Taste and Aftertaste

Thank you all so much for your patience!

In a sudden and bizarre turn of events, my body decided to FINALLY catch up to the EST timezone this weekend, forcing me to take naps for hours at a time so that I could function properly.

Luckily for me, I had the luxury of free time to do so!

However, twas at the expense of not completing this post in the aforementioned time span.

For which, I am most assuredly sorrowful.
:(

BUT! Without further ado, I shall commence the sharing of this scrumptious recipe!

:)

Like I said before in my previous post, I found...

The Recipe!

For those of you who have had the original Von's version of this soup, you'll notice that the meats are different. She uses Sweet Italian Sausage and Ham, while Von's uses Kielbasa and Chicken. 

I'm not exactly sure why she changed it, but here are my thoughts:

The ham is a great addition, but I could definitely do without the sausage.

Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOVE sausage! 

I just felt that it didn't go well with this particular recipe. It was surprisingly bland, the texture didn't fit well, and, if you have cooked with sausage before, you will know that chopping it up after it's thawed is NOT fun!

In the future, I will probably use the original meats, but feel free to experiment :)

Now that I have addressed that, let's get on with the recipe!

After preparing EVERYTHING I needed to make the dish ahead of time, I put the chopped sausage into a pot and browned it.

Once browned, I added this lovely container of chopped onions, celery, and green peppers to the mix.
The greens give a wonderful POP of colour to the soup :)

Once the onions had simmered down, it was time for the butter!

And then the flour! 

When the blog post said that it would be a big pasty mess,
she wasn't kidding!

Finally, it was time to add in the TEN CUPS of chicken stock...!

Then, I added in everything else...

(Note the "Swanson" brand of chicken stock... Needless to say, it greatly enriched the substance of the soup...*Miss you PCC*!)

The Rice and Ham...

The Tomato Paste and Paprika...

Crushed Bay Leaves (We didn't have whole leaves!) and Oregano...

Liquid Smoke and Tabasco Sauce...

I have never cooked with liquid smoke before, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVED it!

...And last, but not least, a pinch of Pepper :)

Once all the ingredients were mixed in, the recipe said to stir it for an hour or so. In theory, that's a great plan; however, not so much when you're about to leave the house in the next 5 minutes to go apple picking with your Mom and siblings!
(Next post!)

Sooooooo... 

I quickly (But carefully!) poured my delicious concoction into the crockpot... I set it to cook on High for an hour, and Keep Warm after that. 

(Poor lighting + Rushing out the door = Terrible picture quality!) Sorry!

When we got home, hours later, the deliciously warm and "spicy" aroma of Jambalaya had completely engulfed the main floor.

It was a wonderful welcome after a long day :)

Despite the fact that it was extremely thick, as opposed to its normal, brothy-soup-like consistency, it was PERFECT!

To be honest, I actually preferred the thickness! 

And, of course, with soup, you must always serve bread!

So yeah, that was my Thursday :)

I hope you enjoyed reading about it!

Now it is time for YOU to try it out!

Let me know what you think! :)

By the way...

If you're like me, and are looking for good meals to prepare ahead of time in order to freeze and/or simply refrigerate for later use, this would be a GREAT dish to add to your list. 

(I'm merely assuming that it would be a good freezer-food, if you figure out the "Yea" or "Nay", PLEASE, let me know!)

To end this post on an incredibly cliche note,

Bon Appetit!  

^_^

A Foretaste :)

There is one thing that I have been looking forward to doing for about 2 years now.

Cooking!

Not simply throwing things together to eat. 

Not just me making something "good", yet having no passion for it. 

But really, truly preparing, serving, and enjoying a meal that I have been craving. 

One dish I have long desired to recreate is the "spicy", filling deliciousness of Jambalaya from Von's.

For those of you who do not know what "Von's" is, it is a supermarket located in the west coast/California.
(Kind of like Market Basket or Stop & Shop)

Due to its super close proximity to our school, and the fact that, up until Spring Semester 2013, there were no on-campus food/cafeteria options on Sundays, my boyfriend and I would usually go to Von's after church and pick up a large cup of Jambalaya (Nearly too hot to hold and filled to the brim!) and a perfect loaf of French bread. 

Awesome $6 lunch dates anyone?

Don't let the spoon fool you, more often than not, we would just scoop it out with pieces of bread! ...Until, of course, we'd eaten up all the bread... Then we would forlornly seek out a spoon to scrape up the rest of the goodness we had left over...
^_^

.Back to the present.

This past Wednesday evening, I searched online for homemade recipes similar to Von's style Jambalaya. 
After a few clicks, I found one! 

There was one odd ingredient that I had never used before, but I instantly fell in love with! 

I can't wait to share this recipe with you!

Unfortunately, I have to go get ready for work in a few minutes, so I won't be able to share it with you until tomorrow. 

Don't worry though! 
The next post is nearly finished...!

Check my blog again in about 24-32 hours from now (give or take a few hours!) for an EPIC, mouthwatering post!
^_^

Here's my teaser photo from last night that I shall leave you with:

Snapshots! 8/29 to 9/16 :)

It's been about 11 days since I last posted. 
Guess it's time for me to finally get around to writing a new blog post for you guys :)

Let's see... 
Hopefully a quick highlights post with a few pictures will do for now...

August 29th 

Get home, regroup, unpack, etc...

August 30th 

Walked around North Andover's Main Street, mainly the Plaza, and put in applications. 

Less than an hour later 

Got a call from The Chama Grill in order to schedule my training for the next evening before even meeting my supervisor!

