I experienced stuffed artichokes for the first time in New Orleans, at a restaurant called Crazy Johnnies. What a treat! I knew with certainty that I could recreate the recipe.

I did some research on-line, and found some ideas of how to prepare the artichokes, and came up with a recipe of my own. One artichoke will feed 2-3 people as an appetizer.

1 artichoke
½ Can of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Infused Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper, and Seasonings to taste
Optional: Parmesan Cheese

Clip the bottom of the artichoke so it will rest flat. Tear off some of the bottom leaves that aren’t as tender – maybe just the bottom layer of leaves. Clip the pointy parts of the leaves off so they won’t scratch you. Boil upside down in water for 12-14 minutes. Strain and set aside.

Combine the bread crumbs with salt, pepper, and seasonings. Add a tablespoon of the olive oil to the bread crumb mixture. Mash with a fork to make the bread crumbs moist. Continue to add the olive oil until all the bread crumbs are evenly coated and slightly moist.

The artichoke should be cooled off by now – spread the leaves out, and dig out the middle leaves - not too many - and pull out. You want just a little space in the middle to stuff.

Stuff the bread crumb mixture in the middle and in between all the leaves.

Set the stuffed artichoke in a pan with a lid. Fill the pan with water until the water comes up to half of the bottom leaves on the artichoke. You don’t want the water to come up to the top of the bottom leave – you don’t want the water to soak the bread crumbs. Drizzle some olive oil over the top – not too much, to your liking.

Bake covered at 450 for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

This recipe is not an exact technique - you should use your own experience to make the recipe to your own taste preferences!

You eat the artichoke by tearing off a leaf, and scraping the breadcrumbs and the meat of the leaf off with your teeth. Enjoy!

Furthermore, I am honored to be surrounded by so many men and women who currently serve our country, and those of you who are customers and members of our HOG Chapter who are Veterans and Soldiers.

It is because of dedication, loyalty, and love for their county that hundreds of thousands of soldiers and veterans have died. This day is the day to honor those brave men and women who gave their lives in an effort to protect this nation, her allies, and the very way of life we hold dear.

I hope that everyone will take a moment to remember them. – Carrie Wilkins

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don’t Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That’s Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That’s okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you’re welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says ‘Thanks a lot’ - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say ‘you’re welcome’. That will bring on a ‘whatever’).

(8) Whatever: Is a woman’s way of saying F— YOU!

(9) Don’t worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking ‘What’s wrong?’ For the woman’s response refer to # 3.

True, right?

We just didn’t quite make it.

Our friends, Kenny and Lorraine, had an accident on 190 outside of San Saba. They are ok, some injuries, but no broken bones. They were able to ride the bike back to the shop, though it was totaled.

So Dan and I started off towards Del Rio in the truck. Not exactly as exciting as going on the bikes, but we enjoyed each others company, and talked about things to come.

Friday evening we headed over to Ciudad Acuña in Mexico. I was a little apprehensive because of not having our border cards, but the officer on duty assured us that our paperwork was more than ample for getting back to the United States.

We did a little shopping, then dined at Manuals. The food was exceptional, and the atmosphere was romantic. A mariachi band played a very amorous song for us that had me spellbound! And ~~~ ohhhhh…the margaritas! We asked the bartender for the recipe, and he gladly shared. However, I am pretty sure they left out a certain ingredient that maybe have caused me some unusual feelings of giddiness, and some horrible dreams after we went to bed. Creepy.

We made it home safely, even through the deluge of rain and water in San Antonio. We had a great time, and are looking forward to going back!

Life is good!

]]> http://hawgsnpaws.com/?feed=rss2&p=65 http://hawgsnpaws.com/?p=64 http://hawgsnpaws.com/?p=64#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:56:14 +0000 Carrie http://hawgsnpaws.com/?p=64 Is anybody ready for some crawfish? I’m ready for some crawfish. I think me and Dan will have a crawfish party. Maybe M&D will let us have it at their new house since it has such a big driveway.

