Easter in New Jersey, 2010 April
Along the Mississippi River waterfront. This was the second stage. All kinds of free music...drinking alcohol always allowed if you use "go cups"...and many vendors so you can try local faire. On this page, we have included some recipes that define the food of New Orleans. Click to Enlarge.
Happiness...is finding the best deal of the night - a bottle of wine filled into a plastic reusable souvenir container with a French Quarter carrying strap...all for $15.00.
Near Jackson Square. I decided to buy a panama hat...thought I would set a "new standard" for style. One side benefit - no sunburn. Click to see more of the French Quarter Festival.
St. Louis Cathedral off of Jackson Square. It was the model for Disney's Castle., and is the oldest cathedral in the U.S.. On April 11th, we attended their annual Spring concert - Mozart's Requim.
2010 New Orleans
A lot has changed since our last visit in 2007. The effects of Katrina are no longer visible in the more tourist visited areas. Also, tourists have returned to the city.
Of course, no trip is without problems. We had no problem with our flight and auto rental, but we did experience problems with our timeshare rental. The problem was that RCI sent us a letter showing that we will be occupying the suite this year, but they also booked a client in our suite as well. The hotel told us to call RCI even though we owned the timeshare for this festival week. All that RCI said was, "can you get to Texas or Alabama?" At this, Elizabeth said to the tele-agent, "I'm in New Orleans."
By this time the hotel management became involved, and seeing that we were the owners, gave us our unit for the week. The "RCI Interlopers" were assigned a room that didn't have a TV.
As a side note, we ended our agreement with RCI. They should have tried to find a hotel room, at a minimum. So we no longer have to worry about losing our timeshare week in the future.
Even with this early problem, the rest of our trip was great.
The Food
New Orleans is noted for its restaurants - Creole & Cajun cooking mixed with other types of restaurants.
The first time that Elizabeth and I went to New Orleans, I told her, "there is not a bad restaurant in New Orleans...no matter where you go, the food is great." Well wouldn't you know it, the first restaurant we ate at was bad. I will say this - we have eaten at many restaurants since, and they all have been wonderful.
There are many grades of restaurants in the city, ranging from one $ to 4 $$$$s. If you want to eat at the more expensive places - eat there during lunch. Same stuff, but quite a bit less expensive. Also, some places require a sports coat (for the guys), but generally most places ar casual.
The food items on this page are the most distinctive of the food items found in New Orleans. When you're there, you do have to try out these local favorites. Are there other things that you should try? The Bread Pudding is a must, and if you like oysters, you need to try out the different ways to make an oyster delicious. Of course, you can try out the gumbo, but in our opinion, there are other things that taste better.
At the Audabon Zoo. These dinosaurs were life sized and animated. This was a predator during the Jurassic period. Click to see more of the exhibit plus the zoo.
Elizeabeth in front of "Fluerty Girl" near Tulane University. She had ordered tee shirts from here earlier, and wore several during the French Quarter festival.
One of the highlights of our visit was going to the National World War II museum. This was a phenomenal museum, and we have included several photos for viewing. Several years ago we visited the Confederate War museum, which was across the street. This was interesting as well. Click to See More
We were on the salt plains near the Tobasco Plant in New Iberia. This wildlife center was created by the McIlhenny family over 100 years ago...before it was "cool" to be green. Click to see more.
On Friday we toured the Audubon Insectarium. There is only one other Insectarium on the planet...in Montreal. One thing I learned...by weight, insects are 10 times more than humans on planet Earth. They are also among the oldest life forms on the planet. Click to see more.
We have attended this festival many times since 2001, and is one of our favorite things "to do". Click to Enlarge.
new orleans callas (fried rice cakes)
the
African women in new orleans used to sell these on the streets in 1800s
especially on sundays u can use you leftover chineese
rice
also or any leftover rice
Ingredients
6 tblsp flour
3 heaping tblsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla ex
2c cooked rice
2 eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
cooking oil
powdered sugar
Method
in bowl place flour .sugar. b.powder,salt, stir all together, add rice ,add eggs,add vanilla,nutmeg, mix until like a dough. take 2 spoons and spoon into hot oil in skillet. make into little oblong balls w/spoons. drop carefully into hot oil, they'll brown and rise to top,remove w/slotted spoon. drain on paper towels and sprinkle w/powdered sugar.
Another recipe is included below. We learned about this "treat" on this trip, and went to the "Old Coffee Pot" which is supposed to have the best Calas/Callas in New Orleans. This was suprisingly good...its not what we expected and can see why this was popular among the early New Orleans wealthy class. See Below.
Muffuletta Sandwich
Among the spectacular sucess stories there was the Central Grocery, which opened in 1906. For almost 100 years, they have served up the Muffuletta sandwich, which is right up next to the Roast Beef Po-Boy as a signature sandwiches of New Orleans.
The sandwich consists of the round loaf of crusty Italian bread, split and filled with layers of sliced Provolone cheese, Genoa salami and Cappicola ham, topped with Olive Salad: a chopped mixture of green, unstuffed olives, pimientos, celery, garlic, cocktail onions, capers, oregano, parsley, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
Po' boy
The national and international reputation of New Orleans cooking is largely based on its grand restaurants. The po' boy that has had the greatest day-to-day impact on the local diet, even in the era of modern fast food. Many people still have it at least once or twice a week--it is eaten for lunch more than any other single dish. Po' boys are made at home, sold pre-packaged in convenience stores, available at deli counters and make up a sizable percentage of the menu options at most neighborhood restaurants
Red beans and rice
Red beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine (not originally Cajun) traditionally made on Mondays with red beans, vegetables (bell pepper, onion and celery), spices (thyme, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf) and pork bones as left over from Sunday dinner, cooked together slowly in a pot and served over rice. Meats such as ham, sausage (most commonly Andouille) , and Tasso ham are also frequently used in the dish. It is an old custom from the time when ham was a Sunday meal and Monday was washday. A pot of beans could sit on the stove and simmer while the women were busy scrubbing clothes
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