Pooch's Comedical Rendition of "Two Buck Chuck"

It is very amusing to me that a mass-produced wine recently scored a surprise win for the top chardonnay at the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. The connoisseurs may cringe, the snobs may even sob but the judges have spoken: California's best chardonnay costs less than $3. That's crazy cheap !

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Charles Shaw Chardonnay, better known as "Two Buck Chuck," beat hundreds of other wines and was named the top prize in a prestigious tasting competition in California. "The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner … a nice creamy butter, fruity … it was a delight to taste," said 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition judge Michael Williams. The affordable wine beat out 350 other California chardonnays to win the double gold. Second place went to an $18 bottle, and the most expensive wines at the event, at the price of $55, didn't even medal.

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To find this prize winner, you need not go to a fancy wine shop or elite retailer. Charles Shaw Chardonnay is mass-produced in California and only sold through the quirky Trader Joe's grocery stores. "We choose to sell good quality wines at $2 a bottle because we think it's a fair price," winemaker Fred Franzia told ABC News' Ryan Owens. "We think the other people are charging too much."

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Get What You Pay For? After its big win, ABC News decided to put the cheap stuff to a blind taste test and see if it would repeat the victory. It was disguised and served along with chardonnays of various prices, including a $120 bottle.
In this test, Caroline Styne, co-owner and wine director of two trendy Los Angeles area restaurants, judged the wines -- but to a different outcome. She ranked "Chuck" dead last, but second-to-last was the $120 variety. Oh well...

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No one said this was an exact science. Just ask the chief judge of the competition that gave the gold to a wine that costs less than a latte at Starbucks. "There's going to be people out there that don't like the wine and that's OK," said chief judge G. M. "Pooch" Puchlowski. " You know, there are a lot of wines I don't like. … So you drink what you like, don't drink what you don't and ultimately you go home a happy camper."

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For the record, "Pooch" is my kind of guy! Just say it like it is...and of course ONLY drink the wines that you like, without regard to price, prestige or general snobbery (blah blah blah blahhh...) rhetoric. His tasting, more importantly, shows that there is no direct correlation between price and quality.

Bienvenido a Tejas del Sur

Welcome to South Texas for all of my gringo friends. In my work, as many of you know, I am commissioned to work in different places. Earlier this week, McAllen, TX was that destination. After finishing field work early on Tuesday, I decided that a little sight seeing was in order. After all, I was happy that it was simply NOT raining!

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I started to make the jaunt to South Padre but noticed the sign for this cool looking park off Hwy 83 (right on the border) that caught my attention. The sign read Anzalduas Dam Park and Wildlife Refuge. Well, I used to see "Jim" from Mutual of Omaha do this all the time. If it was fun and interesting for him, then it should be the same for me. Here we go...

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Starting with the bottom photo is the 1- road off of the main highway. This was very cool...palm trees on either side of the road for miles. Yeehaww!

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This 2-place along the Rio Grande has wild rice growing all along the banks of the river. It was loaded with birds, ducks and wildlife of all kinds. My dog would have loved a "walk" in this place.

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After getting to the end of the road, 3- I started to get a little nervous. It suddenly dawned on me while taking this photo that someone of Central or South American origination might be trolling around in the woods, hoping to find a ride further into America.

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Their story would go something like this:

"Well...Mi Amigos, we were hiding in the woods when here comes this pendejo Cajun Boy down the road. He not only has this shiny new rental Jeep, with a full tank of gas but he also has the cold A/C blowing for us, as well. That dude even had snacks and bottled water waiting, inside of the car. It was like he was waiting for us, or something. He was so nice... Ehh, what are e-lec-tro-lytes? Because when Pedro, here, ate a few of them from out of a snack bag on the floor of the Jeep...he couldn't keep still. He was skipping and hopping around in the back seat, like a Mexican Jumping Bean! So, I told him to sit down so I could see or I wuz gonna' throw his ass out on the side of the road." Man, he was annoying.

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"Anyway, when that dude stopped to take a picture of something in the ditch, we popped him in the head and our prayers were answered! Vaminous Muchachos! You know...that poor dude thrashed around in the road for quite a while, before finally passing out. I saw him still kicking, in the rear view mirror when we drove off. (shrug by the immigrant) Oh well."

