The Big Easy

Dearest Boo,  I will freely admit it – I live in Nebraska, but I am not a football fan.  History shows that when your beloved Huskers play on television and I am watching we suck.  However, if I am not watching we are totally awesome.  When it comes to professional football I just never got into the whole thing.  The only game I would watch from start to finish is the Super Bowl and that is only for the commercials.  I love the Super Bowl commercials, with the Budwieser Clysdales being top of the list.

This year the Betty White/Snickers commercial totally bumped Budweiser from the top of my list!

Betty White is an awesome lady. I have loved her since she played Sue Anne Nivens. She is the best!

The Super Bowl this year was played in Miami with the Indianapolis Colts vs the New Orleans Saints. I liked and admired both quarterbacks before the game, so the game started with no clear favorite for me. As we were eating our dinner we knew that we needed to pick sides, so that we could cheer and jeer. I gave you the Saints, while I took the Colts.

I have never been to Indianapolis, but I have been to New Orleans. What an amazing city! So full of Southern charm, great food, wonderful customs, history, and a great play to practice my all time favorite hobby – people watching. One of it’s nicknames is “The City That Care Forgot”, which refers to the outwardly easy-going, care free nature of many of it’s residents. Whether I was in the Garden District looking at all the amazing architectural homes, or sipping cafe au lait and chowing down on beignets at Cafe du Monde, or taking a ride on the steamboat Natchez down the Mississippi, or hopping on a streetcar to one of the amazingly beautiful cemeteries with their above ground tombs, or taking a stroll down Bourbon Street the people were just so charming to view. They all seemed to be so self-assured, totally okay with their authentic selves and were not all concerned that they were causing people to stare.

New Orleans is also called “The Big Easy” for several reasons. One is that at the turn of last century it was very easy for musicians to find work there. New Orleans is the home of jazz and to see a Jazz Funeral is truly a show of celebrating one’s life, not death. The name also refers to the fact that at one time New Orleans was the cheapest place in America to live. Red beans and rice and their famous Muffuletta sandwiches are proof positive of that fact, even today.

“The Big Easy”, for some reason, reminds me of our Sunday night dinners growing up.  This was the 1950’s and your grandmother had to take care of the home, your grandfather, and eight children with all the expenses and work attached to that all on $85/per week.  Raising one child, you, was amazing and fun, but image raising eight children, all born within an eleven year time span.  Image, never being out of the “diaper/potty training” stage for fourteen years!  And this was before the event of disposable diapers or diaper services in our life.  We had cloth diapers, that when it was just “wet” was one thing, but when they came with a “baby BM” surprise that was a whole other adventure.   Having six younger siblings, some of whom I had the “pleasure” of changing their diapers, improved my gag reflex.

Sunday night was your grandmother’s rest period.  She would make breakfast and lunch, but our evening meal was a no-brainer, easy peasy to get on the table.  Sunday nights we always had pop corn (via Jiffy Pop) and ice cream.  I loved Sunday nights!  For me there was nothing better than a big bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with Hershey’s chocolate syrup and peanuts in their skins.  I would let it melt a bit and then stir everything together, like my very own cold chocolate soup.  Delicious!  I know that this is where my desire to have something simple and easy on Sunday nights to eat.

Imagine my delight to find out that one of the teams competing in the Super Bowl this year, the best sporting night for eating, was from “The Big Easy”!  For me this was a sign from God that we would just have fun snacky type foods for dinner.  It would not be a well balanced meal at all.  Food Pyramid be turned on it’s side………………we were going to have fun, fattening and nothing good for us at all foods.

I know that one of your all time favorite snack, “Beth’s Dip”.  When ever we would eat something at someone’s home that we truly enjoyed, we would ask for the recipe.  If we were so blessed, I would always change the original name to include the name of the person who shared the recipe.  This dip is from the mother of the only children you ever baby-sat.  Baby-sitting was not the top of your list of things to do growing up.  Not only was it not on the top of your list, I am pretty sure it never made it to the Top 100 things you wanted to do.  However, these two boys were pretty special and you did enjoy the few times you baby-sat.

The second snack was one that we made up together.  I love, love, love Little Smokies – not your favorite.  I love, love, love Corn Dogs – not your favorite.  We needed to come up with something that be similar to Corn Dogs, but not a Corn Dog.  Something that had Little Smokies, but have their taste disguised so that it would not taste like a Little Smokie.  Hummm, what to do?  What to do?  Ta-Dah!  We now have “Little Piggies” to add to our snack arsenal.  Joy Rising!

Beth’s  Dip

Prep Time:                     5 minutes

Microwave Time:        3 minutes

Source:                            Beth, mother of Nathan and Ross

Ingredients:

  • 1 can Hormel Chili (you can use with or without beans, Beef or Turkey Chili)
  • 1 8 oz bar Cream Cheese  (you can use low fat or no fat or the totally fat)

Directions:

  1. Place Cream Cheese into microwave safe bowl.
  2. Microwave on high power for 60 seconds.
  3. Add the can of chili.
  4. Microwave on high power for 90 seconds.  If not hot enough, microwave another 30 seconds.

Serve with Tostitos  (plain or flavored)

Little  Piggies

Prep Time:           20 minutes

Bake Time:           20 minutes   at 350 degrees

Source:                  Original Mommy and Boo

Ingredients:

  • 1 package Little Smokies
  • 1 package Won Ton wrappers
  • 4 T Whole Grain Dijon County Style Mustard
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 T water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place water into bowl with beaten egg.  This will be your “egg wash”.

Lay out one won ton wrapper on your counter, turned on it’s side to look like a diamond shape.

Spread small amount of mustard onto the wrapper in the center.

Place one Little Smokie near the bottom “point” of one wrapper, about 1/3 way from the tip.

Brush a thin border of egg wash or water around the edges of the wrapper. This becomes the seal that holds the ingredients inside the Little Piggie.

Bring the point over the Little Smokie. Roll the Piggie one time to enclose the piggie. Fold the sides over the piggie. Roll the Little Piggie shut, and seal the tip with more egg wash or water.

Finish preparing the rest of the Little Piggies.

Place on baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes, turning over half way through the baking process to allow both sides to brown.

Serve with more mustard or barbecue sauce.

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