bavila

Well, mine has cream cheese as the filling. But maybe it would be nice as part of the dough. Hmmm...

Thanks for all the tips! I will look for a food mill this weekend (seems like a good general thing to have around) and the books you've suggested.

I like making my own king cakes, and have done so the last few years. I've been using an Emeril recipe from the Food Network. Anyone have any favorites they can point to? I think next time I'd like to try for a more moist dough, and maybe do some kind of pecan sugary filling.

Methinks our friend Brooks is still revelling in his Carnival induced inebriation. Psst. Brooks. Read the recipe, dude. And yes, I agree, Popeye's makes excellent fair for Mardi Gras festivities. Hopefully the ones I saw closed in NO in January will open again soon.

Two months down! Here's where I stand: -Hold a crawfish boil (to double as a fundraiser for Katrina relief) in the Spring, and a tamalada in the Fall. Boil will be in May. Tamalada in November? -Join a CSA. Done. First pick up scheduled for March 24. Yay! -Corollary to above: bring kids to work on CSA's farm. soon? -Grow some kickass tomatoes. Summer, and this year from plantlings. Forget seeds. -Do some anthropological or historical food reading. Must dig through mountain of books on the bedside table and dig out Marcelle Bienvenu's Stir the Pot. -Try salsifry. This might prove to be challenging. Any suggestions on finding some? -Eat and learn to better prepare loads of veggies. I've mostly been roasting. Need to play with temps and times. Also doing some sear and steam combinations. -Raise the bar on my home cooking/ingredient purchasing across the bar. Hmmm...not much new here, except maybe organic eggs. Should look into spices from Penzey's. -Get a stand mixer!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, I am so cash poor. Don't know when this will happen. -In highchef's words, go "full circle". Visit New Orleans and inject a bit of cash into the economy. Get fed well in the meantime. Done. We only made a day trip, but spent as much as we could (leading to aforementioned cash poverty). Happy Mardi Gras all.

And I'm fairly certain that the recipe posted is a bunch of BS.

My son just downed his first jar of baby pears (oatmeal was not so well-received), and I'm thinking about making my own baby food as he advances to stuff with a bit of texture. I know general stuff -- like don't add salt or sugar or honey. Any tips on storage or cooking methods? Thanks Bridget

Oh crap! I totally forgot about this on Sunday. Oh well. One can hope for reruns, right? Was there any indication as to whether the show was taped pre or post Katrina?

When I first waited tables, I found it counterproductive to write down orders for tables of 4 or fewer guests. Usually 5 or beyond, I'd write it down just to be safe. The second restaurant I waited in REQUIRED servers to write orders (in specific code) on tickets that physically went back to the kitchen and stayed with the order until it left the kitchen. I don't really care if the server writes my order or not, as long as they get it right.

I'm still in the mostly simple and casual category for entertaining. I think basic principles are to plan thoroughly ahead of time (menu, timing, groceries, placement of dishes, etc), and then have fun at the event. I definitely try new dishes on guests, but not new cooking skills. I often assign little last minute tasks to the first couple of guests to get things going (putting out a centerpiece, putting on some music, etc.), but try not to depend on others' "help". Especially for newbies, I'd say worry less about complicated menus and concentrate on good food and drink. Always have water available for guests (bottles or in a pitcher) so they don't have to ask for it or fiddle with the kitchen sink or fridge spigot. Kids always present a challenge for me. My guests are often young families, some with kids who are accustomed to crap I refuse to serve. I try to meet them half way -- serve chocolate milk instead of juice boxes, and include items in the spread that aren't blatantly kid food but still kid friendly -- fruit, cheese and pretzels. Ditch the paper plates and napkins. Even burgers and dogs deserve a real plate.

Just an update... Rockfish (in Eastport) has become one of our new favorites. Nice seafood dishes (rockfish, of course), and a freakin' awesome burger. The have pretty good apps too. We've gone for just apps for dinner on a weeknight -- crab fritters and calamari with chili aioli are faves. We were also quite happy to see that they were open for brunch on Sunday, with live jazz. The bar is quite the happening scene for happy hour too. It will be great when/if they get their rooftop deck open. We went to Sputnik Cafe (in Crownsville) last night for the first time, and while I loved the food (lumpia to start, duck enchiladas and grilled swordfish with coconut sticky rice for entrees) the rest was lacking. Granted, most of my disappointment was that the atmosphere was just not kid-friendly (metal legged chairs on ceramic tile floors, ridiculously small melamine table tops with precariously styled dishes and barware sliding everywhere, and a large rather in-your-face full frontally nude painting of a woman with a definite s&m undertone). We'd go again for the food, but not with the kids -- just too much trouble. Also, the service was off. Friendly enough, but slow and I never got a salad I ordered. Maybe it was a bad night for the front of the house.

