It's Steve's Birthday! BAM!

This week was three things:
1) Spring Break: eat too much, drink too much, sleep too much.  We did next to nothing, but we got a chance to relax and recharge and it was perfect!

2) It was Steve's 32nd Birthday! He decided he wanted to have a couple people over for dinner and that he wanted vodka rigatoni for dinner which was odd since Steve really doesn't like pasta, but whatever.  Well, one day before his birthday, I realized that I don't have the pot and pan capacity to cook pasta as a main course for 12 people.  So...I changed the menu. It was still something special that I don't make often, but WAY more friendly for a party of 12.  I made Emeril's Jambalaya.  My dad gave me the recipe, and everyone I have ever made this for LOVES it (even my friend R who was worried about the spiciness and thought she was going to have to eat the Trader Joe's mac & cheese I made for the kids liked it.  If she didn't, she's a good liar, which is also possible). It's quite possibly the best recipe for a large group.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped peppers
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne (you can back this off a little if you don't want it spicy)
• 1 pound andouille or chorizo, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 cups rice
• 6 cups water
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (optional)

You also need 1 REALLY big pot with a lid - that's right folks, you only need one pot and a cutting board. Ingenious! Another BAM for Emeril!

Here's what you do - it really couldn't be much easier:
1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onions, bell peppers, 2 teaspoons of the salt and 1 teaspoon of the cayenne. Stirring often, brown the vegetables for about 20 minutes, or until they are caramelized and dark brown in color.  Scrape the bottom and the sides of the pot to loosen any browned particles.
2. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often for 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot again.
3. Season the chicken with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne.  Add the chicken and the bay leaves to the pot.  Brown the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes.  Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot one last time.
4. Add the rice and stir for 2 to 3 minutes to coat it evenly.  Add the water, stir to combine and cover.  Cook over medium heat for 30 to 35 minutes, without stirring or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.  Note: if you are adding the shrimp, season them with salt and pepper and put them in the pot when the rice has about 5 minutes to go.  Stir them in, then cover the pot again, and in 5 minutes they will be cooked perfectly. 
5. When the rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and let stand, covered, for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove the bay leaves. Stir in the green onions and serve. BAM!

It's also great as leftovers and this one recipe serves 10 to 12 people, so you'll definitely have some.  Our friend C asked that I take Steve's "month" picture, so here you go: Happy 32nd (384 months) Birthday!

After dinner we had ice cream cake (Steve's favorite!) and drinks. Ok, I had one drink and Steve had many drinks.  All in all, it was a successful low-key birthday!

3) This spring break we wanted to take at least one day and do something as a family. Since we were totally lazy, we didn't get our act together until this morning when we decided to go to the Adventure Aquarium.  For anyone with toddlers, this place is perfect!  It's a very manageable size and they have lots of interactive stuff.  We had to drag Will away from the touch tank after 20 minutes of mauling a starfish:

The shark exhibit is a really cool walk through 360 tube thing (although it looks eerily like the one in Jaws 3 or 4 - I think, the one with the waterpark/aquarium).  We could have stayed there for hours - even the sharks were happy that we came to hang out. This guy was above our heads the whole time!

Will loved seeing the fish, especially Nemo (every orange fish was Nemo) and we got to see the penguins who were so stinking cute I could have taken one home with me. This one came swam right up to Will (I think his name was Penny - shout out to Nonna!).

We did the whole museum in about 3 hours, then got a Philly pretzel in the aquarium parking lot (don't judge) and hit the road.  A great morning and a great (almost) end to spring break!

See you after Easter!