The meal began with a Cajun-spiced Bloody Mary. And it just kept getting better. It was the first rain-free interlude during our mostly water-logged family vacation to New Orleans this spring. Day after day of downpour, triggering memories of those 100% humidity bad hair days that were a fact of life for all of us […]
Sunday Night at Galatoire’s
Years ago, on a crowded night in the French Quarter, we had no reservations for dinner and seemingly no prospects of eating anything worthwhile, having been firmly rebuffed by every hostess desk within walking distance of our hotel. All, that is, except for Galatoire’s. With its “no reservations” policy for the downstairs dining room (and […]
Delicious Detours: You Want to Eat at Guy’s
You do want to eat lunch at Guy’s Oyster Bar in downtown Amite, Louisiana. When you are heading north on I-55 from around Hammond, Louisiana, not long before you reach the Mississippi border, look for the Amite exit. Yes, Guy’s is a bar, and it’s a little dark in there, and there are die-hard patrons […]
Delicious Detours: Destination Boudin
Traveling the dreaded I-10, from Baton Rouge to Houston, my family knows what to expect: like forcing an elephant through a drinking straw, it often seems the entirety of the Gulf Coastal U.S. is trying to get over the Mississippi River Bridge at the same time as I am. This is the usual state of […]
Friday Night Maque Choux
Mild days and cool nights. Our hybrid summer/fall weather this month has been glorious. So on a crisp Friday night, what better way to enjoy the last of the Texas summer sweet corn than with a transitional dish that showcases the freshness of local corn—an easy shrimp maque choux stew. This is a heartier, richer […]
Summer Salads, Creole Style, Courtesy of Chef Johnny Schulze
The summer doldrums of late July have hit–I can’t stand the heat, and I want to get out of the kitchen! You would think with the extra hours of daylight in the evenings, I would be inspired to dive into some of those really involved recipes that are waiting for me in my recipe file. (No, […]
Baby, You’re So Classic
It’s lunchtime, and I am driving the I-55 overpass in southeast Louisiana, between LaPlace and Hammond. Lake Maurepas is below me, old fish camps on slender stilts and moss-covered cypress trees dot the sparkling noonday water–a gorgeous, classic Louisiana photo-op, if you are willing to risk your life and pull over to snap a picture […]
Delicious Detours: Getting Our Fill of Old School, Cooked Down Goodness at Glenda’s Creole Kitchen
When you are preparing for a road trip, are you the kind of person who leaves the packing until the morning of, instead spending a week in advance weighing the strategic options for finding the quintessential food experience along your chosen route? The place only the locals know about, the one at the epicenter of […]
Strawberry Fields Forever
Last month my dad drove in from Louisiana with a special surprise for me–a flat of Louisiana strawberries! I call them “small batch” strawberries, because they mostly come from family farms that have been growing strawberries for generations. Unlike the jumbo berries you buy in the produce department at H-E-B and Kroger that are super […]
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