Love at First Whip

Oh. My. Gosh. I freaking love my new Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. My dad got me this beauty for Christmas, and because I was only home for less than 12 hours before a 48 hour shift, it's only natural that when I returned home the next 48 hours were nearly all spent having quality time with my mixer. Furthermore, I felt the need to make recipes that utilized more than one attachment for the mere excitement of how capable my mixer is of multitasking. The menu? ha...

Chocolate- Coffee Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Espresso Mousse filling for Cupcakes

Blue Buttercream Icing

Wheat and White Pizza Dough

Sweet Quickbread

Cracked Wheat and Sesame Loaves

Delectable Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes

First, let me inform you of my new project! In congratulation of my good friends Laura and Kevin on their engagement, I have offered to make their wedding cake! And of course, they accepted my offer. They set the date for March 5, 2011 - which gives me about 2 months until the big day to taste flavors, practice my piping skills, and make a few practice cakes. I have ordered the Wilton 3 tier wedding cake set with 8", 10", and 14" tiers - each a 3 layer cake. Laura and Kevin are avid coffee drinkers and most of our friends delight in coffee also - which made me want to incorporate it somewhere in the cake. I started by making this rich chocolate cupcake with a 70 % dark chocolate - espresso mousse. The cupcake batter included 8 0z. of freshly french pressed extra bold coffee and a heaping serving of dutch pressed cocoa powder. The dark chocolate mousse was a first for me. Mousse is really an interesting concept - and I like it! This mousse wasn't sweet. Instead, it was a dark - pure - very chocolatey fluff. I got to use my whisk attachment for my mixer 4 times in the making of the mousse! It's funny, because Vincent and I refer to our dog Pepper as "Peppoose the Moose" and we often just call her the "moose" - so every time I referred to my making of the Mousse, Vincent always had to rearrange his thought process from the dog "moose" to the filling Mousse!

Next, we had Laura and Kevin over for dinner to talk about wedding plans and hang out - so it was necessary for me to find something delicious to make, using my mixer. PIZZA! A favorite in our house :) I make a very simple pizza dough with 1/3 whole wheat flour and let it rise for a little over an hour, roll it thin, top it, and get it onto a hot stone in a 450 degree oven. Perfect every time - no matter what toppings you use! But speaking of toppings, I wanted to cut up plenty of fresh vegetables because they all go well on pizza and Laura + Kevin do not eat meat. Thus, we have bell pepper, baby portobellos, greek marinated olives, red onion, fresh tomato, spinach, roasted tomatoes (courtesy of Laci Burton), sauteed shrimp, cilantro, and fresh pesto. As far as cheese goes - I like a variety of them on my pizza. We had italian blend, feta, and a romano parmesan blend.

My Pizza - All Veggie + Pesto, Shrimp, and Cilantro

Laura's Pizza - Sauteed Spinach with Red Pepper Flakes,
Mushroom, Feta, and Roasted Tomatoes - Yum!

Vincent's Pizza - Green Machine... Bell Pepper, Olives,
Onion, Spinach, and Shrimp

Phill's Pizza - a Flavor Explosion of Every Topping!

Kevin's Pizza - Strawberries, Red Onion,
Feta, Romano, Roasted Tomatoes

Yes, we were stuffed afterwards - especially considering there were so many cupcakes to be eaten! But The pizzas were all less than 10 inches and there were 5 of us. I was good and had a small piece of each, but I think some of the boys were hurting afterwards haha. Pizza night is always a hit! 

Christmas Rollover...

The holidays always give way to an extremely thinly spread schedule of driving the triangle between New Orleans, Baton Rouge,  and Mandeville and in the past few years that Vincent and I have been together, Alexandria has also be added to that mix! Don't get me wrong - I love visiting everyone, but it's difficult to drive so many places and surprisingly, even harder to eat a meal upon arrival at each one! This Christmas was very warming because there are so many different things going on in my life - such as the opportunity for me to go to PA School in May pending a great interview next week, Vincent's potential job offer in Colorado, and among other things the fact that I have had an increasingly time consuming work schedule lending little time to visit with family since the summer. Needless to say, I was happy to see all of them and vice versa.

So many delicious meals were served in 4 days! It all started with the Feast of the Seven Fishes at my dad's house on Thursday and coffee with Katie the next morning at the Bean Gallery. Friday for lunch, I met with my 4 best friends and our boyfriends for lunch at Zea - an inspired American restaurant. You really can't go wrong with a tabasco pepper jelly spinach salad and a small dish of piping hot roasted corn grits... it's just heaven! That evening after Christmas Eve Church, my mother and her husband had several of their friends over for tapas and drinks. We had an assortments of cheeses and dips - hummus, guacamole, fresh black bean salsa and as a more filling option - a spicy pot of lentils my mom made was simmering away on the stove; yum! Christmas Day was filled with an assortment of delicacies from my Mimi Lambert's house and later that evening the Hamblin Household! Thanks to everyone for understanding how quickly I had to jump around in order to fit everyone in and a special thanks to my love for driving almost all of the weekend because of my back pain (which I hope to get taken care of after an MRI next week!)

