highchef

Abita has an airport??? Shit, and he landed here at an airforce base.... just kidding, Brooks...I'm jealous bebe'

FEMA Gumbo Recipe First, have a disaster of some magnitude. Then start cleaning out the freezer when the power goes off. In hindsight, this should probably be done the night before the above disaster, but if you’re an optimist just do it by coleman light. First. Very importantly, go through the FEMA line and get ice, MRE’s and WATER!!! This is utmost importance, cause when the power goes down, so does the WATER!!! (at least in a BIG emergency). Second. And this is serious, cause most recipes will start with first make a roux…but this is the second thing cause you had to get the FEMA water first. Remember? So. Make a roux, and make it good, cause the mosquito’s gonna carry your ass away before long. Don’t burn it dammit..just keep it right. Now, throw in all that cheating stuff you’ve got stuck in the freezer. You know, the trinity they named ‘seasoning blend’. You’ve got it and you use it now, use it or lose it., drop the temp of that roux a bit with that and throw in the carefully made stock you have (yes, I did) or canned crap if you don’t. and add the FEMA water to taste. In the meantime, you have peeled and deveined (yea, right) any and all of your and neighbors supply of shrimp on hand. And checked freezers for crabs (yup!) and oysters(another yup!) and crawfish. Put the crawfish back…..they are for tomorrow and should never have a part in a gumbo. Period.. With roux, trinity and stock simmering, add seasonings to taste…I like Tony’s, but I always add fresh tarragon to mine. If you don’t have it don’t worry about it. I’m the only Louisiana woman I know who does it anyway. I’m a lucky woman. I have access to a man who actually makes file’ powder. Put some rice on and put the file on the table. Honey, if that doesn’t turn you on, on this board, nothing will. The next day it became….. More to come.. edit: two beers after the stock, add the shrimp... duh.

Sur la Table has stacks of paper baking pans that look cool and wrap easily and no cleanup. I looked the other day when I was in Houston and they were about 20 for under ten bucks, which is worth it to me because I bake loaf breads for gifts and this really saves on the cleanup. They also had cake and cookie boxes as well as candy wraps etc. So does Williams Sonoma, but they are a bit more there. Tuesday morning has GREAT holiday tins and such, cheap and cute. Bags etc....unfortunatly mine was taken out by Rita, so I may have to do the higher end thing this year...serves me right for waiting, the stuff was there before the storm , but I didn't want it hanging around for 2 months....live and learn.

That, Racheld, is beautiful.... I'm glad my tree is sitting in the front yard where I see it everytime I look out. People stop and get out of cars too check it out, most have never seen anything like it and the rest have memories like yours. Thanks. Patty

No, I don't. and if you have any idea, please let us know. The whole gulf coast as we used to know it is gone. Not just New Orleans. Trust me. Patty

Hey, everyone, we are back home and except for the carport and the trees, it went well. I took it 8 days (left Sat. for Houston, there were too many loaded guns downstairs and one of them was about to go off) and left for the woodlands. I couldn't go sooner as my sister, bless her had 5 people from N.O. with her. They left Fri. and I showed up with my 2 youngest Sat. night. I did cook, and clean and shop for her though and left that huge house with 4 nights sleep and some good stuff I can't find in Chuckville (Lake Charles). I still have to post the FEMA gumbo recipe, but give me a couple of days....I got in at 3 and had to make an emergency beer run, but this town is out of beer. spent high dollar for a case. The Sheriff in his glory has declared hard liquor off limits for 'until further notice'.....I have no idea what prompted this except that when the guys around here work, they work. when they can't work, they party. I guess that's ok....we're working in the yard again and that means BEER!. I have the hard stuff. That's for this weekend, after we get dh's office cleaned and ready for Monday. No FEMA check, but I think we'll still get one after I go online and update that we did leave after all.... What did me in in the end??? mosquitos. When the only cool place in your universe is on your porch and they're spraying with big old military planes....well, you know the world as you knew it is no fun. That was time for me to go. Fifi..I'm glad you got some camping experience from this. I'm sorry about the Houston Gridlock, we had the samething here. I had friends who took 4 hours to get to Welsh from here and turned around and came home. Brooks....hellov a good shrimp gumbo. come around. I'll cook you one. Patty

I'm ok for now, winds are high and rain is pretty much coming in sideways...I feel like forest gump. I keep getting a feeling like it'll be ok, we have plans to go down the street to the hospital if need be. keep thinking of us, and praying if that's ok with you, I really would appreciate it. things in b.r. are ok for now but most of the areas around here have lost juice. I'I keep on as long as I can, but by the next hour or so, I will have lost electric. I can live without for a while.... yes, Brooks. I am cooking the shrimp first. come on down...Monday. With a chain saw. Love to all, over and out. Patty edit: I still cannot spell

