Creole Catsup

A Baby arrived and a Mother was born

2011-05-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take a moment to thank my mother for all she did to encourage me to become a Mother.She downplayed the work, pain and heartache that comes with the job and treated me like I was carrying the Christ Child! ( as it turned out, I was) Though I couldn't hold a candle to my Mom, she often told me I was a trooper and could handle anything. She even wrote those things down in letters. What I am most grateful to her for is that she gently led me towards the most rewarding job I would ever have and the 31 years of the love for my children and from my children defines me. It's all good. I miss you Mom
Love,
susie

Justice or Mercy

2011-02-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

One Sunday morning during the High Mass at St. James, a bat disturbed the congregation by swooping at us from the choir loft. Coats were pulled over heads and mothers covered their little Christians and chaos stopped the Homily in mid sentence. Calmly but quickly, Dad raced to the back of the church and using his coat as a net, he caught the bat. I expected him to throw the coat on the floor and stomp what was fluttering beneath it but he simply carried the bat outside and flung it to the sky. Church goers mumbled about the bat being rabid as it is abnormal for a bat to do this during the day, that the bat could have infected someone with all sorts of diseases they carry and some even said that bats were the devil's birds. On the way home I asked Dad why he didn't kill the bat. "The bat was more terrified than we were and it was suffering".
" Justice would have killed the bat but Mercy let it go".
Max, this one's for you. I am proud of you son.

who knew

2010-12-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I am now employed by the city of New Orleans at the Lakeview Public Library. I am coming off of week 3 and I thought I'd share with ya'll some of the things I have learned!
1) You have to be quiet at the Library.This is particularly hard for me as I am ( and was in the last 4 previous lives) a chirping bird!
2) As a city employee and serving the public, everyone is entitled to their opinions and I am not allowed to reveal my own. Again, this is particularly difficult for me.
3) All non fiction is filed using the DDS and all of the numbers are microscopic and it seems that every book I have to shelve is located on the bottom shelves which requires me to lay down on the floor and place one side of my face against the floor to see the numbers and find it's spot. ( I am more amazed that the same lengths were taken to borrow the book!
4) Lunch is an hour long and it's my favorite part of the day! The Library is conveniently located in a sweet little neighborhood with coffee shops and market, little cafes and a drugstore.I also get 2 breaks.I love the breaks, especially after shelving.
5) Not all children like story time but all children like sitting on my guitar case and huge stuffed animals and everybody loves stickers.
6)There is justice at the Library! If you are late returning an item, you are fined. You don't get to dispute it, you can't bully your way out of it and even if you refuse to pay the fine, it will show up on your profile FOREVER, Nobody really pays their fines, but I like that they are there.
( I am glad this justice system did not exist back when I was an irresponsible borrower)
7)People that work at the library are VERY cool.
8) I love this place

There is so a me in team!

2010-09-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the French Quarter this morning and passed a band playing I fall to pieces and without hesitation, I harmonized with the chorus. In continueing my walk, I slipped into a tee shirt shop BECAUSE it was blaring Seven Bridges Road where upon I took the high notes. Just as I was leaving the French Market and heading for work, a few pieces of brass second lined in front of me and I echoed the lines of when the saints go marching in.
I'd like to credit my teamability to bowling( the only sport I ever participated in ) but I cant. There was no me in bowling! My Dad could not sit in a car without singing. I learned to be heard by harmonizing. He had a beautiful tenor voice and an ARMY of songs. When he was singing he wasn't yelling and I learned to use that to my benefit when the phone bill was about to arrive.
But the real Team feelings emerged when I met Patte Gaeble. She brought songs and harmonies but also guitars,banjos and the occasional mandolin. DEPTH! Like all great wide recievers, she came in where ever you needed her too. She made my simple things complex, she made the Team look good even when I screwed up.
It's true, there is no me in music
Fortunately theres a U and an I
Today, I thought I heard her backing me up

