Foto Friday: Summer Fun Recap!

As I prepare for my return to Academia this coming semester (new parking pass, textbook reservations, getting my pic snapped for my all-new-student ID, because apparently my original one from 1998 is a little out of date, paying tuition--$224 a credit hour now!!!!), it occurs to me that “summer” is coming to an end.  Not the blinding summer heat, or this ridiculous drought, but the “summer” as defined by “school” is definitely ticking away.

Therefore, I’d like to take this post & dedicate it to reminiscing over the fun things we’ve done this summer!  That way, when I’m sitting in class next month sweating over the chemical components of fibrous clays, I have something to reflect back on with a smile.  So here’s just a few fun pics from the Summer of 2012.

May: Annual Memorial Weekend Trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama!

Sometimes, low lighting blur makes for an awesome photo op.

That would be my husband getting pummeled by his best friend while we wait for dinner.

Also—dolphins can surf:

June-July: Float trips!

I should clarify something here, in case there’s any confusion.  In Missouri, “floating” involves a canoe and occasionally paddling.  Whereas in Louisiana, “floating” involves an inner tube and a prayer that no trees get in your way.  Either way, you’re not moving very fast & can easily kill most of a day with your friends.  We got in about three float trips so far this year, which is a pretty nice way to spend a Sunday.

This is my floating hat.  I bought it for $2 at WallyWorld in December.  It pays to shop off-season.

The Pugster also loves to float and swim, although he spends much of the day trying to get into someone’s lap, or into someone else’s boat.

He is less than fond of his life jacket though.  However, when you have a small dog who frequently likes to go AWOL, a life jacket is essential.

Mainly because it has a handle.

Rocky sez: Algae iz tastee.

 

June: Somewhere during the summer, I got addicted to Bubble Safari on Facebook…and apparently, it got addicted to me, too…

Geez, Monkey, co-dependent much?

 

June: We took my folks up to Kansas City to watch the St. Louis Cardinals slaughter the Royals.  My dad is a die-hard Cards fan, so I like to take them to one of the “I-70 Games” each year as a Father’s Day gift.  This year, we teamed up with my cousins and aunt to make it a family outing!

 

Yay tailgating with the fam!

Yay beating the Royals! Go Cards!

 

July: We took a jaunt about 4 hours north to Columbia, MO for an Independence Weekend camp out. Rocky made friends with some alpacas:

 

And then he made friends with a gi-normous Great Dane:

…who later decided he didn’t want to be friends with Rocky anymore, and attempted to literally bite his head off.

Yup.  That be’s pug-blood.

Alas, Rocky’s still young & ornery…whereas Diesel (the Dane) is older and gets crotchety after midnight.  We’d like to think Rocky learned some sort of life lesson from all of this…but no, after he was patched up & calmed down, he was right back to his antagonistic lil’ self.  *sigh*

July: The Hubs & I celebrated our one-year anniversary!  We made a week-long celebration out of it, starting off with a quick work trip down to Louisiana, then a fancy dinner at Fire & Ice here in Springfield:

 

Left: Flavored butter for our rolls—raspberry and orange.  SO good. Right: Some of the best creme brulee I’ve had in YEARS.

And we finally ate the top tier of our wedding cake, which was still moist & delicious, thanks to AmyCakes:

 

Then & Now: Vanilla Buttermilk w/Triple Berry Compote.

We also received this GORGEOUS handmade ceramic casserole dish from my friends Kathy & Matt in New Orleans as a belated wedding gift. 

Kathy & I are old friends & fellow cheesemongers from Martin Wine Cellar back in the day, so Kathy’s only request was that the first dish I make in this beautiful piece of artwork be SUPER cheesy.  And I am true to my word!  Stay tuned for seeing this dish featured in a blog post coming SOON!

 

July: My husband MADE FLOUR.  Seriously, this still blows me away.  He is so stinkin’ resourceful!

We also had some very tasty beer.  I love trying new summer seasonals, and this was my fave of Summer 2012:

Grapefruit and GINGER.  It’s a refreshing citrusy ginger beer.  I love it.  So much so that we asked Finn’s to put it on tap.  Thus far, no dice, but it was worth a try.

 

July: We also rented a pontoon for a day and had a lazy day on the water at Lake of the Ozarks with six of our friends.  I brought my camera…but didn’t take a SINGLE PIC.  I just think of it as a sign of having a really great time—I was enjoying myself too much to bother with photos.