Now.... the menu.

Christmas Lunch at Mimi's

Mimi's Beautiful Christmas Table

Christmas at Mimi's is always a fancy affair. There were deviled eggs that were incredibly moist and creamy to go with a spicy bloody mary when we arrived. Next, Katie brought over a bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne that my dad sent (yes, it was from France - not to be confused with Roederer Estate, which is really delicious sparkling wine from California).

For the Meal, we had a traditional turkey, which was brined the night before ( a first for Mimi),  cranberry salad, sweet potato crunch casserole - a pecan topped delight, whole wheat rolls, and the star of the day... Mimi's Oyster Dressing. Okay, stop. If you have an opinion about oysters, dressing, or Oyster Dressing... it's wrong until you have tried this. Sauteed peppers and onions mixed with the freshest oysters that you can get, baked in the oven with buttered breadcrumbs on top. YES! This was perhaps the best thing I've eaten in the last month. Mimi, you're oyster dressing is delicious! To go with the already well planned and executed spread of Mimi & Pa dishes, my mom brought over some mixed vegetables and also a wonderful spinach and artichoke casserole - one dairy free - and one with a little parmesan for fun. 

Of course, growing up in New Orleans - I never had to worry about what was going to happen with the turkey carcass or the leftover meat. Gumbo. Naturally. This process began before we ever even sat down to eat Christmas dinner, thanks to Pa! 

Ever since I can remember, I've been in charge of desert for the holidays. This year, I wanted to do something that wasn't traditional, but I couldn't let Mimi down so I made 2! The first was a traditional bread pudding studded with raisins and topped with a buttered rum sauce. Next, I made a French Apple tart - courtesy of Ina Garten, probably my favorite chef of all time. I did a little Procido editing to the tart recipe in order to make it dairy free for Katie and Jen. Instead of using butter in the pastry, I substituted Earth Balance - a non-hydrogenated, dairy free alternative. The rest of it was just fresh apples and sugar... no problem there!

French Apple Tart

The tart makes for a beautiful presentation and it is so easy to make, there is no reason it shouldn't be on everyones holiday menu! Of course, I was skeptical of the bread pudding only because I knew how full I'd be after a Christmas Feast, but I at a few bites and it was to die for! Yum Yum Yum.

Now, you can only imagine how full we were after this tantilizing display of a feast... but with a cup of coffee and chicory, we were on our way to the Hamblin House for another turkey feast!!!

Mrs. Julie, Vincent's wonderful mom, always goes big when it comes to entertaining. She never complains, or worries, but when you get there - you know she's been working all day long! There was a ham, a roasted turkey, sweet potato amaretto casserole, bourbon and brown sugar baked beans, cornbread dressing, cream cheese topped with pepper jelly, hummus of two varieties, an assortment of home made cookies and candies... just to name a few. I'm sure there were probably 10 other things that I left out but can I tell you that it was all delicious. I really didn't have much trouble finding room for another meal, ha! (well... now you can probably tell, but hey - it's Christmas!)

I have to say, some of the greatest times we all have together are during the holidays - preparing and enjoying meals together and this holiday definitely did not disappoint! Thanks everyone for having us over and keeping our bellies (and my butt) full! Vincent will continue to look good through the next year, I'm sure. Merry Christmas!

Feast of the Seven Fishes

As Procidos, we are obligated annually near the Christmas holiday to partake in an Italian American tradition called the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Traditionally, this feast is celebrated on Christmas Eve - but we all know how busy this time of year is, so our rendition is not always scheduled on that day. Originating in southern Italy - most likely Sicily, Italians are often of the Roman Catholic faith. This lends to the fact that a feast to celebrate the midnight arrival of baby Jesus was in order, and as good Catholics do not eat meat on Christmas Eve - a feast of seafood would only be an appropriate necessity!

This year, we cooked a Feast of 9 Fishes on Christmas Eve Eve, comprised of the following menu:

Smoked Salmon with Red Onion and Capers on Vegan Cream Cheese and Crackers
Shrimp and Dill dip
Fried Calamari with Marinara Sauce
Whole Baked Flounder
Grilled Shrimp over a Bright Cabbage Salad
Seared Scallops on Polenta Rounds with Crabmeat and Garlic Aioli
Oysters Rockefeller 
Mussels in White Wine Sauce over Whole Wheat Linguine

These dishes were paired nicely with a variety of white and rose sparkling wines chosen by none other but Mike Procido (Papa Procido) - the best wine connoisseur that I know!