You are only young twice

2010-05-31T16:45:00.000-07:00

My friend, Sue Trembley, came to New Orleans Friday and our lives were transformed into those of 2 teenagers escaping the house for the first time! Sue and I met in the first grade. We shared the same catholisizing education, developed similar souls and retain the same scars from growing up in a small town in a big family. ( not to mention having the same name) Having spent most of our school years plotting our escape, we later spent a decade of our adult lives returning home! We put a lot of water (and pink Catawba, tango, Genny 12 horse ale and assorted tobacco products) under that bridge that divided our towns and made an infamous name for ourselves: The Suesters! Oh, but marriage and children, Jobs and opportunities straightened the wrinkles in our colorful quilts and it was amazing to kick off those blankets for a couple of days and just be 16 again. I have not laughed with this much enthusiasm in 20 years. I also can't explain what , exactly, made everything so funny. The Carthage police department had me in stitches at the mere mention of it, My side split open when we attempted to talk about a broken window at the school that I dared a certain someone to kick, and I am still hysterical about why Mrs. O'Brien (our 4th grade teacher) did not like Sue. ( Sue knows what I said) Anyway, I just want to tell you that it is possible to go backwards in time for a little while with someone who was really back there with you and I want to remind you that if you let these friends slip away too long you will never know what I am talking about. This weekend was our emotional face lift, soul rejuvenation and a derm abrasion on the jagged memories that need to be erased. Thanks Sue, I love you

Friend ships

2010-04-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

My friend from childhood ( a period that spanned the first 21 years of my life) is visiting from Colorado! We hadn't seen each other in 30 years. We hadn't talked in 25. We have been jabber blabbin' for 2 days ( minus the 3 hours we were trapped at church by the Spanish service that was a high Mass , included announcements, 2 Baptisms and a Confirmation at the end...) and we have yet to surprise each other with any of our stories. No re-friending needed here- we really knew each other well! Karen is still Karen and I am still Me and We are still standing in spite of ourselves. The same basic survival skills we used to get from Herrings to West Carthage were employed for the hundreds of thousands of miles that have been between us all these years.
There will be many thousands more in the future as it has ALWAYS been the journey for us and a destination is only a place to begin one. It is so wonderful to be reminded of that!
She brought me a scapular ( in case I die on the road)

Lombardi Gras

2010-02-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Dat Tuesday! I saw the Saints in our superbowl parade. I saw the trophy. 800,000 people (possibly more) attended the 3 mile route from the Super Dome. (half the distance of a regular mardi gras parade)I stood in the fiftieth row of the 50 deep crowd, in the freezing cold, having waited 5 hours, having walked from home ( 38 blocks) and having to walk back when it was over and NOTHING WAS GOING TO KEEP ME FROM MY MOMENT! After all they did to 'get there', it was the least I could do.
Now what?

a rose by any other name....

2010-01-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

My father's name for that popular Southern New Years side dish (black eyed peas) was Black eyed Susans. I guess he thought I would eat them if they had my name but I prefferred the Francie cabbages and the Timmy trees. If I were going to name a vegetable after my Dad, it would be ...... Djeau Corn

Waste not Want more

2009-12-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

Since you have some cilantro left over from the civiche and perhaps a lime......It's time to gear up and trudge back to the store and purchase 2 cans (large) of black beans, another shallot, sour cream, bacon or pancetta and a couple of cans of chicken broth.You also need a warm loaf of french bread.I am assuming everyone has butter. So for about 20 dollars more- we won't waste the 50 cent lime or the 25 cents worth of cilantro!
It's soup time.
Saute the pancetta in a little bit of olive oil to a light crispiness. Remove the pancetta and save.
Add the minced garlis and the thinly sliced shallot.( sea salt and pepper these guys)
Drain your black beans and add those once the shallot is soft
Let the beans cook a little bit to absorb the flavors in the pot then add the 2 cans of chicken broth. Let this simmer gently with the lid off and your constant supervision. It needs a stir every couple of minutes to make you look very important in front of your friends. Sip a glass of petit syrah and visit while waving a wooden spoon about your kitchen.
Once the broth has been reduced to a medium thickness, return the pancetta and the juice from half of that lime ( save the other half for next payday and I will tell you how to keep that from going to waste) and that handfull of chopped cilantro. Simmer just enough for that cilantro to make it to your nose and serve this up with a dallop of sour cream on top. Put your sliced bread and soft butter on the table.
Since your wine glasses have wine in them this time, I recommend a soup bowl for the soup.

