No I don't speak French, but we had a Louisiana bayou Christmas this year. And that's Cajun (well, French) for "Merry Christmas and Let the good times roll!" See my Mom was born and raised with deep Louisiana roots down in Baton Rouge.
After fleeing the shin-high snow in MN we flew to the ATL to see his parents and family before joining mine in New Orleans and Baton Rouge for a few days. See my family loves N'awlins- the food, the attitude, the casino, etc, but especially the food and especially the French Quarter. Mom planned out our 2 and a half days around consuming some of the best seafood in the Gulf or really anywhere.
First was dinner at Mr. B's Bistro and then Pat O's in the Quarter. Mr. B's was maybe one of the best meals I'd eaten in all of 2010. Seriously. Mom, Courtney and I all got the Revellion menu- a special New Orleans Christmas tradition. It's a menu that's prixe fixe and supposedly the best they've got. Andrew got the tasty and addicting New Orleans barbecue shrimp. Don't think grill or BBQ sauce. Think deep, buttery, flavorful seafood broth with perfectly cooked and ready to peel shrimp. I had the scallops and red fish with butter sauce and some amazing gumbo (both seafood and ya-ya) complete with my personal favorite pecan pie.
Andrew and I at Pat O'Brien's
Then we woke up to Cafe du Monde with some cafe au lait and bignetes and the unavoidable powdered-sugar-covered fingers. We then headed over the the N.O. School of Cooking that Mom booked for us- we watched them cook (and then we ate) crab and corn bisque, shrimp creole, bread pudding and amazing pralines. Pecan pralines. That's "pa-caan praw-leens" in Louisiana- none of that "pee-can pray-leens" stuff.
The cooking school in the French Quarter
Watching the chef make the bisque...
and cooling some pralines
Anyway we hoped on the trolley after waking around Jackson Square, visiting the old French Market, and stopping by Harrah's Casino. (Please note: I proudly walked out of there with the same $10 I went in with. It was my first encounter with a slot machine and I battled it back to break even!) We headed to Brigtsen's for dinner past Uptown and the Garden district. Another great Revellion menu and delicious dinner.
A quick glimpse of a trolley at Lee's Circle
Before heading to see my family and stay at Grandma's in Baton Rouge, we stopped for brunch with some great friends of ours who've grown up in N'awlins their whole lives. It was great to see such sweet friends.
It was Christmas Eve and Mom had made her gumbo (chicken and sausage) that's always good and Grandma (and Court) whipped up some of her famous chicken and dumplings. Those are my comfort foods. I've never tried to make either on my own for fear that I'd be dissatisfied with every bite compared to theirs!
Andrew and I headed back to N. O. since we were flying out of there and spent the day back at Cafe du Monde, mufaletta lunch at the favorite Cafe Maspero's, and topped it off with dinner at Felix's Oyster House (a family favorite for oysters). In between all that eating we managed to walk a lot, window shop, see the a Katrina exhibit near St. Louis Cathedral, and a 4-D movie at the WW2 History Museum. Hubby loved it!
The gorgeous sky on our walk back from the movie to our hotel- Lee's Circle again
Anyway, we're back on a plane heading home with snow covered everything out the windows.
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