Louisiana shrimp boil

photo by Jimmy Myung gu Kang

     Louisiana Shrimp Boil

Happy weekend everybody!

I wanted to introduce to you, my friend Jimmy's all time favorite dish, the Louisiana Shrimp Boil. My husband and I love having him come over for dinner, and when he comes, we feed him as fast as we can, so we can use his expertise to fix our computers or any other electronics in our house. He's a computer genius. So here's for you, Jimmy, and for all of you who want a little getaway this weekend.

Ingredients

10 red potatoes

8 corn on the cob

1 bag of large shrimp (uncooked)

1lb Mussels 

1lb Crawfish 

1 kielbasa sausage (cut into 1 inch pieces)

1 bag of Zatarain's shrimp boil seasoning

3 Lemons quartered (1lemon in the pot, and two other for use after it's done)

5TBSP salt

1/2 onion

Fill pot about 2/3 full of water

Direction

1. In a large pot, put potatoes on the bottom, corn, sausage, 1/2 onion, 1 quartered lemon, seasoning bag, and salt, and pour water. Bring to rolling boiling.

2. when it starts to boil, cook for 15-20minutes, until potatoes cook through.

3. add crawfish, and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. add mussels cook it for 2 minutes.

5. turn the heat off, add shrimp, and soak it for 2 minutes or until the shrimp turns to pink.

6. drain. serve it on a big plate or as they do on the bayou, dump it all on top of some newspapers on a table, then dig in! put 2 quartered lemons on top, and garnish with parsley as desired.
**since we live in the Midwest, it's hard to get fresh seafood ingredients, so I used frozen seafood. I know it won't taste the same as fresh seafood, but I hope you enjoy a little taste of Louisiana this weekend;)

Mission Impossible

Dishwasher loaded. Checked.
Kids in bed. Checked.
Husband's belly rubbed, and zoned out in front of the TV. Checked.

It's almost like another Mission Impossible sequel every night. I'm tiptoeing around the house, Jake and I are using emphatic hand motions to communicate. And at this point, making a cup of hot lemon tea without making a single noise seems harder than following my Mom's most complicated kimchi recipe, since all the measuring was done by a 'little bit of this' and 'little bit of that'.
But I am very determined to make it tonight; it was long day. And I know that the first sip of hot lemon tea will do it all. I know the first sip will kindly tell me, "I know what you went through today." Now I'm bringing my tea upstairs to my favorite spot in our place. My Bed. I gathered every single pillow in our house, and piled them around me. Surrounded by these pillows, deciding what I'm going to read tonight from a stacked up pile of books beside my bed, and then taking the first sip of my hot lemon tea. Mmm... It told me again. It never disappoints me. Total peace and quietness...is there anything better than this?
This is my comfort zone, and when I am in my comfort zone, nobody dare to bother me. Because I will hiss at you like a cat protecting its warm milk. "Hiss!-"

Not too long ago, a great opportunity to serve international students in a local college was presented to us. The task was pretty simple: transporting international students to Wal-mart every week. But I have to be honest, at first, I didn't think I could do it. It was way out of my comfort zone. After meeting with pastor, my husband being who he is, said "Yes, we can!".
He would make a great politician. With his great smile, and positive attitude, along with two thumbs up, and saying "Yes, we can!" "Yes, we can!" He could be the next president of the United States.
I stepped back, then slowly arched my back to a hissing position. I was getting ready to defend my self, and my territory. I don't think he noticed what he was about to get. He just was a happy lamb jumping  all over the green pasture. Poor little thing.

Fully loaded. About to fire. Then, my husband said something that made me ponder.

He said that he has been waiting for this kind of opportunity, and amazed at how God has been prepared us for this chance for service.

I put my claws back.

"Have I been sensitive to notice God's calling?"
When the opportunity was presented in front of us, I wasn't ready.
Since I have been walking in my flesh, my comfort zone, I couldn't hear when God called me.
How many times have I missed out on the blessing, because I chose to walk in flesh rather than in the spirit. How many times have I rejected Him when He wanted to come in to my daily life, and bless me. I've been trying to squeeze Him in to my schedule, instead of letting Him take charge of my daily life.

Getting out of my comfort zone is not something I like to do. But I learned that when I dwell in my comfort zone too long, I tend to forget where I am suppose to be.

Here I am, laying down on the bed, hearing my youngest son crying. I know I am not ready to get out of my bed. But I know where I need to be.
Feeling this supernatural power empowering me...here I go...one, two, three! I'm up!

Galatians 5:16 "I say then; Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."