Smoked Salmon Appetizer

A play on the traditional Bagels and Locks - often served in Jewish households or northeastern communities, smoked salmon is a favorite! This fresh and fatty fish pairs beautifully with the crunch and flavor of bermuda onion and the salty italian taste of capers. In order to please my sister Katie's dairy allergy, we substituted the Philly cream cheese for a tofu alternative.... and the real thing was not missed! Salmon was the star here.

Fried Calamari

How can you go wrong with fried squid? Calamari is one of my favorite things, if it's done right. We simply sliced the calamari into rings and breaded it with corn flour. It was deep fried in canola oil and served with a simple marinara sauce. Classic!

Papa Procido Making Aioli

Aioli is a garlic based sauce. Let me tell you - this aioli had more garlic than anything I've ever had, but it was delicious! Lots of fresh lemon juice added just the right amount of acid to this sauce, which was eventually served with a sea scallop seared in a cast iron skillet. We served the scallop over a grilled round of polenta and topped it with a heaping serving of beautiful fresh jumbo lump crab meat! Yum.

Scallops & Blue Crab Over Polenta

The next thing was just absolutely necessary.... if you're going to have a seafood feast, you have to have a whole fish! This flounder was the perfect fresh and flaky white fish. Light and delectable :)

Whole Baked Flounder

Coleslaw? Not in the Procido house! Dad made this amazing spin on an Alice Waters recipe for coleslaw using no mayonnaise what so ever. Instead, the cabbage greens were dressed with a nice olive oil, Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, fresh lemon juice, garlic .... and when I asked how much, my dad replies "The recipe says 2 cloves. Throw in about 6!" and a fair amount of fresh parsley. We allowed the flavors to marry with the greens for about an hour and reincorporated everything. Another hour later when the grill is hot and the shrimp are ready, we plated some of this bright slaw and topped it with grilled shrimp. A very very delicious dish - probably my favorite of the night!

Grilled Shrimp With Refreshing Cabbage Slaw

In addition to these seafood dishes, Katie also baked a flavorful loaf of vegan garlic bread... just to add some madness to our already garlic infused meal! This bread was nice to have with the tapas - greek olives with chiles, freshwater mozzarella with cracked black pepper and himalayan salt, plus the shrimp and dill dip, among others! I can't emphasize enough how perfectly the wine was paired with each of these courses. We were drinking Roderer Rose Sparkling, Swanson Pinot Grigio, Ramey, and a few others that I usually wouldn't drink in December but they were perfect with this seafood feast!!!

At the end of it all - my dad surprised me with a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, my long awaited number one WANT in life. Oh man, was I shocked and enthused beyond belief!!! Thanks Dad - you've outdone yourself :)

It's Mine!!!

I hope that you all celebrated with your family traditions and had an amazing and very Merry Christmas!!! More to come on the remainder of this weekend of feasts!

Perfect Preparation

This last week has been a chaotic mess at work, so I made a few things that I know would fill me up and be easy to reheat. Additionally, I had my first paid order of baked goods to create for a Christmas Party at my former job - Counseling Services. Everyone there has been like a family to me for the last 5 years that I have lived in Ruston, and I was more than thrilled when Mrs. Odom (who is like a grandmother to me) asked me to bake for the occasion! I would have made them something for free, but I am glad to have an initial order of treats.

On the menu for work: Turkey Meatballs and Whole Wheat Linguine

Now, Keep in mind that I haven't made meatballs before. I was inspired by a recipe in Giada's cookbook Everyday Italian that called for ground turkey, which I was willing to try. These bite sized meatballs were flavorful and slightly cheesy; I liked them. When I was looking for a meal idea, I was leaning towards some type of red sauce. Lately I have been very displeased with the jarred marinara varieties and I was interesting in making my own. This simple pasta sauce was delicate and tasty - just what I wanted.

Simple Marinara

2 cans crushed tomatoes (32 oz)

2 small onions

1/4 cup olive oil

Handful of baby carrots

3 stalks celery

2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp sugar

Fresh basil and parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the oil and add the 2 onions, diced. Cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Grate the carrots or chop them finely and dice the celery. Add the vegetables to the onion and cook through. Combine the crushed tomatoes, herbs, and spices, and simmer with the lid off for about an hour. Voila! Red sauce.

While the sauce is simmering away, make the meatballs and get a pot of water boiling for the pasta. 