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Back to real life... On the way out, 4-you knew things were still interesting when the authorities post snake warning signs. SNAKES, what the hell!! Are the friggin' snakes so large that they will tear up your rental vehicle, should you exceed 20 mph and hit them? And, I suppose you would not want to let your pets or small children roam freely around this place. They...may disappear... (begin the playing of Twilight Zone music)

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So, this trip illustrates the quintessential South Texas. Wild, beautiful and dangerous. Sometimes all at the same time. I know, I know...a little too adventurous for my own good but man was it ever fun!!

Vin Du Jour, con't...

Incognito Viognier

The Viognier formerly known as Roussanne

Vintner's Poem:

"I once had a dream of peaches and cream,

But wasn't quite sure of what I had seen.

Noble and bold, like tales of old,

A bright burst of sunshine, this fine liquid gold."

Beautifully made, this sweet serenade,

Who is this unknown at the wine masquerade?"

This wine was awarded "Best Rhone in the World" as a Roussanne at the 2000 Los Angeles International Wine Competition. However, using DNA testing, U.C. Davis later determined that this unique grape is a rare clone of Viognier that mysteriously appeared in California during the past decade and is not, in fact, a Roussanne after all! The phantom clone originated somewhere in the Chateauneuf du Pape region of the Rhone Valley in France, then mistakenly sold to the grower - the talented Mr. Ripkin - as Roussanne, who, finally, sold the resulting grapes to Michael~David Vineyards. The rest is history!

Incognito's grapes are grown in the Ripken Vineyard, east of the Carquinez Straits in the Sacramento River Delta region of California. Warm days and cool evenings - reminiscent of the clone's native Rhone Valley - produce the powerful and intense fruit with a sultry body that characterizes this wine, making it unlike any other Viognier.

Scooter Speak: The style is very fruit forward, round, weighty, juicy, potent and dry. It is so fruity that you expect it to be sweet but it is not. The appearance is of light straw, with a greenish tint. It has aromas of peach, cold weather blossoms and noble apricot. The mouth feel is creamy, smooth, weighty, medium-bodied and tart. The mouth filling peaches and cream flavors are joined by a big warm kick in the glass. I can see why this wine could be confused for a Roussanne.

Clearly, the best Viognier (I think) that I've had in years... Oh yeah...the Phantom of the Opera mask on the front and the Mardi Gras-esque decorations on the back label are very cool !

The Adventures of Bad Karma Scooter

This morning, after the rain subsided, I went for a ride at the Veloway (cycling park). For the record, I really like riding at this place. There is no car hazard, a cyclist's most feared. As a matter of fact, the worst thing to be concerned with is the potential to run over little kids or inline skaters who do not abide by the Veloway rule that states "slower riders keep 'your ass' to the right". Or, at least that is what I thought.

So, I'm cruising around the park's track doing the usual hotdogging, cutting corners, splashing through the water hazards (that make their way across the track at low-lying areas) and generally having fun. Did I mention that I really like this park? Anyway, back to the story... Then as I'm speeding around a curve to the left (see lower, right corner of Veloway map above), my back tire hits a rock, stick or something in the roadway. Clearly, I didn't see it. Centrifugal force causes my now airborne rear tire to lurch to the right, about 5 or 6 inches. It was then that three things happened simultaneously: I was absolutely sure I was going to have my first Big Time crash, I nearly crapped my stretchy biking shorts and the woman I recently passed (about five bike lengths back) was gasping in horror as I lost control of my bike. This was going to end badly...

Somehow or another, I regained control of that bike without crashing. I don't know how I did it but it happened. Having ridden for about 30 miles at this point and mysteriously avoided catastrophe, I decided it was time for a break. So I pull over and sat on the shaded bench at the park's entrance. Then, I began mulling over how or why my near crash happened. The reason then occurred to me.

Bad Karma. Earlier this week a friend of mine, Erin, smacked into a tree while going on an early morning run. She writes about it in her blog. I, being the perpetual smart ass, called her "Ms. Magoo" in the comments section, as her incident reminded me of that old cartoon. Well...clearly the Karma Gods were pissed at me and decided that Le Scooter Voler was going down for that!

So, Erin (aka, ICE) I apologize and further promise to never call you any non-endearing names in the future.

Random Thought: I hope that does the trick... (Scooter nervously looks left, then looks right in an attempt to determine if the Karma Gods are listening) or else I'll have to start wearing a friggin' football helmet, elbow and knee pads on future rides!

Ahh, Yes...College Football Season

To all LSU Tiger fans, you've been there and you've seen this before. The drum cadence starts, the crowd cheers and the adrenaline begins to flow.

So, it's official...41 days until the season begins !! We know where ESPN will be that day, Death Valley. And to all Tiger opponents, all I have to say is LOOK OUT ...

