Our children wanted me to do a cookbook for them and our grandchildren. They all wanted certain recipes and things grew from there. The book was originally for them and our extended family (The Blackburns,) but friends and others who have seen the book wanted a copy so here we are. I have been cooking for 50 years and these 200 plus recipes are out of a collection of approximately 400 kept in folders and notebooks. Sandy is from Wyoming and had never eaten most of these dishes until she met me. I love to cook and Sandy is more than willing to let me. She does the dishes! When we came back South after we retired I introduced her to more seafood and she was hooked on all seafood and on Gulf Shores Alabama. Some of these recipes I have here are from my Mother and Father, some from my wonderful stepmother, Rita, who did not learn English until first grade. Boy, could she cook Cajun! One of our neighbors, the Rao’s (from the Old Country,) taught my Mother how to cook Italian. The rest of the recipes came from friends, cooking magazines or via the internet. I’ve cooked all at least once. Some are broiler, some are oven or stove top. For ease of doing, the crockpot recipes are great, so I included some of those too. None of the recipes require a lot of talent, are pretty straight forward, easy on the budget and easy to prepare. Cooking methods can be interchanged between crock-pot and stove top on many recipes. As far as measurements go, I’m long past exact measurements. I go by taste and feel. Remember, there is no such thing as too much garlic. Season everything to Your taste. Bear in mind that as a dish cooks, the spices meld together and some spices increase in taste the longer it cooks. Don’t be afraid to delete or add items to the dish. Experiment! Cooking should be enjoyable, so let’er rip and enjoy the experience. There are a lot of seafood recipes because we live on the Gulf Coast where seafood is plentiful and fresh. There is an abundance of Cajun dishes because I learned them from Rita and are just plain good. ENJOY! Bill and Sandy