Well, I have to go to bed. I cannot watch it anymore. I am at home and plan to stay here because there's no getting out. I'll try to touch base, but Brooks will know if we're ok. Good night everyone. Patty

I am putting this here, because there is a board for La. and another for Tx., I want everyone to know that we are actually getting some steady winds from this storm. I cannot leave at this time, there are mitigating circumstances, one of which is 2 very stubburn people who will not leave, both in old age and ill health, one is a neighbor and the other a brother. I don't care about the food in the freezer anymore. We have a generator which will live upstairs with us until we can get down and dirty. Everyone has left, but we are staying because we are needed on several different levels. I hope Houston is ok, I hope we're ok. I'm gonna cook some teal tomorrow night while I have juice...I haaaate to lose all the veal demi, so do you think I can throw that in with the teal? I know this is not the time to worry about such stuff, but I really put a lot of work (not to mention on line tutoring) with this stuff and since it's about 100 percent sure we're going to lose power sometime tomorrow please tell me how to cook with it. I can freeze the outcome, and maintain for a while....at least while the gas holds out. Thanks.

just watch what you buy, if you're going to be using it a bit more than usual, get the bigger one, even if it's not on sale. and buy another bowl for it so when you really get into it, you can really get into it. I wouldn't give you my kitchenaid for anything, or my stick mixer either for that matter. those are the two most valuable 'toys' in my kitchen. that's just mho.

We're anticipating being on the east side of this storm. I have a large amount of shrimp, as well as ducks, teal, fish etc. in the freezer.. I've already decided to take out the ground veal, pork and beef in order to make room for frozen containers of water just in case. I've put things in this order to cook if I lose electricty. first the shrimp. we have an outside fryer and oil and I paid too damn much for them not to eat them. I'll have to do the same with the fish, asap. It makes the worst mess when it thaws, so I want it out of there pretty quick. We also have a gas cooktop, so I can do jambalaya with the sausage and chicken next. We do have a generator, so I can pull from the deepfreeze into the fridge and be safe. I hope all of my egullet Houston friends are going to be safe, I am praying for all of us. If you have any ideas for advance food prep. please let me know asap. We'll be fine, but say goodbye to our boat. we are south of interstate 10, but not by much, so if this house survived Audry, it should be fine. I think the Woodlands will be ok too, but I am really, really worried about the old lady neighbors. Don't worry, we'll feed them, but if the juice goes off there's only so much gas for the generators to run on and only soo much food. I bought lots of peaunut butter and bread and snacks to bring the kids through, they are out of school since today through till monday. Given that they've already gone through half of what I bought, what should I pick up tomorrow? i'm just asking i guess, what are you doing to get ready???

I've often heard that the biggest concern of squirrel hunters is looking up and missing the snakes at their feet. This is not a problem here. I am issueing an invitation to anyone who thinks they can do it quietly enough not to bring on law inforcement, to come and help themselves. I am serious. That's the reason for the bb gun. quiet. There's also some sort of german pellet gun I saw smuggled upstairs the other day, but so far no sign of tails. I'm gonna hold off on any cooking of said squirrels till after we get some cold weather. Which, since it was 98 yesterday may well be in Jan. They are not off the hook, just out of the pot for the time being. Since I am the only woman among 4 guys, I do not take out the trash and I do not skin anything. However.....they actually all know how to skin a rabbitt, so this wont be tooo hard. Thanks

ok, squirrels are not on the menu. ever. period. I am totally freaked. However they will be dead meat soon, or at least a good deal of them. The persimmons. Russ, the whipped cream thing sounds wonderful, and yes, I think you and sanrencho are right. I do think they are the hachiya. I am familiar with the native type. We have them on the property in arkansas. they are tiny, compared to these. These are big enough to do something with and the tree is loaded. I froze a few last year and I could have easily killed someone with one had I needed to. Now that I have a name, recipes should be easier to find. Thanks.

These are not the firm persimmons. They get quite mushy when ripe and are impossible to eat before 'done'. Think pucker, then triple the reaction. If I tried to hang them, I'm afraid they'd simply fall apart. This is the reason the chutney recipe didn't work, they would not stay in any form at all, just went to mush. They are called 'japanese persimmons' according to everyone around here, but I'm beginning to suspect that that's a misnomer. Thanks for the suggestion to check the other link. I shall do that.

Ducky, you are a genius. My mom had a copy and it's still at her house. Don't think my brother needs it. Thanks for the referral!

Rest assured, squirrel brains were not even a remote thought in MY brain! But I know plenty of people, granted mostly older, who'd love to have the meat. I'd make a stew maybe for dh, or gumbo, but that'd be it. I'm just looking to see if it's safe. It'll be a moot point soon though, cause I think he's just about had it with them. I don't want to cook or give away 'bad' meat. I'm gonna play this one safe. If they start on the persimmons before they're ripe though, I'll be shooting them myself! If this offends anyone, in our defense...they are everywhere and cause no end of damage to cables and produce. I was hoping the local cat population would help out, but I think they are seriously outnumbered.

