Jambalaya!

When I was getting over my surgery I cooked a ham, just so I wouldn't have to think about what I was going to eat for my next meal. But I got sick of the ham well before it ran out.

So then I decided to make ham and sausage jambalaya with Creole sauce from the recipe of Chef Francoise Auclaire le Vison, a process that took hours of hard labor, as it started with cutting up seven pounds of meat before going on to the vegetables. (Have you ever noticed that Cajun/Creole recipes all seem to aim at creating enough food to fill a 55-gallon barrel?)

I'll tell you how Old School this cooking is. At one point I stared aghast at the recipe for the Creole sauce and said to myself, "My God! This calls for a whole pound of butter!"

It must be admitted that I cut the amount of butter in half, which resulted in my thinking to myself, "My God! This calls for half a pound of butter!"

The taste seemed not to be affected by my half-hearted attempt to save my arteries, however.