Jambalaya And Other Treats

 We are now in March, which led me to realize that I had things I had to do.  One was getting in touch with my contact in St Louis about his show in Brooklyn, and the other was that Mardi Gras is this week, which means making some jambalaya for the occasion.  Both can be dealt with today.

First up was the jambalaya.  It has been my custom in recent years to make a batch of jambalaya for Mardi Gras, which also marks to arrival of the Lenten season. I typically make a batch which is good for three meals, and do that on the Sunday before, a day I have plenty of time.  This means I am done eating it by Fat Tuesday itself, which works out well, as Wednesday and Friday of this week are meatless days, and I can't eat the stuff those days.  Preparations began long ago, with purchases made over the past few weeks, or some even last year.  Yesterday I bought some green bell peppers to include in it.  Color doesn't really make a difference for flavor, but I wanted green for color in the dish.  Also yesterday I took meats out the freezer, sausage and chicken left from last year, still frozen solid. Left those to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, and took them out at various times today.  I don't have an official recipe, but go from memory and imitations of a favorite local place (closed long ago) which I think is fine for a traditional dish like this.   Started making it in the late morning, and was ready to eat by early afternoon.  Also as is my custom, I washed it down with a cold beer, while listening to some zydeco music.  In this case it was Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers, songs from their first major label album- Beau Jacque Boogie, an album I know well as it came out during my last radio stint and it got regular play on my show.  It's on my shelf at home as a result.

The other thing I wanted to do today was start the process of getting in touch with Tom over this Brooklyn thing.  I had found online the dates of his show, and wanted to know when, where, and what he wanted my to send.  He had sent an email about it last year, so I replied to that, and then called the number in that mail.  To my surprise I got him on the second ring, and he said he was in the process of sending a response to my mail, but a direct conversation is even better.  He gave me a further update on the Robert Johnson show in Nashville, pretty much what I have written here before.  What it comes down to is too many people own pieces of Johnson and they wanted too much money to approve everything, and the gallery backed out.  Whatever will happen with it, Tom wants nothing to do with it.  However, he is still going to do print fairs, and is going to show people he knows and respects, and I am one of those.  He credits me with teaching him both about woodcuts and blues music, and I get a lot from him as a result.  

Over the phone he was able to give me all the information I need- two prints of my choosing, mail them flat, the address and deadline.  All can be done easily on my end, the toughest part deciding what to choose.  I'll start on that next week. No photos today, but I'll probably post one on Mardi Gras itself.  Meanwhile, a very productive day.