Louisiana crawfish and Arkansas crystals

Hello everyone! We are back from our trip and going through the spoils. I'll post trip photos later on this week--for right now, here are some food shots. Yesterday, our last day on the road, we drove through southern Louisiana. So, of course, we picked up some crawfish and decided to make etouffee. Every time I make etouffee, I use Kathryn's recipe, from Smoky Mountain Cafe. It was exciting to finally have some crawfish involved! (I usually use shrimp) I followed her recipe almost exactly, just subbing some hot peppers for the red bell peppers. I have no idea why, but red bell peppers are $5 a lb right now at the store and I just couldn't justify that expense.


We bought these from this crazy little seafood shack that was way back in the middle of a neighborhood! We thought we had bad directions at first, but after winding back on side streets for 10 minutes, we found the shop. It doesn't have a web page, but you can google "LA Cajun Seafood & Market" to get the address and visit next time you are in Rayne, LA.



While the etouffee simmered, we pulled out toothbrushes and started cleaning the crystals we found in Arkansas. Again, we visited a place with no website, but what a fantastic business. Here is an article about them, Gee and Dee Crystals in Mount Ida, AR.


It was really neat--we followed Dee up a dirt path to the "mine" which was actually out in the open. The key to finding the crystals is to sift through the dirt and look for flat pieces that are almost black in color. When you pick them up, you can see if its quartz or crystal. This was a ton of fun and reasonably priced, too.





Then we cleaned up and had some etouffee on the back deck. I love traveling, but it is definitely nice to be home.

the coolest crazy beautiful demon song...and of course, more pizza

I don't really thing I need to describe this. Just two of my most favorite things (besides Tavo) that I happen to experience today.

Hot Pepper and Pineapple pizza...sweet and spicy!

Swedish sisters...(harmony--did you guys learn it in church, too?)

Michigan in the summer

Hello guys--okay, a quick side note. The COOLEST thing in the world happened yesterday....someone recognized me from my blog! A stranger! Isn't that awesome?? I was picking up my vegetables from the CSA and she said, "Do you have a blog?" I (of course) was so flabbergasted that I didn't get her name or find out anything about her. So thank you, kind stranger from Michigan, for noticing and telling me! You made my week!

We're gearing up to head out soon but in the meantime, we did take a quick jaunt up to Michigan to see my family. Can you believe that Tavo had never been to Michigan during the summer?? It was high time to show him that its not all snow and slush ;)

Here we are at lovely Lake Huron--Mom, myself and Linds.

The giant tire and sea doos, of course!

Linds and Paul, excavating..
Tavo and I at the night concert / laser show! It was right in the county park, and the lasers looked really cool on the trees. (You'll notice in all these pictures, I am very rarely without a beer..)

Linds and Paul at the concert..
Our friends Kristin and Jason--thank you so much Kristin for taking all these photos!!

All the ladies at the beach.

...and all the gents :)

What's a weekend at the beach without a bonfire?

...and what's a bonfire without setting off fireworks from someone's mouth? (No one was hurt!)

Notice how the number of drinks I have is increasing..

This was later set on fire....and put back on his head. Then he ran into the lake. Again, no one was harmed (whew!)

A great time was had by all. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad, for hosting all of us!

Roadtrip 2010

We're planning it--here's the route thus far...

Penne, Eggplant and anticipation

The CSA box this week featured quite a bit of eggplant (and TONS of okra--any suggestions? I just threw it in the freezer for some winter gumbo...but I have enough for about 4 gumbos...) So, this is one of the most basic things you can do with eggplant, but oh, it's really, really tasty!

Eggplant, cubed, salted and rinsed--witness Kosher salt--then sauteed with some onion and garlic. I deglazed with a bit of wine for the eggplant and a bit of wine for me.

Added a can of crushed tomatoes, some jarred cherry peppers and simmered down until quite thick. Too thick, actually. I wish I had gotten some cream to thin it, as it was I added a bit of broth. This is pre-broth.

Cooked some whole wheat penne and garnished with parmesan and some basil from the garden. Now, normally, I am NOT a fan of eggplant skin--it ruins the whole texture for me. In this case, however, I had very young eggplant and Japanese eggplant, so the skin was thin, subtle and worked just fine. Hooray!!

We are headed to Michigan this weekend, and I can not wait! I am also prospecting a career change--I'll let you know if anything happens. Can you believe that Tavo, in all our years, has never been to Michigan in the summer? Blasphemous! So, we'll take copious photos and hope the sweet corn is in up north. Have a good week :)

Tons of vegetables!!!

So, the Community Shared Agriculture of this year gives us about twice the amount of fruit and vegetables as it did a couple years ago. We still use Huckleberry Hill farm in Alabama--they are wonderful. Thank goodness the drought is over!! Now, what do I do with 10 squash/zukes and 6 eggplant?

For the squash / zucchini, sautee with an onion, some peppers, butter, salt and pepper to use for a summer casserole. Okay, we can call it a "Frittata" or "Crustless Quiche" for those of you opposed to the word casserole. I admit, though, I do love a good casserole. I use 4-5 zukes/squash, onion, salt, pepper, 4 eggs and a cup of cheddar. Very egg based, and that's how I like it.

Also roasted some eggplant and some tomatoes. Okay--so, if I'm turning on the oven in Georgia, in August...I'm going to cook everything I need to in the oven for the week, so I don't have to turn it on again! The eggplant is for more baba ghanoush--which I posted just last week. I like to have a little tupperware of that all summer to dip veggies and bread in.

The tomatoes were for a basic red sauce. Note to self--chop the stems off tomatoes before roasting and / or dumping into pot. Lazy Lini. I put a pat of butter, half an onion, and a dollop of wine. Such a simple sauce, but this is quite excellent. Add a bit of tomato paste or some canned crushed tomatoes to change the consistency, but this is a simple sauce. Do not add much more.

Oven on? Let's get the week's bread done, too. Simple french bread, with wheat flour, white flour, water, salt, sugar and yeast. Pats of butter on top, bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Here's my "summer casserole." See how good it looks? I can eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just add some hot sauce ;)

Roasted eggplant. I peeled them but they are very unphotogenic. Sorry guys. The white eggplants peeled especially well--I should do something to showcase their unusual color next week. Also threw some garlic in on my roasting pan....one exploded. Whoops!

Grabbed some snips of basil for my red sauce and for....

Finished bread (no, basil was not for this)

...the basil is for PIZZA! What, you think I'm going to make red sauce and dough....but no pizza? Come on now. You know me better than that. Here's the dough, red sauce, and I found my goat cheese to be moldy (noooo!) so I just dealt with a basic parmesan.

Baked, with some more fresh basil on top. Even sans cheese, I still loved it. I put crushed red pepper and honey on it.

Have a fantastic week, guys! I'm planning on going swimming tomorrow...and we're thinking about going on a road trip this fall--maybe the Grand Canyon. Any suggestions? I'll play my favorite "road trip" band to get us in the mood...

Much Love to the family of BuffaloDickdy

Richard DeYoung was one of my first blog readers and I owe so much to him for teasing and cajoling me into good cooking and of course, showing Michigan pride. He has passed away and we will remember him as an excellent cook, a great writer, a man with a joke and an inspiration. We are so lucky to have found him through food blogging and will always remember him.

Thank you, Buffalo. From my Detroit heart. You will be missed.