Cheesy Turkey and Herb Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

1/4 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tblsp. milk

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1/2 c. italian blend cheese (mozarella/provelone)

Fresh chopped parsley

Salt and Pepper

Combine everything except the ground turkey and mix well. Then, using a fork break up the turkey into the mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Use the fork to incorporate everything together until mixed - but don't mash the ground meat. Just combine it. Shape into bite sized meatballs and place on a plate. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet. Place the meatballs in a single layer on the pan and cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through and white when cut open. Ladel the simple marinara sauce into the pan with the meatballs and simmer for another 5 minutes to meld the flavors. Serve over your favorite pasta!

I also made a simple salad of spicy arugula with a lemon vinaigrette, but Vincent isn't a fan of bitter salad dressings so maybe I'll stick with caesar next time! It's definitely good to serve this with a clean crisp bowl of veggies like a salad, and it will balance out the meal nicely also. 

Pastries!!! 

Gingerbread Cupcake

Ok, I don't even know how I did this - but I made gingerbread cupcakes with piped cream cheese icing, triple chocolate almond cookies, festive holiday shortbread cookies, chicken and sausage gumbo, rice, and honey whole wheat yeast rolls all on Thursday! The gingerbread cupcakes were exciting to make because generally when I think of gingerbread, I imagine a cookie. These cupcakes were spicy and light - a nice change from the snap that I associate with gingerbread! If you are looking for a gingerbread recipe, these cupcakes were delicious naked, and I bet they would bake into a nice loaf if you're interested. However, the cream cheese icing was a lovely creamy addition.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup unsulphered molasses

2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add baking soda and take off of the heat to cool. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder.

Cream the butter until light and beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Add the eggs and mix just until combined.

Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. 

For the Icing, cream together 8 oz cream cheese and 1 stick of butter. Add 2-3 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Yum!

------------------------------------- On a Side Note ----------------------------------------

I went ahead and made the chicken and sausage gumbo again and it may have even come out better than last time. It's just so good! This time I got a little heavy handed with the hot sauce, but I liked it even more :) What can I say, I'm a Procido! Also, I just want to comment that I made Jasmine rice to go with it and that rice reheats very well. It's easy to cook and get exactly right if you follow the package directions and it's perfect in gumbo. This meal is one that truly gets better each day! Yesterday we drove to Monroe 3 times (1 hour round trip), El Dorado AR (3 hour round trip) once, and Shreveport once (3 1/2 hour round trip). Needless to say, I was exhausted.... and I still am! Hopefully tonight I'll get to sleep through. I am looking forward to having 5 days off for Christmas :)

Vegan Weekend!

Woohoo! I am very pleased to announce that I have been offered an interview for the LSU Health Sciences Center Physician Assistant Program :) It will be held on January 6. Until then, I'll be shopping for my fancy suit and pondering my good and bad attributes in order to impress the admissions committee. This is something that I have wanted for  such a long time, and I'm so appreciative that I have this interview opportunity!

Luckily, my sister Katie and her girlfriend Jen had previously planned a trip to visit for the weekend - and now we have perfect reason to celebrate! It was so much fun having them come to Ruston with scout (the spunky pup) and sassafras (the sun conure who always chirps in response to barking... which there was plenty of this weekend)! About a year ago, Katie figured out that she has a dairy allergy that is different from lactose intolerance. She gets a histamine response similar to a sinus infection whenever she ingests dairy. For this reason, most of our culinary creations were made in a vegan fashion - substituting soy milk and earth balance for their common dairy counterparts. Not to worry! She eats eggs and most forms of protein, although the only meat that we ate was some turkey bacon at breakfast. Where do I start? We ate so many delicious (and some quite awful) things this weekend. First of all... vegan cupcakes.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake

I have been wanting to decorate cupcakes with piped icing for a few weeks now, but I just couldn't justify spending money on piping tips and icing bags. Well, Wilton - you've won me over! Due to my extremely zealous reaction to the world after I became aware that I have a PA school interview, I thought it was only appropriate to treat myself to some decorated cupcakes that would also be a good welcome treat for Katie. Some skeptical friends disliked the phrase "100% vegan" when I informed them... but don't sell yourself short. These cupcakes were seriously the most moist and delicious little cakes that I have had in a long time. Nothing about them tastes vegan!

I think you'd find them tasty, also - so I'm including the recipe. I may try to make some adaptations in the near future or potentially create a cinnamon cupcake! For now...

Coco Cupcakes
1 cup Silk Light Vanilla Soymilk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup flour
1/3 cup plain cocoa powder (Dutch pressed)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with paper cups.
In many baked goods, you'll find that buttermilk is used to give the product a light and fluffy texture with a hint of creaminess. Buttermilk is not always a pantry staple, especially for dairy free dieters. In this recipe, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar and whisk together to make a great buttermilk substitute. Allow this mixture to sit for about 5 minutes to "curdle." Don't worry, it just separates the soy milk and allows it to do its part in the baking process. It's not really curdled! In the meantime, whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extract in a mixing bowl (smells like wedding cake, yum!) Add the soy milk and whisk until smooth.

