Saturday, November 29, 2008

Pork Steaks

Another food post, but food is big in most of our country. In the South, it might be fried chicken and turnip greens. In New England, it's blueberries and lobster. In the Midwest, it's beef and corn. I could go on and on...

Here in Acadiana, it's pork steak (with rice dressing, of course).
Mouthwatering, yummy pork steak.

I would call this "grilling", but here it is called "barbecuing". I have always had barbecue with sweet sauce brushed over the meat. There is no sauce involved here, just some tasty seasonings and a special way to cook these steaks just right. The taste can't be beat when you have an envie for a good pork steak!

Come on over and have one. Well, come on over, and I'll point you in the direction of where you can get one since I haven't mastered the art of the pork steak yet.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tis The Season...

for baking.

This only happens about once a year, so I captured the moment on film to prove that we actually bake around here.

The guys headed out for the LSU game this morning, so we girls decided we didn't want to spend the day cleaning house alone. After sitting in the orthodontist's office for several hours of the last 2 weeks, we came across this recipe in the Family Fun magazine. That's what happens when you have 2 kids going in/coming out of braces. You gain weight from all the recipes you read in the office.

So, after a grocery store run and cleaning the playdough off of the rolling pin, my daughter and I made these.

You don't believe me?! It is sort of hard to imagine, but look~

Rolled out pie crust, fall leaves and acorn cut-outs. I know the acorns look like goldfish crackers with a tail bump, but trust me they are acorns.

The recipe calls for 4 tsp. of the chocolate chip/pbutter chip mixture. No way. Our cookie cutters were obviously too small.

Two things to note in the picture above~

1. No, I do not own a pastry brush. Remember I said I don't bake. Since we were the people eating them, we figure pointer fingers work just as well as the pastry brushes that someone likely spent $22 on at the William Sonoma store in the mall.

2. Notice 2 of the leaf cut-outs are gone and have been replaced by more acorns. The acorns could hold way more filling chips!

How much sugar is TOO much sugar anyhow!?

The finished product. (Yes, the acorns look even more like goldfish crackers now. I know.)

A few changes I would make to the recipe~ Use larger cookie cutters, use pie filling instead of the chips which turned out dry and not really great (cherry filling would be pretty and tasty or apple filling would be great in some apple cut-outs), and use more egg wash and sugar on top.

That's the baking for 2008.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas Fun

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Saturday, November 22, 2008

A Cajun Staple

As I've explained before in this blog (here), rice is a big deal. This importance of rice leads to many dishes which feature rice, but none are as common as rice dressing. It's a cajun staple.
Rice dressing is made as the alternative to mashed potatoes. Rice dressing is served at the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Rice dressing is served at any meal that doesn't already involve rice in some other way (etouffee or sauce piquant or rice and gravy).
I brought home some rice dressing from the Thanksgiving meal we had at church this past week. I would take a picture of some that I have made, but (keeping it real here folks) I haven't made it yet....

I have heard rice dressing is easy to make. You can buy a dressing mix (like the container below) in the fridge/freezer section of any grocery store, cook it, and mix with rice. I'm sure this is good stuff~ I trust the lady on the carton!

Our family has found that we really enjoy a good rice dressing (and not all rice dressing is equal), but we aren't having any with our Thanksgiving meal. I confess~ we'll be having a choice of cornbread dressing and mash potatoes.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Flourishing


How do these trees grow inside this building?



How long has the building been roofless and open, allowing seeds to grow into saplings and then into large, strong trees? Years? Decades?


Psalm 52:8-9 (NIV)

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.


May I be open, allowing the rain and sun inside, so I can flourish too.

(Building is just outside Opelousas, LA on Hwy. 190)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Sign Language

A convincing sign salesman must've come to town. No business wants to be left out.

Some signs try to entice us with good eats~





Some signs inform us~




(Note the 3 signs in a row up above)









And some signs say nothing at all~



The above pictures were all taken in one 15 minute drive through the middle of town. The signs cover less than a 3 mile distance.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

It's That Time Again

Friday, November 14, 2008

Need A Ride To The Game??

I'm curious to know the story behind this bus?! Any locals know what it was really used for?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Stockyard

No Sunday afternoon is complete without a drive by the local stockyard. Well, that's not really true...but we did happen to drive by the stockyard on Sunday afternoon. I was actually focusing on some other pictures that I haven't posted yet, but as I got out of the car I heard the moo-ing.
Of course, who in their right mind (and nice Sunday shoes) can resist walking around the outside of a stockyard to see where the cows (and manure) are!?!

He/She is a cute cow but poor thing needs to blow its nose. Is that a problem?

Peek-a-boo!

The whole stockyard visit was going well, and then we saw this sign.

The "other, other" white meat!?

Monday, November 10, 2008

Baby Girl's First Race

She ran/walked/goofed off in our church's local 5k, but this was the first race she was trained up for and had to run in with 126 other folks participating.



You see her?! The pink and gray in front of the lady.

You go girl!!!

(Cajun Cup Race 2008)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Pee(r) Pressure

Before the race starts, you don't have to go...until you see the LONG line for the porta-potty.

(Cajun Cup Race 2008)

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Cajun Cup 2008

The runners in my family lined up at the start for the big race this morning. Each race has it's own unique characteristics~ sponsors, food, set up, and course, but most races have a few things in common.

The goodie bags. Any decent race is going to have a bag full of stuff for each person registered. This stuff ends up in the junk drawer or the bottom of my purse. You don't really need or want the stuff, but you feel ripped off if you don't receive it.

The crowd. Runners like their shoes. And their shorts. And their socks. And their latest gadget. So when a bunch of runners get together you can see them sort of checking each other out....how do that guy's shoes look, or wonder how good that heart rate monitor is, or I think I can take that guy off the start line and beat him the whole race.

The passion. People want to run fast. (Fast is relative.) They want to do well. They want to hang with a crowd that will push them to run as fast as they can without ending up sprawled on the sidewalk. (My guys wanted to be in the 50 minute crowd.)

The food. There will always be bananas at any race you ever go to. No question. Bananas are the ultimate race food.

The finish line. It will always look good. Big or small. Sunny or rainy. Cold or hot. The finish line always looks good.

More from the Cajun Cup 2008 in the next few posts.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

A Morning Reminder

Job 8:11-15 (The Message)

Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil? Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water?Blossoming flowers look great before they're cut or picked, but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass.

That's what happens to all who forget God— all their hopes come to nothing. They hang their life from one thin thread, they hitch their fate to a spider web.

One jiggle and the thread breaks, one jab and the web collapses.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

You've Heard Of The...

Ragin Cajuns.


How about the infamous...

Wagin' Cajuns!??!