A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Our lakes are filling up with a lot of Canadian Geese and Cacklings right now, but they are sharing the lakes with others too. I saw one lone female Northern Shoveler out on the lakes, and she looked like she was thoroughly enjoying herself. I swear she was posing for me and smiling at the camera as she was posing. She loved being the center of attention. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

I hope 2026 is treating you all well so far. Here for us, so far so good, albeit we have had a pretty quiet start to the new year.

Most of the time, the menu planning stems around whatever Larry takes out of the freezer at the time. I create with what I have. I usually only really “plan” a meal for special occasions or when I am having people over. Very rarely do I actively plan ahead for just the two of us. This time, I was creating something using some hot Italian sausage links. No problem. I can always create something with whatever I have. It’s like cooking from the mystery box. I can always come up with something.

Pasta is always a very forgiving and flexible “tool” to have in the “tool box”. It goes with everything. 🙂

Hot Links & Pasta

Being creative often means using up what you have. If you have little bits of this and little bits of that, use them in a deliciously fun way. See what you can come up with. 🙂

6 Italian hot link sausages, cooked and sliced

1-1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

1/2 each red and green bell pepper, sliced thin

4-5 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in 1/2

1 TBSP Peruvian sweet peppers, optional

olive oil

1 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

1 box bowtie or farfelle pasta, cooked

1/2 cup dry white or red wine

1-2 tsp dried basil or 1 TBSP fresh basil, chopped

1-2 tsp dried oregano, or 1 TBSP fresh oregano, chopped

1 tsp or to to taste red pepper flakes

2 cups tomato sauce – I used my yellow tomato sauce https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2025/09/07/make-it-saucy/

fresh ground black pepper to taste

salt to taste and/or lemon infused salt, optional

Cook the sausage until cooked enough to be able to slice. When it is done, and cooled enough to work with, slice. Set aside. While the sausage is cooking, prepare the vegetables.

When the sausage is cooked, remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little olive oil and lemon olive oil if using to the same pan, and saute the peppers, onions, mushrooms and garlic.

Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stiffing frequently, then add the cooked sausage. Continue to cook for an additional 5 or so minutes, to make sure the sausage is thoroughly cooked.

Add the wine and degalze the pan, then add the tomato sauce and seasonings. If you are using a yellow tomato sauce, use and serve with a dry white wine. If you are making it with red tomatoes, use and serve with red wine.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and Peruvian peppers right at the end and mix together thoroughly. Serve over the cooked pasta, and add a little chopped basil and/or cheese on top if you like, and VOILA! Dinner is served.

For the most part, I don’t follow rules when I cook. I make my own rules, and I make them up as I go. Walk on the wild side, and be creative, or as I love to say, it’s OK to play with your food. Play around and have fun. It’s NOT rocket science. 🙂

Happy New Year. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. ‘Til next time.

Traditions are customs or beliefs passed down from generation to generation. By keeping our family traditions alive, we are also building strong bonds that connect us with each generation, from past to present and into the future. They foster a sense of belonging, continuity, and identity, providing positive memories and shared experiences.

As you all know, my mother was from Southeast Texas. Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s day is not just a Texas tradition, but it is a common practice all throughout the South. I was raised eating black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day, and I have continued doing so ever since. So, yes, we had some black-eyed peas once again this year too. It doesn’t matter how you eat them, just as long as you do. I tend to make mine into a salad with ham and peppers and some kind of a vinaigrette. https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2025/01/02/double-good-luck-part-1/ As usual, I made a big batch, so I shared some with Mike and Lauren too. I mean good luck is supposed to be shared with others, right?! 🙂

Another New Year’s tradition we keep alive in our house is eating soft German pretzels. https://ajeanneinthekitchen.com/2025/01/03/double-good-luck-part-2/ Larry is 100% German and I have a lot of German blood running through my veins as well. This is a relatively new tradition in our house though. Even though there is a lot of German ancestry in our house (that also means a lot of stubborness), I just found out about this German tradition a few years ago, and Larry’s mom Ollie had never heard of it before I introduced it to her a few years ago. That being said, now that we know about it, we keep it up every year too. I shared some pretzels with Mike and Lauren too. Once again, good luck is only good if shared with others.

