The cats of Agriana

Before there was Roux, there was Gracie Lou.  I found her at a shelter in Baton Rouge and immediately knew I had to take her home.  I struggled with a name, and finally came up with Gracie . . . she is gray and white . . . yeah, I know, not that creative.  As she got used to her surroundings that first week, she woke me up during the night to "talk".  I was particularly frustrated one of those nights and gave her my best chastising voice . . . "Graaacieeeee . . . " and at that moment I had a flashback to my childhood . . .

I was always just "Karen" growing up . . . unless I was in trouble or aggravating my parents . . . then I became "Karen Sue".  Using my middle name made me perk up and pay attention.  Plus it's a good Southern thing to do.

So as I drawled out "Graaacieeeee . . . " something in my brain told me I had to use her middle name.  She didn't have one, and "Gracie . . . Lou" just came out.  I think maybe I was thinking about that Sandra Bullock movie.  Anyway, it stuck and she was Gracie Lou after that.

This is Gracie Lou that first week at home.  This was about a month or so before Jeff and I started dating.

For the next four years, Gracie Lou made weekend trips to Agriana with us.  She didn't like the car ride so much.

The white towel in the picture was for when she got car sick.  Happened almost every time.  After four years, we moved up here and she hasn't been in a car since then.  Yes, she is very happy about that.

After we moved here, we had to send a piece of equipment to Monroe for repair.  When the machine came back, it had a cat in it.  It took me six months to get her to come within a foot of me, and eventually I was able to pet her.

We had her checked out at the vet and then spayed (catching her required an inventive scheme a la Jeff), and she has become our "Outdoor Kitty".  She is a great predator and definitely keeps the field mice in check.  One of my friends gently suggested that maybe referring to her as "Outdoor Kitty" wasn't appropriate and I should name her.  Coming up with another name is easier said than done.  We finally settled on Jamie, after the man (James) that owned the repair shop in Monroe.  He is a cat lover, too.

So Gracie Lou is in the house with us, and Jamie is all alone outside . . . and I decided she needed a friend.  I put a note on my facebook page, asking if anyone had a feral cat that needed a new home.  Jamie was still very skittish around humans.

A high school friend answered the call and gave me Purdy.  Kristen is much better at names than I am . . . she named Purdy after a brand of paint brushes because her coat color reminded her of soft paint brush bristles.

Purdy and Jamie became fast friends, and Jamie would even hang around the porch with all of us.  I think Purdy taught her to be more social and less afraid of humans.

Then we got Roux . . . and it all changed.

Purdy decided she likes the dog door and hangs around inside more than outside.  Jamie is scared of Roux and prefers to hang out at the shop these days.  Gracie Lou doesn't like Roux and prefers to stay on her high window perch.  Roux has definitely changed the cat dynamics around here.  Ah, but those are stories for another time.

Roux and the Black Bear

We were working outside this weekend near the lake.  Roux loves that area, as there are lots of birds for him to chase.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black figure running along the lake, and I thought "there he goes again" . . . then I saw another black figure right behind that one . . . and I knew immediately one of those figures was a bear.

You can imagine my relief when I realized it was Roux chasing the bear and not the other way around.  However, that relief was short-lived . . . I quickly went into "momma mode", fearing the bear would turn around and get my dog.  He was in such hot pursuit, he couldn't hear my screams of "No!" or "Here!" or even his name.

Side note:  The Dog Whisperer says they can't "hear" you when they are in that prey mode . . . but I still think they hear just fine and choose to ignore you :)

The bear was an adolescent bear, small but larger than Roux.  Roux had absolutely no fear and, as it should be, the bear had fear.  He ran fast and Roux chased him up a tree.

It was definitely one of those "wish I had my camera" moments.  No, I haven't learned that lesson yet.

Here are some iPhone photos, which are not that good.

In the first photo, you can barely see the bear's ears between the branches.  In the second photo, the bear is climbing down the tree.  He didn't wait long . . . we walked far enough away and he quickly came down and high-tailed it back into the woods.

Later, Roux spent some time retracing the bear's path by the tree.  I think he was learning the scent . . . at least that's what he did the first time he found an armadillo.  He chased the running creature, then came back and learned the scent . . . trotting all along the ground, nose to the ground.  Now he can smell an armadillo before he sees it.