Little Shop of Hor d'oeuvres

2009-12-28T17:13:00.000-08:00

2010 is gonna be my year to eat little things in a Big way.
I intend to continue savoring my entrees but convert them to appetizer sizes.
Today I will share my recipe for civiche
Steam as many shrimp as you want ( shell and head on ) for a couple of minutes
(the marinade will finish cooking them)
Clean them and cut them in thirds
Sqeeze 2 lemons and 2 limes in a bowl and add 2 tbl sps of pineapple juice as well as 2 or 3 tbl sps of olive oil and a hand full of chopped fresh cilantro
cracked sea salt and black pepper to taste
Add the shrimp
dice a shallot, a green onoin and a couple of big toes of garlic and toss that in
Cube 1/2 cucumber, 1 roma tomatoe, a good size piece of mango and a couple of strips of red bell pepper and dump them in the marinade
Attempt to cube a firm but ripe avacado and quickly coat with the marinade
Taste your marinade and if you'd like it a little sweeter, add a little more pineapple juice
Cover with plastic wrap (right on top of the civiche) and another layer of wrap on the bowl.
Let the juice cook everything while in the frige for at least an hour
Serve in a wine galss over a pretty piece of romaine, garnish with a lemon wheel and stand a couple of crustini in the middle
Steamed scallops work real well in this also
Since your wine glasses are busy, serve the pinot grigio in custard bowls!

Northern Housepitality

2009-12-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd write about Christmas in New York.
A visit from an old friend is a present in itself as it probably involved at least 2 trains,a brief walk on an icy street and 3 layers of clothing. Chances are your friend went even further out of his way to find tiramisu. I am certain parcels gain weight when you carry them in the cold and a 2 lb. bottle of wine can swell to 10 after walking up hill several blocks. I had forgotten all these things about the north and it's marvelous inhabitants who trade a cozy evening at home for the company of real human beings and spontanious conversations around a kitchen table. It is the repressed northerner in me that cooks. It's the childhood full of snow and stew that causes me to sob as I make a pot of sauce or stew a chicken for 5 hours. Thank you Camie and James for your kitchen, your wonderful friends and that table we just couldn't get away from. Thank you, New York, for a beautiful Christmas. Thank you Steve's G town for the pancetta, parmesan, heavy cream, Italian sausage, fresh basil and parsley. Special thanks to my grand dog, Freddie, who savored every morsel I dropped.
Happy New Year to all.

I eat Alone....Yeah, with nobody else.....

2009-08-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

They say that breaking up is hard to do.... But eating ramen and go food can prolong the misery.
So, I am going to treat myself like a new boyfriend and try to convince myself that pescatore for one tastes exactly the same as if it were for two. Guess what, if ya miss pissin off the old boyfriend from time to time, you can indulge yourself by really irritating the man at the seafood counter in your favorite super market!!
I'll have 2 oysters, 2 scallops and 2 shrimp,please- no not that shrimp, this shrimp. ( I have done this before)
Saute some garlic in olive oil and a little butter and toss the seafood in it a minute. Douse with some lemon juice. Remove the seafood and add diced onion until soft, toss in chopped olives(green and black) and some chopped basil and a drained can of chopped tomatoes
. Salt and pepper the tomatoes. Keep cooking and if you have a jar of B&B mushrooms, throw them in.A microscopic pinch if cinnamin and a speck of cayenne. When all the ingredients seem to be enjoying their new relationships, return the seafood to the sauce to heat up and pour it over some linguini. Parm cheese and a glass of petite syrah. Is there a photo of your x in the trash can? Good, scrape your plate on top of that and go see what's on tv.

