Sheesh...

With all this warm weather, the weeds are taking over my shady side garden! Agh! Somebody get in there and weed it! Somebody? Hello? Anybody?

Ok, I guess I'll do it myself.

What is this ugly weed anyway? Because my right shoulder is sore from yanking it out of the ground.


- Posted from my iPhone with BlogPress

Spring Veggie Garden in Progress

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the spring garden.

garden letters from VivaTerra

On Sunday I seeded sugar snap peas, arugula, baby bok choy, and mesculn mix lettuce greens. Earlier this year I ordered early spring veggie starts from The Tasteful Garden. The Tasteful Garden is located in Alabama, just a little over 300 miles from my house. They aren't certified organic, but they grow their plants using organic techniques. I am happy with that. The store I ordered from last year - Mountain Valley Growers - is certified organic; but it is also almost 2,000 miles from my house.

My veggie starts arrived on Wednesday, and I am thrilled about how beautiful they are. The broccoli, fennel, and leek transplants were surrounded in cardboard, then the pots were wrapped in plastic.

I actually had forgotten that I'd ordered leeks this year. I guess it is time for me to fire up all those delicious Barefoot Contessa recipes with leeks.

Broccoli is my favorite vegetable. All I do is microwave it in a glass, covered dish for 3-4 minutes with a few tablespoons of water. Then, I'll top it with lemon juice and salt.

My favorite fennel recipe is from Giada. You can find it here.

I watered the pots after work today, and I'll put them in the raised beds on Saturday. Spring really is coming, y'all!

A Weekend In New Orleans - Day 2

On Day 2 we started out early with breakfast in The Sazerac Restaurant at our hotel, The Roosevelt. We had drinks in the Sazerac Bar on our last visit to New Orleans, and decided we had to stay in this historic hotel which first opened in 1893. The lobby of the hotel is impressive. Our room was small but well-appointed. We didn't love the location - a little too far up Canal Street for our preference. We probably won't be staying here next time. It was expensive and definitely a splurge for us.

Baronne Street Entrance

Beautiful Lobby

University Place Entrance

Antique Letterbox

We did some window shopping on Royal Street and stopped to watch many of the street performers that New Orleans is famous for. We saw a jazz band playing from the heart and soul and a quartet singing The Temptations.

We strolled past the huge line for muffulettas at Central Grocery, hit up Greg's Antiques on Decatur Street, then decided we would have lunch at Bayona. On our way to Bayona, we laughed and gawked at the decorated porches, all celebrating Mardi Gras and the Saints. ANNOUNCING: HELL FROZEN OVER + PIGS FLYING... I love it!!!



Saturday lunch at Bayona was a fantastic choice -- one we will be making again. The food was exciting and the meal itself was leisurely-paced. Perfect for a sunny Saturday. We were seated in the courtyard, and (surprise, surprise!) I had a sparkling rose. The Saturday lunch menu features three courses for $25. I started with a simple bibb lettuce salad with a delicious, mustardy balsamic dressing and fine Parmesan cheese. My second course was Indian-spiced fish and chips with lentils and yogurt sauce. I was so happy that I ordered this. The portions were just right. The fish came out hot and was such a great compliment to the cool yogurt sauce and lentils. For dessert, I tried the smoked duck and cashew butter in puff pastry drizzled with pepper jelly. I loved the dish - not too sweet, but just sweet enough to finish a lovely meal.

After a little shopping in the afternoon, we headed back to the hotel to rest. I took my book (but, unfortunately, not my camera) to the cute roof top pool and patio at our hotel. Had it been warmer, it would have been packed, I'm sure.

Dinner Saturday night was at Restaurant August. I've been writing a lot about John Besh on my blog lately. We truly love his restaurants, and our meals at August are always wonderful, but the highlight of Saturday night's meal was the half bottle of Billecart-Salmon Rose. Yes, more sparkling rose. We are obviously addicted! And I really wish I could afford to be addicted to champagne! Just read this description from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The NV Brut Rose is beautifully balanced in its layers of perfumed red fruit, berries and flowers. Clean mineral notes frame a silky, sensual finish. Billecart-Salmon’s NV Brut Rose is one of the most consistently delicious roses readers are likely to find."

As with every trip to New Orleans, I came home from this trip loving life. People there know how to live! Heh - or maybe it is all the lively places that people have to get buzzed... I don't know. But I do know that I am happy to live so close, and I can't wait to get back to try a few new places. Katie recommended Coop's Place and Pravda, and Ginger is trying Green Goddess (it looks delicious).