My Maw-Maw's Pie

I am making a pie today . . . my Maw-Maw's pie she used to make when I was a kid.  I was a Guest Blogger a while back, where I shared her recipe.  Here is the post:

There are many things from my childhood that bring back sweet memories . . . this particular memory comes with something I can still touch (and taste!) today. I was a teenager when I watched my Maw Maw (that’s “Grandmother” to us in the South) make this pie. It was never written down, and I remember calling her while I was in college so she could tell me how to make it over the phone. My friend, “Make Roux”, inspired me to take pictures and document this wonderful memory. Maw Maw would be proud to share her recipe with you.

Maw Maw Odette’s Banana Pie
My Grandmother made this pie when the bananas were too old to eat and, of course, she didn’t want to waste them. She made this with butter and sugar and a homemade pie crust. I modified it slightly to make it a little healthier using spray margarine and Splenda and a little faster with a pre-made pie crust. 

I hardly ever measure ingredients, so I took a few pictures to help with the recipe.



6-9 very ripe bananas (brown, almost black bananas that are very soft)
Splenda
Spray butter
Cinnamon
Pie crust (I use the pre-made Nilla Wafer crust, and sometimes the graham cracker crust pre-made pie shell.  A regular pie shell works well, too)

1. Spray butter in the bottom of the pie shell. 
2. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and Splenda.
   
   
3. Add a layer of sliced bananas.
4. Repeat the layers again.
   
   spray butter
   cinnamon
   Splenda
   sliced bananas
5. Repeat again!
   
   
   
   The bananas are mushy; you can pack them down a little after each layer. Each layer is 2-3 bananas. The pie is about 3 layers.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes until a gel forms along the sides.
7. Let it cool slightly and harden a little before serving. 

Sometimes we like it hot out of the oven. We call it “banana bisque” and eat it from a bowl with a spoon. 

It is great cold for breakfast, as well as reheated.

In the recipe pictured, I used 1 or 2 bananas too many, so the gel ran over the crust. Fewer bananas would also allow the gel to cover the center of the pie.

It isn’t a “pretty” dessert, but it sure tastes good! 

You can see my Guest Blogger post here:

http://makearoux.blogspot.com/2009/04/guest-blogger-karen-and-maw-maw-odettes.html

Thanks, Erica, for allowing me to share this recipe with your readers.

UPDATE:  Here is my pie from today.  I used 6 medium bananas and baked for 40 minutes.  The "gelatin" part looks great!  As soon as it cools a little, we are digging in!

I'm in love with a dog

Jeff and I have always been dog people.  Our lifestyle, however, has not been conducive to dog ownership.  Since moving to Agriana, and to the detriment of our cats, we now have a lifestyle that is perfect for a dog.

Since we moved here, Jeff has had a vision of me with a dog . . . walking to the garden to collect veggies, riding around in the golf cart, and protecting me from some wildlife.  We weren't sure about the breed, though.  Jeff started researching dog breeds last year to see what would make a good fit for us.  We wanted an active dog to enjoy Agriana, a companion breed, and especially wanted a tracking dog for deer hunting.  We also knew we did not want a dog that likes water (for swimming) due to the alligators around here.

We settled on the Texas State Dog, the Blue Lacy (sometimes called a Lacy Dog).  Jeff spent hours on the phone with different breeders . . . and one thing was for sure . . . Blue Lacy owners love the breed.  Even if the breeder didn't have any puppies available, they would spend 30 minutes on the phone with Jeff, praising the breed and telling stories.  We learned so much, and we felt confident in the breed.  

At the end of November, we spoke to a couple outside of Beeville, Texas that happened to have a puppy available.  They were thinking of keeping the puppy for their own family, but after talking to Jeff and thinking we had a great environment for a Blue Lacy, a deal was made.  We took off for Texas the day after Thanksgiving to pick up our new family addition.

He was such a cute puppy!  He is a tri-color Blue Lacy . . . mostly "blue" with "red" markings and a patch of white on his chest.  He was about 12 weeks old when he took his first plane ride to a new home in Louisiana.  We named him Roux (pronounced ro͞o) -- a good South Louisiana name.

Hunting season was in full swing when we got home.  Even at such a young age, Roux had the instinct to track deer.  Here he is with one of the first deer he found.  The doe was about 130 lbs. and Roux was barely  4 months old.

We gave him the tail as a reward and he quickly buried it, like the treasure it was.

