My Trip to get the crawfish... and a Crawfish Boil!

Yesterday I decided to go to Elliott's Landing and get some crawfish! I didn't figure that my son would eat much, so I just got 4 pounds. You might say, "Just 4 pounds???" Yes, that sounds like a lot, but if you are familiar with these little creatures, you know that's not really all that much. You buy crawfish whole and alive... The only other way to buy them is already cooked. Once a crawfish dies, it cannot be sold and is discarded. The meat is in the tail and the rest of the body, or head is dead weight... Yes, I know that you can suck the juice out of the head, but that is just that... juice! I did have quite a few that I cracked the claws and got a tiny bite out...

Old boat shed on the right behind the trees...

There is always something to see on the drive down...

The Landing is only about 4 miles away from my house!

Nice day... Dirt Road Anthem by Jason Aldean

on the radio!!! Windows rolled down, ponytail in the wind!
"It don't get no better than this!!!" Woo Hoo!!!

I'm here... Getting my 4 pounds of crawfish :-)

Got my bag in the cooler :-) 

As soon as I untied the bag, they tried to escape!

Crawfish Boil...

I added onions and sausage.

I didn't have any potatoes or corn-on-the-cob.

Dig in!!! This is round 1... about half (2 pounds)

I had to peel crawfish for my son who hurt his hand riding his

dirt bike this afternoon. He ate a lot! I didn't think he would!

I got awfully hungry feeding him...

He ate a lot faster than I could peel! LOL

Lemon & Salt and Homemade Cocktail Sauce... for me

Butter & Lemon for the guys

Crawfish Carnage... all 4 pounds eaten!

Cocktail Sauce

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 small lemon)
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
dash Worcestershire sauce
few drops hot sauce
salt to taste

Combine and blend all ingredients well.

My Great-Aunt Vashti's Browned Squash

Last night, I attempted once again to re-create an old family recipe... My Great-Aunt Vashti's Browned Squash! To get the intense browning that she did, I have to cook it low and slow on the stove-top. If the temp is not just right, it will burn and you'll end up with a bitter flavor. I discovered that I don't have the patience to cook this dish often! It took me 2 hours to even get close!

I started with yellow squash and zucchini

(because I packaged them together last year in the freezer)

Aunt Vashti only used yellow squash...
I added 3 T butter, minced onion, basil, garlic powder,

red and black pepper, salt and a little lemon juice.

After stirring and cooking for 2 hours, it looks like this...

in all its caramelized goodness!

 We also had pork chops...

and Red Beans and Rice :-)

My Little Garden

For those of you that follow me... you know that I have had problems with my goat getting out and eating birdseed after tearing down the feeders. She has completely destroyed and eaten my pink rose bush, and last night she got into the water irises in my pond!!!

Well, I was bound and determined to have my garden! With no tractor or tiller, it's hard work to prepare and plant a garden, especially with all probability of the goat eating the dadgum thing!!! The hubby came up with this idea...

 My little garden on stilts! :-)

I have a friend that calls it a

Goat Jungle Gym!!!

...not funny Rich Fletcher! :-)

I planted basil, leaf lettuce, radishes, dill and cilantro. This morning while taking the dog on her walk... I checked on my seeds, and I found this :-)

If you click on the picture to enlarge it... 

you can see a little green spec in the

center of the picture! That's a basil plant :-D

I can't wait until my basil grows enough for me to make pesto!!! Something I've never done because I have never had resources to have that much fresh basil on hand. I used dried basil practically on a daily basis... so it will be a treat for me to have fresh on hand!!! I found this wonderful step-by-step recipe and guide on how to make your own basil pesto. Click here for the link...Basil Pesto

Pasta Salad BLT

I'd have to say that my favorite sandwich... Those of you that follow me know it's a Reuben and don't get me started! LOL... But my second favorite sandwich is a BLT. I've done blogs about the sandwich, dips,  stuffed bltomatoes, etc. This is another form of the wonderful flavor of the BLT...

8 oz of pasta, cooked and cooled

8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled

8 - 10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Leaf lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper

Pinch of basil

Cook your favorite pasta (here I used rotini). Rinse and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine pasta and bacon. Add in mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper and basil—mix until fully combined. Carefully stir in lettuce and tomatoes. Serve room temperature or cool in the frig until ready to serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

I have had several requests for the recipe for the chicken pot pie I served last night at PBC. I have two other chicken pot pie recipes, but none using a biscuit topping. Enjoy!