In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk the batter until smooth. Fill each paper cup about 3/4 of the way full. This recipe makes 12 cupcakes, so just one pan full. Bake the cupcakes in the center of the oven for 18 minutes. Allow them to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then move them to a cooling rack and cool completely before icing!

Once the cupcakes are cool, it's time for the fun part - icing! I was a little apprehensive to make icing with vegan ingredients, because I really love cream cheese icing and sometimes the powdered sugar based icings are too sweet. This is not the case for this recipe. This icing is a light and fluffy dream cloud atop a moist cocoa cake! You may have to make some substitutions if you don't have vegan products available - but go ahead an look for non-hydrogenated shortening (vegetable based crisco that has not been hydrogenated. I found some in Ruston at the Old Wheat Barn, but you can probably pick some up at Whole Foods)

Light and Fluffy Buttercream Icing
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (Earth Balance)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup soy milk

Using a hand mixer or a whisk, beat the shortening and margarine together until light and fluffy. You will want to have them both at room temperature, especially if you're doing this by hand. Then, add the remaining ingredients and whip them together until you have a bowl of fluffy delicious icing (about 3 minutes). Fill a piping bag and have the time of your life.

I know looks are not everything, but if you even think that these cupcakes look yummy, you have to try them! They are so delicious that several of my friends tried them and were more than delighted! Even some of the manly men that came over enjoyed them :)

We also made hummus, spinach dip, spinach and cheese in puff pastry (before the vegan eating commenced), and a tasty new drink! I should have taken a picture because it looks pretty, but here's an idea:

Vodka Berry Fizz
2 parts vodka, 1 part Blueberry Pomegranate juice, 2 parts tonic water. Add a slice of lime and several ice cubes - yum yum yum!

Well. I've given you a lot of the yummy detail for the weekend, so let me just tell you about this little gem that Katie ordered Saturday! We went to a local sushi place, RAW. They have infamously delicious fried rice and some baked sushi rolls that are to die for (Southern Roll). First - let me remind you that Katie and I are Procidos. We have tried more unique eats than many of you have ever heard of, and to be perfectly honest - we have enjoyed them. My dad is not opposed to coming up with dishes made from sardines alone and the occasional mouthful of uni (sea urchin roe) - "the oysters of the sea." That goes to say that we are not picky eaters when it comes to international or unusual flavors. At RAW, Katie and Jen both ordered a bowl of their Hot and Sour Soup. Okay, who hasn't tried that? The poor little waitress tried to warn us that this soup was not like the Chinese soup you may have had, but it is instead made from a fish broth - following a Thai recipe. Yum, that sounds awesome! Pure - sheer - utter - failure. This soup smelled like someone's feet who had been hiking for a week in wool socks where their feet got too hot and they never changed their socks. I'm not kidding. I have never been so appalled to have something served at my table before. We at least wanted to give it a try, thinking perhaps the pungent smell isn't indicative of the soup's true flavor. No. All 4 of us took a sip of this awful broth with complete disappointment. It was so awful that it essentially ruined our palate for the next few bites of sushi. Following this discovery, we had to ask the waitress to actually remove the bowls of soup from our table because the smell of the soup was deactivating our appetites. Awful. We refueled with the fried rice and called that a wrap.

The humor that was instilled into our souls from the ridiculous lunch experience led us into an afternoon where whimsy was to be fancied. We opted to construct a gingerbread house, made vegan, from scratch. This was the first time any of us had done a complete gingerbread house from scratch, and although it was incredibly tedious and somewhat frustrating - it was fun now that I think about it. Vincent was a big help with the structural components even though I measured some of the dimensions wrong (ha). Note to self... get ready to spend a lot of time and precision if you plan on making a Martha Stewart look alike! Ours was fun and a little more simple, but it was a great way to hang out!

So after of weekend of so much fun, I'm back to Lights and Sirens til Wednesday - and I am getting increasingly excited about Christmas approaching! I hope you all are having a great Holiday too :)

Bummed Out!

Many of you know that I have been battling low back pain since I was about 15 years old, sometimes worse than others. Recently, having taken a job in EMS, I am constantly lifting a stretcher that weighs about 100 pounds with a patient weighing on average 200 pounds - day in and day out. Although I was taught the proper lifting techniques, and I use my legs predominantly to lift, I have noticed a quick and sharp increase in my back pain. After a week of having trouble sleeping and feeling anxiety when I had to transfer patients at work for fear that my back would hurt (not to mention the difficulty running), I finally broke down and went to an orthopedic doctor.

Well. Little did I know!!!

