Jambalaya Recipe

As Louisianans we are lucky to have a few "home-grown" products that are easily purchased.  Many of them are a vital part of our Cajun culture.   


Because we love our Cajun foods and traditions, we tend to build product lines around them.  It would be difficult to name all the Cajun food product lines, but there are a few that I especially enjoy:  Richard's meats, Tony Chachere's seasonings, Community coffee, Savoie's roux, Steen's syrup, Tobasco hot sauces, and Zatarain's seafood boil.

While I've mentioned some specific items, the businesses sell many, many different items in addition to these.  Plus, for every business there's a whole line of tee shirts, caps, bumper stickers and other items that cater to our huge tourism market. 

Louisiana Jambalaya
1/4 pound each--smoked sausage, tasso, bacon, smoked ham cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 pound chicken, deboned and cut into bite-size
               pieces(may substitute with pork or beef)
Slap Ya Mama seasoning
2 tablespoons Savoie's roux
1/4 cup each--onions, bell pepper, celery
1 clove garlic
3 cups rice
3 tablespoons oil
6 cups water

Heat oil in deep Dutch oven, add chicken and brown, remove chicken to platter.  Cook bacon in Dutch oven until crispy, and remove to meat platter. Pour out excess fat reserving 2 tablespoons, add sausage and brown lightly, add vegetables and saute until onions are clear.  Return meat to pot, adding remaining meats, stir.  Add 1/2 water and heat to boiling.  Stir in roux, rice, seasoning, and remaining water.  Mix well and bring to boil.  Cover with lid and lower heat to slow simmer.  Cook 30-45 minutes until rice is completely cooked.  Serve while hot.

Serves 8.  Freezes well in zip-top bags and can be reheated in microwave.

Etsy Shop Profile: Lola Pink Fabrics

Do I have a treat for you!  This Etsy shop profile comes from Janet and Jennifer, a mother/daughter team who sells (how could this be better?) FABRIC!  If you are like me, you just can't seem to get enough.  And if, like me you are infatuated with the new designs and colors, this is the shop for you.  I've had the pleasure of walking into their Lafayette store and would return every day for a week, if only my husband would not ride with me every time I go in that direction!  He's horrid, my darling is.  Take a moment to enjoy the eye candy then take a trip to their Etsy shop here. 

1. When and why did you decide to begin selling fabrics on Etsy?    We started an Etsy store called Pretty and Preppy in Oct. 2009. We were buying a lot of fabrics for our water bottle holders, baby items, sachets, eye masks, key chains, etc. We decided in order to make money we were going to have to buy our fabric wholesale. I must add that Jennifer was a bit of an “addict” when it came to buying fabric but, she is pretty good at picking out the right fabrics for our shop. That was the start of Lola Pink Fabrics.

2. Who are some of your favorite fabric designers?   There will be too many to name but a few favorites are: Kate Spain, Jenean Morrison, Daisy Janie, Cloud 9, Patty Young, Joel Dewberry, Laura Gunn, Tina Givens, Jennifer Paganelli and Valori Wells. This is just the tip of the designers we love and respect so much.

3. Describe your partnership.    50/50 We have an absolutely wonderful working relationship. We would not want to be partners with anyone else.

4. What other items beside fabrics do you carry in your Etsy shop? Do you carry different or additional items in the store?    We carry a big selection of patterns, i.e., quilting, children’s and adult patterns. We hope to be adding thread and notions in the near future.

5. Do you have plans for carrying kits and such in the future?    We are just starting to carry kits and hope to have them listed in the shop very soon. We have a pillowcase kit and we are working on a pin cushion kit that everyone seems to be wanting. 

6. What does "handmade" mean to you?  Handmade is something that is made by you, with all of your heart and passion going into your gift. It is taking your time to make something for someone to cherish and use. It is not manufactured or mass produced. Each thing we make is unique in it’s own special way.


Is there anything else you'd like others to know about yourself or your shop?
We just opened a brick and mortar store in Lafayette, LA. We have been open three months now and it is going great. We are working hard to expand our fabric lines. We now carry Mettler threads and a variety of notions. We will be carrying the Aurifil thread very soon. We will continue to update our site as soon as our new fabrics come in. The best part of our Etsy shop is reading the wonderful comments from our customers. They are the best.

Thank you for profiling us,
~Janet and Jennifer

Thanks to Janet and Jennifer for allowing me to profile their shop.  Don't you just love their fabrics?  Aren't they yummiest?

Product Review: Grandma's Secret Spot Remover

Have you ever discovered a small yellow, oily spot on a just-finished garment or quilt?  It's so easy to touch the fabric to a machine part, and one tiny touch is enough for the machine oil to get into the fabric.  Since fabric is so absorbent, a few seconds can wick even more oil from the machine.

What to do about the oil?  Certainly washing is necessary, but oil must be pretreated before the fabric is put into the machine.  I've tried lots of different concoctions for removing the oil, especially when I was quilting large quilts on my home machines.  Because the throat is so small, I had to bunch up the quilt layers to fit them into the small space.  That meant that quite often the bunched quilt would fold and roll toward the machine, touching the needle or needle bar, which I tend to oil almost every time I clean and oil the machine.  That sometimes meant staining the quilt multiple times with small dots of yellow that refuse to leave.  

Recently I pick up a work in progress that I'd put aside for about two years.  I had several problems of oil stains and even a blood stain from getting pricked on the finger while trying to quilt on the home machine.  I decided to finish the quilt then attempt to get the stains out.  I figured that two years of sitting on the shelf had given the stains plenty of time to penetrate and harden, so if they were coming out, waiting a few more days would not make much difference.  I finished the quilt and purchased some of the Grandma's Secret Spot Remover.  I had not used it before but had read a couple of good reviews and spoken to a couple of people who really like the product.  What the heck!  I gave it a try and was pleased beyond description!  Every stain came out--blood, oil, dust.  All of it.                                                                                     

The white on this quilt is unbelievably white and crisp.  I love this stuff!  Who would not love something that cleans so well, and with so little effort.  I simply poured a small amount of the spot remover directly on the spot and rubbed it in using my fingers.  Let it sit up for about five minutes while the machine filled with water, added my usual laundry detergent, then tossed the quilt into the washer.  

I'll admit that I was a bit worried about taking the quilt out, thinking that the really bad spots would still be there.  No, not at all!  What a relief!  If you find yourself looking at one of those mean little (or big) spots that is almost impossible to remove, reach for some Grandma's and it will be gone in the time it takes to load the washer and launder.