So, I am considering today Day One of Mate's trip (even though she is still in the country and even though this stop was not planned until two weeks ago). Today, Mate is in Miami, Florida to cheer our Saints on to victory at the Super Bowl. She will be sitting in section 246, row 9, in a seat somewhere between 1 and 8 (almost her whole family is there).
Even though the Super Bowl will be played in Miami, I did not cook Miami food. I cooked Louisiana foods. We are going to our friends, Julia and Jason's house. We will meet up with our friends Say-rah and Stephen there. Bob and I may be the only Saints fans there, but we will make enough noise, do not worry!
So, here are the things I made:
Red Beans and Rice - to make this, you go to your grocery store and buy a box of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice mix. You make it according to package directions. There is no need to mess up a good thing here.
Natchiotoches Meat Pies - I got this recipe from a girl I acted with at Louisiana College, Christine Causey, now Hutchins. These have been a hit every time I have made them.
You need the following ingredients to make these: 1/2 lb ground beef, 1/2 lb spicy sausage, 1/2 small can of tomato paste, 1/2 onion chopped, 1/2 can Rotel (with juice), 1 frozen pie crust (and, I substitute 1 1/2 lb veggie crumbles for the beef and sausage in mine)
And, here are the instructions:
- Thaw the pie crust until it is soft and fold-able.
- Brown meat (or crumbles). Add all other ingredients and let simmer for 10 minutes until thick.
- Put mixture in half of the pie crust. Fold the other half over and seal.
- Bake at 250 for 20 - 30 minutes.
I also made a King Cake. When Mom told me it was $82 to ship an Atwood's King Cake, I decided to make my own. This recipe I got from Mate.
For the cake, you need: 3 cups flour, 1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 cup margarine, 4 tsp yeast, 1 tsp salt, 3/4 cup scalded milk (this means to bring almost to a boil, stirring constantly), 1/2 cup sugar and 1 egg.
To make the cake, follow these easy steps:
- Dissolve yeast in water.
- Let sit 10 minutes.
- Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, margarine and 1 1/2 cup flour and mix until smooth.
- Add remaining 1 1/2 cup flour and knead.
- Please in a greased bowl, cover and let sit for at least 1 1/2 hours.
- Divide dough into 3 parts. Roll into tubes and braid.
- Make a ring of the braid.
- Cook at 375 for 20 minutes. While still warm, insert baby (we used a golden baby...for the Saints!).
For the icing, you will need: 3 cups confectioners sugar, 1/4 cup water and colored sugar (I found purple, green, yellow and black at AC Moore craft store)
- Mix water and confectioners sugar until smooth.
- Pour over cake. And, before it hardens, cover cake with colored sugar.
And, last, but not least, we made some Saints cookies. We made one batch for our Sunday school class and will make another for the Super Bowl 44 crowd. To make these, you buy a tube of Pillsbury Sugar Cookies, cut out in circle shapes (unless you have a small fleur de lis cookie cutter...mine is too big and I only would have gotten 4 cookies per batch!), cook according to package directions, let cool and then decorate appropriately. Fleur de lis can be tricky to draw in icing!
Now, I must go and get ready to watch my boys win their first Super Bowl title. Please help me cheer them on. And, remember...look for Mate.
Next stop in our Around the World trip, Fiji. See you there!
Whoops...I misspelled Natchitoches. Sorry, Mom. Thanks for catching that!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I did not say it in my post, but the Meat Pies are 12 WW Points (when made with beef and sausage) and 6 WW Points (when made with veggie crumbles) for 1/4 of the pie. The King Cake is 6 WW points for 1/12.
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