Boston!

With the time change and Stu's work schedule, it's usually easier for me to fly out to LA (not to mention it's a whole lot warmer there in the winter than Boston), but he was in NYC last minute for work this past week, so we were able to make another weekend in Boston happen! I was in Chicago for work for the week, but after I got home on Friday, we wandered around town on a perfectly sunny afternoon including lunch on the patio at Parish and sushi and Liberty Hotel with Lauren and Matt. Saturday we fought off the urge to sleep in and made it to Nantucket by noon for a full day of sunshine on our own private beach. Sunday was thankfully cloudy and cool back in Boston, so we took advantage of a day full of sports and napping on the couch. Here's a pic from the Barking Crab - with the lobster pager that they gave us while we were waiting.

Two in a row...

Wow, don't get too excited. Seems I reintroduced myself to blogspot and even figured out how to change the links to the right so that I could add friends' blogs! For good measure while I'm at it, here's a pic of Stu and I over New Years in Breckenridge - the afterparty from Emma's wedding!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I know, it's been forever since I posted (I swear, I got errors a few times and kind of gave up), so who knows if anyone will ever see this, but Stu and I came up with a super delicious gumbo recipe this weekend. It probably serves 6-8, so you can either feed a bunch of people or you'll have lots of tasty leftovers!

Heat a little oil and sautee the following together in a giant skillet:
3 cloves of garlic
1 giant sweet onion (or 2 medium ones)
2 bell peppers (any color – recipe called for green, but I prefer red)
1 can of diced tomatoes (16 oz or so) – add a 2nd can if you like tomatoes
1-1.5 lbs sausage of your choice (we used mild italian sausage)
2 tsp fresh thyme (or ¾ tsp dried thyme from a jar) – I’d never cooked with this before, it’s tasty!
½ tsp white pepper (or black, but I prefer white for soups)
2 tsp cajun seasoning (or cayenne pepper + extra oregano + extra pepper)
A dash or two or three of oregano (or use fresh)
Salt to taste
Red pepper flakes if you want more kick
You can also add Gumbo File, found in the spice section (not too expensive – made from sassafras) that adds a delicate taste plus thickens the broth a little

Mix together in a stock pot and bring to a boil:
1 rotisserie chicken (prepped like you would for Chicken Tortilla)
64 oz chicken broth
1 large can of tomato sauce (16oz oz or so)

Add the mixture from skillet, and add a little cornstarch and water mixture if you want to thicken up the final product.

Serve in a bowl over cooked brown rice (or mix cooked rice into soup mixture before serving).

Enjoy with cornbread and anything else Cajun!! Serves 6-8.