I Love Calories, Fat, and Butter!

I love calories, fat and butter! Yes, I proclaim it! Don't bother telling me how "unhealthy" saturated fats and that heavenly substance which is the backbone of most great recipes - butter - are for me. I know. But I don't run from butter, fats, and calories as if they were parts of an ugly, oozing Death Monster as some people do. You know the people I'm talking about. They talk about "calories" like they're the enemy, instead of recognizing that we NEED those little things, and lots of them, for energy. As for fat and butter: we need those, in my estimation, not only to live in the sense that we need them to breath, move, and function, but in the sense that we need them to really live. If you cannot enjoy a slice of cornbread dripping with butter and honey, or a juicy piece of bacon, or even a smoldering hot chocolate lava cake without feeling a pang of guilt in your chest, you are not taking advantage of one of the greatest pleasures God and life has offered us.
But enough ranting. Let's get down to business.
Tuesday night, I cooked two variations of the same main dish, Cajun Chicken Pasta. I was confronted by a little dilemma Monday when I realized that Mom and Dad, chief guinea pigs and enjoy-ers of my dinners, can't handle the spice of a Cajun dish. But Omar and Mary, dear friends of David and I, share our love of spicy food. What could I do but make two dinners? So I made the first variation of the pasta substituting a myriad of miscellaneous spices for the signature Cajun seasoning. I was a little disappointed with the results. I missed the spicy! But my parents loved it. Dad said it tasted like something from Macaroni Grill. This is one of the highest compliments my dad could ever offer. He loves Macaroni Grill.
An hour later, I prepared the second and true version of Cajun Chicken Pasta and served it to a warm reception. I looked around the table and saw my friends and love laughing and conversing while devouring hearty fork-fulls of my food creation and thought, This is why I'm doing this. Food, Friends, and Fun - what could be better?
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cajun-Chicken-Pasta/Detail.aspx
A few more Cajun dishes, and then it's time to go full-on French!
Thanks for reading!
-Little Chef