Zenor Family time and Shrimp too!

It has been a while since I posted on my blog. I have been super busy, and although I cannot catch up with everything, I am going to post a few things that have happened in the month of October.

One was that my Cousins Kathleen and Becky and my Aunt Marie from Texas decided to come to Auburn for a visit. This got my brothers and their wives and kids to also come to Auburn. Well, I couldn't miss this. I got in my car and drove home, with 12 lbs of huge shrimp in the cooler and my dog in the back seat.

I arrived at my mom's house, had a beer, and because I was extremely tired, I went to bed pretty quickly.

Saturday morning, I woke up, hung out with my mom for a while, worked on some knitting, and went to Dads to begin the Zenor Family Time!

It was so good to see everyone. I have not seen my aunt or cousins in several years.


Above are a bunch of Zenor! From left to right starting at the top, Becky, Me, Lee, Kathleen, John, Marie, Eli, Abby, Dad, and Annie.

Below, are Me, My brothers and my Dad!

I got to show off my cooking skills for the Zenors, which for some unknown reason they have never experienced. I made a shrimp boil. It turned out pretty yummy and was my first time ever making it.


I should do this again soon! I love shrimp! It is super yummy!


One of the highlights was getting to go through a bunch of old family pictures, and by old I didnt know most of the people who were in the photos. Soon, I will post some of the photos I got from that weekend, ones that my Grandpa took.

A good Saturday in New Orleans.

Saturday was such a pleasant day. I woke up early, well rested and ready to go. I grabbed a cup of the free coffee at the hostel, got cleaned up, and caught the street car to the french quarter. I really like quarter early in the morning, much more than late at night. I guess I am weird. Anyways... I was slowly making my way to a place to eat breakfast, but I was not in a hurry. I read the menu's of all of the open cafes i passed until i found one that suited me. Finally I found one in the Marigny area and ate a delicious breakfast burrito, and read my book, running with scissors, over a cup of coffee.
I wandered to the St. Charles street car and took it to my stop where I would walk to meet up with some friends. Emily just bought a super cute fix-er-up and I am completely jealous. I was meeting up with Emily and Seth to work a little on the cute camel back shotgun house. Seth and I cantilevered floor joists out the back of the house, to make the structure for the balcony.

I must say that I am so impressed with Seth and Emily's organization. I am sure it helps to work on the house every day, and you really get a feeling for the next step. I am also sure that it helps to run construction sites for a bunch of students, like Emily does, but, it was so nice. Right when I arrived, after I got the tour of this amazing place, we got to work, and we got it done.

In addition to the balcony, i helped move a heavy cast iron tub into the bathroom, helped frame a wall, and went on a materials run. I didn't really do too much, i was just an extra set of hands. Those two are amazing though.
At lunch, their friend Carrie arrived with sun tea (which was so refreshing) and an offer to pick up lunch. She surprised us with four po-boys, of different flavors(Ham and swiss, roast beef, catfish, and couchen de lait) , each cut into four pieces. It was a great lunch. My favorite was definitely the roast with the couchen de lait following close.
We ended the workday with a trip to a Creole Creamery for ice cream. I realized that i could happily eat there every day. I sampled the Mexican hot chocolate, which was delicious, but i chose the Black and Gold crunch because they only offer it during the Saints Season.

I headed back to the hostel by way of the street car. I rode the car quietly with my nose in the book, and apparently i didn't look that dirty from far away because a woman sat down with me. Once she got site of my grimyness she must have thought I was homeless, and got scared, because she moved to another seat. I was then proud of my filth. Messy Jessie!

I was ready for a beer once i got to the hostel. I grabbed one that i had brought with me, and next to the beer fridge, there was a tv playing with the Auburn game on. I watched it for a little while, extending the time that i could basque in my filth. I talked to a few folks, and by the time i finished my beer, i really felt the need to get clean.

Newly squeaky clean, i jumped back on the street car and headed out for dinner. I got a burrito at Fillipe's and wandered around. I stumbled across a brass band in the street. I stood there for a while watching the band play and folks dance. It was so wonderful.


I was exhausted, and not much in the mood for partying, so i made my way back to the hostel, and talked with some folks there for a while before heading to bead.

I really needed a day like that; one where i work hard, get bruised up and dirty, spend time with friends, make new ones, eat well, listen to good music, watch football and relax. Although i generally have a good time, it is nice to have a change of pace and change of scenery for the weekend.

Now it is Sunday, and I have already had a very New Orleans morning. I walked to Betty's Pancake house for breakfast, and sat at the counter. A NOLA cop sat next to me. He noticed i was fiddling around with my sketch book and started talking to me. He was telling me about the stories he writes. He told me one about a love story that extended for centuries. About half way through my meal, a family of three sat next to me. The mom was a stripper at Barely legal. The waitresses knew her, and were talking to her about how her work was going. It is a weird feeling eating eggs and hashbrowns between a cop and a stripper.

Anyways, i have a bit of work to do. I am sitting at a big table at the hostel, procrastinating and writing this blog. There is a big saints game this afternoon, so i had better get at it if i want to watch the game.

An unexpected New Orleans Weekend

This weekend I was supposed to go to Rural Studio, but something came up with my traveling partner at the last minute, and I couldnt round up another one. I love rural alabama, and the Rural Studio, but it really does make it better to have a traveling partner to share the slow adventure with. So, I decided not to go.