4-6 chicken breast halves*
Seasoned salt and pepper
2 tbsp oil
1 cream mushroom soup
1 cream chicken soup
1 tsp minced garlic
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked potatoes
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chopped cooked carrots
Salt & black pepper, to taste
1 can buttermilk or home-style biscuits**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Season chicken with seasoned salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through. Remove from heat and cut into chunks. In a large pan over medium heat, cook soups, garlic, and onion and stir. Add peas, carrots, salt and pepper and cut up chicken until bubbly. Fill 4 individual oven-proof bowls or one 13x9 casserole dish with chicken mixture. pull biscuits apart (peel layers in half) and then top each pie with biscuits. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

* For another short-cut... Use a rotisserie chicken from your grocer and pull the meat off into pieces and use instead of the chicken breasts.

** You can use any of your favorite biscuits for this recipe whether they are frozen, canned or homemade. Just make sure if you use frozen, set them out for a little while to thaw. If you put them on while frozen the bottoms of the biscuits may not cook enough.

MoonPie Banana Pudding

Yesterday, I made Dixie Caviar's Moonpie Banana Pudding for my church's Wednesday Night Supper Crowd. I believe that it went over quite well... I didn't have any left and I didn't get any either! LOL I had several people tell me that it was good, but I would have to say that the jewel in my crown was little 6 month old Owen. He was grinning from ear to ear eating his Mama's banana pudding! Now that is a ringing endorsement if I've ever seen one. A child can't lie about food... you can see it in their facial expressions and their eyes! You could see it in his entire little body... Mmmmmm!!!

Well, I had Elliott with me (my 14 yr old). A storm was on the way and I would not let him stay at the house alone in severe weather... which he scoffed at several times! He helped me cook, which he hasn't done in quite a long time. He always complains, but he ends up having fun anyway! He decided to come up with a seasoning mixture that he could season some hamburger with and cook when he got home. He rooted through the herbs, spices and seasoning blends, asking me occasionally, "What's this stuff?" I told him, "Smell it! If it smells good, use it! If it doesn't, leave it alone." Well, he finished his seasoning... I was making chicken pot pie, so I gave him a piece of chicken to try it out. (I tasted it too and it was pretty darn good!) He also tried it on a cucumber slice I was cutting up for the salad. He remarked, "Wow! That's a little spicy, but that's ok! The cucumber has a cooling effect! See Mama, I've learned something cooking with you!" LOLOLOL He's a TRIP!!! At that point he made me take a picture with him. He calls this our Steven Tyler pose... 

Wow! The stuff this kid gets me to do!!! LOL

ANYWAY... back to the dessert! It uses a pudding mix, but it's mixed with heavy cream that's whipped to stiff peaks...

Ingredients... I made the pudding mixture

the day before and let it sit overnight.

Heavy Cream and Vanilla...

The pudding looks like mustard... LOL

It's just made with less liquid than usual.

and now the star of the show... 

MOONPIES!!!

... and bananas!

...and finally, the pudding mixture! :-)

Click on the link at the top of the page for a printable copy of the recipe!

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

The hubby was supposed to go out of town yesterday, but the job they had scheduled wasn't ready. So he actually got home early... Starving as usual! It was 2:30 in the afternoon! What to cook??? I fried pork chops for a scallopini the other night and could not bring myself to throw out the drippings or the seasoned flour I coated them with, so I made a milk gravy and canned it! I put it in the frig to use later. I decided to use that and started to rummage through the frig. I had a package of Johnsonville Italian Sausage left and some biscuits in the freezer. Viola! Sausage Gravy and Biscuits!

I added flour seasoned with a little basil,

red and black pepper and salt

(about 2 or 3 Tbsp of the flour)

to the pan drippings. Then I added milk

until I got the thickness I wanted.

I boiled the sausage first for a quick cook!

Then I browned it.

I cooked some biscuits... no not homemade :-(

I said this had to be quick :-)

The Hubby wanted his biscuits split and lots of them.

He actually complained that I was putting to much sausage,

and I had to take some off...

Guess who went back for seconds?????

This is mine...

I left mine whole with just enough sausage and gravy!