probably 80% sure I am coming, all depending on how Vangie is doing(ill know for sure Friday afternoon).

If I do come I will be solo.

Getting 10#'s of live crawfish from LA. on Friday, plan is to boil em' all up, eat 1/2, and turn the other half into crawfish bisque. I am even going to stuff the heads for the bisque. I will make the bisque sans the crawfish Friday night, and just need a burner to reheat it and then add the mudbug tails so they dont get tough. I would also need the oven to bake the crawfish heads before they are added.

do you have a rice cooker? Ill need to do some long grain rice as well.

HI,

If she doesn't have a rice cooker, I do.

Regards,

I do not have a rice cooker, but I have 4 burners, 2 ovens and 1 microwave.
I also have 2 crockpots, and 2 electric warming trays.
I'll be doing my Gumbo rice ahead on the stovetop, which has always worked for me.

I also have 12 dozen beads bwa hah haa aha

My hand pies taste much better right out of the oven. Will my baking them at your place pose a problem?

Baking them at my place should be fine-
I'll have one oven hot(400) for the BBQ shrimp -which only need 20 min anyway...
the other can be set wherever you want it

I'm going with red beans and rice. Cooking the ham tonight just to get at the bone.

I'm looking forward to this weekend! Irisarbor, what kind of gumbo will you be making? I would like to do a seafood gumbo, but can do a different version if thats what you were planning.

Laura that sounds perfect-
I was going to do the chicken and sausage gumbo out of the Cooking up a storm cookbook
I may also do the cajun cream cheese appetizer from the same book.- a little nibble is sounding good to me.

If you would like another savory dish I can bring an okra side dish along with my dessert.

Okra sounds great , if you have the time, and feel inspired, bring it.
If life gets away from you don't feel guilty, because I'm sure we'll have plenty to eat.
I'm pretty sure my gumbo will have file and not okra.

If anyone has access to take-out containers like last time, can they bring them for leftovers?
Also bring any inexpensive containers you don't mind sharing.
I have some interesting beer, and some soda, and a bottle of hurricane mix!
but if there's something specific you want to drink, you should probably bring that as well.

Just back from the doctor with a diagnosis of bronchitis. Looks like I will be staying home curled up with my friend Z-Pak. I'm so sad to miss the festivities, but don't want to infect anyone.
Have a great time.

I hope you fell better.
If you take a turn for the better by Saturday, feel free to pop on by, even if you haven't "cooked up a storm"
E

jygach wrote:Just back from the doctor with a diagnosis of bronchitis. Looks like I will be staying home curled up with my friend Z-Pak. I'm so sad to miss the festivities, but don't want to infect anyone.
Have a great time.

So sorry to hear that. Hope you're feeling better soon. The Z-Pack should have you feeling a bit better by tomorrow. Do you think we'll we see you on Sunday?

House is starting to look very festive!
still plenty of room for any last minute add-ons!
we won't even quibble if you bring paczki ....

As I wrote irisarbor earlier today, I'm very sorry I'm going to have to miss all the fun. Thanks to a client-revised deadline, I'm going to be working all weekend to finish a project on time.

Hope everyone has a great time!

If there's room, my sister would like to come with me.

Hi Irisarbor and everyone,

Unfortunately, i am also going to have to miss the fun - had a family emergency come up yesterday. I was waiting until this morning, hoping to still be able to make it, but will have to be at home today. Very sorry to miss it! Hope everyone has lots of delicious food.

Laura

HI,

I have my King Cake made and the rice cooker by the door.

I will not miss this for anything.

Regards,

sadly, i am unable to make it.


just kidding. Been looking forward to this for a couple weeks. Boiled down the 10 lbs. of live crawfish last night, peeled the tails, reserved all the butter, & made crawfish stock.

Got up early today, knocked out the bisque(chilled and ready to go,). Made the stuffing, and stuffed the heads. Had to have a test bowl, and it was brilliant imho(crawfish stock, and 1/2 cup of crawfish butter & baked stuffed heads made it silky and rich). I will add the tails after reheating at the event so they will be tender.

fixin to hit the road in the next 45 minutes or so.

Will be there a little bit late - waiting for my cake to come out of the oven

Kudos to elaine for a great event. Live music set the mood for great food & a alot of fun.

Thank you for an absolutely wonderful afternoon - outstanding food, great live music and LTH friends -what's not to like.

jygach wrote:Thank you for an absolutely wonderful afternoon - outstanding food, great live music and LTH friends -what's not to like.

I couldn't agree more. Thanks, for letting us crash it. I don't think there's ever been an LTH event before that was so close to my house that I could walk to it. It was a nice stroll, even in the snow. The company, the food and the music were all terrific. I should have brought my harmonicas!

Again, my apologies for showing up empty-handed. Unfortunately, it was that kind of week for me. I promise to make up for it next time.

=R=

Thank you to Iris Arbor and her family for a splendid afternoon. I am in an absolute food coma. Everything was delicious and the Cajun music duo was the capper. One of my favorite LTH events.

+1 and I had a great time. Thank you very much.

We were at the Wild Things Chicago Wilderness Conference, anyone have some pictures they can post?

Thank you so much, irisarbor and family, for hosting us in your home. We had a wonderful time. The food and music and gathering of people were all delightful. Can't remember when I've enjoyed a party more.

I was delighted to host, and we had a great time having everyone.
Here are some pictures
they are the best we could do-I apologize in advance for the poor quality and for missing altogether several of the dishes-
Jyoti's yummy shrimp croquette, and the delicious mud cake, perfect pralines by izzy, homemade rootbeer mix from Ronnie,
and the light as air paczki from Dobra, which must have just floated out of the picture

The bar was well stocked for the afternoon:


and as friends started to arrive everyone was in the kitchen


Some starters were creole cream cheese dip featuring sun dried tomato


and lougord99's phenomenal home-made, home smoked andouille sausage


we were treated to some live tunes coutesy of my hubby and a friend


to accomany the mains: BBQ Shrimp (irisarbor)


Chicken and sausage Jambalaya (lougord99)


Chicken and andouille Gumbo (irisarbor)


Red beans and rice (Katie)


Smothered Okra (Ms. Ingie)


and a top-notch off-the hook preparation of crayfish bisque with stuffed crayfish heads from jimswside



after a little more music


and conversation


we were ready to tackle desserts
Amazing sweet potato pies with a pecan praline topping (ms. Ingie)


A beautiful King Cake by Cathy2


Here we are enjoying the rest of the desserts- you can see the edge of the paczki box...


We had a great time.

Also for those who asked for the recipe for the BBQ shrimp it is here:
viewtopic.php?p=328664#p328664

I also seem to have acquired 2 lovely oven mitts-
let me know if they are yours and we will figure out a way to get them home.

Hi,

Terrific party. For the rest of the day, I had only a glass of water.

The King Cake was a packaged mix from the LTHforum holiday party. It had every detail needed to complete this cake, including a wee baby I inserted after the cake was cooled. Just add water, butter and an egg.

The leftovers brought home were enjoyed by my family.

Thanks again to Elaine for hosting and everyone's else's contribution to making it a fun afternoon. There was a critical mass of Highland Park High School graduates from the 1970's in the room. Since I never went to one reunion, this was a good substitute.

Regards,