The cook: Louanne Coleman, Jupiter

Her story: I am single and work at Cheney Brothers as a credit analyst. I moved to Florida in 1987 from Baton Rouge, La., to teach scuba diving. I worked as an assistant dock master and then moved to bookkeeping for Soverel Marina, and then I worked for Planned Parenthood in West Palm Beach. I started out as an administrative assistant to the board of directors and from there, I was promoted to director of the clinic.

I grew up in Houston and moved to Baton Rouge when I was 14 because of my stepfather’s civil engineering job. In Houston, we went horseback riding with my cousins. Growing up, I was a tomboy who liked to hunt and fish. In Baton Rouge, we went water skiing and tubing and enjoyed a lot of the Southern traditions such as touring the plantation homes.

Another favorite tradition: On Christmas Eve, the Cajuns would build rocking chairs, rocking horses and houses from logs, then they would place them along the water and set them on fire and this would light the way for Santa so he could make his way along the bayous on Christmas Eve. I attended Louisiana State University as a forestry major.

Her cooking story: I didn’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen with my mom or grandmother. But I have been surrounded by cooking all my life. Even the men in the family cooked at barbecues and crawfish boils and they liked to try new stuff in the kitchen.

My mother is a good cook and a simple cook. She makes the best fried chicken around. She will make a regular meatloaf with mashed potatoes, and I will make a gourmet version of it.

My favorite food is sushi and Cajun food. But I like all foods from all over. I enjoy cooking more complicated dishes that require attention and time. Cooking is a stress relief for me, so I like to get involved with the recipe.

I think my interest in cooking is from living in Louisiana. Everything revolves around food. And the blend of spices is wonderful. Cajun cooking is spicy, but it’s not hot. Cajuns just use a lot of flavor. I still have my Zatarain’s cayenne pepper and my coffee shipped in from Louisiana. I just think it has more flavor.

Favorite food from mom’s kitchen: My favorite food from childhood would be chicken and dumplings. My grandmother made the best rolled out dumplings. I remember she would hang the dumplings to dry on little racks all around the kitchen before she put them in the chicken and stock.

Funny cooking disaster story: One of the first dishes I cooked for my dad was huevos rancheros, for which you dice and cook the salsa using fresh vegetables, put them in a casserole dish and then put the eggs on top and cook it in the oven.

I think is took me four hours to prepare the dish. I would cut one thing and then wash and dry what I used. The dish turned out great but my brunch dish turned into a late lunch. My dad still teases me about it today. My time management has improved, but I am still not fast in the kitchen. I like to take my time.

Cooking tool you can’t do without: My collection of wooden spoons. They are very easy to clean up. My second thing is a timer that can be set to three different times.

Her free cookbook: The Table My Mother Set by Theresa DeCaria, author and publisher.

The recipe: Shrimp and andouille sausage in tomato cream sauce.

About the recipe: The recipe was something that was just “put together” with things in the kitchen. A lot of my cooking has a southern Louisiana influence, as I spent my formative years in Baton Rouge. This would be something that follows those ideas of cooking.

The one thing I like about this recipe is that it doesn’t require a lot of seasonings for flavor. The flavors of the shrimp, bell pepper, onion and sausage give it all it needs.

You could make it as low-fat as you like. Heavy cream is not required for this dish. And if you would like to turn up the heat, just add more cayenne pepper.

Shrimp and Andouille Sausage in Tomato Cream Sauce

1 medium red bell pepper, julienned

1 medium yellow bell pepper, julienned

1 large onion, halved and sliced thin

1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 14-inch thick (any type of smoked sausage can be used)

1/2 pound sliced mushrooms

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 to 2 teaspoons white pepper

Pinch cayenne

1 teaspoons garlic powder

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup milk

1 pound angel hair pasta

Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, add onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add both red and yellow peppers and sauté for an additional 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Season with white pepper, cayenne and garlic powder. Sprinkle with flour and stir continuously until blended, for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste until just blended. Add white wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; this is called deglazing.

Add sausage and cook, stirring often about 5 minutes until sausage is heated through. Stir in 1 cup milk.

Add shrimp, turn heat to low, stir often and cook shrimp until they turn pink.

Cook pasta. I always add olive oil and salt to my pasta. I have found a great method for cooking the perfect pasta. Bring seasoned water to boil, add pasta and cook 3 minutes, stirring often to avoid sticking. After 3 minutes, turn off pot, remove from hot burner, cover and let stand 8 minutes. (I let stand 7 minutes for angel hair, as it is a thin pasta.) Drain pasta.

Serve shrimp and sauce over pasta.

Serves 4.