I am teaching...

Starting Monday August 28th, I will be teaching two computer classes for five weeks. I will teach a Monday class for beginners and a Tuesday class for intermediate students. So far I have two students in my beginner class and six students in the intermediate class. The class consists of retired school teachers so I know I will have intelligent students. Who knows if I get far enough with the intermediate students, I may even show them how to blog.

Octopus Eats Shark

Apparently octopus pwns shark.

A few pictures..

Noah and I blowing bubbles

Joe smiling for the camera in his new hat.


You can tell he is up to something.

 

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I made a gumbo yesterday and boy did it come out good. One of my favorite past-times is cooking and since I am a cajun, I know how to cook good cajun food. For those of you who like to cook, I am going to share my recipie for chicken and sausage gumbo. I like to share this recipie because in many places in the country seafood is expensive. One thing that you should know how to do before making a gumbo is how to cook a roux. Instead of trying to explain how to cook a roux, I will send you to this excellent site that describes the process better than I could.

http://www.cookinglouisiana.com/Cooking/Making-a-Roux.htm

Boil 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts. Skim off the top. Do not over cook the chicken or it will lose all of its flavor.

Make a roux of 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/2 cup of flour in a large stock pot until dark brown. {almost looks like melted chocolate}

Add a package of seasoning (onions, green onions, bell peppers, celery) to the roux. You can usually find the seasoning either in the vegetable section of the grocery or the frozen section. (If you can't find it use a 2 large onions, 1 bunch of green onions, 2/3 cup of celery and 2/3 cup of bell pepper and chop them so they are diced. Do this before you start the roux because it will be too late after.) Add two heaping tablespoons of minced garlic. Cook until the onions are clear.

Add two pounds of sliced sausage of your choice. Cook until it looks like the sausage is starting to plump out a bit and the juices are starting to flow.

Chop up your chicken and add it to the pot and check the amount of chicken stock you have. You want about a gallon of liquid in the stock pot. Add the chicken stock and water until you have a gallon. If you don't want to add water you could buy a couple of cans of low sodium chicken stock.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of Creole seasoning, usually I use Tony's Chacheres or Zattarans, a small splash of Tobasco -- that's about 4-5 drops, 1/4 teaspoon of cumin, and 1/2 cup of dried parsley .

Let it come to a low boil for about 10 minutes and then turn it down to simmer for a minimum of 40 minutes. Add filé to taste and serve over rice.

If you can't find filé in your area, you can buy it online:
http://www.zestgourmet.com/store/gumbo-file-p-120.html

The longer the gumbo simmers the more flavorful your gumbo. You will also find that gumbo tastes even better the next day. :-) Enjoy and let me know if you like it.

Update on my Condition

I am starting to feel better. My neck and back are stiff. I have been going to a chiropractor so I think that is helping me more than anything else. On the X-rays of my neck he found that my top three verterbrae are not moving independently. Hopefully with time and some adjustments this will be corrected.