Monday, November 29, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 - Gumbo

Mike and I had my parents, sister, her boyfriend and Kozmo in town for Thanksgiving. We went non-traditional again this year and had chicken and sausage gumbo for our Thanksgiving meal.

Ingredients
Oil & Flour (enough to cover bottom of pot - a few heaping tablespoons usually)
Onion (1/3 cup small chop)
Bell Pepper (1/3 cup small chop)
Garlic (4-5 cloves minced)
Celery (3 stalks small chop)
Green Onions (3 small chop)
Water (6 cups)
Black Pepper ( 1 tsp.)
Gumbo File (1 tsp.)
Cayenne Pepper (1/2 tsp.)
Salt (2 tsp.)
Chicken Bouillon Cubes (4)
3 lbs. mixed white and dark meat chicken (leaving the bones in while cooking gives the gumbo more flavor... my dad does this and then removes near the end of cooking while I skip this part and use boneless)
8 links Zummo brand sausage links (boiling the sausage links before adding to gumbo will help to remove some of their grease)

Directions
Chop vegetables and slice sausage. Turn burner to medium/medium-high.

Cover the bottom of a pot in oil and sprinkle flour to soak up the liquid. Stir frequently and cook roux over medium-high heat until dark brown.




Mix in onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery and make sure to scrape up all of the roux mixture from the bottom of the pot.


Fill pot with water and stir in spices. Add chicken.

Bring to a boil and then lower heat to low. Cover and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add sausage or shrimp and green onions when 30 to 45 minutes remain.

Serve over rice. I like mine with a good mix of liquid to rice while Mike eats his with mostly rice and a little liquid, more like stew over rice, and my parents eat mostly liquid with only a little rice so its totally up to you! We always have ours with my grandmother's potato salad recipe and oven-crisped french bread slices for dipping.




Kozmo waiting under our table - the little Thanksgiving scavenger

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Cooking for a Guest!

My bestie came in town for our first ever guest stay at the new house. (Too bad the guest room wasn't finished!) We did some shopping, watched the Aggies get a win over Nebraska and had lots of yummy food!

Friday night I made these maple-oatmeal scones from Ina Garten. YUM! My recipe made way more than her estimated number of 14 scones so beware, and maybe cut in half if you only want a few. I had enough for Laura, Mike, myself, a goodie bag for Ann and her roommate as well as her sister Virginia. I even brought extras to work on Monday! I really enjoyed munching on these throughout the weekend and they were a cinch to make.

new mixer courtesy of some super nice co-workers!



Mike and I cleaned and got the house as presentable as we could, stuffing half-emptied boxes in closets and freshening the guest bath with some white hydrangeas. We've got a lot more work ahead of us (I'm referring to it as botox for the house as opposed to actual plastic surgery haha) but my parents, sister and boyfriend are visiting this week for Thanksgiving so I think we'll have plenty of helping hands to fix up the minor things and help with painting.

Saturday we had a yummy lunch (with cakeballs) at a local deli/bakery called Outta the Oven. We headed to meet Ann, her roommate Alicia and sister Virginia at the Etsy market. We were a bit disappointed... it was really crowded and hot! Hoping for a better selection in the spring. That night we went to Danny and Mitzi's to hang out with other Aggies and watch the game.

Sunday, Laura and I went on a mission to find cute boots. Super successful! She also helped me pick out a couple of things for the house.

We ended the weekend with a dinner of all Giada recipes - Turkey Milanese (made with chicken instead), potatoes with pancetta and an arugula and tomato salad with lemon and olive oil.



are we oinkers or what?

What a great weekend!

Friday, November 19, 2010

2nd Installment of the 12 Dishes of Christmas

Last year I decided to post 12 "Dishes of Christmas" on a whim. While I got them all complete during the holiday season, I decided to plan it out a little better this year (me, plan!?! crazy, I know). Anything anyone wants to see made this year?? Suggestions welcome! And of course, if you suggest it, you'll probably be invited to come over and eat it with me :)

If you need any brainstorming ideas, here is a list of the dishes I made last year:

  1. Pretzel bites
  2. Coconut shortbread
  3. Baked rigatoni
  4. Easy chunky tomato sauce
  5. Lobster mac & Cheese
  6. Creamed mushrooms
  7. Brioche
  8. Cheesecake marbled brownies
  9. Sticky buns
  10. Butternut squash enchiladas
  11. Fettucine alfredo with chicken
  12. Cream biscuits

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Wedding Photo Favorites - The Guests

Here are some of my favorite photos of our guests taken by their fabulous selves...


















Sunday, November 14, 2010

Christmas Decorating Part 2

Here are some of the cute tree decorations I've seen around Anthro and Paper Source! Who knows what will end up on our tree!






Friday, November 12, 2010

Christmas Decorating - Part 1

Ok, I realize its not even Thanksgiving... but, I've been seeing such cute holiday things in stores that need to be shared. New house = new decorations right?? Well, Mike and I have totally different styles. I like things to look good together and flow (my mini tree has white lights with white and silver decorations) whereas Mike likes random things on the tree... any color, any shape, any style. We'll see how our new tree actually turns out! While I'm searching for trees, ornaments, and outdoor decorations (seems like our neighborhood is into decorating so we've got to get on the ball!)... here is some adorable wrapping paper I'm loving from Container Store!



bear snow angels

arctic friends

wiener dog reindeer

jeweled snowflakes

tartan plaid... for ann!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Thanksgiving Prep

Sorry I've been a little M.I.A. with my posting. We're in the middle of a big, unorganized, part-painted, part-primed house so my kitchen isn't completely available to me for cooking new things! I'm only making stand-by recipes and getting yummy things out of the freezer I made in advance of the wedding/honeymoon/move (chicken and sausage gumbo, chili, and red beans).


In light of not having new recipes of my own work for anyone to check out - I've put together a list of yummy things I've been seeing online about Thanksgiving! (which is only 20 days away)


Appetizer - Stuffed Mushrooms from Giada de Laurentiis
Turkey - Simple Roast Turkey from Epicurious
Dressing - Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Apples from The Pioneer Woman
Side - Roasted New Potatoes with Red Onion, Garlic and Pancetta from Epicurious
Side - Green Bean Casserole from Alton Brown
Bread - Cloverleaf Rolls from Epicurious
Dessert - Pecan Squares from Barefoot Contessa


I am hosting Thanksgiving again... but this time at our house! We're doing something nontraditional but will be delish all the same. I'll post the menu, recipes and pics after Thanksgiving.