Seafood for a Midwest girl

Well, first of all, I can't believe I just called myself a Midwest girl. After all, I may not really be suited for living in the Midwest; all the things I love have to do with water and warm(er) weather. Some days I miss the sound of waves hitting the shore of Seaside, OR, or my all time favorite place of residence - Traverse City, MI, but most importantly I miss the food even more! Thankfully we only live a walking distance (almost) from the Parrot's Cay Tavern where the Parrot Boil dish calls my name every time I drive by it!
Introducing - craw fish, spicy sausage, young potatoes, fried pickles, shrimp... And an empty belly waiting to be filled up!

Gumbolicious

I have been pretty obsessed with gumbo since Jacob served us the best batch I have ever eaten. Looking for the perfect recipe ended up in failure as I did not want to spend countless hours slaving at the stove...
One day, Rachel Ray's cookbook came to the rescue and since then I have been making gumbo about once every couple weeks. Being that I grew up with a totally different genre of food, I am now in love with everything that is Southern American, Creole and spicy. Not having much experience in this type of cuisine, though, I promise to explore more recipes!There are a few changes that I incorporated to the recipe. First, I use ground chicken instead of the chicken tenders because it is cheaper and much easier. Second, sometimes I use chorizo sausage instead of andouille sausage. Although European, it still brings much needed spice to the gumbo!

When life hands you limes

This weekend I was making cupcakes for my friend Megan's big 3-0! I often reach for Ina Garten's simple and elegant recipes and this was no exception. Her vanilla cupcakes were reviewed as moist and fluffy, and indeed they were. Reading the list of the ingredients, however, I felt that they lack something and I added zest of one lime to each the batter and the frosting. Now, I LOVE lime and keep it on hand to use in my water or margaritas and now I found a new use for it!
The birthday girl and her family loved the cupcakes and the extra-little--zesty-something, too!

Happy New Year

No better way to spend the New Year than with your friends and loved ones!

Look at the camera, Jackson, not at the food!Nick was NOT happy to wear my party hat...But all the girls were!
Toast time!
Here are the hosts!

Polish Sausage

Polish people are crazy about their sausage. They put it in everything or just eat it alone. What a disappointment to only have one kind of polish sausage here in ND: Polska Kielbasa! May I just say that Polska Kielbasa is a group of several kind of sausage, not just one kind of sausage!

I just had to take a photo of a polish sausage display in one of the stores in my hometown of Konin, when I was visiting just this past December. White sausage, kabanos, wiejska kielbasa (country sausage), and my favorite Krakowska (from the city of Krakow). Yum!

Painted Church

When visiting my home town of Konin, Poland this past December my mom and I stopped by one of the old Gothic churches. I love the smell and sound of old Polish churches, it is something that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

There's an interesting piece of history behind this church. The inside walls of the church were painted by a man named Niewiadomski, who assassinated the first president of Poland, Gabriel Narutowicz.

Oui for Brie

Baked Brie is a great idea for a quick and delicious desert! I never wrap it in a pastry because I just want to taste the goodness of the cheese itself, uninterrupted by all the needless things...
Bake the Brie by itself at 350F until you see the middle of it slightly raised. I don't have the actual time since there are very different sizes of Brie. At the same time melt some butter on a frying pan on a low temperature and add walnuts and caramel sauce, to your liking. Once the Brie is done and the sauce is melted, you may take out the cheese and pour the mixture over it. That's it!