I have a dozen pecan trees and a beautiful persimmon that are all loaded and almost ready. The squirrels have been tearing into the still green pecans and getting po'd when they bite into them, and throw them onto my metal roof on the garage. My son thought we were being shot at when this started a couple of weeks ago. It brought back something an old neighbor lady of ours used to say..that when the squirrels go after the pecans too early it meant we were going to have a really bad winter. I don't know if that's true, but dh is ready with a bb gun and is going to get at them soon. I've also heard (from another old guy) that squirrels have to get hit by a freeze before they can be safely eaten. Since I subscribe to the adage that we should eat what we kill (I do draw the line at snakes!), I wonder if anyone else knows if this is true. I may make an exception in this case, cause the way they're going we arn't going to have any pecans left. This began right before Katina by the way, maybe they got freaked out by some barametric pressure change. They have not hit the persimmons yet, but they're ripening fast. They tend to ripen pretty much at the same time, so I pick them all at once. If you have any recipes for them, please let me know. I have pudding and cookie and bread, and one for a chutney that won't work with these because they arn't the firm type. When they ripen, they're very soft. I've finally convinced the boys to stop lobbing them at each other (made a mess, but they had a blast until I caught them), so I may actually be able to do something large with them..like jelly for Christmas gifts. There isn't a lot of info out there on persimmon preserves and the like and I'd really like some tried and true recipes. Has anyone ever combined persimmons with cranberries for a relish? I'll experiment when they ripen up, but if you have any ideas, please share. Thanks in advance. If I ever get my digital camera back I'll try to catch one in the act of carrying a persimmon up the fence. The things weigh almost as much as the squirrels, but somehow they do it! I guess it's God's way of at least letting me get a laugh from the situation!

I have 3 intimate affairs wih coffee. the first is a&p, this from shopping with my mom. 2 is something to do with Shreveport...mom was with it for a while, very different smell when it brewed. 3 is Community Coffee, which I grew up on and hubby did too. I use mid roast because he likes dark and I like lite and this one is perfect, Iespecially dripped into a french drip pot. I have guys who worked on this house 4-5years ago stop by for a cup. good stuff. As far as sugar, it's domino's....regular white and evaporated milk if you have it. It's so rich, and dark and creamy it makes everyone very happy.

I guess 'beans, beans the magical fruit' is out. Sorry, I hear it a lot with all these guys around. They can't see a bean with out singing it. edit: or see my sig at the bottom, one of my personal fav's!!

I'd call the Diocese of Lafayette and get some names of the older and/or cajun priest. There are quite a few of them and they know a great deal about food culture in Louisiana. The cajuns are mostly catholic, and the parish priest have always had a place at the parish's families tables. I know there was a tradition we used to have of leaving a place setting for an angel..after mom had 8 kids there wasn't anymore room for the angel's seat so the custom stopped in our home, but that may have been an irish thing. \ The priest are quite good historians and most of them are teachers in some capacity so would probably be quite willing to help you. Good luck!..If I get any specifics from the locals around here, I'll let you know.

I think takomabaker is talking about things like washing the bottom of your shoes (dog poop) or cleaning tools like my hubby does and makes the whole sink/kitchen smell like gasoline. In his defense, he does not have a sink outside, but there is a hose that will do just fine to rinse off that thingamagig that he's been soaking in gasoline for a few hours. I cannot stand the smell of gas and/or oil in the kitchen. It plays havoc with my culinary muse if I've been lucky enough to get one....

I didn't know where you were going with that velvet rope thing for a minute! If I could I'd have every single thing off my counters, but then they'd just jump to the kitchen table (which is crowded enough with my laptop).

There is too much crap on my counters as is, but when dh comes home it's full of charts, cards, keys (I am sorry, no one on this earth has more keys than the key master himself than my own dear husband) and just crap. His bitch: I leave the ovens on My bitch: he shuts them off when I go to the bathroom and I have to reheat them. don't assume. Hell, when the cake's frosted and the ovens are still on, then bitch. My bitch: He leaves food out all night, and since he gets up at 5 and I get up at 6 he puts it in the fridge before I get up and claims to have done it after he ate when he got home. I started feeling the stuff to see if it was cold. busted his butt after a couple of cases of food poisioning. Our dogs eat very well. My bitch: he is never on time solution: everyone eats when it's hot except him and he can help himself later.. problem: see above. we've been married forever. It's just still so frickin' frustrating. my advice to newlyweds..enjoy the sex.

a sauce for gilled salmon.. add to a vanilla ice cream base., serve on top of cantalope. wow! that sounds good!

I thought abused fish too... I had to check it out, you never know. What about a tempura?