Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Don't worry, be happy!


It's Wednesday and the week is almost over, whoo hoo!

I hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the week. :)

What being a "Cajun" means to me!



I remember being a child and not understanding what being "Cajun" was all about. All I knew is that my ancestors were from Europe and Nova Scotia, that Cajun people talked real funny, that they cook crazy dishes that people in other places think is gross. I was supposed to be proud of that?! We eat crawfish, a soup made of scavengers called "Gumbo," kill pigs by stabbing them in front of hundreds of people (a boucherie), listen to zydeco aka "chanka chanka", go "crabbin" by putting chicken necks on a string and dangling it in the water, celebrate a holiday that tells women to show their boobs for cheap beads....i mean, to a child, this is just weird.



The older I get, I've been able to embrace my heritage to the fullest! I enjoy everything and wouldn't live anywhere else. How strange that 10 years ago I was wondering if we were on our own planet! Now I realize that I'm part of the coolest culture in the world. There's nothing like it.



My dad's first language was Cajun French. I guess you could say it's a slang version of regular French. He's a Broussard (definately French) and speaks to his elders only in French.



The movie "Waterboy" with Adam Sandler was, for most Cajuns, a kick on the face. It was funny as hell but portrayed Southern Louisianians as unintelligent, red-neck and uneducated. But who cares what Hollywood thinks anyway??

Gumbo is on my top 5 dishes. Josh always says "Gumbo again?" when we go to a restaurant. Ha ha!

Let me debunk some myths:

*We do NOT live in the swamp. It's nearly impossible as your house would sink!
*We do NOT keep alligators as pets. It's illegal.
*Only special people eat raccoons!

That's all I can think of right now. Anybody wanna add anything???

Monday, September 21, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERYN!!!


MY BEST AND DEAREST FRIEND'S 27TH BIRTHDAY IS TODAY.

ERYN CLAIRE LAVIOLETTE WAS BORN ON THIS DAY IN 1982. THANK GOD SHE WAS....BECAUSE WE WERE MEANT TO GROW OLD AND GREY TOGETHER..oK, MAYBE WE'LL JUST KEEP DYING OUR HAIR.

We met in 2003 (from what we both remember) when she started working at PetsMart. I had already been there a few years. We didn't get along at first, maybe because we are so much alike??? I hate that, but I think in time we've made up for the bad stuff! We've been roomates, cry-mates and fun-mates! Alot has changed in 6 years...ALOT! Eryn's got a beautiful baby boy named Konner, who is 15 months old.

it's my birthday, yaaaaaaaay!!!!!

I LOVE YOU E. You're the best. We've both been through rough times and I'm so glad we've had each other.



We've had great times together! Done crazy, fun and stupid things...



You're so animated!



and crazy...



ok, super crazy??



We've been through lots of hairstyles...



and for being so tiny and fun-sized, you sure do have TONS of personality!



I just love you....


Have a great day, ok??? Hoochie!!!

And don't forget to "run it, run it!"

Saturday, September 19, 2009

...and God said, "Let there be deer!"

If you are reading this on Saturday morning then guess where I am???



Right now I'm sitting in my tree stand waiting to shoot my first deer of the season (with a bow for the first time). Heck, maybe I'm already cleaning my deer!

I've been waiting for this day for 8 months now...can you imagine the anticipation?

I hope the Mathews doesn't fail me like the muzzleloader did last year!!!



Come on big guy, come to momma!!!!



And if you decide to hide, there's always next weekend...

Friday, September 18, 2009

With this ice cream, I thee wed!



Rave of the Week: Blue Bell's new "Grooms cake" ice cream

"Groom’s Cake Ice Cream is a luscious chocolate ice cream with chocolate cake pieces and chocolate coated strawberry hearts, surrounded by swirls of strawberry sauce and chocolate icing," as per Blue Bell's website.

I wasn't a big ice cream or chocolate fan til Josh came along. Now I eat these at least twice a week, maybe more. I know, I know, NOT healthy!!!!

We tried this for the first time last night. Soooooooooo good. You've gotta try it!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Spotlight book: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch



As we all know (unless you've been living in a cave), Randy Pausch died last year from Pancreatic cancer after been given only a few months to live.

Turning his death sentence into a Bestselling book and lecture, Randy, a college professor, died leaving his 3 children and wife with more than most parents are able to dream about leaving their loved ones when they die.

I decided to put down my third Twilight book and read "The Last Lecture" after Josh hinted that it would do me some good. I'm so happy that I did. I've never read a book that taught me so many life lessons and excellent tips on how to work with people the right way. He also talks about our childhood dreams and how no matter what, we should try to achieve them.



"Just because you're in the driver's seat, doesn't mean you have to run people over," he says when talking about having the upper hand as an employer or in your personal relationships. "Play fair." Chapter 35 is all about steps in teamwork, things we should all do daily to be happy and make things run smoothly in our workplace even though others aren't doing the same thing.

When talking about his daughter in the book and all women, he suggests not to listen to what men say, to pay attention to what they do. EVERY woman should learn from this. Often men will say “but I love you,” “you mean the world to me,” “I want to be with you forever.” Oh yeah??? Don’t say it, do it! I’m very lucky. I'd rather my significant other never say anything and just do it, ya know? He makes my job at doing the same VERY easy.

Randy giving his "Last Lecture."

Another quote and by far my favorite, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." I sure do my share of complaining, but I needed this quote to remind me that "hey, suck it up and turn it into something positive." No matter what it is!

"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." Another good one!