We don't have any trips planned for the near future. Memorial Day weekend we are visiting with Casey and Leah at Casey and Michael's home in Savannah. Then, in June we are headed back to the Smokies for kayaking classes at the NOC and some backcountry hiking on Gregory Bald. Something tells me that our Big Easy trip will tie me over.

A Weekend In New Orleans - Day 1

I took some much needed time off this past weekend. On Friday, we headed to New Orleans and ate ourselves silly! We headed back on Sunday, then on Monday I did some spring cleaning that I've been putting off.


Friday's drive to New Orleans was great! I finished reading The Quiet Game by Greg Iles, and Chip listened to music and drove. We left around 11:30 am and pulled into the Crescent City three short hours later.


I read about folks doing a French Quarter "oyster crawl" on the New Orleans Chowhound boards, and I decided we had to try it out. Our list of restaurants to try was ambitious... our plan was to stop in at each spot, have a drink, and try their signature oyster dish.


Luke: raw P&J Oysters
Antoine's: Oysters Rockefeller (the original)
Red Fish Grill: BBQ (basically an oyster fried Buffalo-style... with Crytal hot sauce and blue cheese dipping sauce)
Desire (in the Royal Sonesta): charbroiled


We walked into Luke right at three o'clock and got some great news from our server: from 3pm to 6pm oysters are 25 cents each and drinks are half-off! I immediately ordered a champagne cocktail and a dozen P&Js. We were both starving from having no lunch, so we decided to try a cup of their seafood gumbo, too. I love Luke, and I always recommend it to folks visiting New Orleans.
The restaurant is pretty, with a classic French bistro vibe (although it is much bigger than most bistros in Paris). We've only been for breakfast/brunch/lunch because there are so many other great dinner choices in the area. We have probably eaten there six or more times over the past few years, and the food has always been great. The service... well that is another story. Often slow, sometimes painfully slow. But this time it was perfect! Our server was attentive and friendly, and the timing of the meal was excellent.

Another round of drinks later, and we were ready for the next adventure: Antoine's.

We stopped by the hotel to change into nicer duds (Antoine's is a fancy place after all), and footed it over Canal Street, down Bourbon, to St. Louis Street. We entered the main dining room at around five o'clock, and it simply sparkled! From the brass chandeliers on the ceiling to the mirrors on the walls, down to the pearl-white floors. So pretty! We told the maitre d' we were looking for the Hermes Bar, and we were led to a beautiful bar across a small hallway from the main dining room. Our waiter was fantastic. He was quick and seemed happy to be serving us on a beautiful Friday evening. I had another champagne cocktail - a French '75 - and ordered the Oysters Rockefeller. The food came, we had more drinks, and we watched guests arrive for a wedding rehearsal dinner taking place in one of the fifteen dining rooms at Antoine's. Given that neither of us really liked the oysters, we somehow spent two hours in the bar. As night fell, we observed the ebb and flow of the bar's regulars on a gorgeous Friday night.

At this point, things get a little fuzzy :)

We decided we were done with eating for a while, and we wanted to listen to some music. We headed across the Quarter to d.b.a. where a band was just starting up. Yes, we headed there. And yes, we made it there. But no, we did not make it in any reasonable amount of time.

After four champagne cocktails in four hours, what can I say? I did NOT make an efficient navigator. Somehow we made it down Royal Street, across Esplanade Avenue, and right across Frenchman Street within 30 yards of the bar, and then kept going... We ended up on Elysian Fields a little drunk, laughing our butts off because somehow we ended up in the middle of a movie set. With period costumes. And mules and donkeys pulling old-timey Mardi Gras floats. Hilarious at the time! We walked right through the set while the director was on a ladder with a megaphone. I wish I'd have gotten a photo of that!

We had a round and enjoyed the band, then at nine we were starving again. I was craving the BBQ shrimp that I'd heard about from Mr. B's Bistro. Chip was up for anything, so we headed fifteen blocks or so back up Royal Street for dinner.