Roux is fast and enthusiastic.  With all the palmettos here, we quickly realized we needed something to track HIM.  A light on his collar worked a little, but the thick palmettos blocked the illumination if he got too far ahead . . . which he did.  We bought him a GPS collar that works great . . . and we have two handheld monitors.  Why two?  One for me to track Roux and the other for Jeff to track me!  Roux takes off after the deer, I take off after Roux and . . . well . . . sometimes we get turned around and get lost in the woods.  With the second monitor, Jeff can track us :)

Here is Roux wearing his GPS collar after finding a deer, and another picture in a deer stand waiting patiently.

Yes, I took the trouble to bring one of his dog beds with us.  Am I spoiling him?

Needless to say, Roux has been an excellent addition to hunting season. 

He is also a great companion.  He goes most everywhere with us.  We took a trip to Texas to visit family not long ago.  He got along great with our nephew, who is just over a year old.  Here they are playing.

One of his favorite pastimes is chasing birds.  Roux bounces and runs and barks, but hasn't caught one.  I learned that his Momma also chases birds around her house in Texas . . .she hasn't caught one yet either.  This is one of my favorite pictures of him chasing birds:

He's in the middle of our growing sunflower crop amid the pecan trees.  Is he having fun, or what?  After such a workout, he enjoys a little time in his pool:

I'm sure you can tell I am totally smitten with this dog.  He is such a joy to have.  And, yes, I spoil him.  Maybe I spoil him too much . . . Jeff just purchased The Dog Whisperer series on DVD for training.  Not that Roux needs much training . . . Jeff seems to think I need the training.

Crawfish!

We have really been enjoying crawfish this season.  Our "special seasoning blend" consists of a spicy Swamp Fire mixture from Oak Grove plus our friend, Wayne's, blend he uses for catering.  Yummy!

But you know when crawfish taste the best?  When they are caught here at Agriana.  We do not have a crawfish farm or anything like that . . . but we do have a few spots that have proven to be great crawfish holes. We have found that mid-April to early May is our Agriana Crawfish Season.  That's not to say we do not try earlier in anticipation.

We tried something different this year . . . we put hay in one crawfish area to attract bugs, hoping the crawfish would come out early to eat.  We put some traps out last weekend, but caught only a handful.  They were a good size, but not even enough for an appetizer.

The first year, I learned just how "dangerous" crawfishing can be.  Jeff is usually the one picking up the traps.

As you can see, he made it look easy.  So while he was out working in the shop one day, I thought I would go run the traps by myself.

One of the first traps I tried to lift with my pole was heavy.  I thought about all the crawfish that must be in it!  Imagine my surprise when this is what I found:

Not a snake.  Not quite an eel.  Just a heavy, ugly, slimy thing called a mud-puppy.  Yeah, not cute like my real puppy, Roux!  Because my pole is long, I was able to move it to the ground without fear of it touching me or getting out.  I took a quick picture of it, then pushed the trap over into the water.  The thing slid off into the mud and I decided I wouldn't put my traps in that area anymore.

Side note:  Jeff thought it would be fun to catch another one and try to cook it.  Thank goodness there are no mud-puppy recipes to be found online!  Trust me, I wasn't going to eat it.  I wasn't even sure I could watch him prepare it or eat it.  Thankfully, we have not caught another one.  Yet.

The next area had an even bigger surprise.  I picked up the trap and heard this interesting "eek! eek!" sound.  In my trap was the cutest baby alligator.  It couldn't have been more than 6 inches long.  I didn't get to admire it long . . . did you know that "eek! eek!" sound is a baby's way of calling it's Momma when it's in distress?  Momma not only heard, but was coming to it's rescue.  Mouth opened, swimming fast on top of the water.  Talk about a scary sight!  I dropped the trap and the pole and ran.  Thankfully, the trap landed on it's side and the baby gator crawled out.  Momma was appeased.  I didn't go back.  I went straight to the shop and chastised Jeff for letting me go on such a dangerous mission on my own.  We get a good laugh about it now . . . but it certainly wasn't funny at the time.  Not to me, anyway.

My favorite crawfish hole is a cypress swamp.  Some friends from Virginia came to visit last year and Jeff took Joan for a ride to check the traps.

This is our best to catch them.  We can put out about 30 traps and catch a sack of crawfish easily.  This is the area where we put the hay.

I am really looking forward to the next few weeks!  And, yes, I will be careful this year.

Spring Deer Season

Next week we are taking about six more deer. Sort of a one-day gun season.

And we're not going to be outlaws.

