Skip to main content

The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf's Hosts An Ingredient Hunt for His #13CajunBites Birthday Party


When we starting talking about The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf's 13th birthday celebration, several months ago, there wasn't much of a discussion. He declared: "I would like to have my friends over. We are going to cook. And it's going to be a Cajun feast."

Okay. Sometimes I wonder where he gets these ideas. Then I just look in the mirror. Well, I still don't know how the Cajun part popped into his head. But, we're ran with it.


And, to add to the mayhem, we planned an ingredient hunt at the farmers' market with the kids in the afternoon. I pulled some veggie riddles from the web for the nine ingredients we needed to find. Some were more challenging than others, but, I think, they figured all of them out.


Since we weren't able to find green beans, bell peppers, or bread, I'm glad I had purchased some things ahead of time. We stopped for a cookie break at the end of the street....


Then, they all came back to our house to make a huge mess feast in my kitchen! Recipe posts to come.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an...

Ki Ngombo = Okra

In honor of Mardi Gras, I searched for traditional recipes for gumbo...only to discover that there is no canonical recipe for gumbo. It seems there are as many recipes for gumbo as there are cooks!  The only two constants in a gumbo: variety and okra. The term 'gumbo' likely comes from an African dialect whose word for okra is ki ngombo .  Gumbos can have meat, seafood, just about anything.  In Mark Huntsman's "The History of Gumbo" he refers to written mentions of using muskrat and owl in gumbo recipes.  I embraced the unlimited potential of ingredients and opted for a combination of fish, chicken, pancetta, oysters, mussels, octopus, shrimp, and squid...and lots of okra!

A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige #ItalianFWT on CulinaryCam.Com

I am in the process of migrating over to my new domain. Come on over to read " A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige " for December's #ItalianFWT.