My SIL sent me the link to this you tube video. It's actually a clip from a Tennessee news station where they are warning the general public of this new, and very scary way of breaking into buildings. I hope for the safety of yourself and your loved ones that you take a few minutes to watch and pass this along!
Lock Bumping
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
New Orleans Food
I found an article today on CNN.com titled "New Orleans: The food that got them through". While some of the article, in my opinion, was a bit much (or in some parts not enough) there were two parts that stood out.
"People in New Orleans are passionate preservationists of their city's food history, for it is a massive part of what has sustained them. Coming in as a first time visitor, it's impossible not to notice in the structures and the statements: every event is couched as "before the storm" and "after the storm." Bustling new eateries – more than 300 of them established in the past five years – abut grand dining halls that have served up pommes soufflé, Oysters Rockefeller and shrimp remoulade for over a century.
Tooker refers to these restaurants – Galatoire's, Arnaud's, Antoine's and the like – as "living food museums." Says she, "In France, they'd forgotten about some of these dishes. They're oddities. We'd never stopped making them."
She continued, "The average New Orleanian is only happy if she walks into one of these places and the Trout Meuniere and ideally even the waiter are the same as when she used to come in with her grandmother. Everything has to remain the same. You end up with a perfectly preserved food culture.""
Isn't that the truth!!! I've thought about it time and time again...other states and cities get hit with hurricanes all the time and for the most part, they clean up, rebuild, move on. The change for them is welcome because as we all know when it comes to the business of tourists, the newest and best is almost always what they are after. But for New Orleans and those of us who love that area, familiarity and comfort are what we love best. Katrina changed everything there...except for the fact that we love to eat.
The only thing that makes me sad here is that, unlike what the article states, many, many, many recipes, techniques and teachers of old New Orleans cooking are gone. Convenience and speed are the names of the game now and any good southern cook knows that neither of those are a part of those old recipes. :-)
On a side note, there was another part of the article that made me laugh quite a lot. I can STILL remember the look exchanged between my mom and dad whenever I'd get the baby out of the king cake. Apparently there are some New Orleans traditions that will never change. ;-)
"On Fridays between Twelfth Night and Fat Tuesday, no matter the secular or non-secular nature of a school, often there will be King Cake. Children learn to bite down gently so as not to chip a tooth on the small baby figure that may or may not be baked into their slice. The lucky recipient of the baby is crowned as royalty for the day and bears his or her prize home proudly to parents who might be less enthused; they're on the hook for providing the next week's King Cake."
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/02/16/new-orleans-the-food-that-got-them-through/?hpt=C1
"People in New Orleans are passionate preservationists of their city's food history, for it is a massive part of what has sustained them. Coming in as a first time visitor, it's impossible not to notice in the structures and the statements: every event is couched as "before the storm" and "after the storm." Bustling new eateries – more than 300 of them established in the past five years – abut grand dining halls that have served up pommes soufflé, Oysters Rockefeller and shrimp remoulade for over a century.
Tooker refers to these restaurants – Galatoire's, Arnaud's, Antoine's and the like – as "living food museums." Says she, "In France, they'd forgotten about some of these dishes. They're oddities. We'd never stopped making them."
She continued, "The average New Orleanian is only happy if she walks into one of these places and the Trout Meuniere and ideally even the waiter are the same as when she used to come in with her grandmother. Everything has to remain the same. You end up with a perfectly preserved food culture.""
Isn't that the truth!!! I've thought about it time and time again...other states and cities get hit with hurricanes all the time and for the most part, they clean up, rebuild, move on. The change for them is welcome because as we all know when it comes to the business of tourists, the newest and best is almost always what they are after. But for New Orleans and those of us who love that area, familiarity and comfort are what we love best. Katrina changed everything there...except for the fact that we love to eat.
