crawfish entitled "La Famille" which means" the family" in French and they are by their little mud house. I will also post a picture of her watercolor : "Echapper" which means the one that got away (the crawfish, that is, they are sneaky). In Louisiana we love crawfish.  Crawfish etouffee, crawfish bisque, crawfish pie, and of course boiled crawfish, just to name a few. I will have to post these recipes soon, along with Aunt Jerris' cornbread recipe.  I am putting together a cookbook with handed down recipes of both my Acadian French and Italian relatives. Thank you Aunt Jerris for reminding me of home.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sally's Baking Addiction

1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, room temperature, 1 Tsp. milk, 2 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 1/2 tsp. red food coloring, 1 cup white chocolate chips (you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips if you want very chocolate cookies).
     Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars with a mixer and scrape the sides down.  Add egg, vanilla and milk and beat together until well mixed.  Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well mixed.  Add food color and stir in well.  Add white chocolate chips and mix in well.  Mixture will be slightly sticky.  Form a ball as you transfer to plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Take 1 1/2 tsp. of dough and roll into balls.  Place dough balls evenly spaced on a lined baking sheet with parchment paper.  Bake for 10-15 minutes and do not worry if they do not flatten.  Before cooled flatten lightly with spatula.  These are perfect for Valentine's day.  I found this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction and made these today for the Do-It-Herself workshop.  The cookies I made came out so awesome!

Scented Geranium

I have been babysitting my friend's scented geranium for the winter.  She had no room in her house to winter it back.  I used to grow these years ago when I was in the Herb Society and had so many varieties.  The rose scented plants are my favorite.  We can pass by this and barely brush the leaves, then a wonderful perfume permeates the air.  I have propagated 2 plants from this one by simply making a cutting and putting the cuttings in a pot with potting soil.  Of course, water and keep in a sunny location.  This scented geranium is supposed to be a citronella or mosquito plant, but it smells like roses instead of lemons.  It may be a 'Rober's' ? Anyway, the Victorians put these plants in their parlor and when guests arrived, they would touch the plant to emit the wonderful perfume.  The first air freshener.  These plants originate from Africa. Wow! I would love to see these in their native environment.  I guess I will bring this one back to my friend when we warm up so she can put it back outside. I will enjoy my little babies from this plant.

 

For more information on Scented Geraniums, visit Sunland Herbs.

 

 

Garbanzo Bean Crepes

A gluten free crepe using garbanzo bean flour.  I found this recipe from Pulses recipe book from Canada.  It contains information on gluten free foods and recipes.  This has 1 cup garbanzo bean flour, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, about 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese.  Mix all the ingredients and heat up a non-stick skillet.  I use canola spray in between each crepe.  When the skillet is hot, add 1/4 cup and swirl around to make crepe.  Cook about 2-3 minutes and flip to the other side to cook for 2-3 minutes.  I sprinkle some parmesan cheese in between each crepe.  The parmesan cheese is salty enough and I do not add salt to batter.  This morning, I cooked turkey bacon  and wrapped it in the crepe.  My family loves these.

Helleborus (Lenten Rose) Survived

I have had this Lenten Rose for at least 14 years.  I thought it might not survive this harsh winter we have had here in Arkansas. This is the prelude to Easter.

You can find more information about the Lenten Rose here.