 

August: The Hubs & I volunteered with our church for Project Partnership to help paint a local school.  Springfield is a city of about 160,000 people with 55 public schools in the district.  As such, maintenance is just severely underfunded. Without the community’s help, the schools in this area would only get renovations & upgrades (painting, landscaping, minor construction/repair projects) completed every 20 years—but with the assistance of Project Partnership, the schools get these well-needed updates every 8 years.

 

The Hubs & I are in this photo from the local news: He’s the blue shirt up on the ladder, & I’m the blue shirt just below.

There were about 300 volunteers this year and while they had slotted the whole day (8am-5pm) for the work, we finished up all the painting & construction projects by 1pm.  We sometimes catch a lot of flack for attending a megachurch (weekly attendance averages 9,000 between the two campuses), but I’m proud to be a member of a church that provides so many opportunities for community outreach, and sometimes it’s our sheer numbers that makes so many amazing things possible. 

This summer, our church also sponsored a “Bags by the Bumper” campaign: on the first Sunday of each month, patrons could bring a bag of groceries to church & leave it out by the bumper of their car, and the parking lot attendants took care of bringing everything in.  All the groceries go to local families in need through our One Heart community outreach.  We also did a “Stuff the Bus” drive, both at the church & at various drop-off locations around town, where good Samaritans could fill a backpack with one set of school supplies and drop it off for a local kid whose family can’t afford supplies.

Even if only half the people at our church participate, that’s still 4,500+ bags of groceries & sets of school supplies.  Not even counting what non-church members in the community might donate.  It’s totally awesome to be a part of something like that.  My husband & I have been truly blessed in our lives—loving families, good friends, college diplomas, steady jobs with decent paychecks, one devoted but mildly psychotic dog, no debt but our house… we couldn’t ask for more & wouldn’t want to. 

To be able to turn around and bless others is really what life should be all about. :)

(Early) Thirsty Thursday: Sno Balls-- Louisiana’s favorite (non-alcoholic) frozen treat.

This time tomorrow, I’ll be somewhere in Mississippi or Alabama, on my way to VAY-CAY-SHUN in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  And since I’ll probably be too busy playing in the surf, snorkeling, or chowing down seafood to blog, I figured I’d just go ahead & post this a little early.  You don’t mind, do you?  Thanks.  Youze the bestest.

