Gumbo!

Let me start by giving y'all a little background.  I was born in California, moved to my mom's hometown in Lockport, La when I was 10.  So, I've had (and made) a few gumbos in my 40 years on this planet.  Depending on where you are from in Louisiana, it can be made a little differently.  I've even heard of people putting boiled eggs in it.  I've had several requests in the past for my "recipe".  I've never really followed one though.  I just throw in what my family likes and it kind of changes a bit every time depending on how dark my roux is.  Yesterday I took pictures and notes... so here goes!
FYI, you can probably eat on this pot for an entire week or longer depending on how many people you are serving.  And it is fairly cheap even with a whole bag of shrimp.  You can leave the shrimp out and just make it a chicken/sausage gumbo if you prefer.

Ingredients:

- whole frying chicken
- Polska Kielbasa
- Large or Jumbo Shrimp
- head of celery
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 yellow onion
- frozen okra
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour
-  Cajun seasoning
- File' seasoning
- Rice

Instructions:

- Plan for 2-3 hours of cooking!

- Fill a large stock pot with enough water to cover your whole chicken.

- Cut off the butt of your head of celery and any leafy parts.  Also cut off the top and bottom of your onion (no need to peel because you'll be straining this liquid later).  Toss all of this into the pot along with your whole Chicken.  Season the water with a few shakes of Cajun seasoning or any seasoning salt you prefer (sorry I don't have a measurement, I just shake it a few times).  You could probably use old bay if that's what you have on hand.  I don't put a ton of seasoning in because we season our own bowls when it's ready.  My family is all over the place on the salt factor, so I keep it a little bland and salt my own.

- Boil the chicken for 45 minutes to an hour.  I turn my chicken over half way through boiling.  You can check the chicken by pulling the meat with a fork.  If it's easy to shred, you can move on to the next step.

- Remove the chicken from the pot and transfer to another bowl or strainer for shredding.  Strain the liquid stock to remove the onion and celery.  Return just the liquid to the pot and put your burner back on medium.  Shred your chicken and return to the pot as well.  We like big chunks of chicken.  My maw maw even left the bones when I was growing up.  So sometimes you'd have a bowl of gumbo with a fully intact chicken leg.  But now, I just shred everything and toss the skin and carcass in the trash.

- Slice your kielbasa and add to the pot now.

-  Chop the whole green bell pepper, 3-4 stalks of celery, and the rest of your yellow onion.  You should have equal parts of each of these.  They call this the trinity.  Set aside.

-  Time to prepare your roux.  This is where different versions can give you different tastes.  The roux gives you your gumbo's color.  Some people like it really dark brown.  My family likes it a little lighter like a stew.  Heat a large pan.  Add 1 cup of oil and 1 cup of flour.  Grab a whip and never let it stop moving.  Just keep stirring.  I start on high heat until the two ingredients are combined and start boiling.  Once boiling, you can reduce the heat to a medium high.  The mixture will slowly darken.  I lower my burner a little with each shade.  This process can take a good 15-20 minutes.  When your roux is a chocolatey color (almost like Nutella), it should be ready.  We prefer it to be just a tad lighter than that, but again it's all about preference.  The darker you make the roux, the more "nuttier" your gumbo will taste.  The biggest thing is to keep moving the mixture so it doesn't clump and burn too much.

- Now you can add your vegetable trinity to your roux.  Cook until the onions are almost translucent.  Then add all of it to your stock pot.  Combine well.  You can add more water if you want a thinner, soupier gumbo.  Or if you prefer a thicker gumbo, you can add more flour.  The skies the limit and I really think you can't go wrong either way.

- Simmer everything for about 30 minutes.  This is a little darker than I usually make it actually.

-Throw in your rinsed and peeled shrimp and the okra.  Okra will increase the slime factor.  I like it.  My boys do not.  So leave it out if you hate it.  Simmer this for another 15-20 minutes or so until the shrimps are done.  You can serve immediately or let it stand for a bit.  It will thicken a little.  I like Gumbo the next day when the flavors have melded together.

- Serve over rice!  Season to taste with more cajun seasoning/salt or even cayenne.  Top with file'.  It helps to have your Louisiana bestie send you the real file' that comes in a baby food jar.  That's the good stuff.  Or you can use the zatarain's shaker.  Enjoy!

Unexpected Thanksgiving

This is not how I planned you coming into this world.  You were supposed to be my fat little monkey.  But I guess you were anxious to meet Mommy and Daddy.

Thanksgiving Eve- Momma swore she lost a little bit of her mucous plug but wasn't too worried.  Had some heavy feeling most of the day but that was "usual".  

2:30am on Thanksgiving Day- Momma woke up to use the restroom as a usual early morning activity.  As soon as I got back into bed I felt a little cramping down below.  So many things went through my head so I couldn't go back to sleep.

3:00am- I felt a little snap and a leak so I jumped up out of bed and hollered for John.  I made it in time to the bathroom to see a large gush of fluid hit the floor.  It kept going.  I stood in the bathroom while Daddy packed a bag for the hospital.  Would today be the day we meet our little boy?  It's far too early!  You need to grow a little more.  Momma was scared and shaking in the bathroom.

3:30am- Was told by the nurse that we should come in so mama finally got dressed and waited in the car.  By the time we got to the hospital I soaked my clothes.  It was just like in the movies.  Crazy, I've read so many things saying it doesn't always happen like that but it was straight out of TV.

5:00am- After some monitoring and a check, we were informed that since we have ruptured... we needed to be transported to a facility that had a proper NICU.  They gave me a shot in the butt to help develop your lungs and sent us on our way in an ambulance to University Medical Center in El Paso.

8:00am- We spent alot of time in the triage center getting checked out and confirming that the waters definitely had broken.  Thank goodness there was no dilation and your heart beat was good and steady.  Another ultrasound to check on growth and they said you were around 4.6 lbs!  Good weight they say :).  But you will be a preemie.

Mama spent the next two weeks in the hospital letting you grow some more.  2 monitorings per day had her nerves wracked.  Sometimes your heartbeat would slow too much and would give us all a scare.  But you made it to 34 weeks with no infection in sight!

December 9th we began induction with pitocin.  It was a long day!  The contractions were pretty mild, but the night shift doctor suggested a foley balloon.  We've had experience with this before and the outcome was less than desirable.  The doctor insisted it was the right choice, so mommy hesitantly said ok.  Well... it was exactly how we remembered it with Aidan.  The pain was unmanageable and it didn't even help with dilation.  Mommy made the nurse remove it but the pain didn't stop.  We laid there for hours more with mind numbing pain before they finally allowed me to get an epidural.

December 10th we were promised a csection to get you out safely.  But the floor was busy!  So many other mommies delivering babies today!  The epidural wore off 3 times!!!  Finally we went to the operating room at 2pm and you came into this world at 2:30!  Mommy was shaking on the table the whole time.  The anesthesiologist was so kind and caring.  He talked me through every feeling.  His voice was soothing.  Daddy sat beside my head.  I could only see his eyes and it was hard to read his feelings.  But when you came out, I could see his smile.  He snapped a picture as they raised you over the curtain.  You were amazing.  You are amazing.  They showed you to us quickly but then took you to examine you.  You were having a little trouble breathing.  They put you in an incubator, but let me touch your hand before sending you to the NICU.  I missed you already.