Cajun Week

When friends and I stepped into The Brick House in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for a Cajun wedding reception, we immediately fell in love with the Mardi Gras-themed decorations. I mean, does this say “Louisiana” or what? Every table was different, and it all added to the festive family-party vibe that made us not want to leave.  This building is a former warehouse now put to use as a catering center — a perfect solution to old downtown spaces I wish more property owners would consider instead of letting their buildings just sit there. But there was hardly any sitting at this wedding reception, as the zydeco music got folks up and dancing and the buffet line beckoned with andouille-stuffed mushrooms, fried eggplant, crawfish pasta salad and other yummy Cajun dishes.  And this wedding king cake! Oh my goodness! Have you ever seen such a fun wedding cake? And it tasted delicious, too. The top tier was deep chocolate. Then the middle layer was a rich cream-cheese pastry and the bottom layer was raspberry — and we had samples (Oh, OK, actual real pieces. Big pieces, in fact. Actually, I think that was just me.) of each one. Even though we had driven 12 hours and hardly knew anybody but a handful of people, we had a blast — Cajun folks are wonderfully friendly and hospitable and we instantly felt like we were family. And, by the way, don’t my friends and I look stunning? We spent a lot of time and effort trying to look good so we wouldn’t embarrass our friend, the mother of the bride — the one who’s  smiling so big in the center. After this experience, I can highly recommend Cajun weddings. In fact, if you ever get an invitation to one, do not hesitate: RSVP immediately! You won’t be sorry. And come back here tomorrow for more Cajun Week.

Food

If you don’t have your Labor Day weekend menu planned yet, consider these two quick, easy and extremely wonderful salads. My friend Sherry Campbell, director of the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center in Florence, Alabama, that’s part of the innovative business incubator Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, made these salads for us during a recent cooking class — and we all gobbled them down and asked for more. The class focused on end-of-the-summer fresh and local ingredients and simple recipes for entertaining. Her menu included chicken roasted with figs and port wine — yum! Check out the Culinary Center at http://www.shoalsec.com/.

End of Summer Supper Salad

Cook 1 pound unshelled raw jumbo shrimp* in 3 quarts boiling water until pink. Rinse shrimp in cold water, cool and shell. (If holding more than 10 minutes, chill in refrigerator.) Bring water back to boil and add 1 1/2 pounds trimmed green beans until tender-crisp, about 3-7 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Meanwhile, whisk together 1/3 cup rice vinegar, salt and fresh pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon coarse or Dijon mustard and 2 minced large garlic cloves. Whisk in 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil until dressing is thick and add a thinly sliced half medium sweet onion. Toss shrimp and green beans with dressing. Arrange sliced tomatoes around edge of platter and mound salad in middle. Sprinkle with fresh basil, scallion slices and fresh lemon juice. Serves 4. *You could also use chicken or tofu in this recipe. You’d cook the chicken, of course, with your preferred method — the tofu can be used right out of the package.

 

Italian Panzanella

Whisk together 1/4 cup each red-wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Add 2 cans rinsed and drained cannelloni beans, 3 cups cubed country bread, 1 pound plum tomatoes cut into smaller pieces, thin slices of English cucumber, thin slices of red onion and 4 ounces diced provolone cheese. Toss, cover and chill 2-8 hours. Just before serving, stir in fresh basil. Serves 4. Note: Sherry also used bell peppers and celery when she prepared this. “Just use up whatever fresh veggies you’ve got,” she said. “That’s the whole idea.”

Fashion

I am pretty much the messiest eater ever. I literally cannot get up from a table without a shower of crumbs, I carry stain removal products with me at all times and my husband begs me not to drink my favorite strawberry-flavored drink mix in the car because I leave splatters of red everywhere. This problem led me to create the Cathy Wood Method of Wardrobe Selection, or, How to Coordinate Your Clothing with Your Food So You Don’t Look Like the Slob You Truly Are and Your Family and Friends Will Eat with You Again. Intrigued? It really works! No more hastily pulling on a sweater to hide the coffee dribbles. No more holding your purse in front of you to distract from the gravy droplets. You will be free to eat and enjoy without fear! Read more at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090826/SW/908259959/1085.