GEAUX TIGERS !!

Here are the tunes: http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&KEY=&ATCLID=177310

Unwrap The Present

A common theme that frequently comes up in both my personal and professional workings is fear. To know that every moment -- regardless of how it comes wrapped -- is a gift greater than you can give yourself, is to be well on your way to a life without fear. This ought to get the wheels turning...

So, our usual reaction to any event not of our choosing is to fear it, so that our tendency is to see these experiences as being adversarial. These unwanted moments are seen as threats to our present happiness, as well as being a thorn in our tomorrow, because with any unwanted event comes the fear of not having the right answers to address the flood of new questions arising out of life's sudden turn.

But what if what we think is the truth of these moments is not the truth at all? What if it were possible to see the truth of these moments in a whole new light? Imagine if we could know in any of these given moments, that life isn't handing us a bunch of do-or-die questions upon which hinge happiness or defeat -- that our unwanted experiences don't deliver us into our enemy's hands, but lead us instead to living answers whose soul purpose is to help us realize the great Friend we have in Truth? Wouldn't such a reality, once realized, end those nagging fears that ride the dark tailcoat of the unexpected? And wouldn't the end of these fears be the same as being free to live fearlessly? Of course! And, as we are about to find out, this is precisely the case.

When we recall the turning points in our lives, the times where we had no choice but to go through those wrenching self changes that come with personal crisis, it shouldn't be hard to remember how sure we were that these same trials heralded our doom. But looking back, as we must do to grow, can't we see that the real crisis we faced was one born not so much of changing external conditions as it was of our being asked to take part in the birth of a new level of our own consciousness? A brief example will prove this finding:

Experience reveals that the actual nature of any painful moment in life has little to do with what we first blame our pain upon. Take for example, that "he (or she) wants to leave me" isn't the real pain; the real pain is that if he (or she) does, it means there has to be something "wrong" with me. Besides, without him/her in my life as they have been, I won't know what to do with myself; I'll be uncertain as to the worth of who I am, or how I should view myself. And so, being in fear of having to deal with what feels akin to the end of ourselves, we resist or deny anything that threatens us with such an untimely demise. At this stage, our general response is to make unwanted compromises with ourselves, or otherwise somehow grovel to keep the passing relationship alive. However, try as we might, what will come to pass does just that. Maybe it takes years, months, or maybe only days, but we are slowly dragged through the doorway of a life lesson that is no longer avoidable. And what do we invariably find?

Behind each of these seeming impossible moments stands an unseen (at the time) purpose: to bring us to a certain realization or experience of the truth about our self. But while this medicine may be bitter, it also heals us. How?

For starters, we realize (in hindsight) that what has transpired was not only a gift in disguise, but that we are much better off for having worked our way through its challenging wrapping! Now we understand, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that we couldn't begin the next level of our life journey until we had completed these lessons now behind us. In other words, it's clear to us that what we first fought so hard to avoid was really a truth come to rescue us from self-ignorance -- a truth that not only explained why our lives were as they were, thus freeing us from a mistaken sense of self, but in the same moment set the stage for our further self-development. Can you see the truth of this recurring set of conditions and how it continually manifests itself through the course of our life experiences? We have reached the threshold of a great truth about ourselves.

We have realized that our experiences in life ultimately serve the purpose of revealing some unseen truth about us, to us. If this is true, amply evidenced by our own accounting, then can we not begin to perceive that these very experiences, regardless of their content, must be an expression of the truth for the purpose of helping us discover the reality behind these same life experiences? To help you more deeply understand this liberating insight, let's view it from a slightly different angle.

Each cycle of our life, as marked by each subsequent level of personal growth, comes to a happy close only when the lessons driving that cycle are finally learned. This much should be clear to us. But what remains cloudy is that each life lesson learned that served to close out each cycle came to us in the form of a needed truth. And further, that this same truth always arrives in some distinct realization about our own nature -- one that had not only been unconscious to us, but that is now recognized as having been secretly responsible for the events of that life cycle now being exited. Can you see the tremendous implications in this finding?

First, it means that in the middle of any unwanted experience, waiting there all along for us to realize it, is the truth that liberates and lifts us above our former limited understanding that was responsible for that very experience. In other words, our experiences revolve around, and are actually created to reveal, certain life lessons yet to be learned. And if we would dare see further (which we must to grow), this discovery reveals the unimaginable. There exists behind these life lessons a timeless truth -- one that has not only perceived what we need before we do, but that somehow actively arranges our life experiences for the sole purpose of revealing itself to our soul.

