there’s a buddha in the pantry . . .

my family and i went  to the beach for thanksgiving this year.  it was a celebration and a true thanksgiving for us.  from saturday to saturday we rested, relaxed, read, visited, cooked, ate, lounged, played games, and watched football games.  i traveled with 2 of my big stainless steel pots, 2 microplanes, many knives, garlic press, measuring spoons, oyster shells, etc.  next time the boos block will have to come along.  i could do a big digression on that subject, but i will try to remain on track.  let’s just say that a quick trip to BB&B was completely neccessary if i was to be cooking there all week.

crossing the mobile bridge was about the time the lsu/arkansas game began broadcasting in our cars.  we were in a hurry.  we arrived at the condo to find that jesse, maddie, and kelsey had beaten us there of course.   the condo was gorgeous.  the entire southern and western sides of the unit are practically all glass overlooking the beach and the bay in the back.  kinda hard to watch a game with all that scenery, but we did our best.  during commercial breaks we “checked out” the pad and commented on some of the decor and paintings.  the main subject was a giant golden buddha head in between the couches on an end table.  on goes the game, and things go south with lsu getting behind.  my superstitious brother thought that maybe the buddha should be put up or hidden, and that perhaps it was jinxing our tigers.  so behind the couch he went.  immediately the tigers began to do better, but we still lost.  we all hooted and hollered through to the end.  being the night “clean-up girl,” i returned the buddha to its rightful place.

first day on the beach .  . .  the weather was overcast and cool.  not cold, but cool.  so we headed down to the beach.  luke immediately “skinned the cat” and tossed his shirt aside and headed to the water, only to return shaking and shivering within minutes.  he was so confused because he had never been to the beach in the fall.  really none of us had.  everyone was reading a book.  dad devoured two greg iles and a grisham while we were there.  mitch was reading a greg iles and so was i.  while, mama finised her conroy book, south of broad.  we spent the morning out there and came up for lunch.  everyone had on their saints attire getting ready for the game against tampa.  mama and i went to publix to get the day’s groceries.  we returned and proceeded to put up our groceries and opened the pantry and well . . .

there's a buddha in the pantry . . .

yeah, apparently the saints needed that buddha out of there as well.  so mama and i proceeded to cook supper and were in and out of the pantry alot and got yelled out when we left the door open to the pantry exposing the buddha to the saints.   this night we boiled up a mess of shrimp and had some sushi that we got from publix.

night # 2

Who Dat Blackjack?

the next night was death by gumbo.  yes, uncle jesse came through baton rouge on his way and brought lots of good meats: stuffed quail, andouille sausage, tasso, and boudin.  he mostly created this gumbo without recipe but as a “take” off of john folse’s death by gumbo recipe from one of his giant books.  however, mama and i did most of the mise en place because he was still out golfing with mitch.  thankfully, jesse got there in time to take over becuase he definitely had his own ideas about how to make this gumbo.  it was his baby.  i guess because i cook so much, i don’t like to change some of my “ways” but he taught us all a little about gumbo that day.  it was insane good.  insane.  the quail were delicious.  it was a very rich, rustic gumbo that was given alot of love, along with alot of “bullshit” while he made it.  whatever he did- keep doing it!!  mitch and i made oysters ralph for appetizers which were awesome.

oysters ralph stage one

death by gumbo

in between all of these meals, i assure you that we all took daily walks and did other things besides eating!!  we just happen to be a family that loves to cook and be in the kitchen together.  oh, i forgot to tell y’all something!!  when mama dumped the oysters into that gumbo, we all heard a “tink” sound.  when later cleaning out the pot, she found this  . . .  

the pearl from houma, la

the next night was spring rolls and pad thai night.  jesse, laurie, hunter, and maddie prepared spring rolls, while renee and kelsey prepared pad thai.  mama and i sat at the bar and were spectators to the chaos!  we needed the night off.  it is no secret that my dad does not “do” thai, but he fell right in there with us this night and was just happy to be fed something!  everything was delicious. 

mise en place for pad thai

spring rolls

 the next day was thanksgiving, and we all knew that we would not be having turkey and dressing.  we woke up to the most beautiful day and none of us wanted to be in the kitchen, not even me.  we stayed on the beach for most of this day.  up and down the elevators families were rolling carts filled with casseroles in between their condos.  while all of us did exactly what we wanted to on thanksgiving - whether it be napping, reading, or laying on the beach drinking cold beer as laurie and i did.  while lounging,  i thought of all of the china, crystal, and silver that i would be hand washing at that very moment.  hmmmmm . . .  maybe we should do this thanksgiving at the beach thing every year!  i don’t think i have pictures of the food on thanksgiving night, but we had a delicious beef tenderloin, candied julienned sweet potatoes, and haricot verts, along with salad and bread and more baked oysters for appetizers.   we lingered at the table and asked questions from table topics (a  conversation starter game with questions like, “what was the worst gift you have ever given or been given?”)  ha.  my brother replied that once he was given “a box of suction cups to hang things on windows, but nothing to hang on them.”  hmmmm . . .  the rest of the meals were grouper, royal red shrimp, .  all very good.  here are some family pictures that we were able to capture before we left.  what a wonderful time with my family.

 

the "brown kids"

me and sister

all of us!!

 bye y’all!