Swamp People, Rice Every Day, and Alligator in the Road

Alligator Road

It’s no secret that Roger and I love to travel. Our favorite thing to do on any given weekend is to load up computers and clothes and hit the road going anywhere within driving distance.  This weekend, we have business in the Prentiss, Mississippi area and so decided to take advantage and drive a little further South for the night and get a room close to the water in Louisiana.

In true Roger-Sheila fashion, we saw a road and said, “I wonder where this goes?” Then we just took it to find out,
and I’m so glad we did. For about 45 minutes, we drove down this beautiful, small highway that ran right along the water. Every few miles or so was a small marina with boats and cars and signs advertising everything they had to offer. But it was the houses between the marinas that really fascinated me.

Each home was built on stilts about 12 to 15 feet high – or more – to protect against rising waters. The look of each unique house gave an idea of what the owners might be like if you had the opportunity to meet each character in person. Then we hit a stretch where each house-place had a sign out front with a fun and creative name -- like Go Fish, A Shore Thing, and Coast on Inn. Now we could really get an idea of the personality of the owners!

Louisiana is a state rich in history, culture, and food. The “always ready to party” spirit of the people of South Louisiana is one of the things we love most about the area. The other thing we love best is the food. To me, almost everything about Louisiana cooking is delicious… gumbo (my absolute favorite), etouffee, maque choux, bread pudding, beignets, hot and spicy everything.

The fact that rice is a staple in Louisiana dishes makes the food more appealing to me. I think I could eat rice every day and never tire of it. You can’t hear the words Louisiana cooking without thinking of sausage and rice recipes like jambalaya and red beans and rice.

Our friend James makes frequent trips to Louisiana. Not to eat, but to hunt alligators. He has shared alligator meat with us more than once, and while it’s not my favorite, I think the idea of hunting alligators is exciting. Nicholas and I have had more than one occasion to discuss this idea because he loves the television show, Swamp People. We have spent many an evening discussing what it would be like to actually hunt alligator, and he was surprised to hear that I had never actually seen an alligator in the wild. (Personally, I don’t think that is so surprising, but then I’m not adventurous, 13-year-old boy.)

I couldn't resist taking this picture while
traveling through Pearlington MS.  We
didn't take the road.  We weren't sure
we had time to drive all the way to SPACE
and back before work on Monday!

On this particular weekend trip, I was able to fix that situation. As Roger and I were driving down this quiet highway beside the water, I dodged to miss something on the side of the road. Then hollered out when I realized what it was. This caused Roger to look and he, too, hollered and jumped when he saw it – an alligator. With his head just over the line on the side of the road and the rest of his 8-foot-long body stretching across the side of the road and into the edge of the foliage, he appeared to be quietly and patiently waiting to cross the road.

Roger and I were neither patient nor quiet as we realized what we had seen and I made a quick (and almost certainly illegal) u-turn in the middle of the road so we could go back and take a picture. Alas, an alligator is obviously faster than a u-turn because when we got back to the spot, he was gone. I was disappointed to not have a picture to show Nicholas, but was excited, just the same, to call and tell him that I had, finally, seen an alligator in the wild. His first question, “Did you try to catch it?” Um, No. But I did eat some really good Cajun food while we were there.

I hope you enjoy these delicious, cook-at-home, Louisiana recipes from our Louisiana Hometown Cookbook including one for alligator in case you’ve been hunting lately.

Angies Mock Shoe (MAQUE CHOUX)
Alligator Stew
Bananas Foster

Girls Over the Shoulder and the Boy with the Orange Head

My son Nicholas is a typical pre-teen boy, I think. He doesn't come home every afternoon and expound on his day. As a matter of fact, he's outside like a shot the minute his book bag hits the couch. If I do want to have a conversation, I'm forced to chase him down out of doors. Even then it's a one-sided conversation, at best.

"How was your day?" "Fine."

"What did you learn?" "Nothing."

"Well, what were they TEACHING?" "MOM!"

If you have children, you probably know the drill. But some days, a miracle happens. Nicholas will arrive home from school with nothing but talking on his mind. I might as well drop everything and listen because he expects my undivided attention. And frankly, I'm just so happy he's talking to me, he usually gets it.

So, one of these miracle days happened this week. On this day, I was picking Nicholas up from school instead of him riding the bus home. He got into the car talking. He was excited about a speaker who visited his class that day. "This man got a room full of BOYS to like reading," he said. (In our world, getting active boys to read is also a miracle.) I heard stories about his friends and a girl he likes and what happened on the playground and who said what at lunch and on and on.

His favorite story that day was about how he picked one of his good friends up and slung her over his shoulder and carried her around the playground. Oh, I was sure this should have gotten him in trouble, but he assured me that the playground monitor thought it was funny, too. We'll chalk it up to boys will be boys.

My favorite part of our talk was my attempt at teaching a lesson while I had Nicholas talking. He was complaining about some character trait he wasn't happy about or maybe that he thought a teacher was picking on him. I used the opportunity to talk about faith in God, trusting that things are just as they should be, and couldn't resist commenting that things can always be worse. My intent, was to talk about children with physical affliction, people who don't have the same daily comforts we have, etc etc. But Nicholas beat me to it.

