Fleur de Aleta

Dear Son, Did you know that your great-grandmother, MawMaw, is Cajun French?  When she was a little girl, she spoke French, but she doesn't remember most of the language now.  I mention this because of a conversation that took place on Mother's Day.  We were at your Daddy's family gathering.  Your younger cousin, Alivia, was carried into her bedroom with words of "make do-do." (Pronounced "dough dough" not "doo doo") The conversation went to "where does do-do" come from?  We have all heard of the Fais do-do - the dance and come to find out, it's derived from this Cajun dance.  Fais (pronounced "Fay") means to "make" and do-do means to "go to sleep"...  women went to dances with their husbands and children. The mothers would bring the children to the cry room and say "Fais do-do" (go to sleep quickly) to the children before their husbands could dance with another woman.  There, a quic...

I don't want to be a "one trick pony" when it comes to cooking.  Sure, I don't cook that often, but when I do, I'd like to have a nice repertoire of dishes.  I have never cooked an Asian dish or used Asian spices.  Given this is new for me, I hunted for a recipe with simple ingredients and simple instructions. If you have ever had Southern "dirty rice" you know what I'm talking about, only this has an Asian twist to it with the flavor.  My husband enjoyed it, but he said to try cutting back on the sugar next time. Ingredients: 1 lb ground beef 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 Tablespoon sesame oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers (we didn't have this, so I used just the smallest amount of Cayenne to give it some zing.) salt and pepper 1 bunch green onions, diced Rice, cooked Instructions: In a large skillet over medium heat, add sesame oil, garlic and beef.  Brown the meat. Drain the f...

For my sister-in-law's baby shower, I made the blue punch.  It should have been a little bit more blue, but a lot of people enjoyed it and there was no punch left by the end of the party, so I imagine those kind words were true.  I liked it too :)  Here's the recipe: Ingredients: 1 packet Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade unsweetened Kool-Aid (I would recommend getting 2 packets - use one and then add a little more after you make this to bring the blue color back to a brighter hue). 1 (2 liter) bottle Ginger Ale 1 (64 oz) White Grape Juice 1 cup sugar 8 scoops pineapple sherbet Instructions: Chill ginger ale and grape juice over night. Remove sherbet from freezer about 1/2 hour before serving punch to soften In a large bowl, combine Kool-Aid packet, sugar and chilled juice.  Stir. Slowly add chilled ginger ale. Float 8 scoops of softened sherbet on top. NOTE * You will need a LARGE punch bowl for this mixture!

Dear Son, We have a new son.  You tolerate him well enough, but you don't spend too much time with him, even though others of his kind you are quick to play. Meet Andouille.  Dewey for short....  We rescued him from the St. Charles Animal Shelter. My parents' dog's name is Biscuit.  My brother's dog's name is Gumbo.  So, we thought we'd keep it Cajun and go with Andouille.. and it's a weenier dog, dachshund mix with min-pin.  Dewey is not an alpha dog and is a year old.  The two of you will walk together, for just a little bit before you hand over the leash. Daddy was trying to teach Dewey to sit.  He had a treat, "Sit!" and would show Dewey how to sit.  Daddy said, "Sit!"  YOU sat on the floor.  A few minutes later.... I had a biscuit in my hand.  I asked you if you wanted a piece.  You got down on all fours and opened your mouth like a puppy dog!   The "I'm not sure about you" look. Gre...

My husband enjoys Mexican food.  I like the veggies and smoky flavor of fajitas from Mexican restaurants.  But it's not easy to duplicate at home, without using a cast iron griddle.  The oven is simple.  The recipe is simple.  Lots of ingredients to get a great flavor.  When your husband goes for seconds, gives up a thumbs up and rates it 9 out of 10 - totally worth it! I bought two small yellow onions, two red bell peppers (2 for 1 dollar - yeah!), 2 small green bell pepper and portabello mushrooms.  You'll notice in the pictures how the mushrooms are not in the large oven pan, because my husband doesn't eat shrooms.  More for me!  Chicken slices were added in, though you can just as easily make this totally vegetarian. So, the quick break down - mix the dry ingredients for the seasoning in a bowl. Cut the onions and bell peppers and chicken and mushrooms into strips.   It's always a little shocking when you slice a red bell pepper and ...