The atmosphere in Mr. B's was bright and exciting. New Orleans BBQ shrimp are served shell-on, swimming in the butter-laced BBQ sauce. When my BBQ shrimp arrived, they came with a bowl for the shells, a warm, damp towel so I could wash my hands after peeling them, and a paper bib. My waiter wasted no time tying that bib on me! When I picked up my fork and knife to cut the heads off, he looked at me really suspiciously and asked, "Do you know how to peel shrimp?" Apparently he thought I was going to try to peel all of them with my fork and knife. Once I explained that I was just taking the heads off with the knife, but I fully intended to peel them with my hands, he left me to it. And wow - those were the best shrimp I've ever had! Perfectly tender and the BBQ sauce is to die for. I sopped up every bit of sauce with the delicious french bread, then ended the meal with their bread pudding.

We didn't make it to all or most of our spots on the crawl, but we did have three excellent experiences on Friday. The oysters at Luke were fresh and juicy. At Antoine's, I didn't like the licorice flavor of the Oysters Rockefeller, but I loved the atmosphere. I know now that they add a little herbsaint (licorice/anise-flavored liquor) to the rockefeller topping, and I'm not a fan of that flavoring. Mr. B's BBQ shrimp lived up to the hype, and you can make them at home! The recipe is on their website.

Recipes from My New Orleans by John Besh

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave Chip and me John Besh's My New Orleans for Christmas. John Besh has many restaurants in the New Orleans area. We've been to Restaurant August two or three times, and we never miss brunch at Luke on our weekend visits to New Orleans.

Chip read My New Orleans cover to cover first, and I almost stole it away from him before he finished. As Chip was reading the cookbook, he read many of the stories and recipes from the cookbook aloud to me and would have my mouth watering every night right before bed. I probably dreamed of creole cooking for a week straight! I knew that this was going to be a cookbook I actually cooked from... unlike The French Laundry cookbook that I've ogled but have yet to try a darn recipe.

I made Besh's the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo for the NFC Championship, and it was mighty good! I left out the okra, though, because I just don’t love okra. For Chip's birthday back in October, I made Emeril's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, and it was neat to compare the two batches. I cheated on the Besh batch because I pulled the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken. For the Emeril batch, I used only thigh meat. The thigh meat was better, I think, but the recipes were really similar.

For the Super Bowl, I decided to make the Shrimp, Chicken, and Andouille Jambalaya and the Mardi Gras King Cake recipes from My New Orleans. The jambalaya was really good. It was a celebration of pork: bacon, andouille, ground pork sausage, and sliced smoked sausage. We don't eat much pork in our house, so it was definitely a treat. I used crawfish tails instead of shrimp, and that added a yummy twist.

Stirring up all that porky flavor!

I have some reservations on the King Cake recipe. The recipe said the baking temperature and time should be 375F for 30 minutes. I thought the temp was a little too high, and sure enough it turned out dry and a little too brown. I should have pulled it out of the oven earlier or baked it at 350F. Also, Besh's recipe had me sift the cinnamon and nutmeg into the flour. Next time I might try to roll out the dough, shake on some cinnamon sugar, and roll it up jellyroll-style so that there are swirls of cinnamon throughout the braids. But seriously, I can't complain too much, because with a few tweaks, it will be a showstopper. Just look at this cake!

I forgot to take photos until I had already mixed the dough, kneaded for 15 minutes (!), and let it take its first rise. And from there...

Rolling out the dough for the braid.

The recipe said equal lenghts. These looked equal enough for me!

Getting ready to braid.

The braiding begins. It was so FUN!

Braided and ready for its second rise.

Second rise done. Now it is ready for the oven!

Cooling before the icing goes on.

What do you think? Happy Mardi Gras!

Geaux Saints!

The South is exploding with pride because our Saints are in the Super Bowl! Growing up, Sundays were football days, and we always watched the Saints play. I would sit in my daddy's lap in his chair, and he would teach me all about what was going on on the field. My little brother LOVED the Saints and had a 1991 NFC West Champions t-shirt that he wore out. My high school had a "Who Dat?" cheer (insert "Arrows" for "Saints"), and it was always our favorite way to end a pep rally.

We are having a Super Bowl Party at our house, and here is the menu so far:

Guacamole (football isn't the same without it!)
Buffalo Chicken Dip (Susan says it is the Devil! Can't wait to try it!)
Shrimp, Chicken, and Andouille Jambalaya (John Besh recipe from his new book, My New Orleans. I might throw in some crawfish tails, too.)
King Cake (I'm making one from scratch, also from My New Orleans)

Peyton and the Colts may tear the Saints apart, but I'm hoping that they hang in there and play a good game. Geaux Saints!