Before I could say anything more, he piped in with, "Yeah, Mom, I know. There is this boy on my bus who has an orange head."

I couldn't help but laugh, so I think maybe he thought I didn't believe him.

"I'm serious," he said. "This guy not only has an orange head, it's ROUND. You're right, things could always be worse." Not exactly the message I was looking for, but I will consider that one lesson-learned!

So, in honor of the boy with the orange head, here is my favorite recipe for Creamy Orange White Chocolate Fudge from Georgia Hometown Cookbook.

Creamy Orange White Chocolate Fudge

2 pounds white chocolate, melted
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
6 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Combine all ingredients; spoon into mini muffin/candy cups. Top with chopped nuts, if desired. Chill to set.

http://www.greatamericanpublishers.com/html/cookbooks/recipes/creamyorangewhitechocolatefudge.htm

Sweet Aunt Marie and Sweet Potato Pie

Eating watermelon at Aunt Alice's house
with Rebekkah (right).  ~1980.

My middle name is Marie—Sheila Marie. A name any good Southern girl can be proud of and I always have been proud of the name. Why? Because it came to me by way of my favorite aunt—Alice Marie.

Aunt Alice was just the kind of woman any young, and somewhat rebellious, girl could look up to. For all of my childhood, she remained unmarried. But best of all, she had her own house! Going to Aunt Alice’s house as a child, was akin to the wonder of going to Disney World. There were no traces of a man in the house she owned. Everything was hand-picked for a girl.

My cousin, Rebekkah, and I are less than a year apart in age so we often spent the night together. We had many great times over the years, but the best times were when we spent the night together at Aunt Alice’s house. Why? Because Aunt Alice has a small foot.

There were racks and racks of shoes in Aunt Alice’s closet and each one was just about small enough for a little girl’s foot. Close enough in size that we could do a great job imagining the shoes were our shoes. When I put those shoes on, I was transformed. I was wearing them to work as a secretary in a big office with a boss, or on an exotic date with a man that adored me… anywhere I wanted to go because, like Aunt Alice, I was GROWN and single and owned my own house.

If you get right down to it, Aunt Alice probably gets partial credit for my current occupation—cookbook author and cookbook publisher. She instilled in me, while I was still very young, a love of cookbooks. Aunt Alice also fostered my love of cooking. She makes the best sugar cookies in the world and when you are at Aunt Alice’s house, it doesn’t matter how big the mess becomes, we’ll just clean it up later.

Aunt Alice with Rebekkah.  1978

Aunt Alice gave me first cookbook – a Brand Name Recipe Book that was hardcover with a jacket. The first recipe I ever cooked from it was Porcupine Balls. At around 11 years old, I was amazed when, after following the recipe step by step, a great-tasting dish emerged. My life was changed forever. Okay, maybe that is a bit melodramatic, but, in truth, from that day forward, I had a love of cookbooks, and recipes, and yes, cooking. I still own every cookbook Aunt Alice gave me over the years and each one is still among my favorites.

Aunt Alice and I also share a love a sweet potatoes. Each year, when the season is perfect, she buys a case of sweet potatoes and I always get to share in the bounty.

There are so many delicious things to do with sweet potatoes – bake one in the oven and smother it in butter then maybe add some cinnamon and sugar on top, slice another into skinny chips and deep fry them, shred one into a cake to make it super moist, or make sweet potato casserole. My favorite way, by far, is to make a home-made sweet potato pie!

Aunt Alice and I agree that best sweet potato pies are “sweet” not spicy. I can appreciate a hot, spicy sweet potato pie on a cool, fall day sitting on the back porch with a cup of hot chocolate. But, when I’m making a sweet potato pie to please myself, I leave out the spice, and make it plenty sweet with eggs to make it rich and so that it sets to just the right texture.

When perfected, a sweet potato pie, after being allow to properly cool, should hold together when sliced. This allows for ample opportunity to sneak by, cut a very small, bite-size sliver, and savor it for that beautiful moment… before continuing on with the day.

One of our favorite customers, Lisa Luckett, shared her Sweet Potato Pie recipe with us and I’ll share it with you! Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Pie
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup canned milk
3 teaspoons flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter or margarine (softened)
3 eggs
Dash salt
2 pie crusts, baked until bottoms are not soggy

Mix together all ingredients with an electric mixer. Pour into the 2 pie shells. Place on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 350 degrees oven, bake until firm (about 45 minutes or so). Yum!

Submitted by Lisa Luckett, Vicksburg, MS
Lisa says, "This is a very old recipe that my husband's grandmother, Ione Luckett Leist used for years that was given to her by a very dear friend. His grandmother is no longer with us but this recipe carries her memory on with us because it was such a favorite!"


Editor's Note:
The week Lisa sent me this recipe, my Aunt also sent me a case of sweet potatoes... what timing! So, of course, the first thing I made was this pie. It was delicious! This recipe uses less sweet potatoes than my usual recipe, so that the filling is not as thick. But it set-up beautifully and tastes great. I definitely recommend that you try this recipe. -- Sheila