Everything Under the Moon

Hello everyone!
After a wee glitch were BACK!!!!
come on in and let us know about your Yule plans

Yay! I’m glad it got fixed!

I’ve been working on my new Yule/winter solstice altar. I like it… but it’s definitely lacking still.

As for Christmas, we’re keeping it light this year and having hubs family over the 23rd and mine the 24th so I’ve got my tree up. And, we’ll be making gumbo as usual. My father is from south Louisiana and that side of my family has always made sausage and chicken gumbo for Christmas and I have carried on that tradition hosting at my house now. Yum yum!

Rosie

I have never had that, is it trad for Yule in the south? Maybe put a post w/recipe
Around here we will be chilling and very low key, I think. Just really not into it much this year. That may change in the next few days though, I just got home, haven't been here since before Thanksgiving.
bb, F

I would say it's a tradition specific to places close to the Gulf of Mexico. And, also specific to "Cajun culture". There are a lot of families in Louisiana and eastern Texas that have this tradition. But, I can't be sure how far over to Mississippi or Alabama that tradition continues, I don't know anyone from there to ask. I also don't know if this is a Creole tradition, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is as a lot of their culture is intertwined with Cajun.

It's actually normally served on Christmas Eve but in my family, there were two kinds of gumbo made in huge amounts, and leftovers were warmed on the stove and left out on Christmas day to eat on as you please. That is after a breakfast of eggs, biscuits, and sausage gravy, of course.

I will absolutely get you the recipe. I always thought it was some super secret recipe of my grandma's that would be handed down to me someday. Turns out it's the recipe from the Tony C's Roux container purchased from the store! Haha, at least I'll never lose it, right? You need Roux to make gumbo and you can absolutely make it yourself and some people may have to. I think the store bought kind is also region specific. You can't find it everywhere.

Rosie! I graduated high school in Laffeyette as well as working offshore in the gulf. I don't miss the weather but I really miss the people and food including gumbo!

Happy New Year!

Anyone doing rituals of stepping into a more finely honed self this night?

Firebird wrote: ↑Sat Dec 31, 2022 7:36 pm Happy New Year!

Thank you,also. All the best.

Happy New Year! Here is gumbo recipe I promised using the instant roux mix. You can make it any time of the year really, most cajun people eat it all year round AND on Christmas Eve. Gumbo is basically a thick brown soup that is served over rice.

Seafood Gumbo:
In a large stock pot lightly brown 1 lb. of andouille sausage. Add 1 small chopped onion, 3 chopped stalks of celery, and 1 large diced green pepper. (Most people also add a cup or so of sliced okra but our family does not because apparently my grandmother did not like okra and now we're used to it that way.) Scrape up the brown bits of sausage as you saute until the veggies begin to soften.

Pour in up to 10 cups of broth/water. I use whatever I have on hand plus the water for the broth I don't have. I think the chicken broth is traditional. If you want to make chicken and sausage gumbo instead of seafood you can boil the chicken in the water to make your broth and then shred the chicken, season it, and add it back in.

Begin rice in a rice cooker. You can use white or brown but white is traditional. (I used brown this year because it's all I had. Tastes the same.) For 5 people I made 2 cups of rice and it made about 8 servings.

Now, follow the directions from the instant roux mix in a seperate small pot. I use the Tony Chachere's brand but the process is always similar. Whisk 1 cup roux mix into water and bring to a boil, remove from heat immediately. Roux will thicken, A LOT. Whisk the thick roux into the stock pot and mix into the broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 mins. Add shrimp and crab meat and then simmer for another 15 minutes.

Finally, season the gumbo with creole seasoning. Again, I use Tony Chachere's brand. Season to taste like salt. Ladle soup over rice and top with parsley and chopped green onions (The green part!) and enjoy!

If you make it, please let me know how it turned out!
Rosie

Strange... I am based in Louisiana, too. What a strange omen. Do any of you recommend things to do or places to see while I'm here?

Thanks for that recipe Rosie!
Things in La.... how about the Voodoo museum? Or isn't Mardi Gras coming up?
National parks? https://www.parkrangerjohn.com/louisian ... nal-parks/
Never been to the state although do have some family lines from there.
Bb, F.

Hey all, can anyone here help me with some technical difficulties? I have some pictures of my Yule altar I took with my phone that I wanted to share but I can't seem to get them to upload. It keeps telling me that it's too big...? I tried loading them onto my computer and then uploading them here but the same problem. Any advice?

Thanks!
Rosie

I have the same problem with my new tablet, the old one was never a problem. Seems I had an issue loading from my laptop too.
There is a way to resize photos, I believe it needs to be 200×200 or smaller. Most devices will let you do this but the process may be different depending on the device.
Maybe we should move this to a topic so future uses who encounter same problem
Bb, Firebird

Hi,

You need to convert the image to a smaller size/pixel density, if this is giving you a headache, don't worry, I constantly have one also with how easier/complicated technology becomes, have you figured it out yet or do you still need some assistance?

It's been a while since my last check in. But I'm here!
I hope everyone was able to celebrate a safe and happy Ostara.

Just a quick hello I haven't been on in a few years. Life! lol It's changed a bit. Hope everyone is well. Many blessings!