Unconscious Mutterings

Unconscious Mutterings 

1. Master :: Debater
2. Tour :: Grand
3. Input :: Outgo
4. Downtown :: Uptown
5. Pricey :: Dear
6. Acceptable :: So-So
7. Terrace :: Veranda
8. Sunday :: Monday
9. Payoff :: Jackpot
10. Jack and Jill :: Went up the hill

Malnutrition Monday, Part 4

Today’s feast comes to us courtesy of Emeril Lagasse: Jambalaya Pudding.

Jambalaya? Good stuff, dude. Lots of vegetables, a variety of meat if you want it, spiced up with a rice base. There’s not a thing wrong with jambalaya. At least, not until you turn it into Jambalaya Pudding a la Emeril. Then you’re going to add 1 cup half-and-half, a cup and a half of heavy cream, 5 eggs, 2 roasted quail, and a bit of butter, just to fatten things up.  Honestly, I’d prefer to stick with plain old jambalaya. Not, of course, that there’s anything plain about it.

Faith’s Jambalaya:

• 1-2 pounds meat of your choice (optional). Usually I’ll do a combination of low-fat smoked sausage and chicken, but your choices are limited only by your imagination.
• Olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped (leaves and all)
• 2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes with chilis (use hot or mild, whatever you prefer), undrained
• about 6 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make a vegetarian version)
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 cups long-grain rice, uncooked
• Fresh parsley, chopped, about 1/4 cup or to taste
• A pinch or so of cayenne pepper, if you like
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Tabasco sauce to taste

In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil, and cook the meat (if you’re using any) until it’s done. Remove the meat, and saute the onions and garlic. When they start getting a little brown, add in the celery and cook it for another minute or so. Then add in the tomatoes, broth, and bell peppers. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for half an hour to 40 minutes.  Stir in the rice, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the rice is cooked. Stir in the parsley, salt, pepper, tabasco, and any other seasonings that catch your fancy. Serve hot.

And if you feel the irresistible desire to make jambalaya pudding with the leftovers, let me know how it came out.

Things To Remember

Man, I should have turned 26 again a long time ago! It’s just been such a wonderful, wonderful time. I want to make sure to remember this. 

Friday morning:

• Coming to work and finding a grape ape explosion in my office
• The florist delivering a lovely bouquet of flowers from Sarah-Bear.

Friday lunch:

• Closing my eyes and holding my breath every time R. made a crazy driving move, and hearing L-squared in the back seat praying ’cause she thought she was about to die. 
• R. getting embarrassed when she blurted out, “But I don’t like it!” very loudly when another patron asked what she was eating.
• R. and L-squared both hiding their faces as soon as I pulled out the camera.
• My first bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola (sugar, not corn syrup, and really tasty).
• Me inadvertently projectile spitting right into L-squared’s eye. Man, even if I’d aimed, I’d never have gotten that great a shot.
• R. and L-squared laughing hysterically as my face got redder and redder after the projectile spit-bomb.

Friday afternoon/evening:

• Shooting off the remaining poppers onto my VP’s desk.
• Joe seeing the money chain dangling from my bosom, and adding $20 to it because he loves me more than anyone else.
• Watching The Golden Compass with Joe, L-squared, and the incomparable Izzybella, all of us drooling whenever Daniel Craig was onscreen. Well, Joe wasn’t drooling at Daniel Craig. He was drooling at the woman playing Serafina Pekkala. But yeah. Droolage happened.

Saturday was just as wonderful a day as Friday. Joe and I started off having breakfast at IHOP, and I splurged on pumpkin pancakes. Really good, I’ve got to say, with maple syrup. And we went grocery shopping, then came home for a long winter’s nap. (The nap was necessary because Joe woke me up at 6 a.m. to tell me something that he couldn’t wait any longer to tell me.) 

I went to a book signing with Clover. Candace Havens, author of Charmed and Dangerous, was just as lovely as she could be. I got a copy of the book for myself, and picked one up for Jehara as well. She’s also written a biography of Joss Whedon, which I shall check out from the library forthwith.

And then Joe took me and Jehara out to a late lunch at Red Robin, shopping at the mall (we adopted two seniors from the Angel Tree), and then to see The Golden Compass. We’d actually hoped to see Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, but our timing was off, and Jehara had a date after the movie. But I honestly didn’t mind seeing the movie a second time, because I truly liked it. They did a marvelous job of adapting a dense novel into a very watchable film.

Then it was back home to put up the Christmas tree (finally), and fell asleep while The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was playing and the Christmas tree lights were shimmering like tiny stars.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect birthday.