GUMBO!!!

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. I hope you all indulged in delicious eats and divine treats!! Our delicious dish of choice was Gumbo. This classic Cajun dish was a staple in my childhood. Growing up whenever there was a party, my Aunt Suzy would make two giant pots of Gumbo. Yes. Two. Why two? Because I (the only one in the family...a very large family back then) didn't like seafood. I especially hated shrimp...IMAGINE! It's still not my favorite thing, and certainly wouldn't be my go-to over the land locked creatures, but I enjoy it more now than I did then.

Two pots of Gumbo: one seafood based, one with chicken and sausage. We always ate it served over white rice and usually had cornbread. (There was usually a plate of devilled eggs hidden in the back of the fridge for me, too. What can I say? I was an adorable kid...who liked to eat!) Having Gumbo always brings back great memories. Some of those memories are better than others. Aunt Suzy, who was really the matriarch of our family, the woman who was always laughing, always having fun, who would throw a party because she broke a nail, left us too soon. I remember being at her house after the funeral and telling one of her best friends that I didn't know how to make roux and I wasn't sure anyone would ever be able to teach me now that she was gone. That friend walked me through the process, and taught me, more than anything, that anytime I make Gumbo the important thing, regardless of the end result, is that I'm thinking of and remembering Aunt Suzy. Even if I burn the roux, or the end product (a disaster...), she's still there with me as I chop, sautee, stir (and stir and stir and stir) and create something rich and deliciously wonderful.

One year (I'm sure more than one year, and I share this only to let you know what kind of woman she really was) Aunt Suzy went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. She always drove some kind of massive car with a massive trunk. Think Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac DeVille. A car with the kind of trunk that could hold several bodies, always used. Her return to Port Arthur, TX that year post-Mardi Gras was epic. We were driving around town, probably looking for garage sales, and would stop in parking lots across town. Usually parking lots filled with people...think mall parking lots in the 90's. She'd park the Lincoln and pop the trunk...which was full...I mean FULL...of strands of beads! Every kind of bead you can imagine in every color, including the GIANT pearl beads that go on our Christmas Tree every year. (Side note: for those of you without knowledge of Mardi Gras, getting the GIANT beads isn't an easy feat.) Suzy would start yelling at strangers in the parking lots and throwing handfuls of beads in their direction. The sheer joy and surprise that she brought to these people was inspiring and wonderful. She was a wonderfully special person. Divine then, and even more-so now.

If you ever taste a gumbo that takes you to a place you've never been, or see a feather randomly falling or somehow out of place, know that our Aunt Suzy is reaching out to you, too.

Until next time...may your eats be delicious and your dinner divine!!
-A-