It's not Nani, it's Ka Nani

2009-06-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

I left Faith fot the first time today to come to work. After being the baby barnicle on the SS Kanani for 7 weeks, we knew this was going to be a stressful event for her. I worried about it all day, Faith KNEW something was up, Marty ran out and bought a little pool and a gallon of icecream, I tried to prepare slowly for work and then the moment came. I did not want to just disappear so I told her I was going to work and I could hear her crying behind the door and she could hear me cry for about 2 miles up the road. It then occured to me that that is what Tina told her when she left.

Le jardin

2009-04-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Marty and I ate our way through the French Quarter Festival today and after sampling 6 different restaurants we proceded to search for obnoxious T- shirts for our up-coming cruise in December. There is no challenge in satisfying Marty's good taste, within 5 minutes we found: " If it's true beer damages brain cells, I must have been a freakin' genious". No, the challenge today would be finding something for me. As we continued to search, we found Zues the perfect t-shirt for the dog park: "It's not gonna lick itself". An hour passes and then another one and I whined to Marty that there isn't anything here for me. Sadly, we agreed to head to the car and as we walked through the French Market pushing through piles of tourists and thousands of beads, I saw a hand towell that read " silence of the Labs". And then there it was, my perfect t-shirt, the one that only I could wear, the one that BELONGED to me. It has a big sprig of rosemary and a tiny sprig of rosemary on the front. In soft pretty letters it says" Rosemary's Baby".

Mrs. Butterworth or Anything for baby....

2009-03-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

The grandchildren are here for the weekend. Faith is in charge of everything! Where we sit, what we eat, what we watch on TV, bed times, rising times, good times, bad times, the weather and the latest bills sent to congress. This morning she wanted my chair. Of course, I GAVE IT TO HER. Then she wanted pancakes and Marty whipped them up and placed them in front of her. She then muttered meanly "BACON' so he made her some bacon. "Juice" was delivered and " FORK" was retrieved over and over and maple syrup was reapplied multiple times on her pancakes. I was relieved of duty long enough to get ready for work ( and believe me, I sloooowly got ready for work). As I reached for my purse and suit coat (official work jacket of the de la Monnaie) I realized they were both on the back of my chair, the chair the baby had demanded at gunpoint.
My jacket collar is stuck to the back of my sweater and my purse zippers are all glued up

Fleurs de lis

2009-03-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

I met Suzanne when I was 15. We were both volunteers working on West Carthage's first Teen Center in a church basement on Main street. I was from the Catholic school and she was from the public school. She chose a name for the kitchen area and I made the sign. " The Slop Shop"! A few days later I ran into Suzanne with her little dog, Pansy. She was really upset and told me what her stepfather had done to her, that she couldn't go home and she was leaving town. I dragged her to St. James rectory to talk to someone. I remember asking Father Spinard if she could just sleep at the church until we could come up with a plan. He said, very catholicly,"no". I then went home, pinched a five dollar bill from my mother's purse, returned to Suzanne who was waiting for me at the abandoned train car and said I'd go with her.( I was an experienced hitch-hiker at 15) We went to Virginia. We wound up in a half way house for teens called Bumpy Oak Counseling Center. When interviewed after the cops took us there, it was determined that I was as fucked up as a soup sandwich and Suzanne, the rape victim of her stepfather, was fine. Parents were notified and my parents called her parents to arrange transport and were told that they wouldn't be bringing her back. My Dad showed up 12 hours later in his Sunday suit and top coat. Doctors approached him to recommend institutions for me! When I learned that nobody came for Suzanne, I actually did go nuts, "I'm not leaving if she's not leaving". My father took temporary custody of my new best friend and we slept in the back seat for most of the 12 hour ride home. Over the next few years we would take many trips (some road and some right there at the abandoned train car) She thought I was courageous and creative and I thought she was grounded and determined. I thought she was the real Suzanne and she thought I was.