Photo credits: Google Images (My edits)

August 31st

Trained as a hostess from 5pm to 8:30pm and plan to sign papers on the following Friday. My projected schedule is to work Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm to 10pm.

September 4th

Opened up an account with TD Bank once again 
(So Happy!)

September 5th
Visited two awesome coffeehouses in Lawrence that are within easy biking distance from my house! They're not Starbucks, but they're still pretty cool :)

The Coffee Cann Cafe

 el Taller 

All Four Photo Credits and Edits: Courtney Schiller

September 6th

Mailed a card addressed upside-down by complete accident

Photo Credit and Edits: Courtney Schiller

September 7th 

My Dad tells me that the Starbucks in Andover, Massachusetts is hiring. I immediately call in to talk with the manager about applications and a possible interview. I schedule to call her back that Wednesday. 

September 8th

Drove up with my family for our yearly visit with Mr. and Mrs. Marceau at their timeshare in Ogunquit, Maine!

 Alicia (Almost 15!) took some awesome pictures of me by the Atlantic Ocean. Then we walked around and through the adorable New England style shops located a bit more inland.

Photo credits: Alicia Schiller (My edits)

September 11th 

I called the manager at the Andover Starbucks (Her first name starts with "A", so I'll call her *A$). We have some difficulty with my application going through, but luckily it is fixed within hours. 

"My" Starbucks in Andover, MA

Photo credits: Google Maps (My edits)

September 12th

I call *A$ again and we do a phone screening with my application, then schedule for me to go in for an interview at 3pm that day. 

I arrive at my interview, enjoy my Grande Iced Passion-Raspberry-Lemonade, and answer *A$'s questions. After finishing her questions, *A$ offers me a full-time position as a Starbucks barista on the spot (!?!?!?!). Now I simply have to wait for my background check to clear! 

.This day also marks 9 months of being in a relationship with my absolute best friend.
<3

Oh, and did I mention that I had a blast with my Mom at the store, following my interview, where we bought snacks for the Patriots game that evening (Including a pomegranate, some horseradish cheddar, and multigrain pita chips!). 

PLUS, there was a wonderful thunderstorm that night AND the Patriots won their game! 

In case you didn't realize it, September 12th has probably been my most favorite day so far!
^_^

September 13th 

I took the bus from Salem St & So. Broadway to right in front of Starbucks, just to get an idea of how things will be as far as my transportation from now on. 
SUPER EASY! 

I then spent about 2 hours or so getting to know about 5 or 6 of the baristas there and asking them questions etc. They were all extremely friendly and excited to have me join their team. 
I can't wait to work with them! 

Even though I swore to never have one (I really should stop saying "Never will I ever..." about things!), I also created a Tumblr account, simply to read up on any Starbucks tips and tricks and advice that I could possibly find! 
Studying like CRAZY! 
:) 

September 14th

I received my first paycheck from the Chama Grill and we had over 120 guests that evening! Finally picking up the pace as "The Season" begins to start up again :)

September 15th

My church hosted their Monthly Fellowship Meal and I spent most of the time, from after the morning service through the end of the dinner, holding one of the two babies at our church. 
*HEAVEN*

That afternoon I spent special walking/biking time at the park with my Timmy (7). I walked while he biked, but we took a few stops to check out the openings to the Merrimack River. We even found a tiny frog! :)

September 16th

I paid my two-weeks rent and monthly cell phone bill and then set up a rough-draft for all of my goals, monthly payments, and income. 

Photo Credit and Edits: Courtney Schiller

If I can keep these hours (or more!) at both of my jobs and continue putting away the specific amount I set into paying off my loans, I should be debt-free within the next 13-14 months!

... AND I wrote this blog post!

*Whew!*

I'm sure that I have forgotten a few things, but I believe that's good enough for now! 

Can you believe that I've only been living in Massachusetts for less than THREE WEEKS??

I love getting things done/started faster than expected!
^_^

Just so you know, 

I plan to post about some of these highlights again later on in a bit more detail...
These are just... Snapshots ;)

Well, I hope you enjoyed this semi-quick blog post about my life in MA so far!

I know I have!

Until next time :)

Muggle Snuggles!

Being the big sister of 5 younger siblings is a crazy, yet rewarding job! 

I'd like to believe that I've done more good in their lives than not, but either way, we all seem to love each other very much. 

In the end, I guess that's what matters the most... 

(I'm sure that there is an 11 year old boy who would dispute using the term "love" with regards to his siblings, but that's another matter for another day)

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that I not only get to help my younger siblings do their work at any random point during the day (Sometimes lessons that I used to do!), but I also get to spend quality time with them!

I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to be so closely involved in their lives, so I'm trying a lot harder to carpe diem when they ask for me :)

Today, Timmy (7), the youngest and uncontestedly the all-around favorite of the family, came up to me with his big brown eyes and said "Courtney! Will you snuggle with me??"

(Taken January 12th, by my mom)

How can one resist such a face????

Mom happened to walk through the Living Room a few minutes later and, as any true homeschool mother would, brought Tim's reading book to us. We may as well be productive right? ;)

(I crocheted that blanket for Abbey this past Christmas)
(iTouch photo credit: Alicia Schiller)

.I don't mind. 

It's nice to finally be able to enjoy snuggles and school with the kids like I used to. 

When will I have this opportunity again?

In reality, that answer will probably be "tomorrow," but in the long run, I know that these days are limited.

So yes thank you. I will take this and any other opportunity to share "Muggle Snuggles" with my Timmy. 

It's the little things in life that become the most precious to us in the end... And those tend to come and go in the blink of an eye...

<3