NOLA Here We Come

So we recently booked a vacation to New Orleans with Bob and Nicole... we are so excited to go again.  We were there on the same weekend 6 years ago!   Crazy how fast time flies by.  

Get that ice down in there ba' !!!!

We've been getting so pumped for the trip and talking about where we are going to go and what we want to eat.   So we decided to do a NOLA warm up and make some cajun food at home before we head off to the Big Easy.

Started off our cajun feast the right way with a few Hurricanes!  It had been a long few days for our best friends as Bob was diagnosed with a blood clot in his calf and Nicole had spent the last 48 hours reading every WebMD article she could find... so a Hurricane was just what the Dr. ordered for Nic!

We had some official Pat O's Hurricane Mix from our last visit and decided it was about time to use it... Jo added rum and the appropriate garnish into our Pat O'Brien's Hurricane Glasses and we were on our way.

Bob was in spirit even though he was only drinking water...

As for dinner itself, we opted for two of Mrs. Toni's recipes from Theresa's Cookbook... Shrimp Casserole and Jambalaya. 

Mrs. Toni's Jambalaya

- saute 2 onions and 1 bell pepper with butter

- add Cayenne pepper (watch out it is spicy)

- add shrimp and let simmer

- add 2 cans of crushed tomatoes and let simmer

- add more Cayenne along the way if you dare

- serve over white rice

Shrimp getting thrown into the pot to simmer...

  

Just like Mrs. Toni's... very spicy and so good.

Mrs. Toni's Shrimp Casserole

- saute 2 bell peppers, 1 white onion, 2 eggplants, 1 bunch of scallions with butter

- saute until everything is cooked down, then throw in shrimp

- place in casserole dish and top with breadcrumbs and some butter

- bake at 350 for 30 mins

 Bob and Nicole suprised us with a NOLA inspired dessert... and it was the perfect ending to our meal. 

Bread Pudding with a Jack Daniels Whiskey Sauce!

The bread pudding was awesome...recipe courtesy of Emeril.   Served with some Vanilla Bean ice cream and it was a deadly combo.  The whiskey sauce was so good, never had anything like it before... you could taste the Whiskey but it wasn't overpowering and had a great taste to it. 

 

As the parents drank and ate too much, the kids played and read books lol...