In our house, unless the NOLA Saints are playing, Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl wins every time! Look at this cutie: Fumble, he looks an awful lot like Lexi Bobbles. And much like our own MVP’s Leeloo and Lexi, Fumble was named MVP of the game!

Fumbles, a potential cousin of Lexi Bobbles?

Name: Fumble

Breed(s): Chihuahua/Terrier Mix

Sex: Male

Age: 9 weeks

Fun Fact: Has every Bow Wow song on his iPawd

Adoption Organization: SPCA LA

In simplewag.com, you will find articles written by us as well as others that relate to topics surrounding service dogs and working dogs of all types.

Please consider adopting him and/or one of the other thousands of puppies and dogs from shelters around the country. Both our Grrr Girls are rescues, and we couldn’t image life without them. Just imagine how much better your life with be with a furbaby like Fumble?

From The Grrr Girls, Tim and myself! Thanks for joining us on our blogging adventure in 2011, and here’s to more adventures in 2012!

Happy New Years from the Grrr Girls, Tim & Carollynn

The first recipe we attempted is from the Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine, page 500. Yes, page 500 and there are 342 more fully illustrated pages in this humungous tome! I selected this dish because the Jambalaya that is so prevalent in the DC area has two things that I don’t associate with New Orleans Jambalaya: tomatoes and pasta.

Pork, Chicken & Andouille Sausage Jambalaya

Like many Cajun and Creole dishes, there must be a thousand and one different nuances and ways to prepare them, but when I first had Jambalaya, back in the late 80’s/early 90’s it was at the restaurant (Beacham’s Jazz & Blues Club) that was attached to the concert hall (the Beacham Theatre) I worked at in Orlando. The owners of the both the theatre and restaurant/jazz & blues nightclub) were from New Orleans and Baton Rouge respectively, and they had particular notions about the right way to prepare New Orleans style dishes. That ‘right way’ colors my definition. Tomatoes and pasta don’t fit in that definition.

Since then, I’ve been on the look out for recipes that fit my particular taste. I believe this one does. Its not soupy, it has big chunks of meat (pork, chicken and andouille sausage), nary a tomato and the standard ingredients for almost all good New Orleans recipes: onions, green peppers, celery, green onions, black pepper and parsley.

Ingredients

Prep Time: 1.5 hours

Yields: 6 serving

• 1# cubed pork butt
• 1# cubed chicken breast
• 1# sliced andouille sausage
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups diced onions
• 2 cups diced celery/li>
• 1 cup diced bell peppers
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• salt & black pepper to taste
• Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste
• 4 cups uncooked long grain rice

Instructions

In a 2 gallon cast iron Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute pork 30 minutes or until dark brown on all sides and beginning to stick to bottom of pot.
(Note: He’s not kidding, it seems weird, but it does take this long.)
This process is very important as the brown color of jambalaya is derived from the meat.
(Note: Make sure you turn on the vent, or your house will smell like cooked meat for several days if you don’t!!!)

Stir in chicken and andouille sausage. Reduce heat to medium and stir fry 10-15 minutes. Tilt pot to one side and ladle out all oil except for one large cooking spoonful.
(Note: I took out too much, so I wonder what size is ‘one large cooking spoonful‘ really?)

Add onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic. Continue to cook until all vegetables are well caramelized, being careful not to scorch them.

Pour in stock, bring to a rolling boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes to allow flavors to develop. Stir in mushrooms, green onions and parsley. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. If desired, slightly over season dish since rice has not been added.

Add rice, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to very low, cover and cook 30 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes. Do not uncover except to stir. When cooked, stir and let steam 10 minutes.

Post cooking notes

Makes about 8-10 servings! Very happy with this first recipe, and ate this four more times for dinner this week. Seems to freeze well. Best reheated via stove top with a bit of water.

The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine,
Chef John D. Folse, CEC, AAC

Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans
by Marcelle Bienvenu, Judy Walker

The first recipe I ever made from this cookbook is the legendary Red Beans & Rice. Sadly, I’m not much of a beans person, so the whole mystique of this recipe is lost on me. Tim also never favored it, so we won’t feature that in this new blog series.

First recipe we’ll attempt: Pork, Chicken and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya from John Folse’s Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine.

For someone who loves Halloween as much as I do, I admit, I was pretty lame this year in terms of decorating for my high holiday. I think I made up for it with the costume I put together for the New Orleans Witches Ball:

Zombie Tim & Kerlin the Swamp Witch up close

And here’s the full length:

I look pretty good with long dark hair, huh?

And here’s the whole dark minion gang:

Here's the East Coast Chapter of the Dark Minions. Pretty swank group of ghouls don't cha think?

Anyway, back to decorating… So on our walk yesterday, I was inspired by the strangely gorgeous colors of the fallen oak leaves. They were rusty brown on the top, but if you turned them over, you found a dusky purple that was oh so beautiful. Here’s what they look like styled with my white pumpkin in the front entry table.

White pumpkin styled with fallen oak leaves and turtle shells

Oak leaves and white pumpkin in a footed compote.

Up close of the white pumpkin and oak leaves

The mini pumpkins found a new home on the cocktail tables in front of the sofa. I know its not much style wise, but less than a $2.00 investment, they’re a small decoration, that makes a colorful impact

Mini pumpkins on the cocktail table