That being said, I was hell bent on getting away from mississippi for a few days, and experience something different for a little while. My friend Seth was driving to New Orleans for the weekend, so I hitched a ride with him.

Friday night, I ate an avocado sandwich while i watched the open mic night at the Hostel for a while. I joined a few folks and walked down the street where it was opening night for a little bar. We sat out on the large back porch and talked for a while. It was a great pleasent evening with new scenery, and definitely started to recharge my batteries.

Turkey and Avocado Sandwiches are a Hit!

Around Noon, I recieved a text from one of my Meal Plan eaters. Here is what it said: LUNCH WAS TRULEY AWSUM.

So here is what they found in their cooler:
Turkey sandwiches with avocado, feta, tomatoes, onion, baby greens and spicy mustard on multi-grain bread.
Carrots, sliced bell peppers, and ranch dressing.
Honey wheat pretzels.
Arizona Sweet tea.



At the office, folks were eyeballing my sandwich while I ate it. Maybe soon, I will have more on the meal plan.

Today's Meal Plan Lunch

I am really enjoying making the Meal Plan Lunches. Here are today's sandwiches.

Roast beef, with sharp cheddar, banana peppers, onions, horse radish, dijon mustard, tomatoes, and baby greens on a cibatta bun. In the cooler along with the sandwiches were 3 cans of arizona tea, tortilla chips and a container of salsa. Happy eating boys!

My first sailing trip.

Oh what a good weekend I had. Friday, I went out around Ocean Springs, and I was exhausted, so I went home kind of early. Saturday, I started some Occo-buco in the crock pot(another post to come) and my friend James picked me up to take me to a delicious lunch at Al Fresco. I had a cup of minestrone soup and a fried green tomato sandwich, he had the ravioli. Once we finished our lunch, we went to Miners Toy Store. If you dont know this place and you live in Ocean Springs, or along the coast, you should visit. We went there last week to get a gift for a friend's birthday, and we had so much fun we decided to go again. James bought me a big green ring, and he got two wind up air planes.

We took the planes to the park and flew them. Oh it was so much fun. We ran a bunch of errands an then headed to his house to see if we could rig up his catamaran. He didnt have the right size sails for his boat, so we headed to my house for that Occo Buco and the Big Labowski.

Sunday, I got a lot of chores done and around noon James called up telling me to pack a lunch for three and put my swimmies on. (he used that word, swimmies. so cute) anyways. i did what he said, and about an hour later he picked me up and took me to a dock, where we met up with one of his friends.

We were going sailing!!!!! We were on a trimaran, which is a very fast and stable sail boat. We (james and his friend) got all of the rigging set up and we were off. We ran on the little motor until we got past the bridges, and they raised the Jib and the Main Sail. We were sailing! it was so amazing. James was definitely in his element, but he was being a good teacher as well, showing me how work some of the ropes and the rigging. Oh my goodness it was so much fun.

When we got to where they were ready, they rose the spinnaker. It was so beautiful.

I have to say that sailing is amazing. You don't have any motor, it is all natural power pulling you along. It is so quiet. All you hear is the water hitting the bow.



We were sailing for a while and they let the spinnaker down, and I guess we were moving a long so pretty that a flock of pelicans started flying with the mast. There were probably 7 or 8 of them. It was so neat.

All in all, i loved sailing. It was amazing, and relaxing, and humbling. I think I have the bug.

The Meal Plan is Back!!!!! oh and Grapefruit Cupcakes!

IWhen I lived in Starkville, it was hard to cook because I was cooking for my self. I would do it, but i was a bit uninspired. There is something so delightful about cooking for others. I would cook for my few friends every once in a while, but, for the most part, it was just me. Then.... one of my friend's came up with the idea that i cook for them and they give me some money. Another friend found out about this, and he just happened to be an owner in a bar, and he wanted in too, although his trade was beer. It worked out great. I could generally end up paying very little for my food, and get all the beer I wanted. It was amazing! This deal ended when I moved to the coast.

For three years, I have been cooking for my self or cooking for my friends.... well, a few weeks ago, a friend of mine was complaining about the food choices at lunch, and how expensive it was, and greasy it was, and how it didn't really taste that good, and it put him and his work crew into comas.

I suggested they pack their lunch. They in the typical manly fashion, admitted that they would probably never do that. This discussion (complaining) went on for the last several weeks. Finally I mentioned that I would pack their lunch if they bought all of the food including the food for my lunch. They were extatic, and I was too seeing as how my budget is super tight and my lunches as of lately have been less than beautiful. So today was my second day.

The first day I made porkchop sandwiches, caramelized onions, feta, roasted red peppers, and baby greens on a baguette. I also packed some fresh fruit, 3 cans of arizona tea, a bottle of hot sauce and a bag of zapps. That was a winner. All three of them were happy.

Today I made Turkey Sandwiches with swiss, avocado, tomato, and baby greens on toasted whole wheat bread. I packed zapps chips, and Grapefruit cupcakes that I made from scratch last night.

When my friend came and picked up the lunch this morning, I gave him a breakfast cupcake with his coffee and he loved it. I was supprised, because he hasn't really liked the real citrusy things I have made, but these he did. He took another for the road.

That is my lunch, I decided against the chips for me and went with oranges.

The cupcakes were another recommendation from my friend Casie. Here is the recipe.

Oh my goodness. They were so light and refreshing. Perfect for this crazy hot weather we have been having.