Of course I am anything but ordinary, so it shouldn't surprise you that my diagnosis was a unique one. This is going to take a little bit of an anatomy crash course! The lumbar (low back) spine normally consists of 5 lumbar vertebrae with intervertebral discs made of cartilage - that help to cushion and support spinal stability. Low back pain is one of the most common complaints in American healthcare because many people are overweight, carrying much of their excess weight in their stomachs, and not supporting their backs appropriately. I am not overweight, however. My back has a rarely unique anatomy - new news to me! I was born with 6 lumbar vertebrae - meaning I have one extra vertebra and one extra intervertebral disc. That extra disc, which isn't supposed to exist, is underdeveloped - leading to spinal instability. In addition, each normal vertebra has bony processes that extend to the side. In my extra vertebra, the bony process on the left is enlarged and actually fused with the bones above and below... meaning on one side of my spine, right above my pelvis, is fixed and the other side of the spine is mobile. This fixed bone causes limited range of motion, and in addition the underdeveloped disc leads to inflammation and nerve pain. Great, just what I wanted to hear.

How is this going to be fixed? My doctor suggested that I have an MRI scan to see the actual cartilage tissue to rule out disc herniation (when the intervertebral disc nucleus slips through the outer coating called the annulus, and places pressure on the nerves). In addition, he is referring me to a spinal specialist to recommend having an injection of synthetic cartilage between my vertebrae to encourage more fluid movement. This is a scary procedure!!! Why, you ask? Well if the needle is placed incorrectly there is always a risk of paralyzation. One of the scariest things ever, to me, because of my love of being active! However, I have to take comfort in the fact that if someone who is as highly trained as a spinal surgeon, surely they will be comfortable with a simple non-invasive injection procedure. Another fear that my orthopedic doctor has is that at some point, I may need to undergo a spinal fusion surgery to make both sides of my spine fused to my pelvis. Now that, I'll need a few opinions on.

This is just so frustrating, because I'm wanting to start increasing my running mileage in order to train for some springtime half marathons - especially one in Minnesota where my friends Tori and Ryan recently moved. Yes, I'm making a vacation centered around a race... you really shouldn't be surprised haha!

Another Bummer!? I am a really hard working person, but one thing that I simply cannot find the blessing of patience in is the waiting process to find out if I have earned an interview for PA school. Last year, I had already been rejected by 4 programs by this time of year - an utter disappointment and shock -most of which can be attributed to a lack of receipt of my GRE scores by the admissions office. At any rate, I have been extremely diligent in the last year in the fact that I have accepted every opportunity to improve my chances as an applicant - by taking the GRE again and improving my score, shadowing several new Physician Assistants to increase my patient contact experience, becoming a certified Emergency Medical Technician and accepting a full time position working as an EMT, among other things such as completing my college degree.

Until now I have felt fairly confident that I have in the very least earned the opportunity to interview with the admissions committee. Last week I was rejected from the PA school that I applied to in Denver, CO - where Vincent plans on taking a full time job as a mechanical engineer for Ball Aerospace. I'm sad that there is no longer any potential for us to move to Colorado together, but I have tried to remain positive that I will be accepted to the PA school that I have been pursuing admission with for the past 2 years - LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA. The program there is very impressive and I truly want to be a student at LSU. Hopefully I will be receiving a letter any day now to relieve some of my anxiety about this career path.

Until then, I'm going to figure this back pain out and I am looking forward to a visit from my sister Katie, her girlfriend Jen, their dog Scout and their sun conure Sassafras. They don't get to come often, so this weekend will be very special and I am incredibly excited :)

My friend Moniree sent me this little gem of encouragement -
" The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone, but you have to let go of the life you're familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about" - T. Artigo

Thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family for the continuous support and unending positive reinforcement for my journey to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant. I really appreciate the support and love... and I hope to not disappoint this year!

Chicken Gumbo

I bet when I started this blog many of you wondered why I chose Gumbo as a fundamental element of the title " Lights, Sirens, and Gumbo"! Obviously, working in EMS - it would only be right for me to include the Lights and Sirens part... but the Gumbo - oh yeah! I love Gumbo! When I say that I love gumbo, I mean the good gumbo that makes the whole house smell like a roux - like my Mimi and Pa Lambert's gumbo. Inevitably if you've been around my Pa long enough, you have heard the story about when I was a little kid, still in my high chair, and my grandparents served us gumbo for dinner. I became instantly disgruntled shortly after receiving my gumbo bowl. Pa noticed that I was spooning through the flavorful soup and as he watched me carefully I lifted my head and looked at him square in the eye with my curly afro hair and abnormally large eyes and mouth and shouted " Pa Pa! Where's all the shrimps!?!!!!" I haven't lived the event down since.

