🌹 Mother's Day Recipe Videos - 82 & Still Cooking 💖

I owe it all to Mom, at least where I get my cooking chops (and any good sense I have.) Just check out my videos below to see what I mean. She grew up in Texas on the Gulf Coast, in a small shrimping town called Port O'Connor. There, I learned to love seafood.

Her father was a shrimp boat captain. So, while we couldn't afford steak, we had all the fresh-caught seafood Big Daddy would skim off the top of the catch. Shrimp season was short, but crab and oyster season soon followed.

Mom had looks (like a young Elizabeth Taylor) and smarts, and a scholarship to college if she wanted it, but had no extra help from her parents. So after high school graduation, she was soon married and I arrived on the scene, followed by my brother and sister.

My Dad was in the military so we moved around, but eventually settled back in Port O'Connor after a divorce - Dad was the life of the party, but he was a little too profligate in the alcohol consumption department.

Mom went back to work as a waitress, so I learned how to literally pinch pennies when she poured handfuls of customer tips on the kitchen table for us kids to separate and count.

After a few years, Mom remarried, and a final sister was born (catch up with youngest sister Denise's Eggplant Recipe, video here.) We moved to neighboring Louisiana the year I enrolled in Junior High School. There she picked up a whole other way of cooking, Cajun-style.

My high school daze was spent in Gonzales, Louisiana, the self-professed Jambalaya Capitol of the World. So you know this town is serious about chow. Click here to see a culinary video tour of some local Cajun cuisine at the weekend Flea Market, including Crawfish Pie, Boudin Balls and, of course, Jambalaya.

And here's our first video we made together in my Los Angeles kitchen - and my wife, Amy, even makes an appearance at the very end of the video. You'll get a kick out of her rockin' the cast-iron kettle. I make her Cajun Jambalaya more than any other recipe - it's simply delicious.



Here is a link to her Jambalaya recipe with text and yummy photos.

Mom takes a star turn with her next video recipe, her popular Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.

It's a traditional Southern dish and it's cheap, too. Just chicken, sausage, and the Cajun veggie trinity of bell pepper, celery, and onion. What gives Gumbo its unique taste is a dark brown roux, which is flour cooked in oil until chocolate brown.

Just out of the video below, Mom will take you through the steps. And, as an added bonus, my older sister Brenda makes a nagging appearance a few minutes in.



Click here to read all about making Gumbo, from roux to rice!

I satiate my sweet tooth during visits with Mom. And the best of her pastry delights are Mini-Pecan Pies. If I can't make it for the Christmas holiday, then I always get a mailed food package with a dozen of these tasty pies.

Mom attracts a kitchen full of hungry relatives when these pies come hot out of the oven. And it's a miracle they were done right because this chef de shutterbug was shoving a camera in her face (and a hot oven) during the whole procedure. We butted heads a few times, but fortunately, it all turned out fine.

I even came up with a way to dodge the high prices for pecans - so check out the video below to learn my budget secrets.

And click here to see Mom's Mini-Pecan Pies recipe with text and tasty photos.

Mom has lived half her life in Gonzales, Louisiana. My last vacation visit there fell on Christmas, and she pulled out all the stops with a huge holiday spread, that included Pumpkin Pie. I got her on video making it, and it turned out perfect, as you will see below.

The recipe is a traditional one made with simple ingredients. The pumpkin came from a can, but the crust was handmade with wheat flour.



All the easy-to-follow steps are written out here, and with delish photos, too.

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely ladies, and especially to my Mom - I love you!