GD, we love Aidell's sausages! I usually get the chicken and apple, but recently found spicy mango with jalapeno at Target. Very good! Allison, here's how I make gumbo. Amounts are approximate. I buy bottled roux. For me it's just easier than stirring for 20 minutes. When I made gumbo last week I baked the thighs (brushed with a little olive oil, S&P) instead of frying. I'll be doing that from here on. Much less mess! The andouille I buy has enough seasoning in it that I don't bother with anything else. YMMV Chicken and Andouille Gumbo 6 boneless thighs Flour Salt, pepper, and cayenne⨠Vegetable oil for frying 1 cup chopped onions⨠1 cup chopped green bell peppers â¨1 cup chopped celery 4 - 5 heaping tablespoons of dark roux about 8 cups chicken stock, heated 1/2 - 2/3 pound andouille, cut into 1/4-inch slices â¨3 teaspoons minced garlic Hot cooked rice green onions, sliced Remove excess fat from the chicken pieces. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne in paper bag. Toss in thighs and shake to coat. â¨â¨In a large cast iron skillet heat about 1/2 inch of oil until very hot. Fry the chicken pieces until crust is brown on both sides, about 6-8 minutes per side; drain on paper towels. Let oil cool, then remove from skillet, leaving as many of the browned particles in the pan as possible. In a medium-size bowl combine the onions, bell peppers and celery. Place the stock in a 6-quart stockpot or large Dutch oven and let simmer while you cook the veggies. Add roux to skillet over low heat and stir while it melts down. Then add veggies and cook till soft, stirring constantly. Takes about 10 minutes or so. Bring stock to a slow boil, then add the roux mixture by spoonfuls, stirring until dissolved between additions. Add the garlic and sausage and let simmer for 40 minutes. While gumbo is simmering remove meat from chicken in bite size pieces. Last 5 minutes add chicken. Serve over rice and top with green onions. Here is a link that might be useful: Aidell's Spicy Mango with Jalapeno

Sounds like a fun get-together! Here are some ideas. Vegetable Pizza 2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls 11oz cream cheese 3/4c mayonnaise 1/3 pkg dry ranch dressing mix 1tsp dill weed 1 tsp garlic powder Chopped fresh vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, green onions, tomatoes, etc.) Bacon bits (optional) Sunflower seeds (optional) 1c grated cheese (cheddar, american or swiss) Press crescent roll dough into bottom and up sides of jelly roll pan. Bake according to package directions. Cool. Mix together cream cheese, Mayo, Ranch Dressing, Dill and Garlic until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Chop vegetables into small pieces and sprinkle over pizza. Top with bacon bits, seeds and cheese. Refrigerate for several hours, then cut into squares and serve. For this one I have made it without cutting the shrimp and just served it up in a large serving dish. I have also frozen used pre\-cooked shrimp (thawed, of course). (There's vodka in it tho, not sure the ages of your nieces and nephews. Mine are all adults) BLOODY MARY SHRIMP Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 1 hr Servings: Makes about 50 hors d'oeuvres For shrimp 1 pound medium shrimp in shell, peeled and deveined 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced celery (3 to 4 ribs) 1 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 6) For sauce 1/2 cup ketchup 1/4 cup vodka (preferably Absolut Peppar) 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons bottled horseradish (not drained), or to taste 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon Tabasco Prepare shrimp: Bring a large saucepan of salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 2 quarts water) to a boil. Add shrimp, then remove from heat and let stand in water until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Cut shrimp into thirds and transfer to a large bowl with celery and scallions. Make sauce: Whisk together all sauce ingredients, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste. Just before serving, stir sauce into shrimp mixture. Spoon 2 shrimp pieces with vegetables and sauce into individual Chinese soup spoons and arrange spoons on a platter. Cooks' notes: • Shrimp can be cooked and tossed with vegetables 4 hours ahead, then chilled in a sealed bag. Bring to room temperature, about 30 minutes, before tossing with sauce. • Sauce can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. This one is Seagrass' recipe and we love it! FALL APPLE DIP (8 servings) 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chopped, salted peanuts (without skins) 3 apples, sliced but not peeled (I like to use a Golden Delicious, a Granny Smith and a red\-skinned variety for the most color) 1/2 cup orange juice Combine cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl \- mix until smooth. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Dip apple slices in orange juice and arrange around the cream cheese mixture. (Can transport apple slices in a container or ziplock bag in the orange juice, then arrange when ready to serve). Linda

jasdip - that was my plan. Except when I took the dog out we slid all the way down the laneway - and I am someone who is vigilant with the pet friendly salt alternative. So we didn't go - and of course I had to salt the sidewalk and the laneway and steps so that we wouldn't break our necks (or the mailman who delivered nothing but junk mail wouldn't) - and now the rain has washed it all away. It was the mushy stuff so I shovelled it out first. I am not surprised this is happening. Seems to happen every holiday when people are planning to fly/drive somewhere. And of course our dog had to see a squirrel and we were off....

Years ago I read about culturing yeasts from one's own kitchen, with just a bit of commercial yeast in a sponge, which is left open to capture the natural yeast spores that colonize the kitchen--similar to the sourdough cultures which were unique to the areas where they were cultured. The kefir bread is similar to Mark Bittman's recipe and technique. I culture the kefir (one source) all day, then use it for the water in the recipe, with a teaspoon of sugar, the yeast, and one cup of the flour. Let that sponge 'work' overnight, then add the salt and remaining flour the next morning. Let that rise all day, and bake in the evening. If I don't have time for an all day rise, I add another teaspoon of yeast with the remaining flour, and let the dough rise until doubled, usually about an hour. The length of time for the kefir to culture, as well as the rising time for the bread dough, depends on the room temperature, although I usually proof it in the oven. If you're experienced in bread baking, you'll know when everything is right. Today's loaf is one-third whole wheat flour and two-thirds all-purpose flour, but I sometimes vary the ratio, and sometimes substitute a small amount of other flours, such as spelt or oat, or a tablespoon of wheat germ and/or bran. The crispy-bottom cornbread is basically the Better Homes recipe for Bacon Cornettes, without the bacon. I have the cookbook, but here's a link I found online. I use half whole wheat and half all-purpose for the flour, and half yellow and half white for the cornmeal, and a little less salt and sugar than the recipe lists. To make it crispy on the bottom, I bake the mixture in a preheated iron skillet that has had a teaspoon of bacon grease melted in the bottom. The same way my grandmother baked her cornbread. :) The crackers are a simple tortilla recipe, like this one, but I use olive oil, one-third whole wheat flour and two-thirds all-purpose, and add different herbs, spices, and grated parmesan cheese. As I mentioned above, I use the pasta roller, set at #2, using smaller pieces of dough than if I were making tortillas. The roller makes the crackers more oblong than round, but it's much quicker than rolling by hand. I sprinkle with a little kosher salt, then bake them at 400 for about 5 minutes, on cooky sheets. The last time I made crackers, I made a few using the #1 setting, which is almost paper thin. I reduced the baking time to 3 minutes, keeping a close watch so that they didn't burn. They were very thin, crispy, crunchy and yummy. I plan to try the thinner ones with half flour/half cornmeal soon--I'm thinking they will be similar to tortilla snack chips. I know this might sound confusing, but that's the way I cook. :)