Shrimp Po' Boy Recipe

Hey all! Have had some requests for the shrimp po' boy recipe.  I've gone AWOL for a few days from the blog because we have been knee deep in moving. Also our Internet hasn't been hooked up @ the new digs! So here I am, lying in bed typing like a chicken on my I-phones key pad to make a post and get that recipe to y'all! And it is worth it believe me!

Shrimp Po' Boys

Ingredients:

~ 8Med-Lg American caught shrimp (per sandwich) deveined 

~ mixed baby lettuce greens

~ large local tomato (Brandywine) sliced thin 

~ 1 large sweet onion( pref. vidalia ) sliced then carmalized in 2 Tbsp butter

~ mayonnaise 

~ in a med size brown bag or paper grocer bag put 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 C italian bread crumbs

~ 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning (lemon old bay)

~ grated cheese blend of your choice

~ hoagie rolls 

Directions:

Have olive oil coated in bottom of cast iron pan, slice rolls and spread mayonaise on insides. Pre-heat oven to low Broil & have rack on second tier. Take deveined shrimp, rinsed & drained and throw into paper bag ingredients, roll up bag, shake around til well coated & shake off into a fry basket or grab individually out of bag.  Heat up oil in pan til hot and throw floured shrimp in the pan, should be sizzling. Shrimp cooks fast I'd say a minute or 2 each side. When you flip shrimp throw on the Cajun spices. When shrimp is crisp and flour browned toss around in seasoning & remove From pan to a paper towel.  Put green in mayonaised hoagie buns, then tomatoes ( sprinkle w/ sea salt & pepper), top w/ 8 shrimp, portion carmalized onion over shrimp, sprinkle with grated cheese. Then broil in oven quickly til cheese melts. I say quickly b/c you don't want lettuce to wilt. Slice in half & serve with a lemon wedge! Delish!

Sandwich Sundays

Shrimp Po' Boys w/ Fried green tomatoes

SO what is a sandwich Sunday?  It is a tradition that has roots all the way back into my childhood, which Nate and I had rekindled quite a few years back.  When I was growing up we went to church every Sunday and more often then not we had some sandwich or other after the service.  Often times we went to the West Goshen deli http://westgoshendeli.com/ to pick up the traditional Philadelphia Hoagies, or we went home and Mom pulled the Steak-um out of the freezer, chopped it up on her flat top with sauteed onions and we had Philly cheesesteaks.  Yummmm, Im not sure I came away likeing church as much as the sandwiches we had. Mom & Dad were both raised right near Philadelphia....and people who are from the area know thier sandwiches, know thier soft pretzels, and know the compliment of Herr's potato chips or Tastycakes.  Philly Steaks are famous at Pat's in downtown Philadelphia it is a homage place for many a famous visitors, presidents, etc.  The joint is open 24 hours and many teenagers are known to drive there in the middle of the night as an exciting thing to say they have done. http://www.patskingofsteaks.com/  These all being Philly traditions.  SO sad we all grow up, move away, and the traditions often fade into the background of memory.  Well Nate & I LOVE traditon so we have rekindled a few from our families and started some of our own.

Homemade Olive Salad
for Muffaletta

Sandwich Sunday has evolved for us.  We still do make the traditional Philly fair that I miss from my hometown roots.  But we have added to the menu almost any sandwich you can think of.  Initially we started making sandwiches that were regional to areas where we lived. In Awendaw, SC we added shrimp po' boys to the Sunday menu, and oh do we love that addition.  Fried Fish sandwiches from Nate's roots at the Cape.  Just last week we did Muffaletta sandwiches thats origins are from New Orleans, not far from here. Nate has mentioned Cuban sandwiches as something he would like to try and even went on wikipedia the other day to see all the sandwiches that are out there, he said "100's".  It's an exciting tradition, steeped in the warm fuzzies of my past, and Nate has been quick to join in and feel it is one of his favorite new tradition....he looooves a good sandwich.


New Orleans Style Muffaletta & Raw fries

I'd love to hear from y'all....any good traditions you practice in your home that you could share?  I'm sure I'll be adding some more of ours come Halloweem, & Christmas time.  Until then a big ol' cheer to the Duke of Sandwich for coming up with these delightful little meals served between two slices of bread!