So of course when it is cold outside and I am hanging christmas lights and making the house look like Martha Stewart sprinkled Christmas bliss throughout the living room, I want to eat the dinner that I remember Christmas tasting like most - gumbo! Now, let it be know that I love seafood gumbo the most, but quality seafood is not available where I live in Ruston. This time I made a first ever in my kitchen - chicken and sausage gumbo. If you're a gumbo fan of any type, you'll love this simple recipe!!!

Spicy Chicken & Turkey Sausage Gumbo

3 split chicken breasts, skin on, bone in
1 package of turkey sausage ( I like smoked)

3 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
1 medium white onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (* I used red because the green peppers were bruised,

Wash Your Veggies With Soap & Water!

but green bell pepper is more traditional in gumbo)

8 cups chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp salt
several turns of a course setting black pepper grinder
8-10 dashes of Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 cup frozen okra

for the roux:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the chicken on a sheet pan and brush with olive oil. Season heavily with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Bake the chicken about 1 hour, or until the skin is crispy and the meat is white. Allow the chicken to cool.

In the meantime, prepare the aromatics - celery, onion, bell pepper. Reserve these chopped vegetables. You will want to make the roux in the pot that you plan on making the gumbo in. I use a large soup pot. To make the roux, heat the pot over medium heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat through. Grab a long handled wooden spoon and prepare to stand by the pot for about 15 minutes... making roux is a tedious and gentle process. Once the oil is heated through, add the flour. Stir this mixture continuously, scraping the bottom and sides of the soup pot. Take care not to get splashed by the roux because it will stick to your skin and burn. Continue stirring; you will begin to see a change in color from light white to toasted sesame, peanut butter, and finally - you're looking for a bricked red/brown color. (**If black bits begin to turn up, you have burned the roux and you will need to discard it, cleaning the pot and starting from scratch. There is nothing worse than ruining a gumbo because you have burned the roux.**) This will take about 10 minutes, depending on your heat level. I have a gas stove and I cook roux on a medium low heat so that I do not burn it. I would rather stir it slowly for a long time until it is perfect than cook it quickly and burn it. (Another rare moment of patience in the life of a Procido).

Once you have a reddish brown roux, take the pot off of the heat and add the aromatic vegetables. Stir this mixture until it stops bubbling, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and whisk thoroughly, as you place the pot back on medium heat. Combine the remaining ingredients into the soup pot and whisk often until the mixture comes to a boil. This will help to incorporate the chicken stock into the roux, thickening the gumbo base. You still need to take caution when bringing the gumbo base to a boil because the roux can stick to the bottom of the pot and burn if you're not careful. Once it comes to a boil, bring the heat down to a simmer and leave the lid off for about an hour.

Dice the sausage and add it to the gumbo pot. Don't forget to feed the ends to your dog! (They just get so excited). Place the chicken on a board and remove the skin. Using your hands, take the breast meat off of the bone and shred the meat. I know it seems primitive, but I like shredding the meat by hand to ensure that none of the skin, bone, or fatty pieces make it into the gumbo (yuck!). Add the shredded chicken to the gumbo, and partially cover the pot with a lid. Simmer for another hour or until the okra has fallen apart and the gumbo is thick and delicious. Taste for pepper - add a few more splashes of Crystal hot sauce now if you'd like.

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

I tried something new this time and cooked Jasmine rice to go with the gumbo. The rice is more fragrant than plain white rice, and it paired very nicely with this chicken and sausage gumbo! Ladel several full scoops of gumbo into a shallow bowl (ideally) and place a heaping scoop of rice on top. Sprinkle with diced scallions, if you have them. Enjoy :)

Get out, Grease!!!

Also, as a side tip, gumbo is always better the next day because the flavors have time to meld together. However, I simply cannot make gumbo and not eat a bowl of it the same day! When gumbo, or any soup, is refrigerated the fat rises to the top and hardens so that it can be easily scooped off of the top. A shortcut that I learned from LaBonne Cuisine cookbook is to help remove some of the grease from hot soup prior to refrigeration. If you take a big piece of leafy lettuce, such as romaine, and skim the top of the soup, the grease will stick to the lettuce. Discard immediately afterwards.



To finish, I made Jam Thumbprint cookies with Red Raspberry Jam :)

East Meets West

My dad (aka Papa Procido) has the extraordinary talent of being able to turn out 10 different homemade pizzas from his oven within an hour. I'm serious! One time for Mardi Gras, several friends and I stayed at his house for the weekend in New Orleans - and his mad pizza skills came alive. He was turning out spinach, mushroom, and cheese; italian sausage and broccoli rabe; pesto and pine nut veggie; and then it happened - out came a pizza that perplexed every single one of us. He called it "East Meets West." Oh man, what is that on that pizza, dad? "It's bamboo shoots, pickled!!" What? Bamboo shoots... really? "Yeah, and a spicy mango chutney" On a pizza? Okay... let's try this. I might just not be a fan of bamboo shoots on pizza, but aside from those - the idea of East Meets West was born to the Procidos.

