Brussels sprouts such a bad rep in the veggie community, but when done right, the bitter Brussels of your past will be forgotten soon. This is quick and easy and the Brussels sprouts get a great looking caramelization on the outside and are super tender on the inside.

  My husband and I love watching cooking shows like Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, Iron Chef, and The Taste. And, I have to admit, I really like cooking, but I don’t know a lot about it. I can follow a recipe, sure – but I don’t know why it works, or why it doesn’t. Well the other day I was browsing the book section at Costco, rebate check in hand, and I ran across this giant recipe book from America’s Test Kitchen, which is apparently a TV show but neither my husband nor I had heard of it. We were able to find old episodes on Amazon Prime and On Demand and watched a few – and really like them. The book is 878 pages full of instruction, photos, helpful tips, and explanations of why these recipes work. “Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work

  I gave this recipe from Southern Living a shot tonight — and it was alright. I just left wanting something more. I wanted flavors to pop out and smack me across cheek. But that didn’t happen. Maybe cooking the shrimp separately would help because, honestly, they just wound up completely flavorless. I reviewed some of the comments after I made the giant crock pot full of the Louisiana goodness. People mentioned not using white rice, but Zatarain’s Dirty Rice instead. Some even added Old Bay, which I thought sounded good too, but maybe not the most authentic. I think that would have really jazzed it up. (See what I did there? Jazz? Clever.) Also, my end product wound up looking pretty soupy. So, I’d give it a little more time or cut down on some of the chicken broth. So give it a shot, let me know what you think, and what