Shrimp Gumbo

Serves: 6

Cooking Time: 20 min

Ingredients

• ¹/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1 medium-sized green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup frozen okra, thawed
• 1 cup water
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed

Instructions

1. In a soup pot, melt butter over medium heat.
    
2. Add onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
    
3. Stir in flour, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper, and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, okra, and water and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
    
4. Add shrimp and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until shrimp are pink. Serve immediately.

Source:  Mr. Food

Apple Walnut Sticky Buns

These sticky buns look like you have been working in the kitchen for hours, but no . . . this is a semi-homemade recipe from Sandra Lee of the Food Network.  Don't they look delicious?

I will be experimenting with this recipe and making it a bit easier by using canned pie filling instead of fresh apples.  I'll update this post when I do!

Ingredients

• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 (8-count) tubes refrigerated cinnamon rolls
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 to 2 teaspoons water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Generously butter a 12-count muffin tin.

Peel, core and dice the apples into 1/2-inch cubes. In a medium bowl stir together the diced apples with the walnuts and brown sugar.

Divide the apple mixture evenly into the muffin tin. Put 12 cinnamon buns, cinnamon side up, on top of the apple mixture. Put the muffin tin on a baking sheet and bake until the tops are golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. 

Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Put a clean baking sheet on top of the muffin tin and flip to remove the sticky buns.

In a small bowl, combine the vanilla frosting with the pumpkin pie spice and 1 to 2 teaspoons of water. Mix until very thick and of pourable consistency. Drizzle over buns and serve.

Source:  Food Network

Spaghetti With Roasted Tomatoes and Herbs

Ingredients

• 12 ounces spaghetti (3⁄4 box)
• 2 pounds cherry tomatoes (about 6 cups)
• 6 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (such as basil, parsley, and chives)
• shaved Parmesan, for serving

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, on a rimmed baking sheet, toss the tomatoes, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
3. Roast the tomatoes, tossing once, until they begin to burst, 20 to 25 minutes. 
4. Toss the pasta with the tomatoes, herbs, and remaining tablespoon oil. Serve with the Parmesan and additional oil (if desired).

Source:  Real Simple By Kate Merker, September 2010

Seven links . . . food bloggers welcome to play along!

Catherine, from one of my favorite food blogs, The Living Gourmet, tagged me to participate in blogger game called seven links.

The theme of the game is to answer seven questions using seven of your posts as answers.

1.  Most beautiful post . . .

Chocolate Indulgence for Valentines Day

This post features sweet treats for Valentine's Day like Molten Lava Cake, Emeril's Chocolate New York Cheesecake, homemade chocolate peanut butter cups and more.  Anything chocolate is beautiful :)

2.  Most popular post

Sour Cream Pound Cake

I've been making this pound cake since I was a teenager and is still my favorite pound cake after trying out many others.  The post tells the story of my baking and cooking roots.  It got a great response!

3.  Most controversial post

The recipe for crab cakes that I have used since I was a young adult.  
It is no longer posted.  

Many of my recipes came from somewhere else like newspapers, magazines, cookbooks, etc.  Back in the day, when I tried out a recipe that I wanted to make again, I would type it out and put in my personal recipe book . . . not noting the source.  This was way before the internet, blogs and the importance of sources.

Well, the crab cake recipe was originally published in a newspaper or magazine and originated from a famous restaurant.  I got the nastiest and rudest comment I ever received from a lady who saw the same recipe on the restaurant's website.  She accused me of stealing, being deceitful . . . "at least change one ingredient to make it different" . . . blah blah blah . . .  although I noted in the post that I didn't recall where the original recipe came from.

I don't have a deceitful bone in my body!  I'm here to share the passion of food!  Anyway, I pulled one of the best recipes that I have ever made for years just because this woman made me so paranoid.

For the record, as the disclaimer on my sidebar states . . . many of the recipes I post come from somewhere else.  I don't take credit for creating any recipe that I did not create myself . . . and each post contains the source unless it is one of those that I have used from way back in the day.  Most of the time I will post the entire recipe since blogs come and go . . . larger websites periodically change content . . . and a link to a recipe that doesn't exist is useless.  That is why I post entire recipes.

4.  Most helpful post

Frittata

How I use a basic frittata recipe to use up leftovers with delicious results!

5.  Post that was surprisingly successful

Pepperoni Bread

6.  Post that did not get the attention it deserved

Macaroni and Cheese

It was my first post on this blog . . . honestly, I don't think I had but a few hits for a long long time until my posts started hitting the search listings.  Macaroni and Cheese deserves LOTS of attention!  This post features several variations from different sources as well as my personal recipe.

7.  Post that I'm most proud of

Cheap Meals . . . The Gina Way

Rather than tag five of my blogger friends to recreate their wonderful posts . . . I challenge my food blogger friends to create their own posts and link your post back here!

Showcase your older posts :)

Let's play!