Our local department of wildlife biologist, Johnny Berry, is coming to work with us in harvesting some does for biological analysis. Pretty much to assess their overall health and reproductive activity.

I have never seen an official deer autopsy. But next week I get to participate in six of them. Apparently Johnny is going to do it all except for some special liver analysis that will later happen in Baton Rouge.

The actual deer will remain in our cooler to age. Then then meat will be charitably donated by a party other than us.

Johnny and another state biologist will do the actual shooting. Roux, our tracking dog, will be on standby to help with the retrieval.

It sounds like another learning adventure.

Cooking a la Karen

Those of you who have known me for many years, know that cooking is not my best quality.  Growing up, my Mom did all the cooking.  It never occurred to me to help out in the kitchen to learn and, hey, she didn't ask.  Bless her heart.

So I go off to college and there's this great option your parents can purchase where someone else cooks 3 meals a day for you in a cafeteria.  Awesome.  Count me in.

After I moved off-campus and got my own microwave, I quickly became friends with Budget Gourmets (remember those?) and cereal bars.  There was always cheap fast food for lunch.  See?  Who needs cooking? I'm over 21 years old at this point and I haven't seen a need for it yet.

In my first job out of college, I learned about business lunches.  I was making money and spending it at restaurants.  That became a way of life . . . and I liked it.  I still had the occasional heat-n-eat, but I preferred restaurants.  Nice ones.

As part of the business world, Jeff and I traveled a good bit.  We dined at some fabulous places and, let's just say, we were a little spoiled.

Fast forward to Agriana.  Did I mention we live in a rural area?  Even if we had all the restaurant offerings of Baton Rouge or Lafayette, we are still 10 miles from the nearest small town (St. Joseph),  35 miles from the nearest fast food place, and an hour and a half away from any sizable restaurant.  I don't mind telling you, I was a little panicked.

It was touch-and-go at first.  As an example, I will share with you our first Thanksgiving up here.  For just the two of us, I decided on a turkey breast rather than a full turkey.  I didn't notice it was already cooked.  Trust me, you can't add flavor to a store-bought, already cooked, generic turkey breast.  I found a sourdough and sausage dressing recipe . . . doesn't that sound good?  I used venison sausage and was so excited about making this dish (the excitement was before I knew the turkey was precooked).  The recipe called for something like 3 teaspoons each of fresh sage and thyme and something else.  Did you know that if you didn't have fresh herbs (which I didn't find at the local grocery), you could use dried . . . in about a third of the amount?  A THIRD.  Yeah, well, I didn't know that.  I dumped 3 teaspoons of each dried herb in there.  It was horrible.  I tried to fix it but it only got worse.  It was inedible.

And it's not like I could easily run to the store for more supplies, or to a restaurant for take-out.  We suffered through it, and I got a new attitude about cooking.

Cooking is on my terms.  Not some recipe.  I've decided that recipes are only suggestions.  I was never good at following directions anyway.  I'm definitely one of these "a little of this, a little of that" cooks.  I buy lots of cookbooks and magazines and scan them for ideas.  Then I improvise with what I have on hand.  And so far it's working for us.

Our freezer is full of venison.  We plan ahead and season it when we package it, so it's ready out of the freezer.  I have a vacuum sealer, so I may buy several rotisserie chickens at a time to pick and seal . . . I have seasoned chicken ready out of the freezer for gumbo or soup or whatever.  I also have sealed packages of creole seasoning (chopped onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic) to pull out as needed.  And when I cook, I cook big batches . . . then vacuum seal portion sizes for dinners later.

So I'm figuring it out.  And actually enjoying it.

One friend asked for a recipe . . . I can't give you exact measurements, but I can give you my suggestions on venison spaghetti:  I start with browning my creole seasoning in olive oil.  I like to leave the bell peppers in larger slices for spaghetti.  Then I add my Italian venison (1/3 ground pork, 2/3 ground venison and Italian seasonings) to brown it.  Sometimes I do it in small meatballs, sometimes just bulk.  I gave up on sauce . . . too heavy.  I use a big can of diced tomatoes and a little tomato paste with water.  After tasting it, I generally add a little garlic powder.  Spaghetti needs garlic!  I've been known to add a little Tony's, too.  The lighter sauce brings out the flavors of the seasoning and venison more.  A friend taught me that.  I let it all simmer a while in my big cast iron pot and serve over pasta.

Not bad for someone who never learned to cook :)