The only thing that makes me sad here is that, unlike what the article states, many, many, many recipes, techniques and teachers of old New Orleans cooking are gone. Convenience and speed are the names of the game now and any good southern cook knows that neither of those are a part of those old recipes. :-)
On a side note, there was another part of the article that made me laugh quite a lot. I can STILL remember the look exchanged between my mom and dad whenever I'd get the baby out of the king cake. Apparently there are some New Orleans traditions that will never change. ;-)
"On Fridays between Twelfth Night and Fat Tuesday, no matter the secular or non-secular nature of a school, often there will be King Cake. Children learn to bite down gently so as not to chip a tooth on the small baby figure that may or may not be baked into their slice. The lucky recipient of the baby is crowned as royalty for the day and bears his or her prize home proudly to parents who might be less enthused; they're on the hook for providing the next week's King Cake."
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/02/16/new-orleans-the-food-that-got-them-through/?hpt=C1
Thursday, February 3, 2011
I thought you only had to do this with kids??
So we are currently near the end of day 3 of being iced in our house. Most of the nation got snowed in, but we got ice, with just enough snow on top to 1.) make it look pretty and 2.) cause people to believe they could drive on this stuff.
Well when we adopted Spencer last January we quickly learned that he does NOT like going out into the rain or snow. We'd have to lock him in the back yard (block the doggie door so he couldn't come back in) for a few minutes until he realized he wasn't coming in until he did his business. Well that's been all fine and dandy thus far, but then again, we've never had ice stick around this long.
At first Spencer just held it. And held it. And held it. That first night he ended up going in the house. :-( So we decided that he would again have to be locked out for a few minutes each day until he went potty. He quickly decided, "If I don't eat and I only drink a little, I won't have to go out very often!". So for days now the dog has been surviving on the random scrap of people food and the occasional treat that he's gotten. Tonight however, I realized that he's lost his chunk. Last winter and this, as soon as the cold weather was here to stay, Spencer went on an eating binge and put on some extra weight. It's only been half a pound each winter, but when you only weigh 12.5 lbs to begin with, that's a lot. He gets fat rolls and everything! So when noticed that the fat rolls were disappearing I knew he had to eat. So, I did what any good mommy would do. I tricked my "kid" into eating what's good for him. :-)
I refilled his food bowl and drizzled a couple tablespoons full of the juice from the brisket I currently have in the crock pot. :-) Just to make sure and seal the deal, I took a small piece of fat from the brisket, minced it up and mixed it in his food as well. It was just enough juice to coat it and more than enough that Spencer fell for it and has FINALLY eaten a full bowl of dog food. :-D
My mom told me a long time ago that this dog was sent to me as training for when I have a child. Hmm, from her mouth to God's ears I guess...LOL
Well when we adopted Spencer last January we quickly learned that he does NOT like going out into the rain or snow. We'd have to lock him in the back yard (block the doggie door so he couldn't come back in) for a few minutes until he realized he wasn't coming in until he did his business. Well that's been all fine and dandy thus far, but then again, we've never had ice stick around this long.
At first Spencer just held it. And held it. And held it. That first night he ended up going in the house. :-( So we decided that he would again have to be locked out for a few minutes each day until he went potty. He quickly decided, "If I don't eat and I only drink a little, I won't have to go out very often!". So for days now the dog has been surviving on the random scrap of people food and the occasional treat that he's gotten. Tonight however, I realized that he's lost his chunk. Last winter and this, as soon as the cold weather was here to stay, Spencer went on an eating binge and put on some extra weight. It's only been half a pound each winter, but when you only weigh 12.5 lbs to begin with, that's a lot. He gets fat rolls and everything! So when noticed that the fat rolls were disappearing I knew he had to eat. So, I did what any good mommy would do. I tricked my "kid" into eating what's good for him. :-)
I refilled his food bowl and drizzled a couple tablespoons full of the juice from the brisket I currently have in the crock pot. :-) Just to make sure and seal the deal, I took a small piece of fat from the brisket, minced it up and mixed it in his food as well. It was just enough juice to coat it and more than enough that Spencer fell for it and has FINALLY eaten a full bowl of dog food. :-D
My mom told me a long time ago that this dog was sent to me as training for when I have a child. Hmm, from her mouth to God's ears I guess...LOL
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