For the Muffaletta recipe check out one of my favorite blogs http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/07/17/muffuletta-sandwich-recipe/

Downtown Getaway

Sheesh, I can't believe I had never been to the Riverwalk on the Congaree River before.  All the years I had lived here before and had never been.  Now this time around I go and find out my local friends had been going there since they were wee children..  Oh, well...at least now I've been and realise that I will be going back many more times.  It is really such a beautiful place.  Just a few blocks from downtown.  As you drive there you are surrounded by city noise, traffic, construction, you name it.  You park your car and meander down a path lined with blooming crepe myrtle trees, and old black iron fencing,to arrive at a beautiful vista of trees, canal, bridges, the Congaree and quiet. 

Just like that you can get away from it all in the city of Columbia.  My heart gets so excited to be in these places.  Nate & I had a really tough day and it all seemed to melt away as we newly discovered this riverwalk area, with alot of history. As you walk you are surrounded by water.  One side the Congaree and the other a canal of water that comes in from the Broad river.  Theres an old pump house, and canal buildings, a statue of Christopher Columbus.  On this visit we chose to just take it all in.  We had the dogs with us and we just headed down the path.  So many varying vistas to take in.  Even a sign that mentions there could be alligators, this always gets us excited and makes us feel we have moved far from the mountains of Vermont to a more tropical place.  Ahead the sound of a train came chugging through, cars topped with coal, then a caboose disappear on down the tracks.  A walk over to a look out where we observed the most beutiful river, decked with spanish moss, large river rocks, islands, tropical vegetation, an egrit perched on atree, a blue heron fishing in the river and a huge osprey that flew overhead. 

Nate starts dreaming of having a little plywood boat tucked in the bushes, a fly rod in hand, and the option to set out on the water at any time to explore, to catch fish, to be in his element.  These places of nature are soo inspiring to our hearts.  It is really cool to live in a place where there are such stark differences in your everyday.  To one moment be at work, running errands, living in a bustling little capitol city, but in the next moment, to be in such serene surroundings, surrounded by God and his most beautiful creation.  When there are such differences, it makes it all the more majestic of an experience. As we continue along this path along the river, or this path in life, the exciting part really is, what will be up around the next bend? And enjoying the journey along the way.



The Canal



Metal footbridge crossing over the canal

Map of trail system

Water, Water, everywhere

Cool tower with spikes to prevent climbers

Old Canal House

Gorgeous Congaree River

theres a coal train a coming

Crepe Myrtle

Hey friends & family join my blog!

Arghhh, I have been slowly putting together the pieces of the world of blogging and it has not been easy.  I just added a "widget" (who knew what a widget was before today? question is DO I even still know what a widget is??) to my site which allows you all to become members of my blog!  Basically make me feel loved.  Ha Ha Ha.  Really, it is a great way to stay in touch with all things Nate & Ginger.   I really have been wanting to get something together to be connected with family and friends without being on facebook.....so join my crusade and join The Southern Sassafras blog.  I bet the more people become members....the more motivation it will be for me to add new and exciting things on a regular basis!  Thanks Y'all and look forward to sharing the world of Mr. & Mrs. Southern Sassafras.

SOoooo, look on the right side of my blog page and you will see a link under "Southern Sassy Folks" that says JOIN THIS SITE....Click away....and come join the fun! Thanks a bunch!

 P.S If you want regular notifications of new postings, sign up for the e-mail notification just above "The Sassy Folks" link.

Summer Savoury Mini Quiches

 Love our little road side stand just down the way from my chiropracters office.  This place rocks!  I can pick up CHEAP local vegetables, boiled peanuts, fresh canned goods etc. any day of the week.  I even managed to get a gorgeous pink Hibiscus for $14 that has already bloomed 3 cycles this summer!

Well, I picked up some lexington zucchini & summer squash, some Georgia vidalia onions, & carolina tomatoes just the other day and made the most delicous little "quick" quiches.  I call em' quick because I don't bother making any pie crust and just throw in some chopped up bread to hold the little guys together.  Yum, yum, yum!

Here's the recipe I made up if your interested in tantalizing your tastebuds and those you love!

Summer Savoury Quiche Recipe   400 degrees 

1-2 cups grated zucchini & summer squash

1 chopped and drained medium size tomato

1 large vidalia onion chopped and sauteed in 2 tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic chopped ( sautee with onions near end of browning)

1 cup grated cheese your pick ( i used a blend)

4 pieces of sliced bread

6 eggs beaten w/1/2 cup sour cream & 1/4 cup water.

1 tbsp dill

pinch cayenne

1 tsp salt

fresh ground pepper

Alt. ingredient ( add cooked chopped bacon crumbles), add less salt to recipe.