 

~~~~~

While in Louisiana last week, I found myself in sweltering 95-degree heat in dire need of something to cool me down.

 

And in when you’re in Louisiana, that means one thing: SNO BALL.

 

What, you were thinking the Other Sno-Ball?

Well…those are good too.  But we’ll be talking about the shaved ice kind today.

If you’re like me (aka, NOT born-n-raised in Louisiana), you grew up with similar but inferior frozen treats—AKA the Sno-Cone.  Shaved ice served in a drippy little paper cone and available in three flavors: Blue, Green, or Red.  Typically available only at the State Fair or your hometown festival, along side funnel cakes & bad nachos.

 

My husband even asked me, “why don’t they just call it a Sno-Cone?”

And the best answer I could come up with was, “…because they don’t come in cones?”

 

And the variety of flavors available in these stands (typically open at least 9 months of the year) scattered across Louisiana blows your average everyday State Fair Sno Cone out of the water.

There are easily 100+ plus sno ball stands in the New Orleans metro area, and everybody has their own favorite.  Typically, it’s the one that’s closest to your house, or the one you grew up with.  For me, it was Sno Wizard, which was just a few blocks away from my house on Magazine Street.  They had a fantastic pink lemonade flavor & their smalls were served in a mini Chinese-takeout type box. 

(Seriously…how flippin’ cute is that???)

 

But here I was, dying of dehydration in METAIRIE—not in my old stomping grounds, and I’d never gotten a sno ball in Metairie.  So I had to enlist the help of a seasoned NOLA veteran—my friend Nanette.  I told her my location & she directed me to SnoBall Hut on Veterans near Lakeside.  Her recommendation?  “The Wedding Cake, always.  With sugar free syrup and sweetened condensed milk. I know it defeats the purpose of sugar free, but I love it.”

Good enough for me!

The laundry list of available flavors was quite tempting…

…but no.  No.  I had a recommendation, and was determined to try it out!  One small Sugar Free Wedding Cake with condensed milk, please!

 

Crisp, clean & pure, just like a pretty wedding cake—I sorta wanted to find a pretty flower to add as decoration.  And thank heaven for that condensed milk.  The sugar-free “wedding cake” syrup (very almond-y) had twinge of that “fake-ish” aftertaste, but the richness of the condensed milk totally balances it out, & it really is like a fancy wedding cake with tons of buttercream icing.  YUM.  But kinda rich; I could barely finish it.  Probably should have gotten the kid’s size.

Nanette’s other favorites: “Bubby’s Sno Ball stand at Fleur de Lis & Harrison.  Still—wedding cake flavor.  Also: Hansen’s Sno Bliz on Tchoupitoulas.  Try the Satsuma flavor.  And be sure to ask about the Satsuma Path to Enlightenment.”

 

I felt compelled to ask my other friends what stands they recommend, so here’s a couple other recommendations, too!

K-Rod: “Dreamsicle at the Casey’s on West Esplanade & Clearview, or Honeydew at Sno Shak on Jefferson Highway.”

Primo: “Plum Street Uptown. Usually Cherry.”

 

I think the next time I’m down that way, I need to venture over to Scuba Steve’s on the Westbank.  As if the name isn’t cool enough, with flavors like “Dinosaur Egg” (mango & blueberry) and “Toxic Waste” (bubblegum & sour apple), it sounds my kind of place.

Crawchos!!! (aka Crawfish Nachos)

This is an invention of my cousin Primo’s, that he dreamed up back in the day when we were still roommates in Lafayette.  Of course, back then, it was just an idea, a loose concept.  But since that time, Primo’s had a chance to perfect it into a pretty tasty dish.  And while I was down in Louisiana for work last week, he was cool enough to teach me his recipe.  This makes a pretty big batch, so it’s great for a party, and a great way to use up leftover crawfish tails after a boil!


Ingredients: (this has been slightly health-i-fied from the original)
32 oz block of Velveeta (2%), cubed
8 oz fat free cream cheese, cubed
14 oz can sweet corn, drained
2 tbsp jalapeno slices, diced
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
10 oz can of Mexican Rotel, drained
4-6 oz light beer (I’ll recommend Abita Light to keep it Cajun)
1 lb crawfish tails (preferably leftover from a crawfish boil so they have some good spice)
1 tbsp dry Crab Boil seasoning
Tortilla chips
Sliced green onions or cilantro (optional—we didn’t have them, but I think it would make a nice garnish & add another pop of flavor)

Directions:
In a large skillet, heat the corn over medium-low heat & season with the Cajun seasoning.  Stir occasionally.  This is to pull some of the moisture out of the corn, to give it a crunchier texture.  After about 5 minutes, add the jalapenos & continue to stir.

P.S.  Now’s a good time to have one of these:

(My favorite time of year—Strawberry Lager season!)

And of course, what’s an episode of FeauxCajun Kitchen without some canine sous chefs?

(“Furreals Dad…just ONE piece of cream cheese.  But don’t try stickin’ that heartworm pill in there again. I’m on to your schemes.”)

In a large pot, combine Velveeta, cream cheese, rotel, crab boil seasoning, and beer over medium heat. 

Stir periodically until smooth & creamy, then add crawfish & corn mixture.

Continue to cook until crawfish are heated through, stirring frequently to make sure the bottom doesn’t scorch.

Arrange your chips on a plate and then pour the crawfish cheese sauce over the chips.

Proceed to chow down!!!

Nutrifacts (makes 12 servings):

Calories 370.2
  Total Fat 13.7 g
  Saturated Fat 6.3 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 2.9 g
  Cholesterol 88.0 mg
  Sodium 1,869.9 mg
  Potassium 359.8 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 34.0 g
  Dietary Fiber 2.4 g
  Sugars 8.1 g
  Protein 26.7 g

FotoFriday!

Another whirlwind week at work…not much time for cooking, alas!  Technically, more like “not much time for uploading the things that I DID cook this week”, but tuh-MAY-toe, tuh-MAH-toe.

 

Thankfully, it’s again time for my quarterly visit to the MammaLand, good ol’ Louisiana.  So maybe I can find some blogging time at the airport to get caught up, and then be ready to share Louisiana food-ventures with you (after work, of course.  Work comes first.  Gotta earn those calories!)

Keep your eyes peeled for a special guest appearance from my cousin Primo, as we have plans to whip up something special while I’m down. 

Meanwhile, I leave you with a few photos from the MammaLand.

1. My favorite road sign in all of Southern Louisiana:

(I have never, ever seen a bear here.  This sign LIES.)

 

2. A cute friend I met during last quarter’s work:

 

3. You WISH your mailbox was this cool.  …and so do I.

 

4.  This was taken in 2008—my coworker & I were out doing a wetland delineation & a storm blew up around us.  The radar showed that it should move through pretty fast and it was about lunch time, so we waited it out in the truck & spent the better part of half an hour trying to capture some of the AMAZING lightning that was going on around us.  This was my best result.  I love how you can actually see it all the way from the top of the cloud down to the trees.

LiveJournal Tags: photos,fridays,travel,trips to Louisiana