To Gustav…….CHEERS!!

Today is a sad day. Gustav reached land, we’ll soon be starting another cotton season, Mit is packing and getting ready to go home, where she will enter a center for her new found “frying addiction”, and most importantly, today will be the finale of our two day “Hurricane Party”.

What a time we’ve had here at the single wide!

We have eaten to the point that I hope the weather next week turns cool, because it’s gonna be a sweat pants week for me!! Nothing is gonna fit me.

Mit has relaxed, read, napped, blogged, and I hope enjoyed her stay with us as much as we have enjoyed having her. We’ve shared excitement, fright, good times, and lots of laughter, and gone to bed each night with a full belly!! She is returning to her home, hopefully, a little more rested and a little more relaxed than she arrived at mine!

So to Gustav and Mit, I say, “SALUTE”!!

IH824

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Southern Fried … or how to be totally spoiled even if the weather doesn’t play nice with out friends in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Here is a pictorial of yesterday. After I woke up at ten o’clock in the morning, which is eleven o’clock on the East Coast. UNHEARD OF. And? It’s quite possible I didn’t take a shower until three in the afternoon.Most of the day was spent cooking.

Before you look at these pictures I must tell you something about IH824 … besides the fact I cry when she writes mush about me. She always apologizing for her food. Plus she thinks I’m some great cook. But let me tell you … she is WAY BETTER than me.

Look at this food. Look at the rolls. She made the rolls WITHOUT A RECIPE. The crab cakes? I could have managed without directions. The coconut shrimp? Probably the same. The Gumbo?? Maybe.

BUT BREAD?? Never, ever. She didn’t EVEN USE MASEAURING SPOONS OR CUPS.

Of course, to cook like this … on a hurricane weekend, you must have hurricanes.

When I was down here three years ago - and they rescued me from Katrina we had Gumbo too. This Gumbo had shredded chicken, homemade chicken stock, okra, fresh caught gulf shrimp, the famous menage a troi of celery, onion and bell pepper, and crushed tomatoes.

Plus the time consuming and lovingly labored over dark rue. (very, very, lovingly stirred to coffee colored perfection for 25 minutes by IH824 while I did the mise en place).

For appetizers we had crab cakes

and Bar-B-Que Shrimp (also known as Shrimp Picayune).

Then we found out we’d have company joining us … so we added coconut fried shrimp to the round up.

We thought we had enough Orange Marmalade for the dipping sauce .. but we were wrong. So we added some hot pepper jelly. And coconut milk. And red pepper flakes.

There was none left over at the end of the night.

I had one bit of “city food” in last nights meal. One thing that wasn’t fried. (Okay … in all fairness - the gumbo wasn’t fried.) The famous Buttermilk/Molasses ice cream made another appearance.

Although Mr. Fish kept telling me it was too “light and airy” … everyone cleaned their bowls … and SOMEONE asked for seconds.

Tonight will be a “city dinner”. We’ll see how it goes. I might post … We’re leaving here and heading to the house after dinner.

Early in the morning we’ll head toward Little Rock where I’ll board a plane for home. It has indeed been a welcome rest-stop here at the Duck Haven. Once again I am reminded how lucky I am to have such generous friends.

Southern Style, Southern Smile, Southern Fried ... apple of my eye.

ps: These our the evacuee's we're hosting. They better be gone before duck season begins. Or they may not like the consequences of eating the hosts field corn.