We have before us evidence of a complete wisdom revealed to us as truth (call it what you will) that is the secret fabric of our lives, beginning to realize a whole new order of self-understanding. Here we come upon a realization that has no opposite. Failure ceases to exist as a fear. The painful idea of loss, of falling down and losing our way, forever loses its sting because in the light of our new understanding we see now that the universe itself not only wants us to be victorious individuals, but actually wills it... If happiness is the absence of fear, then this is a synthesis of it !

Vin Du Jour, con't...

Yalumba Hand Picked Shiraz + Viognier 2004

93 POINTS - "A brilliant effort for the 2004 Shiraz/Viognier (95% of the former and 5% of the later). Utilized French 300 liter barrels (only 10% new). Super-rich, heady, and full-bodied, it offers aromas of roasted meals, Provencal herbs, blackberries, cassis, new saddle leather, and licorice, terrific fruit as well as texture, and supple, explosive finish. Drink it over the next 4-5 years."
(Robert Parker, Jnr, The Wine Advocate Issue 167 (USA), 31 October 2006)

Scooter Speak: This dude is deep, dark purpley red in color. It opens with mulberries, black cherries and sweet anise, overlying subtle flavors of musk, violets, Asian spice and hints of white fleshy fruits. The palate is big but stylish with a velvety smooth mouth-feel. Displaying sweet chocolate (that's right...chocolate), dark fruits and musk combined with an exotic spicy compote. This is a complex wine held together with well integrated oak and soft fine tannins.

This wine has a touch of Viognier to the blend for silkier textures and hints of spice, emulating a French practice common in Northern Rhône Valley’s Côte-Rôtie appellation, where Viognier grows alongside Syrah. Other Vin Du Jour wines use some Grenache, the dominant grape of the Southern Rhône, which lightens the texture and creates a different fruit profile altogether. There are even a couple of straight Grenache bottlings, which has become an incipient trend in South Australia these days.

(BTW, in case it's not apparent, these are the wines being served at the wine tasting later this Summer. Stay tuned boys and girls...)

It's Floodin' Down In Texas

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a little rain as much as anyone. However, as of late we have experienced so much that it is officially beginning to annoy me and most others. I've had to wipe off my bike for the third time this week because I rode in what initially seemed to be "clear weather" according to the Weather Channel's radar, only to be zapped by the spontaneous and rather stealtish rainstorms that seem to be trolling around Central Texas these days.

If this continues, I suspect we'll begin to see these "High Tide Heels" being worn around the malls and walk-ways of Austin. Not to worry, they double as a weapon should you happen upon any of the various and sundry floating reptiles that reside in the waterways around here. And, the women of Central Texas may see fit to wear them as well...

Vin Du Jour

Argyle Pinot Noir Nuthouse 2004

Size: 750ML Vintage: 2004

90 Points - Josh Raynolds - International Wine Cellar

"Dark red. Brooding aromas of kirsch, blackcurrant, cured tobacco and smoky bacon are impressively deep and expansive. Chewy, concentrated dark berry flavors are supported by firm but harmonious tannins and given added depth by tobacco and dark chocolate flavors. Finishes on a note of ripe cassis, with gentle spicy lift and excellent length."

Scooter Speak: This wine is over the top! It is clearly one of the best American Pinots and it has been outstanding each and every year, since the 2000 vintage when I began sampling it...

Flats....In Stereo !!

Bike riding is a sport meant to reduce your stress and improve your overall physical condition, not frustrate you to the point of throwing your bike over the edge of a cliff. Flat tires, especially the recurring variety, don't do anything but add to the negative, unhappy state that all of us hate about exercise: being stranded in the middle of nowhere, without any recourse or help in sight.

This morning, my friend Stephen and I were cruising down Parmer Lane, when all of a sudden my bike made a new noise. "What's that sound," says Steve. I, also unsure of it origin, said "I...I don't know." My bike makes weird noises periodically, as folks who have ridden with me can attest but this was indeed a new one. After a few seconds, I felt the onset of that squishy sensation that we cyclist come to know as a tire rapidly losing 100 psi of pressure and proceeding to go flat. Except, in my case it was friggin' both tires !! That...was THE noise on this day.

I felt the onset of both embarassment and the flaring of my temper. After all, my new "Shark Skin" tires that I was earlier bragging about had failed me, on merely my second ride with them. I suppose that will teach me to not boast about cycling equipment ever again. At this point, Stephen jokingly says, "Scooter, you just had two flats...in stereo! I've never seen THAT happen before." Needless to say, this was going to end badly. After all, this was flats number five and six in my last three rides. I was not a happy cycling camper.