I found out today that she died.

If I only had a name....

2009-02-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

When we replace items at the hotel they are raffled off to the employees!
I won the fax machine this week. Ernestine is now in my livingroom.
You all know my affection for the telephone... My land line, homey, and my cel , Matey, as well as her charger, bat food, are concerned about their rightful places on the table in the living room.
I tripped over Mr. Toasty ,my heater, yesterday and knocked over Jason, my new food processer. My wine rack, bubbles,endured quite a shake as I sturdied myself on my potrack, vincent.I am now taking out an accident insurance policy. I'm gonna call it my stimulous package.

Waltzing Matilda

2009-01-26T20:49:00.000-08:00

Saturday, I was packing dishes in my kitchen with the TV on for company when aTom Hanks movie crept in like a subtle melody ( Castaway) and I ended up exploring what the movie might mean (to me). I had never heard anyone tell me it was a good movie, only disappointed fans chimed in over the years to say it sucked but, I am glad I gave it a chance. I was particularly moved by Wilson. For 2 days I wondered why Wilson touched me so deeply. I was packing more dishes today when a real old song crept into my head like a subtle movie.....You'll go a waltzin' Matilda with me"

Old Years Revelations

2009-01-05T20:42:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of the light bulbs that when on in 2008.
New Orleans is some how connected to the Catholic Church.
I am watching the severe weather warnings on the bottom of my TV screen and I notice all of the affected "PARISHES" have Saint's names.
Our football team should have been a clue....
The first King cake of the mardi gras season is served on Three Kings day(or 12th night)
There is a BABY in the king cake.
The entire city abstains from meat on all the Fridays in lent. Imagine the people we get out of purgatory by eating massive amounts of shrimp, oysters, crabs and redfish every Friday.
(sorry Dad, but if you were expecting me to get ya a get out of purgatory ticket, I'll need to reside somewhere else during lent)
There are as many churches in this city as there are bars - you think driving and texting is dangerous? Try drinks to go , driving , shifting into third while blessing yourself every three blocks. I'll take texting teens in stolen cars any day.
Some befuddled tourists asked me why, in this city of sin, are there so many churches?
I thought about this and then told them non sinners do not need salvation. I went on to say that if they wanted more places of worship in their city, they need to invest more in sin.

33 Pounds of Pork in the frige, 33 pounds of pork...

2008-12-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Thats right. And if one of those pork packages should happen to fall...32 pounds of pork...We have 33 pounds of pork.(chops,roasts,ground)
There was more but we ate it.
Now we are sick of it.
Now we are taking chicken and beef recipes and using pork.
There was a year of my life where, thanks to my sister, I had the same long and daunting problem with lamb.
Sauer Krout and lamb, Lamb chili, speghetti and lamb blobs, lamb cordon bleu, Vegetable lamb soup...
Tonight we're having pork wellington.

New Orleans is famous for bars....

2008-12-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

And nobody produces a better lemon bar than my man.
I returned from work last night and found the fabulous confections waiting on the table.
He makes these every year and the first time I tried them, I wept. His lemon bars taste exactly like my Mom's. His chocolate chip cookies taste exactly like nestles chocolate chip cookies in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.

Weather or not, here I go

2008-12-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

It was 75 degrees yesterday afternoon,50 when I left for work,49 when I got home,59 when I woke up,65 when I hung my laundry out,45 when it rained on my laundry an hour later, and with the wind chill factor,20 below when I pried the frozen garments off the line and the 11:oo pm news says it will be a bit chilly tomorrow. When I was 10, I wanted to be a weatherman. I had no idea there were weather women as we had just one tv station and Danny Burgess had the field all whored up.Since I was female, my dream of standing in front of that weather map slipped away and my life has never been the same.