When I was thinking of something fun to cook on my 48 hour shift off, I came across an interesting rendition of falafel sandwiches, where the falafel are baked. For those of you who are not familiar, falafel are herbed chick pea cakes made in Greek cuisine. They have a really unique flavor - delicious! Vincent and I love the falafel sandwiches at a restaurant in NOLA called Lebanon Cafe! They have absolutely mastered the art of preparing every element of that "sandwich" (it's really more of a wrap). I mentioned this recipe to Vin and he is all for it - hell yeah! When we get to the store to round up some ingredients, he mentions that we should make some Naan for the falafel wrap instead of the traditional pita bread that is used at Lebanon Cafe. Hmm. Indian and Greek? I'm not afraid to embark on another East Meets West adventure! Let's do it :)

First let me mention that I have made neither falafel or naan from scratch in my kitchen. A great friend of mine, Laura Burton, eats a pescatarian diet (which I ate for many years) consisting predominately of vegetables and fish. Anyway, she had us over for dinner a few weeks ago and made a lovely spread of Indian food including curried fish stew, jasmine rice, and naan covered in poppy seeds and sea salt. The naan was so phenomenal that we asked for the recipe and have been meaning to make it ever since. Thanks, Laura! Last night we kneaded out the naan ingredients, and the dough began to rise quickly!

Naan
1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup greek strained plain yogurt
1/2 cup warm milk
1 packet (2 tsp) yeast

Combine the yogurt and milk, and heat through on the stove or in the microwave. Do this slowly, and take care not to scald the mixture or overheat it because it will kill the yeast. Once the mixture is about 120 degrees, add the yeast and flour. Mix all of the ingredients together until a sticky dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a heavily floured board and knead - adding flour as necessary- for about 5 minutes. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl with plenty of room for rising. ** Tip: take a paper towel and run it under hot faucet water, ring it out and place it over the bowl. Then, cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and place it in the oven (turned off) to rise. This prevents any drafty air from slowing down the rising process.**

Once the naan dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and shape into several small dough balls. Allow these to rise for about 30 additional minutes on a sheet pan, covered with a clean kitchen towel. Once you're ready to start cooking the naan, heat a cast iron skillet or a griddle pan and get some vegetable oil hot. You're going to want medium high heat for this, but test it out with one first - looking for a golden brown color. Take one of the dough balls and place it on a floured board. Begin stretching the dough and flattening it with your fingers. Once you have it thin enough where it's not tearing, place it in the hot oiled pan. Sprinkle the open side with sea salt! Once the bottom looks golden brown and ready to flip, you can do one of two things:
- flip it on the pan and add more oil
- place it under a broiler for the top of the naan dough to cook (we don't have one)

LB's Famous Naan

Once the naan is golden on both sides, take it off of the heat and place it in paper towels to absorb some of the grease. Sprinkle sesame seeds (or poppy seeds) and sea salt. Taste the first one for texture and doneness. Proceed in a similar fashion for the remaining dough balls, adjusting the temperature of the pan as necessary.

Woah! Hold up! We were talking about falafel - I got sidetracked :) While the naan is rising the first time, you're going to want to get that falafel going (you have time for a 3 mile run first, btw.). To make falafel, you will need a food processor and to follow this recipe:

Baked Falafel (*vegan*)
1 15oz. can Bush's reduced sodium Chick Peas
2 Tblsp. olive oil
1/4 cup chopped yellow or purple onion
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Chopped garlic to taste (3-4 big cloves)

Puree all of these ingredients in a food processor for about 15 seconds. Scrape down the sides and pulse again until the mixture is unified and there are no whole chick peas. Brush a sheet pan lightly with olive oil. Using a tablespoon measure, scoop 18 falafel balls from the mixture and place them on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the falafel with an additional tablespoon of olive oil. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, turn and bake for 15 more minutes. You will want to be cooking the naan while these bake, because it smells so good that you might eat all of them before the naan is ready!

To make the sauce, combine 1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste... the peanut butter of sesame seeds!), 3-4 tablespoons of water, the juice of 2 plentiful lemons, and a pinch of salt. Stir until smooth and velvety.

Sandwich time!!! Well, wrap time. Take one of your larger pieces of naan and place a handful of chopped romaine lettuce and several hothouse cucumber slices. Drizzle the tahini sauce and toss a few falafel (3-5) on top. If you love sesame taste, put a little extra tahini sauce on top of the falafel and roll up the sides of the naan. Yum!

East Meets West Naan n Falafel!