Did she really do that? Awesome! Without getting into the oft-assumed but rarely-examined "corporate=bad" train of thought, I'll play devil's advocate and say that bringing store-bought items to share can still reflect cultural differences. For example, my huband had plenty of jariscos growing up, whereas I didn't see them until my twenties. I had Hubig pies in my homestead, and I'd be willing to bet that many of you have yet to meet one of those tasty treats. As for the cooking at school idea, I've seen this done in a preschool that was part of a synagogue with an industrial kitchen. The kids would make jelly donuts and latkes for the high holidays. Now what about edible schoolyards? Any health inspectors poking around the tomato plants?

Well, store bought goodies could include things like fruit and yogurt. My daughter's school has a similar policy, but allows home-baked goods for birthdays. I think such policies can spring from many issues, not just questions of sanitation. Allergies, avoiding too many sweets from overzealous cupcake bakers, etc. Another tack might be to suggest the school incorporate the cost of snacks into tuition and not ask parents to provide them. I think we need chrisamerault to weigh in.

I couldn't stay awake for the judging portion of Iron Chef (Batali v Murphy), but oh my, was I drooling over their entries. Red curry crawfish, crawfish and goat cheese pepper (didn't catch which kind -- not jalapenos) poppers, a Thai crawfish concoction over cucumber "noodles". I'm bumming that Food Network doesn't post any recipes for Iron Chef.

Today was yoga, so I didn't have to worry too much about the whole jumping-up-and-down-icky-tummy-or-cramps. Breakfast was about 7 -- coffee, cottage cheese and raspberries. Pre-workout snack was 9 or 9:30 -- carrots, celery, and peanut butter. Yoga 10:30-12, post-workout snack was a small gala apple and some cashews. (By the way, I pray that I never have a child who's allergic to nuts. They are such a staple at our house!) Lunch was 1:30 -- tossed greens with turkey, cheddar, and sunflower seeds. On days when I don't think timing will work well for me to have a snack between breakfast and workout, I opt for eggs or something more substantial. Hydrating all the way, a bit at a time. When I was pregnant with my 5mo son, I started drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning, before coffee. This seems to be a good practice. So I guess the basic idea is some combination of protein and complex carbs, and it doesn't have to be a lot. My pre-workout snack was just 2 celery sticks, 2 carrot sticks and a tablespoon or so of pb. I'm wary of the protein shakes sold at my gym. The flavorings are pretty sugary. They're also expensive -- $3 or $4 each. I consider them an almost-meal replacement.

March 2006 Atlantic Monthly (You may need subscriber status to read online.) Open for Business A post-Katrina visit to the restaurants of New Orleans, where eating out has become essential group therapy

Thank you to whoever merged my topic... I'm not so much concerned about the "why" of hoarding (that's the word I should have searched with!), but what people who care about food would choose from the non-perishable items. I'm thinking roasted red peppers, good tuna, some of my mom's canned pears and tomatoes. If there's no electricity -- maybe plenty of charcoal to use up a freezerful of meat? Maybe Bubblehead Chef could weigh in with some good shelf-stable ideas.

Part of me thinks the warnings of government officials to prepare a 3-month supply of food in case of pandemic flu is a little silly. On the other hand, I just read in the Tulane alumni magazine of the university president's breaking into every building on campus that had food in order to feed the skeleton staff stranded on campus in the first few days after Katrina's flooding. The website www.pandemicflu.gov offers these suggestions for what to have on hand: Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, vegetables, and soups Protein or fruit bars Dry cereal or granola Peanut butter or nuts Dried fruit Crackers Canned juices Bottled water Canned or jarred baby food and formula Pet food Normally I don't put "non-perishable foods" and "eating well" in the same sentence. But I figure it's worth a try. So tell me eGulleters, if you were holed up for three months, what would you want to have on hand?

Try the mail order thread for advice on ordering.

