Friday, September 12, 2008

Diamonds to Jambalayas

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. On GMA there was a fascinating segment about thirteen women in California who had bought themselves a diamond necklace and share it between them. It started with one woman, Jonell McLain, seeing the necklace in a jeweller's store. She then contacted a number of women friends and proposed purchasing this as a joint venture. Finally, the jeweller agreed to sell the necklace at a discount so long as his wife could be part of the group. A book has now been written telling the story and a movie is apparently on its way. Each member of the group wears it for a month unless there is a special occasion, like being interviewed on Good Morning America I guess. They claim it has really changed their lives in many ways. If you would like to read more about it click here where there is also an excerpt from the book. It really is quite a novel concept - wish I had 12 friends I could share a diamond necklace with. Matt continued watching GMA whilst I came to blog and he saw Jack Hannah who is a visiting "animal man" and who brings in the most fascinating critters. Apparently there was one small deer or antelope which is known as "the red deer" whilst he was talking, Jack was stroking this animal with a napkin. At the end, he showed that the napkin was red but the deer hadn't lost any colour. Wish I could find something about this to show you. The only red deer I can find are not the same animal at all. The one Matt saw was striped. Fascinating that you can get colour from the animal and yet it still retains its colour. Another segment which interested me was the formation, some years ago, of a group called Just Between Friends. It has become big business now, but it is basically a giant yard/garage sale where people sell their gently used items to people looking for bargains. They suggest how you can do this in your own neighbourhood by getting, say, 20 friends together to sell their gently used items. They call it a consignment convention. Apparently everyone involved in selling makes some money and people come away with excellent bargains on things they need. click here for the whole story. Sarah Palin has just been interviewed by Charlie Gibson who is one of the best in his field - I didn't watch it, I am not political as I have said before - however I did see one segment where Charlie asked Palin about Russia and her foreign policy views - she started on about how one can see Russia from Alaska. It appeared to me, she didn't really understand the question, or she wasn't sufficiently genned up on the situation. I was asked, in the comment section, about posting a Jambalaya recipe. I already posted my recipe on the 4th of July and yes, it does contain shrimp. I have made it many times and it has always been popular. I have no doubt that "dahn sath" they have many Jambalaya recipes which differ considerably, but I have never investigated them. I have just found a chicken and sausage Jambalaya on About.com which may fit the bill if you don't like seafood. Oops, having posted it I see it also has shrimp but perhaps it would be OK to leave them out. Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya Source: About.com Serves: 6

Ingredients:

  • 1 broiler chicken, cut up, about 3 pounds
  • paprika
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 pound smoked sausage, thinly sliced
  • 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup long-grain rice
  • 2 teaspoons leaf thyme, crumbled
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (Tabasco)
  • 1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined

Preparation:

Wash chicken and pat dry; rub with the paprika. Heat olive oil in a large skillet; add chicken and brown on all sides. Remove chicken from skillet. Add onion, green bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Sauté over low heat until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in sausage, tomatoes, chicken broth, rice, thyme, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Add chicken and turn to coat with sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minute, or until chicken is tender. Stir in shrimp and cook about 3 minutes longer, or just until shrimp turns pink. Have a great day.

6 comments:

  1. Certain children seem to leave grubbiness all around them without becoming noticeably cleaner ... I wonder if that works on a similar principle. :D

    I was chatting with my boss SuperSec today about the idea of Palin meeting Putin for a shoot in the forest. We don't think she'd last five minutes (and he wouldn't even need a gun).

    Thanks for the jamablaya recipe, we can try it without the shrimp. :)

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  2. Hope you enjoy it. I peeled 3 lbs of shrimp today for my Jambalaya. The rice is cooked too, tomorrow I will assemble the rest of it. I dropped one shrimp in the sink whilst I was refreshing them, so I figured I should eat it LOL

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  3. Gee, that diamond necklace idea sounds great in theory, but just think - you'd have to buy a fantastic outfit to wear it with or it would just look silly. Then there would be the cost of insuring the wretched thing, to say nothing of the worry of how you would face the other shareholders if you lost or damaged it and someone else was waiting to wear it the next day. I'd be terrified, every minute it was around my neck!

    Mind you, it would be a thrill to try one one, just for fun...

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  4. How about borrowing Barbara Taylor Bradford's five-million-dollar Burmese sappphire ear-rings for the weekend then, Satima? :)

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  5. I'd borrow the earrings without any hesitation,especially as sapphire is my birthstone, nor would I give a damn about what I wore with my necklace. I think its a great idea. Yes, insurance would cost a bit I guess, but with 13 of you, it shouldn't be too bad.

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  6. By the way, Satima, part of the persuasion used on husbands was the fact that the wearer of the necklace would wear nothing but, in the bedroom.

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