And while you’re there, read other Shoals Woman articles, such as the story on Halloween food, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090826/SW/908259955/1085 with my friend Kara Sams, and  another story I wrote — a guide to retirement planning, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090826/SW/908259973/1085.

Friends — and Bad Poetry

Do you see that huge guffaw of laughter coming out of my mouth in this photo? Trust me, it’s there. And do you also see that strange look on my husband’s face, almost as if he were embarrassed about something? Trust me, he is. We were at the annual — or whenever we can get everybody together — Wild Drunken Brawl that our friend on the left organizes. And don’t worry: It’s not wild, the drunkenness is overstated and no brawling is allowed. Instead, we all gather at a beautifully peaceful farm near Manchester, Tennessee — which most of us claim as our hometown — and spend the evening reminiscing around a campfire. We lucked out this past weekend with unusually cool and clear August weather and had a fantastic time. Since most of the crowd also graduated in communications from nearby Middle Tennessee State University, our trips down memory lane include our shared college days. One of my friends who was attending her first WDB brought with her a copy of Collage, the MTSU literary magazine that most of us worked with at one time or another. For this particular issue, my husband John Pitts (he wasn’t my husband then, although we were friends and did date sort of off and on) had done an interview with Steve Martin, who performed at MTSU  just when he was on the verge of greatness — an interview which still reads well today, decades later. However, also in this Collage was a poem my husband John Pitts had written, and that’s what we’re looking at in this photo. It did not read well decades later. I can’t really describe this poem. There was a lot of angst and beer-drinking and something about some woman and lonely nights and even though we called for the author to give us a reading around the campfire, he quickly declined. I can’t imagine why. And of course this gave me an idea for a book: A collection of bad college poetry. It’s gotta be a bestseller.

Crafts

I think this is the best baby-shower idea ever: Hand-painting onesies. I helped co-host a baby shower with friends this past weekend and early in the planning stages a couple of the gals said, “We have something you’ve never seen before and everybody is going to love it” — and they were right. At the shower, we set up a couple tables and offered the guests plain newborn white onesies with a variety of paints, markers, brushes and stencils. At first there was palpable art anxiety as women who declared they had no talent or skill whatsoever were a bit apprehensive about producing a work of art, but soon everybody was designing and creating like pros. It was a great icebreaker and mixer — and of course the mom-to-be ended up with some adorable clothes and great memories. You also could turn the onesies into a baby quilt or frame the painted sections for unique and personalized wall decor. It so reminded me of birthday parties when my now-20-something-daughters were young and we’d turn them loose outside with paints and T-shirts — remember making stamps out of sponges? The baby shower, however, was a little more restrained. But no less fun.

Memorial Day

Capt. Adorable's other grandparents, Sharlie and Buddy Behel, of Tuscumbia, Alabama. See? I can share!!!

The back porch of the Behels' log cabin

Were you lucky like me and got some good family time this Memorial Day? I count myself lucky — and blessed — because my daughter’s in-laws consider my husband and me bona-fide family and invite us to every holiday gathering. And that’s a good thing because I would hate to miss out on all the food and fun that results whenever two or more Behels gather together. Sharlie and Buddy Behel, my daughter’s in-laws, are some of the most generous and hospitable people I know. Their home is always open to family and friends — nobody’s a stranger. They sort of adopted me when my daughter first started dating their son — I was a single mom then without family nearby and with characteristic kindness they took me in right from the start. And since I’m only a year or so older than their oldest son (my son-in-law was their surprise third baby), Sharlie and I feel more like sisters than in-laws once removed. You can see from the picture how much I care about them — I don’t share Capt. Adorable with just anybody!

Food

Okay, has anybody out there tried the Ziploc Omelet? A friend e-mailed the recipe to me and I’d never heard of it but an Internet search pulled up lots of references. As usual, I’m probably the last one to hear about this! Here’s the recipe, from the e-mail:

This works great and is good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet.
1) Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

2) Crack two eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than two) and shake to combine them.
3) Put out a variety of ingredients such as cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
4) Each person adds prepared ingredients of choice to their individual bag and shakes. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.
5) Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13-15 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
6) Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.
Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and it’s a great conversation piece.