Hey y'all, just wanted to follow up now that I'm back home. First, let me apologize for not taking many food pics. I'd be a horrible blogger. And yes, I will blame my two small children in large part. The breakfast feast at my friend's mother's house was yummy. The highlights were her homegrown satsumas: We brought about a dozen home. Should have brought more. and cheese biscuits: Sarah's cheese biscuits are legendary in our little circle of friends. Whenever we had sleepovers she'd make these for our breakfast. What kills me is that she makes them with Pioneer biscuit mix. Maybe all the cheddar disguises the fact that it's a mix. She gave me the parfait glass with which she used to cut the biscuits until her son dropped and and broke the bottom of the glass. Sarah reports that when the glass fell, I cursed her son for not respecting the biscuit cutter. The fare at the wedding was standard Catholic Cajun fare. Boudin balls, roast beef, open bar. Nothing to exciting, and not a single crudite in sight. I found that a bit strange. The cakes were AWESOME though. My cousin (mother of the bride) couldn't remember the name of the baker, but I'm pretty sure it must have been Mrs. Short (Kathleen?). There was THE cake plus about 8 other cakes, I suppose in lieu of a single groom's cake. Tres leches, coconut, red velvet, carrot, and others I don't recall. The red velvet was hands down the best I've ever had. The others were excellent too. Only drawback was that they were so moist that they were difficult to serve. On Sunday, we headed to Baton Rouge to meet up with friends. At lunch we met another family at The Chimes East (The Chimes near LSU just opened a new store on Coursey -- much bigger and much more of a "family" restaurant than the original.) I was disappointed in my order -- grilled amberjack with crawfish bearnaise sauce. The crawfish were mealy and the sauce was obviously made to far ahead. I would have prefered the fish by itself. My parents had said that they wanted to take treat us to a restaurant of our choosing. My dad has a very narrow view of what makes a good restaurant, so I suggested that my parents choose between Zea (one of their suggestions) and Guama's. They chose Zea, apparently a local chain focusing on rotisserie items. If I had to choose a chain, Zea would likely get my vote. This was not cutting edge cuisine, but a simply solid menu and ambience that will appeal to a wide audience. I had a very nice spinach salad and redfish with a nice topping of shrimp etoufee. Sides were collard greens and roasted corn grits. Nice. This was my best seafood entree the whole trip. Thursday night we went to Cafe des Amis where one of the chefs is a friend of a friend. Turned out he wasn't there, even though we'd coordinated to go on one of his work nights. Bummer. The apps outshone the entrees that night. The chef sent out pecan encrusted shrimp with Turbo (Abita beer) butter sauce. We also ordered the crab cheesecake, which was more on the quiche side of a cheesecake, but quite good. (side note -- anyone have suggestions for serving savory cheesecake as an hors d'oeuvre? -- is a fork required?) The BBQ shrimp was the best entree. Nice big gulf shrimp and a thick brown sauce, french bread toast points. We also had crawfish fettucine (mediocre) and drum topped with a crab/crawfish sauce (again, the sauce was disappointing, and the fish was fishy.) The white chocolate bread pudding rocked. They get points for decor and ambiance -- lots of cool folk art. And the antique bar was at the Hotel Evangeline in Lafayette -- where my parents first met 40+ years ago. I knew I wanted some killer biscuits before we left town, but felt like Dwyer's would have been too much of a production for us. So on Friday morning we had breakfast at Edie's Express at Bendel Gardens. We ordered the $3 platter with 3 eggs, sausage/bacon, and a biscuit, and the biscuits stole the show, of course. Absolutely gorgeous and feather light. We never made it to Poupart's but my dad did pick up a baguette for dinner on Friday night. One of my last carb splurges before coming home. Speaking of carb splurge, a family friend brought over some homegrown lemons with which I made some killer lemon bars. The two remaining lemons are in my fridge. The other treat we brought home was some olive salad from Cedar Grocery. Totally forgot about going to Central Grocery when we were in NO. Ooops!

I think I need to banish myself from this thread before I lose the itch I've recently had to start spring cleaning.

More satsuma pics from my trip to Lousiana last week. The table's set for breakfast: But who can wait for breakfast?

This reminds me of what we call our kids -- the MexiCajuns. Shouldn't be hard to market that and start the chains across the country. Tio Boudreaux's? Zydeco Salsa? Why hasn't this happened already?

We had lunch at Taqueria Corona on Tuesday, and there was a large table of Mexican construction workers there. When they asked for the check, the waitress informed them that it had been taken care of by another diner to say thank you. Pretty cool.

Yeah, we were there last night. Good crowd, too. The front room (bar side) was full at like 5:30, 6:00, and I guess we got the last table in the back -- which was lucky since we were two families of four. I got the rabbit sausage gumbo (even better than mine, damn!) and grilled duck breast. The duck was great, and served with greens seasoned with dill, I'm pretty sure -- forgot to ask. I loved it. The kitchen was jammin, too. Looked like they were havin a good ole time.