What is happiness?

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Being content with what you have–but more than content. Appreciating it. Enjoying it.

At this exact moment, I’m enjoying my coffee, brewed here at work in our fancy coffee machine (with beans roasted in the mountains of Colorado–yup–having a boss who is a coffee snob really pays off). I’m appreciative of my drive to work this morning–full of prayer. Twenty-five minutes of quiet, uninterrupted dialogue with God. I’m enjoying the warmth of the day, the soft fabric of my dress, and the harmony between myself and my co-workers.

Self-confidence–knowing you are beautifully created, uniquely gifted, and strong enough to fulfill your calling.

By God’s grace, when I get home from work today I will meet my husband and two kids with hugs and smiles, and jump into the work of the home with willingness, energy, and an unselfish spirit.

Anticipating the future with joy–not obsessing, or worrying, or fearing.

Whatever happens next year with my husband’s new round of job applications, and whether he becomes the breadwinner or I continue to bring home the bacon, I will fear no evil . . . because God is with me. He is charting my course using the same wisdom, creativity and strength he used to create the very universe (or multiverse? Ooooh. =)

Seeing the humor all around you.

My texting relationship with my sister Erica helps in this area. The past few days, we’ve been texting each other hilarious pictures of ourselves when we look our worst, or pics of our houses at the messiest. And then, you just gotta laugh. Especially when the autocorrect on her phone produces the following text: “Person who Broaddus meals Brought them — incredible. Chocolatey her.”

I will now endeavor to text the sentence “Chocolatey her” as often as possible in my life.

It’s the story that you tell yourself about your life.

So when you’re telling the story of your day, of a season, of your childhood–tell it with thought and care. Not foregoing honesty, but looking at the biggest picture of all, which casts life in the light of deep meaning, ultimate joy, refining periods of suffering, and ultimately, redemption.

A verse from Psalm 19 has been on my mind the past few weeks–I’ll paraphrase–“like a strong man runs his course with joy.” I want to be the strong woman, running the course laid out for me with joy.

Chicken Étouffée à la Dad

photo 2 (3)Once upon a time, we were in Wisconsin at my parents’ house. In Wisconsin, the days are book-ended by coffee at the beginning and amazing dinner at the end. Recently, my dad has been on a Cajun kick and I’ve tasted two different kinds of Étouffée and a Gumbo. These culinary excursions have reminded me of something: I LOVE CAJUN FOOD. I had forgotten, somehow … though I don’t understand how, since that’s what we served at our wedding, for Pete’s sake.

Anyway, Cajun and I are getting along just great again. We reignited our feelings for one another through this recipe, courtesy of this awesome food blog, via my dad, and now I’m passing it along to you.

If someone served this to me at a restaurant, I would be happy. That’s how good it is. It has a nice low burn to it, but it’s not too spicy–in fact, my husband denies he can even taste the spice.

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Hmmm. His taste buds must have been nuked–that’s the only explanation I can think of, because there’s definitely some heat there.

In fact, upon further thought, I believe I can identify the very place where his taste buds were forever damaged: a little restaurant called Burmese Gems (since closed) that we ate at during our undergrad days in Bloomington, Indiana. Their food was so spicy that once, on the walk back to the dorms, I had to lie down on the sidewalk because the pain in my abdomen from the spice was so severe.

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The sidewalk, people!

My taste buds made it out okay, but apparently my spouse’s were forever inoculated against spice, and now he can’t taste it unless it’s of the magnitude of the Chicago fire. Or something.

Anyway.

Here’s the recipe, a couple semi-blurry iPhone pics and my firmest endorsement.

Chicken Étouffée à la Dad

(Serves 8)

Ingredients

2 TBS olive oil
2 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 stick butter
2/3 cup flour
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 bottle amber beer
2 bay leaves
1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with chiles
3 cups chicken stock
1 TBS maple syrup
2 TBS Cajun seasoning
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
Serve with rice and a bottle of hot sauce

  1. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper; brown in batches and remove to a cutting board.
  2. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces (it will still be a little raw–that’s fine). Prep your veggies: dice the onion, green pepper, celery, and mince the garlic.
  3. Melt the butter in the pot; when melted, add the flour and stir frequently for 20-25 minutes (don’t let it burn!) to create a roux. The roux is done when it’s a little darker than peanut butter. If your chicken brownings are coloring the roux from the start, go even darker.
  4. Add the diced veggies and garlic to the roux. Cook for 10 minutes, until they’re softened.
  5. Pour in the beer and scrape the pot to get all the browned bits in circulation.
  6. Add the remaining ingredients (bay leaves, tomatoes, stock, maple syrup, Cajun seasoning, Worcestershire sauce) and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and add the chicken pieces back in.
  7. Simmer for 45 minutes; taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
  8. Serve with rice and hot sauce that everyone can add to taste.

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