Gabriel. Grace and Tornadia...

2008-12-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

I used to have this huge mirror in my living room, thank God no one was hurt when the little tornado pulled it over. I have a new hole in my living room floor that little Faith made for me with my iron stocking holder off the mantle, labs and 2 year olds SPELL DISASTER and then become Disaster, I thought we had too many ornaments on the tree anyway, having my grandchildren here for 2 days........priceless.
I am totally wiped out and now I have to work 7 nights in a row to make up my time.(thank God, I can recover at work)

s.o.s.

2008-11-23T17:40:00.000-08:00

SAVE OUR SANDWICH!!!
We went to the 2nd annual po-boy festival today. It's held on Oak street, uptown. We've had some really chilly weather the last few days so I wasn't too excited about being outside but it got up to 70 degrees and I didn't want to go home ( or to work, either).
We had: a pulled duck po-boy, shrimp romalaud po-boy with fried green tomatas, alligator and shrimp cheesecake and seafood stuffed mushrooms. We went home and ate an apple pie the big guy made as practice pie for the holiday. Only my daughter could appreciate this but I'll let ya's all know:I was having artichoke oyster soup for supper tonight, at it's reheated perfection, I dipped my spoon into my soup and 14 jerk monkey faced pukes approached the front desk. One by one I answered their cockamamie questions (and most of that only involved the word "no" (and then I thought: dumb ass) until the final 2 stepped up to the plate, or bowl, so to speak, and I said : " YESSSSSS?" Shyly one guest asked if she could inquire about a tour.
$55. later, I finished my soup.

We need a little Christmas

2008-11-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

On Tina and Max's trek to Fort Hood they will stop in the Big Easy for 2 days. I hope to have a little Christmas for the kids while I have 'em. I'm gonna do my traditonal prime rib dinner and put the tree up early. We have already decorated the mantle in the living room and we'll do the outdoor lights this weekend. We hope to present the local swamp tour as the cajun sleigh ride and take in the zoo.

Jude Essex Has Arrived

2008-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

Little Jude Essex was born this evening, 8 pounds, 13 ounces!(well, little compared to his grampa). Mommy and Baby are doing great. New Daddy is too. Grampa wants to be called T Pop. He had bought a pile of "saints" onesies for 6 or 8 months down the road but Jude can fit in them now!He is 21.5 inches long and, according to Margaret, has side burns! We will be heading to Lafayette on Wed. morning for the photo op. I just think Jude Essex is a fantastic name.

6 foot 6 inch by inch...row by row....

2008-11-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

It was 50 degrees last night when I came home from work and it was even colder outside. Life with an AC guy can be challenging, but freezing or not, he had planted some more flowers in my garden and there they were, shivering in the arctic breeze. More pansies, another pot of begonias and a colorful assortment of pretty things under the purple myrtle. I threw on an insulated hunting jacket of his and proceded to my patio to quiver through a glass of wine and admire his work, show my appreciation and,you know, do the "what a guy!!! And as if this wasn't enough... he built a bon fire for me to enjoy.(in the whipping wind, I found this to be a dumb idea but he loves me soooo much) It was a beautiful evening and the house is still there.
Today we started Christmas shopping!

It's pronounced PEEETSAAAA!!!!!

2008-11-15T06:52:00.000-08:00

Little Faith's birthday is tomorrow. She will be 2. Like most 2 year olds she has her own little language that only her father can decipher except when you ask her what she wants for supper.
When I first heard her ask for it, I wept , then I bought her a pizza. So, inside the Dora the Explorer talking backpack we just put in the mail is cash for her favorite food (or favorite word, who really knows)
Happy birthday little Faith. Can you say Nani?

