Mardi Gras 2024

 My second favorite holiday has arrived, Mardi Gras.  Or maybe it's my first favorite, as I celebrate it for a few days.  (a batch of my jambalaya is good for three meals)  I celebrate it because I like cajun food in general, and at a studio called arrabbiata, we have to enjoy spicy food when we can.  I'm not as big on the drinking alcohol part of the holiday (though a beer to wash it down is always good), but I do lke the music, so it all works out.  

One thing I learned about jambalaya (in my quest to learn how to make it) is that it is a very traditional dish, with as many variations as there are cooks, so that means there is no one recipe.  Anyone can make it any way they want.  I tend to make one similar to one that was at a little cajun restaurant we had here in town once, now closed.  As you can see from the photo, there is chicken, andouille sausage (pork is in the name, so I consider it necessary), shrimp (since they don't carry crawfish at the local supermarket), rice, a variety of vegetables and spices (got to keep a few secrets here), and I find it tasty.  Plus, I can easily get all the ingredients.  Prep takes longer than the actual cooking.

So today I'll have a big bowl of the stuff, a cold beer, listen to some rockin' zydeco, all of which leads to a good time.  Laissez les bon temps roulez!