Mix egg mixture with bread and allow to aborb for 5 minutes.  Add rest of ingredients, mix together. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes or until puffed up. Serve on a bed of greens.

Sunday @ the Broad River!

Sweethearts!!

Nate & I decided it was time to explore more river options over the weekend.  Our favorite spot & most people's is to hang out down by the Riverbanks Zoo on the Saluda river.  There are lots of big rocks for hanging out on, plenty of deep swimming holes & the water is always fresh & cold there.  When the water is cold you can be sure there won't be leaches lurking around, at ready, to attach to some poor unsuspecting, juicy human being.  The unfortunate thing about the location at Riverbanks Zoo is that the zoo is planning on fencing it off.  Everyone is up in arms about this, but the zoo feels its a liablity to allow access down there.  People park on thier premises and some abuse thier priveleges by going down there drinking too much alcohol and getting hurt.  Whereas others go down for more wholesome outings, fishing, swiming, tanning, tubing, kayaking etc.  Sadly for those people (that includes Nate & Me), the other population has ruined that access.  Some fishermen have been coming thier for generations, catching fish to provide meals for their families.  Hopefully in the long run the city will continue to see the river as an asset, and continue to develope the river areas into accesable parks and walkways for the population to enjoy.  This is hopeful as there are already three of these parks created along the congaree, broad & lower Saluda rivers.  As mentioned before though, this is the most atractive location for water sports etc.  With all that being said, Nate& I have been on a mission to explore every inch of the beautiful rivers that all pour through the downtown of Columbia. Our city, our home.  We are determined to experience it all and possibly find a great little spot for hanging out, swimming,  fishing, putting our kayaks in and relaxing an afternoon away.

So off we went. This past Saturday's river mission brought us out to Harbison State Forest.  A place I've visited back in my college years to do an Owl Prowl and spider sniffing outing.  A lot of fun and learning but that is a story for another day.  We parked our car, unloaded the dogs and picked up a map of all the trails.  We immediately gravitated towards the most direct trail route to the Broad river.  It even showed there was a boat put in, even more exciting.  We could scope it out today, and bring our kayaks next time if all looked well.  Oh did I mention, at the start of the day we had planned on going on a kayaking adventure? That was quickly scratched when Nate went to load up the "Yaks" & mine was infested with cockroaches or as they call em' down here palmetto bugs.  Nate sprayed my boat down but good with bug "killer" and we decided for health reasons it would not be wise to go out in the boats today!  Lucky break for the dogs, they would get to go on our river adventure.

Dogs in hand we headed out a trail into the woods, that would lead us to the boat launch and the big ol' Broad river.  It was a beautiful walk through pine, oak, & other southern natives I have yet to learn.  The river was in sight, a huge island of rock ready to be descended upon for fishing, swimming and relaxation.  Our trail ended, right at the boat launch as the map had so clearly pointed out.  A little creek, with a 10 foot steep incline of clay mud, leading down into the water.  Luckily there was a staircase down, but no foot bridge to cross.  Just a murky little creek, that if you dared to cross, which we did, only to greet the other side a steep, slippery, muddy clay bank to climb out of.  I think others had struggled with this passing so someone had tied a slick nylon rope to a tree, with loops tied into it for grabbing every few feet as you try to repel up the bank to the forest floor landing.  Well that was all such a disaster, quicksand in the bottom of the creek, red clay mud all over our arms and our legs from falling back in to the creek multiple times as we tried to repel our selves out of the creek up the bank and to safety.  Yikes!  And to top it off we had our geriatric dog with us that needed much assistance.  Thanks to Nates strength she made it across too.  Phew.  Across the bank...looking across and thinking....we will have to do this on our way back...ohhhh great!  ANd this is the boat launch????  Looking quite dicey, not sure we will use this as a future access to the river for kayaking.

Well, we made it across, what we will now call "cripple" creek.  And off to the island of rock amidst the river for a bit of fun and relaxation.  It was gorgeous out there. We got in some swimming and some fishing too.  No catch, but a beautiful new place to behold.  Oh did I mention....crossing back over "cripple" was about as much fun on the way back as it was on the way in. All in all worth the adventure & the tale to tell.  Not sure we will be bringing any of our company there in the future.  As per our return?  Maybe another trail?  Another way in? we'll see.? I think we'll save that for another day.

Fishing time!

The beautiful Broad.

River glory!



Sailor & The Southern Sassafras smimming!

Nate in his element.

Skyler our sweet geriatric doggy.  Exhausted after crossing "cripple" creek.