Jambalaya...from a New Orleans local!

As many of you probably know, I am so proud to call New Orleans home. Growing up there has left me with so many memories...one of them being the fabulous food and local po-boy shops that you can find on almost every corner. I remember the nights when my dad would come home from work with a bunch of shrimp and oyster po-boys for dinner and we just wait by the door for him to arrive :) Those were days. Jambalaya is another recipe that brings back memories of growing up. My mom always made it and still does to this day. She was nice enough to send some to me to take the beach last weekend. Everyone LOVED it and wanted the recipe so thought I would share. I hope you enjoy this little taste of NOLA as much as I do!


JAMBALAYA

1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp white pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp sage
1 14oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/3 stick butter
1 1/2 cups converted rice
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into slices,and browned
1 rotisserie chicken breast,deboned, in pieces


Mix salt, pepper, thyme, sage and set aside. Brown sliced sausage in skillet and set aside. In a large pot, saute the onions and celery until softened. Add garlic. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasonings, incuding the bay leaves. Add sausage, chicken, and rice and stir and bring to low boil. Reduce heat and cook uncovered over low fire until rice is done ( about 25-35 minutes). Stir periodically while cooking. Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce may be added to taste. Serve with French bread or garlic bread.

More Color!

Ok, so I have been finding myself painting A LOT recently so thought I would share some of the new pieces I have done. Enjoy :) (The photography is from my camera phone and is really bad so please excuse!)

Fripp and Fabulous Friends!

This past Friday I headed down to Fripp Island, SC for a reunion with all of my best high school friends! Catherine was nice enough to offer up her adorable beach house (which was called “Fripp Flop.” :)

No other word can describe the weekend other than PERFECT. The weather, the company, the food, the area…it was all so wonderful. With everyone living ALL over the place (NYC, Charleston, Charlotte, Raleigh and soon to be Austin for Hannah and her hubby) it was amazing that we found a weekend that worked for everyone! Everything just came together…

I left early Friday morning and got to the beach around 2ish. The last hour of the drive was filled with some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. I even pulled over on the side of Lady’s Island and took some pics of this picturesque marsh and pier!


Catherine, Megan, Christine, Hannah and I all arrived around 2:30ish and headed to the beach to wait for Erin and Keeley! It was beautiful and not crowded which was nice.


While we were all hanging out and catching up, we met the sweetest old man and his dog Skippy who we ended up chatting with. He asked us watch his adorable puppy while he went for a swim :) He was so cute and reminded me of my paw-paw

Erin and Keeley FINALLY arrived that night and we just caught up more over a great dinner (thank Megan!) and drinks and chatted the night away. This was the first time most of us had seen Keeks since she got engaged so we had a little toast and celebration. She also just got into grad school so there were many things to toast to!

The whole crew!

Saturday morning we woke up to Catherine’s amazing breakfast casserole and yummy treats before heading to the beach again for the day! Some of us road bikes and others piled onto the golf cart with all of the beverages, towels and the food.

The ride to the beach was so pretty and serene…we kept calling Fripp “Happy-ville” because it was so perfect, ha.

There were deer everywhere because Fripp Island is a wildlife sanctuary...


While we were at the beach the second day we met up with our friend and Skippy again. They must have a walking date every day…it was precious.


We hung out on the beach ALL day...boy was it HOT! The ocean water even felt like bath water.


Failed attempt at a "jumping" picture
We left the beach around 5:30ish and headed in to freshen up for another fun night! When we got back to the house, we sat out on the beautiful porch that over looked the marsh and chatted over fabulous wine and Christine’s AMAZING homemade fried green tomatoes while everyone got ready.


There was an outdoor shower that Megan used every night, ha

I was assigned to dinner on Saturday so I cheated and had my mom send my brother down with some of her delicious New Orleans style jambalaya when he was in last weekend. I also did garlic bread and a big salad...I think it was a hit! The rest of the night was just full of pictures, funny stories, and TONS of laughs. I miss this crew SO MUCH!

Overall it was such a perfect reunion weekend. I hate that everyone is all over the place but I’m so thankful we found one weekend where we could reunite, even if it was only for a couple of days. Thank you girls for making this weekend such a blast! Love ya’ll! I say the next reunion is in Austin (cough cough Hannah!)

On the way home, I stopped at an adorable little roadside farmers market and bought some delicious looking cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and peaches! I can’t wait to eat them this week.