That's it, I exclaimed...I'm trading these blanketty blank tires in for the "Gator Skins." I am TIRED of these flats ! Stephen (ever the diplomat) waits a few seconds so that my blood pressure begins to subside and says "yeah, that might be a good idea...I've never seen you this P.O.'d before and its starting to make me a little nervous." ....lol

The Wisdom Pool

Isn't it true that the minute something happens, there is a reaction that takes place to the event, and the reaction forms as a stimulus by which we then want to figure out how to resolve this pain that we're in, fix the person, or change the condition so that the disturbance we're feeling will go away?

This means that in the moment where there is disturbance, we are meeting the disturbance with further disturbance. The disturbed is an effect of the disturbance. Can an effect change anything? No. An effect can only give rise to conditions that are at the same level of its reality. The nature that produces a problem isn't about to fix it. But in the divided mind, the nature that produces the problem believes that it is apart from the nature that produced it. In other words, there is my reaction to you and then me hating myself for trying to fix you, and I believe I'm different from the reaction I had. But the self that is identified with the reaction is an effect of the event, and it cannot change anything. It can only perpetuate it.

Here is what has to happen: The disturbance comes, whatever its source, and rather than going into that state of agitated thought, of resisting the moment -- trying to resolve the thought that is troubling me with more rationalization, more justification -- I move into a certain order of passivity. Instead of becoming caught up in the disturbance and meeting the turbulence through this disturbed self that wants to resolve it, I go inwardly still. I become aware of my own disturbed waters.

You don't throw a stone into a pond to get rid of a ripple. The psychology that disturbs the waters is part of the disturbance that brought us into the waters. Instead, we're going to become still and enter a pool of wisdom. To become still means that we start to see the waters that are disturbed. So stillness doesn't mean to steel oneself up and say, "I'm still. I'm flat. There's no disturbance here." It means instead that we bring our attention to this awareness we have of the disturbance. The awareness of a disturbance is the wisdom pool having become still because we are surrendering disorder to a greater order. This allows us to recognize that which almost no one on this earth understands, and that is that chaos cannot resolve chaos. The idea is the ability the human being has to shift his or her sense of self and the relationships that it involves from one world into a world that already exists inside of them.

Awareness is itself a field of integrity. It is a communicative field. It is a field that touches all things without touching the things itself, and it integrates all aspects in that field. To enter into that field, to come awake -- and rather than meet the disturbance with that self that has been disturbed and its false solutions -- is the beginning of the recognition that there is an order of my self that pursues what it does because it perpetuates itself, not because it brings an end to itself. Nothing EVER brings an end to itself...It's unnatural.

Enter the wisdom pool. Find out what happens. Experiment. Oh, what a beautiful word that is: experiment. You will find yourself unquestionably disturbed in the next ten seconds... (if you're not already now). Bring it into the field of your awareness. Enter into it. Stay there until the waters get still in the wisdom pool. I promise you, once the waters get still, the problem you thought you had will be seen as the promise of a new order of yourself, instead of something that continues to cause you pain. Do the work and you'll find this out for yourself.

Alright...Enough philosophising, it's time to go to work. ...lol

Yummage du Jour, con't...

A friend of the family, Francis Gherling (nee, DuCoute...a very nice Cajun lady, originally from Port Aurthur, TX) was a professional food presenter prior to retirement and she would be proud of this effort.

It is Koshee's organic wheat and blueberry waffles, with french fig preserves lathered atop of it. If that were not enough, it is capped with fresh East Texas Blueberries (for the true berry connoisseur ! ).

It comes in two versions. One: the smiley face variety, to simply brighten up your day. And, two, the "fill 'er up" version for those who simply cannot get enough berries into your breakfast.

For the record, I like both of these...

And Then...There Were Olives

Three years ago, one of the four Champanel grapevines in my backyard jardin died, from that year's tough winter. A cold February night in the low 20's did it in. In its place was planted an organic Arbequina Olive Tree. Arbequina is the major olive tree of the Catalonia Provence in Northeast Spain, origination of my paternal Grandmother's family.

"The production starts early and is high, with relatively low maintenance" read the research article on it. It went on to say "Arbequina is considered frost hardy and well adapted to different soil types. In Catalonia, trees regularly take 22f winter nights without any problems. The yield is high and it is considered an early bearer. The oil is of high quality with a fruity flavor."