We still have plenty left of both, so we should have enough good luck to get us through all of 2026.

Happy New Year everyone. No matter what your family traditions are, keep them alive and share them with both the young and the old. They are part of what makes us who we are. May 2026 be filled with happiness, good health and prosperity for all. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

No matter where you live, 2025 is now a thing of the past, and it is 2026. It’s a brand new year filled with brand new possibilities.

Larry and I celebrated with our friends Mike, Lauren, Wendy, Marc, Zoe and Zoe’s boyfriend Jared last night. We were also celebrating our December birthdays. Larry’s birthday was on 12/10 and Jared’s birthday was 12/27. We had a deliciously fun dinner at Perdita, a local Mexican taco restaurant, based on the casual lifestyle from Cabo San Lucas. We started the table off with some chips, guacamole, Perdita’s special red sauce, and queso and a pitcher of prickly pear margaritas.

We all had either a combination of different tacos or fajitas for dinner. I had one chicken al pastor taco and one shrimp or camarones taco with mango salsa.

Larry ordered steak and chicken fajitas.

Everything was very good and fresh.

After dinner, with very full and satisfied tummies, we all headed back to our house for some fun games and a lot of laughs. Everyone except Larry, Wendy and I all had to work both last night and today, so it was an early night for everyone. Larry and I stayed up ’til midnight though and rang in the new year.

Happy New Year Everyone! Happy 2026! May it be happy, healthy and prosperous for all. ‘Til next time.

Seeing the leopards is pretty rare when we got to the Wild Animal Sanctuary. The leopards are normally pretty shy and reclusive. But this time, they were out and showing off their spots to all who were there. We we honored to be there to see them, and to see them active too.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Happy New Year. ‘Til next time. See ya next year. 🙂

Larry bought a pineapple the other day, and it needed to be cut. So I made a pineapple cucumber salsa with some of it, and then served that over crab cakes. The pineapple was so sweet and juicy. I could have easily eaten the whole thing as I was cutting it up. 🙂

Both the pineapple cucumber salsa and the crab cakes were very easy to make. I made them ahead of time and put them in the refrigerator until it was time to cook the crab cakes.

Pineapple Cucumber Salsa

2-2 1/2 cups diced pineapple

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced fine

1/4-1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup green onions, sliced very thin

1/4 fresh cilantro, chopped

1-2 TBSP lime juice

salt or infused lime salt to taste – I used my new infused lime salt

Mix everything together well and refrigerate until ready to use. It goes best with light seafood or chicken dishes, though it would go well with pork too.

The crab cakes were easy to make as well. This particular version is more like Maryland crab cakes, with very little breading. http://Maryland crab cakes

1- 1 1/2 lbs crab meat

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup green onions, sliced thin

1/4 cup red onions, diced fine

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 egg

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1/4 cup mayonnaise

salt or lime infused salt to taste

canola or vegetable oil for cooking

Mix all the ingredients together well, and form into balls. Gently press the balls to flatten them out a bit. Place the crab balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cooking.

When ready to cook, get a large skillet very hot and add about 2-3 TBSP of oil. Get the oil to about 350*F or 180*C and add the crab balls. Do not over crowd the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown, then gently flip over and continue cooking for another 4 minutes.

Serve immediately, while still hot and top with the pineapple cucumber salsa. I added some avocado slices as well and served it over rice to make it more of a light meal than an appetizer.

!Desfruitas! Happy New Year. May 2026 be filled with good health, prosperity and happiness for all. ‘Til next time.

The lions were active and alert the last time we went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary, as were a lot of the other big cats. Some were still napping, others were on watch, and one royal couple were having a royal row. The queen was definitely giving the king a piece of her mind.

