Photos.......

I was able to get new batteries (I can't believe they were DEAD again already!)put into my camera a few minutes ago so I wanted to post these photos on here quickly.

I have a million other things I SHOULD be doing...even at this moment.
I am having a horrible "time management" problem today. I'm totally distracted for some reason and am not getting much of any one thing done.

It's okay though. It will get better I think..... I'm hoping that it will anyway. HA!

Here we go........cabinets first.


My husband did all the painting and work....although our middle son who is a "high end" cabinet installer by trade helped his Daddy put in the cabinets. Mainly help hold them in place while my husband did the instillation. HA!

Next up "Gumbo"....and I will have to explain the first photo for you because it will look.....well....odd.What do YOU think is in the bowl along with the gumbo??
IF you guessed...."a hard bolied egg AND potato salad" you guessed right and let me now explain. I know.....it's weird. But they do that here.
Sort of......depending on where you live.

We lived in a small South Louisiana town for several years. The people there really ARE "Cajuns" much unlike many of the people in the big cities here in LA.

When I first learned to make gumbo in the city we lived in before moving......I was taught with a "mix" and to add "okra"....which is more of a "New Orleans flair"...and they don't do that in the area we used to live in. HA!
IT was in fact...nearly appalling to them.

So....a lady came to my house when we lived in the smaller town, and TAUGHT me how to to make the....."real gumbo" not one from a mix. I used to make it in a MUCH larger pot when my family was larger..now with only 4 of us...there is no need to make so much. It still will last us two days or more. I used "ANDOUILLE" sausage in this gumbo. I usually don't because those sausages have "scary" things in them.
I normally use a low fat turkey or chicken sausage but I did it different this time and the Andouille was spicey HOT...even for my husband. I'm going back to the other sausage. It works for us.

You ALWAYS have potato salad with gumbo in those parts of Louisiana and they do it as well in the restaurants here where we live. Served on the side usually.

However in some parts of the state, like where we lived before....they put it right into their bowl. Which is how I learned to like it.

Another thing......the hardboiled egg came into play because "if" you ran low on "meat" in your gumbo pot say....on the second day of serving it or whenever....they "stretched" it by adding "hardboiled eggs".....so I also got used to that as well.
Believe me I thought it was VERY FREAKY at first.

Now I like my gumbo with an egg and a dollop of potato salad....in the bowl.

Hey.....I HAVE seen worse so this isn't bad at all and the tastes are all quite good together actually.

Now..."Chicken legs, chicken necks, gizzards, livers, hearts." That's some really scary stuff when it's dished into your gumbo bowl at someone's house....but.....
it isn't all that bad at times.
And let me say that "Cajun" people are highly resourceful "food wise."

Cajun food is VERY good and it is world reknowned...you better not ask what is in it though and IF you do....just be prepared. HA!

"Blackbird jambalaya"......yeah, I'm SURE not into that.