I’d like to say I’ve been on vacation and that’s why I haven’t written lately, but honestly, the time away has been more about working on admin issues here.  Although I’ve learned quite a bit about websites and CSS and can fake code like the best of the posers since I’ve started blogging, suffice it to say that countless hours were spent last week reading through instructions to connect some dots that weren’t designed to go together.  Call me stupid tenacious.  Or stubborn.  Okay, how about a royal pain in the ass?

I was less than thrilled with this ultimate waste of time which nagged at me so much, the idea of doing anything but that at my Mac was impossible. The silver lining on that one is that I was able to focus!  Nice. So right now, I’m calling it a truce to cool down a bit before I decide to choose a different route.

What better way to do that than talk about food, right?  Exactly.  And what better food to discuss than Jambalaya?  No, I’m not from New Orleans, and to my knowledge, no one in my family is Cajun that I know of….but I love the flavors, the ease with which it comes together, and the sheer number of variations available.

Jambalaya is a One Pot Wonder that can be made with what you have on hand — almost.  And the pay off is big.  The resulting flavors remind me of a dish that has cooked for hours.  It’s easy on the budget, too.  It takes a bit more effort than fried rice, but nowhere near the energy that risotto or paella take, so even my son has manned the Wolf long enough to put a nice meal of Jambalaya together before with very little bossing from his mother.

Are you sold? No?

Okay, but maybe I’ve got you thinking…

But wait!  I also just found out (and I’m getting the impression I should have known quite some time ago…) that I’ve been nominated for Best Food Blog:  Humor by Haley of Appoggiatura.  Goodness!  This is so cool because I’m someone who never even won the “Who can spoon the most cotton balls blindfolded” game at baby showers.  Talk about a lifetime of feeling incompetent.

Which must explain my obsession with food, right?  I’m sure there’s a couch for me somewhere… If you have the time, check out all the great nominees in all the categories and vote, vote, vote.

Continue reading Jambalaya with Andouille Shrimp and Chicken