I sure wish I had time to blog about the entire book but that wouldn't leave you wanting more. I'll be honest, I was crying by page 7, didn't cry for a while after that and then cried some more later. The book is really brutally honest about the way we behave and treat each other. I truly do believe that every human being should read it (or watch the actual lecture) and since finishing it I can honestly say I've tried to follow some of its important examples.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Mmmmm...it's bacon!!! Turkey bacon that is.

SAVE THE PIGGIES....




EAT TURKEY!

....gulp!


I never eat regular bacon anymore, in fact it grosses me out.......yuck! Turkey bacon is the only bacon I'm masticating these days. Lower in fat and tastier than pork bacon, turkey bacon is the best thing since sliced bread (and tastes good on bread too!).

I figured I'd take it upon myself to rate the most commonly sold turkey bacon in the grocery stores these days. I've really only seen 3 of them and have given each several shots at pleasing my tastebuds.


OSCAR MEYER:

I'll give this one 4 out of 5:

Taste is good. Texture is nice. You'd think the King of Bologna would have the best. I buy this one the most because it's the most commonly found.


Jeannie-O:

I'll give this one 0 out of 5:

Jeannie, Oh no!!! What were you thinking? This one claims to have the lowest fat content of them all and I'm sure it's true since it tastes like cardboard. Takes FOREVER to cook and has an AWFUL after taste. YUCK!

Butterball:

5 STARS!!!!!

By far the BEST bacon i've ever had. Great taste, great texture......yum! :)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Teal Hunt: Opening Weekend

My first teal, THE first teal, of the season shot by anyone in our hunting party. I'm beaming!

9 birds, 6 people. I guess it could have been worse:




I took some pics when there was no action:




Sunday we scratched. The bad weather snuck up on us really fast. The neatest thing were the pics I got from the east:



and west:


We stumbled across this guy in the woods when we checked the game cams later that morning:





Cottonmouths are so poisonous but my curiosity outweighed my fear.

I think the older I get, the more brave I become.

Bow season opens Saturday.....so, that's 5 days til bow season and 3 1/2 weeks til vacation, whooo hooo!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Vegetable Medley: a great snack to take to work!

So OK, i ripped this one off of a co-worker but I know she won't mind. It's really a healthy snack and didn't sound or look appealing the first time I saw it but now I'll probably eat this for as long as I'm still breathing:

Vegetable Medley:
1 red bell pepper (orange or yellow is good too!) cut into chunks or slices, whichever you'd prefer
1/2 cup of block cheese cubed (any kind will do, i prefer sharp cheddar)
1/2 cup of mini-pickles (you all know my favorite, see my previous post about pickles)
1/2 cup of green or black olives
1/2 cup of baby carrots, tomatoes, whatever you can conjure up!
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt (optional)
1 sandwich size Ziploc baggy!

Put peppers in first so that they stay at the bottom of the bag. Add all other ingredients and lastly add oil and salt (ew, i don't put salt but my coworkers like it). The oil will seep to the bottom of the bag where it will mainly stay on the peppers but still coat everything else. You can shake the bag around like I do just to make sure the olive oil coats everything. Refrigerate and take out 10 or 20 minutes before you want to enjoy. Olive oil tends to thicken when it's cold and will return to liquid when its room temp again. If you don't keep it refrigerated, the cheese will start to fall apart due to the liquid in the bag. I always prepare this the night before so that i don't have to cut up everything in the morning. It really doesn't take that long but I NEVER wake up earlier than I have to on a week day.

Some days I don't add everything on the list, just what i have in the pantry.


ENJOY! :)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Quote of the Day: Anne Frank




Isn't this a wonderful quote? Let's all be thankful. :)



Have a great and beautiful weekend!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Holy Buffalo!

Earlier this year I ate buffalo for the first time. I was kinda iffy but ate my Cabela's Buffalo burger anyway and man was it yummy!!!! I didn't realize how lean the meat was going to be. It almost tasted like a turkey burger...somewhere between turkey and lean beef.

Wednesday afternoon I went to Super 1 because they had a few necessities on sale and walked past the meat selection. Low and behold, they have ground buffalo! And might I add, no growth hormones or antibiotics. :)


Ok, so maybe everybody knew that but me?

Anyway, I took the meat, added an egg, breadcrumbs, chopped jalapenos and seasoning and threw it on the George Foreman.



As soon as it was done I slapped some mayo, mustard, mozzerella and avocado on that bad boy and it was gone in 60 seconds! Super yummy....why not expand your horizons and try something new?



Got Buffalo?

Friday, September 11, 2009

Teal season is here!



Starting at sunrise tomorrow morning the teal will be falling down....like rain!

As the song says "Make it Rain" and that's exactly what I plan on doing. :)

Teal season is finally here and we have the privilege of taking 3 cops hunting with us. This should be interesting...4 grown men (3 cops and a navy boy) and little old me. I'll make sure and wear my pink boots just to remind them who is boss.

There are only 2 types of teal that are prevalent where we hunt, green and blue winged.




Surely I don't have to point out which is which, right?

I've never seen them, but cinnamon teal are supposedly common to this area during the winter. Here's a little pic:



I have 2 favorite birds to eat: wood ducks and teal. There's nothing like a good rice and gravy!



HAPPY HUNTING!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Spotlight Blog: Inside a Black Apple




I've been following "INSIDE A BLACK APPLE"'S blog for quite some time now. You can find her and her amazing works of art at: http://theblackapple.typepad.com/inside_a_black_apple/









Check out "Oddfellow's Orphanage" prints are now available at etsy.com.


She's an absolute genius! Her paintings remind me of Alice and Wonderland meets Mother Goose and her prints are finally available online! She also creates beautiful hand made dolls.