Maybe Denise and Mark will drive in from LA for some crawfish.

Maybe we’ll have about 30 people at our crawfish party.

Maybe we should just throw a big ass party, with crawfish, shrimp, and beer!!!!

YUM! I CAN’T WAIT!

Life is good!

Dan is in North Carolina, probably glad to be away from me, and hearing me complain of how full I am all the time.  And of me eating all the time. I haven’t even attempted to be good the past 3 or 4 months – because everything I ate tasted way better than skinny feels….until now. Bring on the water and grilled chicken, late nights of lying in bed craving cheeseburgers, and binging on alcohol to satisfy cravings. But hey – it works! I know.

I completed my certification, now I am in search of a full-time teaching job. How in the world am I going to get a job if I can’t even talk because I am out of breath from being out of shape? I can’t wait to get in the yard again! That’ll help build up some stamina! There’s nothing like pulling weeds and digging holes to get you in shape! The yard looks awful, lots of work to do. So I’ll just sit in here on the computer and think of anything else to do in the meantime!

By the way – SPAMMERS SUCK! I haven’t logged on in many months, and I had more than 300 spams! Ok. So its been a year. I’ve been busy.

Life is good!

Our first destination and overnight stay was in Leakey, located in Real County.  Our ride took us through Marble Falls, Johnson City, Fredericksburgh, and then deep into the heart of the Texas Hill Country. The views were stunning, and hills provided us with sweeping curves at 90 mph, and hairpin turns shifting down into first gear. The elevations ranged from 1,500 to 2,400 feet with glimpses of deep canyons cut by the Frio and Nueces Rivers.

We stayed the night in the Frio Canyon Lodge, which was built in 1914. We were charmed by its rustic furniture and comfortable settings. Dinner consisted of what equaled to several bottles of wine for me and Lorraine, and a case (or two!) of beer for Dan and Kenny. Oh yeah – there was some food in there somewhere…

Valentine’s morning let us sleep in and allow the temperature warm up to a tolerable chill before we loaded up and headed towards Del Rio.

As we pulled out of Real County, the road tended to smooth out, and we could see evidence of the drier arid region of Texas. More cactus and straighter roads indicated we were reaching the cuff of Texas’s Big Bend Country.

When we reached Del Rio, we made ourselves comfortable in the La Quinta, and had a few drinks before catching a cab to go across the border to Acuna. It was an eerie feeling as we crossed the border, border patrol and local authorities stood guard, fully armed, with rifles in their hands. The cab dropped us off in front of Manuel’s, Lorrain’s favorite Mexican Restaurant. We walked around the corner and checked out the locals, including some shops that were full of trinkets, jewelry, Spanish style clothing, and an assortment of touristy stuff. After some shopping, we walked back to Manuel’s for fajitas, shrimp, and margaritas!!! Now, coming from Houston/Pasadena area, I had considered myself well educated – and well experienced – in the knowledge of having some of the best margaritas in existence. Until now. The margaritas were exquisite! It didn’t take Dan long to inquire about the “grande” margarita. Yeah, it was big.

If you want to see more pics of our trip, check ‘em out on my PhotoBucket Pics: Del Rio and Leakey Pics

I wanted to make something special for Dan’s birthday a couple of weeks in advance, but I couldn’t find the pistachios (small town for ya). While visiting his mom, she brought us two bags of pistachios, said she got them at Walgreens. Well, that was Slidell – but I couldn’t resist trying here in Temple. Sure enough! So, two weeks AFTER his birthday, I made the cake. It came out excellent! I just used too much icing and made it too sweet. Anyway, thought I would share! This is the real thing – not made with pistachio pudding! It didn’t come out very pretty, but the cake was very good (just need to cut back on the icing!)

1 2/3 C all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ C butter (no substitute) softened
2 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 C buttermilk or sour milk
6 egg whites
1½ C toasted pistachio nuts

Grease and lightly flour three 8 x 1 ½ inch round baking pans. Set aside. Stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until fluffy. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating on low to medium speed just until combined.

