Red Beans and Rice -- No Dice.

Most of you know I’m really a southern belle at heart, and with Mardi Gras season upon us, I can hardly keep myself calm.  The food, colors, atmosphere, French-ness, Cajun speak, southern accents and everything else are pretty much my faves.  With this in mind, I’ve really been thinking a lot about southern foods and the tastes of the Mardi Gras season.

That being said – what’s more southern that a nice big pot of red beans and rice?  Southern tradition is that this dish was served on Mondays with the leftover pork hock or whatever else from Sunday’s dinner.  It is a slow cooking dish that the women would keep on the stove or over the fire all day while doing laundry.  As fate would have it, I had about seven loads of laundry to do this past Monday (President’s Day – I took off to celebrate) so this seemed like the perfect project for the day.

After reviewing several recipes for red beans and rice, I settled on a recipe from one of my cookbooks, The Glory of Southern Cooking , because it seemed the most legit.  The recipe called for ham, kielbasa (although I wish I had andouille), celery, a green pepper and of course red kidney beans.  So after gathering all of these treasures at Kroger, I was set to go.  Now, all I had to do before getting started was soaking the beans.

This seemed simple enough.  Put beans in pot.  Cover with an inch of water and let soak overnight.  OK, awesome.  So I got out my Le Creuset Dutch Oven, thinking it would be the perfect piece from start to finish.  I dumped in the beans with no trouble and added water. 

Oh the glory.  The potential.  The what I knew would be awesome dish!

As you can see, definitely covered with water and ready for a good soakin' overnight.

Then suddenly, around 14 hours later it was morning already!  I have to admit it was a bit like Christmas and I was so excited to gather the “bad beans” that I just knew had ultimately floated to the top of the water during the night.  However, oh what a sight as I pulled off the lid!

Turns out, people, red beans expand.  A lot.  I didn’t have nearly enough water in the pot and although it was covered at first, the beans had soaked up all the water and were caking to the pan.  I panicked – what a fright – and decided to quickly add more water as if they would suddenly be saved.  But there was no hope.  I was so distraught over this whole incident that I didn't even think to take any photos!

So I had no red beans and rice that day.  I have another bag (and a bigger bowl) for next time.  I will try again soon.

In the dire words of a dear college roomie after a night of fun once said, “who made the beans?”  In this case, I can certainly say, “it wasn’t me.”

Visit to Ripley and Getting Inspired by Loretta Lynn

This past weekend I traveled to Ripley, Ohio – my home sweet home.  I had three main reasons for visiting (other than to spend some time with my Mom and Dad).  The first – to get my taxes done.  The second – to clean out the horse trailer.  The third – I forget.  But anyway, I got my taxes done but didn’t get to the trailer.  I was planning to get my tack box out to clean it out and then take the tack box back to Columbus to use as a coffee table.  You know, vintage, with a touch of Cara Lawson history and good memories.  And as for the taxes?  Like most Americans, I hate them and I’m glad to be finished.

Taxes are annoying, but necessary.  Photo Credit: BBB

I had planned for this trip to Ripley (2 hours, 15 minutes south) to take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Of course, I got off to a late start.  And as I was hanging out at Mom and Dad’s after taxes and lunch at Pasquales, I got sucked into TV.  Since I don’t have cable at my apartment, I have this uncontrollable need to watch everything I’ve been “missing.”

After watching multiple episodes of classics such as “Teen Mom,” “Real Police Women of Cincinnati” – which by the way, is a classic all itself as I know where most of the places the cops go are, I got sucked into a timeless tale at about 8 p.m.  This would be the epic 1980 something hit “The Coal Miner’s Daughter.”  I took interest, and was excited that my parents had OWN on their TV (on which the movie was showing).

From the movie, a photo of Loretta (aka daughter) with her Dad (aka coal miner).  Photo Credit: jenni.com

Now let me just say this – it’s probably a good thing I had not heard of this really when I was in high school, because I probably would have written about it in scholarship essays!  While I fancy myself an Appalachian, I am definitely not like Lorettie!  Geez!  What a life that girl had / has! I was so sucked into that movie from start to finish!  I loved every bit and will probably buy the movie on Amazon.  If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely check it out.  Holy crap.  Holy. Crap.  Mom watched it with me and we had a good time laughing and talking about poor Loretta while eating cheese spread. 

Ice, Ice, Baby.

Is this the Atlantic ocean?  Nope, just my driveway.

I may become an ice princess. The ice is here and a slippery terrain has been left in its wake! Back in the days of college, falling on the way to class was at least a weekly occurrence to me. I left my dorm or house pretty much expecting to fall at some point on the journey. Since then, though, I got kind of spoiled by easy parking and access to my car.

But all of that has changed. My driveway looks like what I imagine hell frozen over might look like. There are rare patches of untouched pavement, and my most favorite terrain now – snow. Yes, I look for snow and puddles to walk upon because they’ll provide more traction. My steps are glossed over and definitely provide a big threat – and the banister to be used for stability, well, it’s not much use at this point.

Ice detail.  As you can see, it's extreme.

The show must go one, though. So what will I do tomorrow to face the slick and treacherous land that is my path to my Jeep?

1 – Gather all the salt I have in my house and sprinkle it in front of my every step – you know, Hansel and Gretel style in a way.

2 – Trade out my over the shoulder Coach bag for trusty JanSport backpack for event weight distribution and free arms and hands for balance.

3 – Make the ice my mortal enemy – i.e. look for patches with air underneath and CRUSH it!

4 – Wear a toboggan, and I don’t care if my hair gets messed up. Sixty percent of your body heat can escape through your head, so why be cold and stressed?

But what in my wandering eye should appear?  It's bags of salt from my neighbor dear!

Jeepie is safely tucked away in the garage, aka, stable.

That’s all I’ve got for now. In a weird way, I’m looking forward to this adventure tomorrow. I think I’m nuts possibly, but what can you do.

Now if I only had the slip on spikes for my shoes like I had for Script Ohio on Ice.

Be safe everyone!