Fifty Nifty Recipes...Louisiana

Home sweet home....this is where I was born...and grew up here.  Home of the LSU Tigers, pork rinds that are made fresh and bought from a roadside stand....tall, beautiful trees, and paper mills....I grew up learning how to drive behind  logging trucks.  They always looked like they were hauling way too much...scary thought when following them.  Never forget the day my dad told me to, "Pass the truck..." 

 I grew up in the northern part of the state.  It is very different from the southern part of the state...the people often speak and eat differently there, swamps and alligators sun bathe on your sidewalks...well, they have been known to do that!

I lived in the country with horses, dogs, cats....if it sleeted...everything had to shut down.  We would put chains on our tires when it was that slippery (a rare occassion).  Small community with one intersection and railroad tracks....Both my grandmothers lived a couple hours away.  Every summer my sister and I would spend a week at each house!  Quiet life?  Yes...it was wonderful.  Do I want to move back?  No.. I would not be able to handle the humidity.  It is a beautiful state and holds a lot of memories for me.

The first recipe is my Cheater Chicken and Dumplin's.  I now use the recipe that my grandmother used.  I still have her recipe that she cut out of the newspaper!

1 chicken

2 pkg flour tortillas

salt and pepper

Yep, that's all you need.  Boil your chicken, salt and pepper the water.  Remove chicken when done.  Debone and cut into bite sized pieces.  Add enough water to the broth to make nine cups.  Salt and pepper to taste (I like ours on the peppery side).  Bring your broth to a boil.  Cut tortillas into 1/2 x 1 inch pieces.  Drop them into the boiling broth, stirring only enough to separate pieces.  Reduce heat to lowand cook about 15 minutes.Remove from fire.  Fold in the chicken.  Cover and let set about 10 minutes before serving.

There are so many recipes that I would love to share with you from my home state.  Whether you are from the northern or southern part of the state...so many flavors to enjoy!  It was a great place to grow up....