What do you all think? I could see where if you’ve got a crowd in the kitchen and everybody’s hungry it’s a great way to feed lots of folks in a short amount of time. On the other hand, I’m not sure about basically eating boiled scrambled eggs. One of the best parts about cooking and eating omelets is the brown crunchy bits on the bottom mixed with the melted cheese and of course with this you don’t get that yummy flavor experience. But there’s definitely a fun factor here and I can see where it would be  entertaining. I may just experiment on myself with this first — but keep a skillet handy just in case.

A Week of Spring — Pink and Green

It’s day No. 2 in A Week of Spring and we’re taking a look at those wonderfully fresh and pretty spring colors that make us smile. I spend most of winter in black turtlenecks, so as spring approaches I’m definitely ready for something different. I love finding blooming spring colors in unexpected places, like this gathering of pink, green and yellow at Harrison Brothers Hardware in Huntsville, Alabama. On the city square since 1879, Harrison’s is part museum, part antique shop and part gift boutique. These spring gotta-haves were between the massive old safe and the tempting candy aisle. Sweet! I’d take everything, from the pink and green toile trays to the mint-green glasses. But my favorite is the pink-and-blue paisley ice bucket. For some reason I cannot resist cute ice buckets. I’ve got a gazillion, including washtub-sized ones we’d need for my daughters’ high-school parties and smaller sizes like this one that are perfect for book-club night. I mean, really, how many ice buckets do you need? But that’s what spring does to you — makes you start planning parties out on the deck. With plenty of pink and green. Come back tomorrow for day No. 3 in A Week of Spring.

A Week of Spring — Entertaining

Here in Alabama the tulips and dogwoods are in full bloom with the irises close behind, so it must be spring! No matter the weather — mornings are still chilly around here — we’ve all got lighter and fresher on the mind. So this week I’m taking a closer look at spring things that have caught my eye. First in A Week of Spring is this beautifully set table my friend Cheryl surprised our four-woman book club with this past week. Although it really was no surprise — Cheryl’s one of those gracious hostesses who makes you feel so welcome and special, like she’s waited all day just for you to come over. (I’m the one who answers the door with, “Oh, hi. Was tonight our party? Well, uh, come on in but watch out for cat hair.”) Cheryl also is one of those smart shoppers who knows where to find bargains and stocks up when the price is right so all she has to do is pull things together. The butterfly-print tablecloth and napkins, the china-flower napkin rings and the pretty floral plates needed only a few spring blossoms for Cheryl’s menu of fresh green salad and a light pasta salad. And since we read “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortens0n (we liked it both for the history and culture and also for the inspiring story of the difference one person can make in the world), we had plenty of tea. And wine. Come back tomorrow for day No. 2 in A Week of Spring.

Birthday Parties

Grandson Capt. Adorable celebrated his first birthday in style, with even his Grandad John taking a break from sports news to wish him a happy one. In keeping with the whole dragon and little prince theme, the birthday boy got crowns on his T-shirt and bib, a dragon cake and a soft purple crown for his precious baby head. The hit of the party, however, was Capt. Adorable’s discovery of balloons — or “oons” as we had to call them to avoid setting off a frenzy. To celebrate the first-birthday occasion, balloons were everywhere — even festively tied on to his high chair. It was the first time he’d ever seen balloons close up and he was fascinated. When his mommy gave him one to hold, he clutched the ribbon tightly and would not turn loose as he spent almost a half hour tracing a joyous route from room to room. The joy stopped, however, when the balloon would drift up to the ceiling and the Capt.’s desperate wails brought the nearest tallest adult running over for retrieval. His smart mommy realized that getting him into his high chair for lunch amidst all the balloon decorations would not work at all, so she took him into another room while the co-conspirators removed all “oons”  and when he came back in distracted him with — what else? — cake. Success! “Oons” forgotten — for the time being, at least.