We brought a picnic lunch and decided to eat by these lions. All of a sudden they started roaring loudly at each other. The queen was definitely mad about something and the king was trying to defend himself.

Click onto the photo to hear the lions arguing back and forth with each other.

When we first passed by these two, the other one was up while the white one was napping. On our second pass, going back to the exit, they switched. It was the changing of the guards.

These two are quite comfortable taking a quite break from the girls.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Happy New Year.

We finally got some snow. It’s about time! We did not have a white Christmas, but we did get a good snow a couple of days after. For a little while, everything was blanketed in fresh snow. But per our wacky weather, it melted as soon as the sun started shining. At least we had some for a little while though. We need it, and we need the moisture. I still have some snow in my backyard too. My backyard is north facing, which means the snow lasts longer than in the south facing areas.

The cold weather means it is also time for some hot soup to warm us up from the inside out. I made a big pot of chicken soup. Chicken Soup Weather I told Larry to pick whatever pasta he wanted and he chose penne. Penne pasta would not have been my first choice, but it worked out fine. The soup just hit the spot too.

Chicken Soup

This soup was just a basic chicken soup. Nothing fancy, just pure, simple goodness.

I cooked my carrots, celery and onions for about 5 minutes in hot oil and butter.

Then I added my cubed chicken, peas, seasonings, and chicken stock.

Once the soup was boiling, I added the pasta, and let it cook until the pasta was cooked, about 8 minutes.

When everything was done, it was time to serve it up and enjoy. Eat it while the soup is still hot. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. Happy New Year. May 2026 be filled with health, happiness and prosperity for all.

Larry had a long weekend for the Christmas holidays, and we have been taking advantage of his time off. We decided to do a little mountain drive, and went to Georgetown. It was a beautiful day, with bright blue skies, but NOT much snow, even at Christmas, though we did see patches of snow. This is a rarity. We walked around and enjoyed the scenery all the same.

Georgetown is a little town nestled into our local mountains. It was once known as the Silver Queen of the Rockies. It was founded during the days of Colorado’s silver boom and is one of the state’s four original mining towns. It has a lot of Victorian styled homes and old buildings that were built in the late 1800’s too.

These are the Flatirons. We live at the base of the Flatirons, on the way to Boulder. We were taking the backroads up to Georgetown.

Quite a few movies have been filmed in Georgetown, using this scene as their backdrop.

Here are some of the old historical homes. This one was built in 1885.

The old schoolhouse building, also built around 1885.

The original St. James Hotel, built in 1875. It proudly states it was built before Colorado became a state, in 1876.

Looking back into town from above. We were hoping to find snow, and more than just patches here and there, but no snow this time. We still had a nice drive though.

Coming back down the mountain, we drove through Evergreen. We saw a big herd of elk, with about 30 in the group and a couple of big bulls. They were pretty far away from us, so my pictures are pretty blurry, but at least we got to see them. These were the only critters we saw the whole trip, but it made our day.

Once we came back down the hill, and were back in civilization, we decided to run some errands as well, then stopped for a late lunch/early dinner along the way. We stopped at a Chinese Restaurant called Empress.

Neither one of us ordered lobster or crab, but if we did, we could have chosen our own.

We didn’t order duck either, but it was there if we wanted it.

Instead Larry ordered the mixed seafood platter and I ordered the happy family.

Both were very good. We had a nice little day drive and adventure; something we enjoying doing on a regular basis.

Enjoy the rest of the holiday season. Happy New Year. May 2026 bring you good health, prosperity and happiness. Stay well and stay safe. ‘Til next time.

The day after Christmas, Larry and I made another trek to our new favorite local place, the Wild Animal Sanctuary. Every time we go we always experience something different, and different animals put on different shows. The weather was perfect, or should I say Purrfect. We couldn’t ask for a better, more beautiful day. The tigers were the stars this time, although all the animals were talking to us and many were quite active as well. I love the big cats. I always have. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.