I thought it would be cool to have one of these, in my garden. Well, I gotta tell you, the damn thing has not done anything in the way of production for three years....I actually gave up hope and quit "babying" it. It continued to look good and grow taller. Now, I have discovered that it was just teasing me and that it has begun to bear olives! The excitement ensued!

Random Thought: Who said olives will not grow in Texas?

Gardeners, I suppose, are a simple lot. We get excited over the smallest of events and happenings in our little sphere of influence...

Vin Du Jour

Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927
(Spanish Dssert Wine; 375 ml)

Press Releases: 96 Points - Robert Parker (Wine Advocate)

"The impressive 1927 Pedro Ximenez Solera, from a Solera begun nearly 80 years ago, boasts a dark amber color as well as an extraordinary nose of creme brulee, liquefied nuts, marmalade, and maple syrup. Huge and viscous, yet neither cloyingly sweet nor heavy, it is a profound effort priced unbelievably low. It is meant to be drunk alone at the end of a meal."

Scooter Speak: Wow...This stuff rocks ! Available at Whole Foods, downtown.

Wiener Dog Art As A Positive Fuel

Positive Fuels

As a nascent cyclist, I've come to realize the impact and import of fuels, not only its utilization within the sport itself, but as a part of life in general. At the start of each day an individual has a choice of two kinds of fuel. Whether their day is pleasant or not depends upon this choice.

Many people actually select and depend upon the fuel of disturbance and irritation to carry them through their day. As strange and counterintuitive as it sounds, they look forward to incidents which provide an excuse for emotional upset. This is because negative fuels provide a false feeling of life and importance. The person feels alive and thrilled only when expending negative fuels. They have the feeling of going somewhere, but it is illusory progress. They are merely agitating in a fixed position, much like a factory machine in its daily travails.

More importantly, there are positive fuels which carry us forward as swiftly as they are employed. A few of them are watchfulness, inquiry, experimentation and the courage to be daring (in a safe sort of manner). There is, moreover, one fuel with extraordinary power. It is an ardent love of self-knowledge. When one knows oneself, life and the choices we make within it, are much easier. We intuitively realize what is important to us and only do that.

By casting off the negative fuels and its self-compromising states, we are free to be our true and genuine self. For example, when you are a wiener dog, you should do things that wiener dogs do and do well....don't concern yourself with what other dogs (or people) may be doing. This way, you'll be a much happier wiener dog (or a person who paints them) !

The Procrastinator

Welcome to the procrastinator's anonymous club! This club will accept anyone who is willing to make an excuse. It only takes one - that will do.
Quitting even before you get started will put you in the leadership positions of the procrastinators anonymous club - guaranteed a promotion! Now, before you think I'm just being sarcastic (maybe a little), it's time to do a little reality check - before we go any further. These three questions need to be asked to get you thinking...
· Is anything worthwhile ever accomplished without real effort?
· What are you teaching to those around you (i.e. - children, teens, friends, etc.), by your lack of action?
· What do you want to be proud of, as to accomplishments, at the end of your life?
Knowing how to get motivated can be a little difficult, at times, for all of us. And, yes, all of us face joining that same club, procrastinators anonymous, when it comes to some things in our lives, too. In order to cancel our enrollment, it will take some real action, though (sorry, the mere thought does not count).
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And this one is for El Marcos...

At long last: Boudreaux's Crawfish Etouffee

5 large onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped (sub: cilantro)
1 pound butter
1/2 teaspoon of paprika, smoked preferably
2 teaspoons of lime juice
1 tablespoon of worcester sauce
1 splash of liquid smoke, hickory flavor
1 can cream of celery soup (sub: cream of mushroom)
1 can cream of shrimp soup (to replace crawfish "fat" which is no longer sold)
5 pounds Louisiana crawfish tails, peeled
Creole seasoning (recommended: Tony Chachere Original Creole Seasoning or Emeril's Bayou Blast)
Cooked white rice (4 cups dried long grain rice, use chicken stock, white wine and carrot juice as rice's liquid)

In a magnalite pot or a pot with a thick bottom, saute onions and garlic in margarine over medium to medium low heat until onions are transparent. Add cream of celery and cream of shrimp soups and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. Stir as needed to eliminate sticking. Stir in crawfish tails and continue to cook over medium heat. Add Creole seasoning to taste. Stir often to mix ingredients and to keep from sticking to pan. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Thin with a little water if etouffee is too thick. Serve in a plate over white rice. Etouffee also freezes well.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Yield: 10 plus servings

Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler !!