Cajun Seasoning

I'm going to put it out there: I *love* Cajun and Creole food. I especially love cooking it. But a good all-in-one seasoning is hard to find. Unless you're my dad, who stocked up on Cajun seasoning on a work trip to New Orleans. I don't have any hope of squeezing a jar out of him. So what's a girl to do when she wants to make a good gumbo?

She figures out how to make her own.

Thanks to various sources found through Google, I cobbled together a recipe for Cajun seasoning that I now have a jar of.

Here's what's in my jar:
-10 t salt
-10 t garlic powder
-12.5 t paprika
-5 t onion powder
-7 t cayenne powder
-6.25 t dried oregano
-6.25 t dried thyme
-5 t red pepper flakes

This has quite the kick, but not too much, as the hubby isn't a huge fan of eating fire. It can, of course, be made hotter or milder.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Room Spray

If you like a delight burst of scent in your home, but don't want to use all kinds of chemicals, then I have an inexpensive and natural solution!

It's quite simple, really: herbal tea and several drops of essential oil in a spray bottle (mist setting). My favorite combination is chamomile tea and rose oil. Though, right now, I don't know where my rose oil is, so I'm using dragon's blood. I usually spray it into my curtains, furniture, and carpets, as well as the air. Occasionally, I use it on clothing, luggage, and anything to do with the cats. Plus, very cost effective. Especially if you're the type who grows their own herbs/flowers, and/or makes their own essential oils. Which gives me an idea...

Key Lime Cheesecake with Oreo Crust

I can't recall if it was my ex-fiance or my mother-in-law, but I developed a love for key lime desserts as an adult. I gobbled up the flavored yogurts and store-bought dessert mixes, but last year, I decided I wanted something more. So, I looked up a cheesecake recipe. Simple enough. Except that key limes are incredibly hard to find here, apparently. I eventually ended up buying a pre-packaged bag of about 30 key limes at Market of Choice. Then I had to go buy a citrus juicer. Which, by the way, juicing a lime half about as big as half a golf ball SUCKS.

Well, my husband saw that The Cheesecake Factory now offers a chocolate key lime cheesecake, and requested I make one (we don't have a local CF). So I dusted off this recipe, and made a few changes. (Recipe will be available in a .pdf format at the end.)

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I started by changing the crust from graham cracker to Oreo. You can buy pre-crushed Oreos, but that takes the fun out for me. So I put the de-cremed cookies into my little food processor. This came out to be a little over 1/3 C (15 Oreo sandwiches minus the creme).

I then added 5 T melted stick butter (unsalted), and mixed it in. This was followed by the mixture being pressed into the bottom of a 9” spring form pan, and baked for 5 minutes at 350*. (Note: Spraying the pan is optional.)

While the crust was in the oven, I put the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar into a bowl, and used my electric mixer until it was combined and smooth.

After I pulled the crust out of the oven, I added the eggs and key lime juice to the cream cheese mixture.

When it was well-beaten, I poured it into my pan, and popped it in the oven.

(Note: Sadly, in our litigious society where common sense is not so common, I have to tell you to not eat the uncooked filling like I did. Raw eggs and disease and blah blah blah. Unless you’re like me, and have never once gotten sick from licking the bowl/spoon/spatula/beaters while baking. Then carry on. But if you eat the filling and get sick, it’s not on me.)

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I've learned tonight that the kitchen timer on my microwave can't always be counted on. As a result, my cheesecake was in a few minutes longer than it needed to be. I'm sure it's fine, but I won't know for sure until I serve it up after my husband and I have our anniversary dinner tomorrow night. But you don't really want it this dark:

***********************To Be Continued*********************

Key Lime Cheesecake with Oreo Crust Recipe 

Handmade Christmas

When I got married in 2008, I instantly became an aunt to 6 (don't quote me on that number--I may be off). While most were already adults or on the brink of adulthood, I still had my now 13 year old niece to dote on. Over the last few years, I've made her dresses, jewelry, and even a stuffed kitty. This year, however, I will be doing gifts for all three nieces (13, 4, and 4 months), and my first biological nephew (also 4 months).

The newly-minted teenager is not entirely difficult; she never really has been. I'll send her a handmade card with a picture and a cute pair of earrings (maybe two). The younger ones really got me thinking. What's okay for toddlers and infants? What's a big no-no? After walking around the mall with my sister and nephew looking at baby hats (or the lack of), I decided to do fleece winter accessories. Winter is long and cold in Oregon, so it just made sense.

Not being a parent myself, I posed a question to friends and family who are: are scarves okay for infants and tots? The response was varied from no (choking hazard) to yes (parental discretion). After discussing it with my sister, I decided on a mini quilt, a fleece cap, fleece mitts, and a fleece scarf for my nephew. I'm decided on caps for my little nieces (with mitts for the youngest), and currently waiting on a scarf answer from my brother-in-law.

***to be continued***

What kind of gifts do you usually do for children? I've been trying to draw ideas from my own childhood, but being a kid nowadays is a whole different story than those of us who were kids in the 80s and 90s. I also never really had winter until I moved to Oregon from Southern California, and I still have issues grasping winter wear for me, let alone people who are nearly three decades younger than me.