A Personalized Throw Pillow and Vegan Tomato-Free Cajun Jambalaya

I mentioned in one of my very first posts (among my very first not-so-flattering attempts at food photography) that there is a wonderful infographic created by Amy Sly for 'The Worst Dinner Guest Ever'. My friend sent me a link to it just before attending his Thanksgiving potluck a couple of years ago, and I now regularly check out her website. Recently, I saw that she sold prints and decided to order myself a throw pillow. This way, when I'm feeling sad about all of the concentric circles on the days when eggs and floured tofu end up in my pad thai order, I will have something to hug.

I wrote her to ask if I could spread love about her on the world wide web- something you probably don't need to ask permission for- and it turns out she is just as lovely as her artwork. You can check out her other awesome stuff here: http://www.amysly.com (I highly recommend the 'Am I Wearing Pants?' infographic - it's so important in this confusing time of jeggings, swants, and Miley Cyrus to educate women on healthy pants behaviour). And, here is my new pillow- snuggled in with the rest of my amazingly coordinated living room decor:












In other news, I am officially done my first semester of grad school, and can pay attention to what I'm doing in the kitchen again. This morning, instead of researching social justice, I looked for ideas for warm one-pot meals. Apparently, Cajun jambalaya is made sans-tomatoes. While this recipe lacks the signature "Cajun spice" blend, I made up my own with what I had. If you can eat cornbread, it would be an excellent side. I used a crockpot, but a regular one would do just fine as well.