God's little 1/10 acre...

2008-11-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Today was garden day. I had seen mums on a news segment the other morning and decided I would like JGC to buy me some. We went to Perrinos (the favorite garden store of the local southern belles) and the mums were the first thing I saw. "We need a cart", I said. Beyond the Mums were the mile of assorted pansies and across from the pansies I saw begonias and behind the begonias I saw these ruby colored flowers and behind a secret wall and across a stream and beneath a shinto shrine, I thought I saw orchids...
Well,(and I probably need one now) I have the finest little garden. I made 4 hanging baskets, filled 2 big planters with begonias, positioned my pile o' mums around my rose bush AND stirred up all the other plants I already had. My neighbor brought me some basil and I added more parsley. JGC said I needed a degree to grow orchids and I said no, no, you need a FORTUNE to grow orchids. Maybe next time.

Mirliton Festival

2008-11-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

Better known as the coyote squash, the mirliton is something to celebrate! ( it is almost always smothered with shrimp and dressing) Today I blew 12 bucks and here's what I got:
A seafood stuffed mirliton
2 sweet red peppers stuffed with mirliton, andouille and cheddar
A large cup of gourmet coffee
entrance to the band stand ( and an interesting caberet ensemble)
74 degrees
blue skies
and a break from all my trials, Lord.

He chose the waiter's suggestion over mine.....

2008-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

It's a guy thing.
And, the guy was right.
JGC had the duck.
(then I ate half of his duck,that'll fix 'im.)
My shrimp and crab stuffed pasta were spectacular also.

The Birthday Dinner Plans

2008-11-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are dining at Vincent's on St. Charles avenue. My great friend, Pete, took me there a few years ago and even though I can't remember what I had, I recall the euphoria of a fantastic meal (sort of like childbirth, I don't remember the absolute agony my children put me through but I was completely satisfied after I went through it) JGC and I aren't planning on having children together so this will be the next best thing. There is a steak dish on the menu I intend for him to try (so I can taste it) It is stuffed with bacon and atichoke hearts and smothered in red sauce and then I will have the seafood stuffed pasta. I do remember the wonderfully gitty chianti and I hope to God they have a Budwieser for the big guy. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

The Big Guy's Birthday

2008-10-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

I got him the manliest of manly cookbooks : AFTER THE HUNT. It is the history of weapons and killing things and recipes for everything you have killed and pictures of manly men and what they are about to kill or consume. He ate it up!! JGC is going hunting next week end for wild hogs. (Shit, you can find a herd of those in any bar on Bourbon st.)(It is probably not legal to eat them though) So, He'll be in the woods for 2 days. I have been flooded with memories from my childhood and what hunting season meant to my mother.....BINGO!!

The network...

2008-10-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

The dog let out a viscious woof and a heavy arm pounded on my door yesterday at the crack of dawn. I roll out of bed (literally) and crawl to the door.I open the curtain as I rise to my feet and an attractive young man says "You don't know me but I understand you used to work at Elizabeths".I pushed my hair down, made sure my pajamas were neatened and bralessly opened the door.It turns out that Elizabeths was being used for a commercial and the movie crew had been waiting for over an hour to be let in to the restaurant. My neighbor, David P Busybody, noticed the large mass of people in the street and invited them to my house. I scrolled through my phones to gather a few #s for them to try and they left. Again, No, I am not Elizabeth but I oughta be.

grass in the splendor

2008-10-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

They've added fiba to splenda! I can't believe how many ways you can now ingest your rda of fiber .Shit, and I liked splenda.(or is it the other way around)

FEELINGS (cafe) ARE MUTUAL

2008-10-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

I had the most wonderful time last night at The Feelings Cafe. It's an old New Orlean Home turned restaurant on Chartres street. Inside you'll find a lovely dining room with antique mirrors and unusual flower arrangments incorporating banana leaves and elephant ears. There is a quaint little courtyard with balcony seating as well as the area around the fountain. You really leave the rest of the world outside once you go in. The menu has a french flare and the wine list has many options by the glass as well as bottles. We ( and our feelings are mutual) had the chicken liver pate to start and enjoyed the bread basket. The pepper steak was done with prime rib and to your order. The paneed eggplant medallians were smothered with shrimp, crab, and crawfish tails in a rich cream sauce. Unfortunately, we had room for dessert. Creme broulette.
JGC tossed me into the back of the pick up and hauled me home.