In a food processor (or super blender) chop pistachio nuts until ground – don’t ground too much, or they become pasty.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Gently fold beaten egg whites into batter. Fold in pistachio nuts. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake in a 350 oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wood toothpick inserted near the center of each cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool thoroughly on wire racks.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 packages of cream cheese – 3 oz – softened
½ C butter softened
2 tbs vanilla
4 ½ - 4 ¾ C softened powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups powder sugar, beating well. Gradually beat enough of the remaining softened powder sugar to make frosting easy to spread.

Enjoy!!!

The move to the new Horny Toad is looming ever nearer – they painted the building last week, and it is slowly starting to resemble the artists rendering George has been showing everyone. I have been a busy bee working to get bands signed up, dates reserved, and crawfish ordered!!!

Dan seems to be fitting in with the Horny Toad crowd just fine! His “photography skills” at the HOG Appreciation turned out lots of great pics. He must have made a great impression because everyone seems to be curious about him – gone are the days of people asking “So, Carrie, how are the cats?” LOL! Now it’s “So, Carrie, how is Dan doing? When is he coming back into town?” LOL!!!

After Christmas, we headed out to Houston and to New Orleans…with a few detours.

Our first stop was in Houston to have dinner with Heather and Tori. After lots of laughs and hugs, we headed out to New Orleans to spend a couple of days with Dan’s family. They are as close as family gets, their laughter is contagious, and the warmth from their love is embracing!!!

After another stop back in Houston, and to Boondoggles in Clear Lake for an absolutely filling night of Apple Cider Beer and Seafood Pizza, we crashed for the night and headed out to Austin the next day. This was our third attempt to eat at Magnolia Cafe - the line is typically 1 hr or longer for a wait! If you’ve never had their bbq chicken enchiladas, you have to try ‘em! (Its on my menu for this weekend – I can’t wait to see how they come out!)

….

Dan’s birthday was January 16th – you wouldn’t know he hit 48! He parties like he’s 21 and loves like he’s not a day older than me! Well, I wouldn’t have missed his birthday for anything – I was too excited about giving him his birthday present (tix to see Robin Williams in Austin! Woohoo!).

We celebrated Dan’s and Denise’s birthday starting Friday night at one of Dan’s favorite hangouts, the Landing, with lots of wine and beer. Yeah, Dan and Denise are definitely siblings!!! (They kind of remind me of me and Yllisia back in our younger days…yeah, whose getting older? Definitely not Dan and Denise! What’s up with that Yllisia???) Then we finished it off Saturday night with presents and lots of food (thanks to Liz and her awesome gumbo!!). Oh yeah - and Dan definitely lived up to his reputation as being a WINDOW LICKER when he spent a better half of the night trying to lick Denise’s glasses!!!

This is Dan and his Sister Denise:

Yeah, very appropriate for us, kissing in front of a wall of alcohol!!! LOL!!!

WINDOW LICKER ALERT!!!

We visited the New Orleans Zoo while there - gotta love the wildlife!

Now I’m taking the deep breath before the storm. Lots to look forward to! Life is good!

One tradition seems to have become a meaningful symbol with the citizens of Louisiana. The Fleur de Lis – an emblem traditionally used in Louisiana that represents the French influence and heritage of the state. In the post Katrina era, the Fleur de Lis represents rebirth and rebuilding – the spirit of Louisiana. It can be seen in countless forms of art, home décor, and clothing throughout Louisiana. The French Quarter boasts a multitude of shops that display their proud French heritage and their spirit through the use of the Fleur de Lis.

We also had the opportunity to tour one of the plantations in New Orleans. The Destrehan Plantation was established in 1787 and is the oldest documented plantation in the Mississippi River Valley. The antebellum mansion is surrounded by hundred+ year old live oak trees, with small wood shacks set up to display and recreate the true setting of a plantation of 225 years ago.

Saturday night found us hanging out at Dan’s favorites spots on the water, great drinks, good friends, and rockin’ music!