I'll never be hungry again

2008-10-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Remember when dining at a chinese restaurant was an exotic experience?
The flavors were delicate, the decor was rich in vibrant colors and the service was down right regal! Most of these intimate little places have been replaced by multi-cultural buffets where we serve ourselves massive amounts of familiar foods (all fried in the same oil) and sit down and eat like fieldhands , washing it down with sweet tea........Except for ROYAL CHINA.
Soup in a tureen (it's meant to share), Amazing dishes with silver domes, tea in a cast iron decanter, traditional dipping sauces in glass vessels and a rich cloth napkin that covers your lap.
I was treated like an old friend returning from the war.
Imagine all this costing less than the buffet!
you have got to go

Ya never know

2008-10-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Guess what was on a 12 by12 foot screen at the oktoberfest?
Yessssss, the Game!! So, there I sat eating bratwurst, german potatoe salad, sauteed red cabbage, sauer krout and and a glass of ice cold Warstiener while observing the life size projection of the game in front of me while Mr." I don't want to do a chicken dance" sat at home sharing the left over pot roast with the dog while watching the game.
Just so you know, when LSU won, 800 of us did the chicken dance.

Jolly Green Coonass Eats Alone

2008-10-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

The big guy has turned down an invite to oktoberfest because he would rather watch football than do the chicken dance. He will be dining on bar food and I will be schnitzeled up!! He will be (hopefully) doing a victory dance, which resembles the chicken dance, and I will be sampling sausages and sauer krout. If LSU loses to the Game cocks I still will have had a good time. JGC will have integestion. If LSU WINS........I still will have had a good time.
nanananananana!

and lead us not into temptation but deliver.....

2008-10-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

I don't think working nights should mean I have to pack a lunch and suffer silently while I help 50 other people decide on a place for supper. So, I have a serious collection of delivery menus.
Tonight is Thai night. Sukho Thai delivers. They make this shrimp in a pouch appetizer that has a duck sauce type dipping sauce that I really love. They also stir fry vegies like a wok on fire.
The down side of delivery food at work is dining alone.
The up side of delivery food at work is dining alone.

FLEW THE COOP

2008-10-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of guests asked me to recommend an eatery that only a local would know about. I said I knew of a little place but they might feel it's a little too casual.They asked me to explain a little more so I said "when I go to Coops , I usually abandon my bra and put on one of my fake spider tatoos". Off they went.
When I came to work today, there was a bottle of cabernet on the desk with my name on the card.
Duck quesidilla with a fruited salsa!
The Jolly Green Coonass took me there on our first date claiming the green goddess dressing was to die for.
It was, he is and now I have wine.

No, I am not Elizabeth

2008-10-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

I sent two twosomes to Elizabeths restaurant this morning promising they would return to the hotel to thank me.
They did.
They did Brunch!
Dinner's the winner in my book

new orleans can swallow you whole or vice versa

2008-10-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

I have dined at nearly 100 restaurants in this city and thought I'd share some of the things I've enjoyed with absolutely anyone who will listen. I hope to keep a diary of the next hundred episodes of "Survivor Creole".
Yesterday's challenge involved good food and the LSU game for a moderate price.
We al;so intended to drink beer so the perfect place had to be in walking distance.
Marky's Bar on Royal in the Bywater hitttt the spot. They offer these really fresh beef and cilantro tacos as well as the traditional football fan's wings.