Brunch in Arnaudville -- and pictures from the passenger side

Somehow I managed to turn this post into a draft or I never published it. Either is a possibility. So I'm publishing it (again?) just so it's recorded. Wish I knew what I did....
Last Sunday we drove down to Arnaudville, Louisiana, to meet Rory and Meggan for brunch at a cafe called "Little Big Cup." The food is amazing! If you're ever in the Lafayette area along I10, it is THE place to eat. It's my second time eating here, and I've been impressed both times. 

Really, make reservations and go! In addition to the food, the atmosphere is fantastic and the restaurant is right on Bayou Teche. There's an outdoor eating area where diners can clamor down the patio steps and eat right on the water's edge. I recommend spring or late fall for alfresco dining. Ask for the etoufee: it is the official festival of Arnaudville.

The rest of this post is about the town. It's relatively typical of South Louisiana towns, but pretty in it's own way. I put my window down and grabbed a few pictures from the air conditioned passenger side. It's too hot to go out-of-doors. It's almost too hot to put the window down! 

Bayou Teche and Bayou Fusilier intersect giving one many places for photo opportunities. And, speaking of opportunities, this is a great place for a swamp or bayou tour. Eavesdrop on the locals and you'll likely hear some Cajun French. It's also a great place to hear zydeco music.

Enjoy Arnaudville, Louisiana.    

The front (top) and back (bottom)
of the old gin still in use.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Remember that catchy, positive, very happy song from The Sound of Music? Julie Andrews sang it in the movie. 



More recently Lorrie Morgan recorded it on a Christmas album. It's my favorite version and also the one I heard earlier, which got me to thinking. Here's the youtube.com video:

And my list, in alpha order, because that's how I roll. Likely there are some missing favorites, but most of the important ones and a few silly ones are here.

Catholicism. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. In my mind being Catholic is the way to live and die. Gratefully, I am a cradle Catholic. (My parents made it easy.)


comfortable tees and shorts. 

Cotton and Candy and Little Little. Our puppies. Spoiled yappers they are. Sweet and funny. Cranky old man Cotton--not so much, but he makes up for it by keeping my feet warm. 

Hello, diet Dr. Pepper. It's the one drink I really, really like the taste of. I also like sweet tea (I am from the South) and I drink water but not necessarily because I like the taste.

favorite jeans in winter. They're too hot for Louisiana summers.




French speaking Cajuns. I love to eavesdrop (I know!) on French conversations and listen to the cadence and rhythm, pick out the words and meanings. 


fruit and veggies. Any of 'em. All of 'em. Freshly cooked. Raw. Canned. Frozen. Doesn't matter. Still like 'em.

the grands. Playing kisses or giggles. Snuggling. Talking. Hugging. All seven of the little (and big) stinkers! 


reading. books. magazines. long descriptive sentences. words. reading and rereading parts of my favorite books. words and words and words. all jumbled and jammed together and filling pages and paragraphs and books. books. yeah, books.

parents of the grands. I birthed half of them and they did give me the grands.


Richard. First. Last. Always. Forever.

sewing and quilting. Whether it's making summer shorts for the grands or repairing something for a friend, I am all in! And quilting? All of it, from choosing the fabric to sewing on the binding and label and everything in between. 


school breaks. Who doesn't?

sisters. All seven. Angie, Courtney, Laura, Sid, Reese, Lee, Jeanne. What a wild childhood we had. Filled with lots of love from lots of sisters. (No, no brothers.)

teaching. Teaching English. Not grading papers so much. Getting to know students. Seeing that "light bulb" moment of understanding. Explaining a concept five different ways. The challenge of figuring out that one kid that no one gets. 

walking on vacation. Even though I'm sadly out of shape, we walk a great deal on vacation. We bike. We climb steps, slowly. We hold hands and walk on the edge of lakes, streams, oceans.  

What are your favorite things? Do you have a list? 

Close to Home

What is the protocol

   one might ask.

What is the appropriate response

   everyone needs to know.

What does one say

  when no words can answer.

Impossible to reason

discern

moderate

There are actions

occurrences that do not happen here

where life is laughter and clinking glasses.

Slow paced Alacrity

does not move with fervor

where bayous ramble deep and wide and slow.

A loner who is not alone

has powers unspeakable

when turned on others.

Apathy converts with vigor

furnishing Acrimony and Fear

like snakes threading their way into steely hearts.

Emotions overwhelm

dripping Confusion

like Spanish moss-covered oaks

blackened with aged lichen.

A new pestilence on the city

one loner is a loner still

among people who wade through waters

deep in culture and belief and hope.

No loner has power

over the lives of a people   

whose stories are swamped in Heritage

of exile and transcendence.

Like Evangeline waiting in the forest primeval

Austerity sits for time  

though abnegation occurs not.

              In response to the Lafayette shooting on July 23, 2015

Swampin' Again

We did it again!  Two of my sisters and I went back to Lake Martin (post here) in Breaux Bridge to Cajun Country Swamp Tours for a two hour tour of Louisiana's beautiful swampland.   Although we went just last summer, we enjoyed the tour very much and saw some different areas of the lake.  For example, today we saw an alligator nest but missed the wasp area.  

The best part of the trip is being able to spend some time with my sisters.  We don't get to see enough of each other, so this weekend has been fantastic.

If I were to choose the part of the tour that is my favorite, I'd have to say the lotus flowers.

They are beautiful and smell wonderful.  The sweet scent lightly waifs into the boat adding another dimension to the beauty of the swamp.  

And they are everywhere.  Lily pads and white flowers dot the open water and there seem to be hundreds of them in an area.  

I was surprised to learn that the young leaves are edible and can be cooked like cabbage.  The seed are also edible, but I didn't try tasting any of it.

I picked a seedpod and opened it to see what the seed look like, but I wasn't so brave as to eat one.  The pod was brown and dry, and the tour guide said that those need to be cooked, like dry beans.  We didn't get close enough to a green one, but I wouldn't have eaten one anyway.

Who wants to get sick in a boat in the middle of a swamp?  Not me. And while I wasn't really worried that the seed would get me sick, I didn't know for certain and I surely do not want to tempt fate!

Angie and Laura would not take me on another adventure if I did such a goofy thing.  Besides we do enough goofy things just being ourselves. 

Jambalaya Recipe

As Louisianans we are lucky to have a few "home-grown" products that are easily purchased.  Many of them are a vital part of our Cajun culture.   


Because we love our Cajun foods and traditions, we tend to build product lines around them.  It would be difficult to name all the Cajun food product lines, but there are a few that I especially enjoy:  Richard's meats, Tony Chachere's seasonings, Community coffee, Savoie's roux, Steen's syrup, Tobasco hot sauces, and Zatarain's seafood boil.

While I've mentioned some specific items, the businesses sell many, many different items in addition to these.  Plus, for every business there's a whole line of tee shirts, caps, bumper stickers and other items that cater to our huge tourism market. 

Louisiana Jambalaya
1/4 pound each--smoked sausage, tasso, bacon, smoked ham cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 pound chicken, deboned and cut into bite-size
               pieces(may substitute with pork or beef)
Slap Ya Mama seasoning
2 tablespoons Savoie's roux
1/4 cup each--onions, bell pepper, celery
1 clove garlic
3 cups rice
3 tablespoons oil
6 cups water

Heat oil in deep Dutch oven, add chicken and brown, remove chicken to platter.  Cook bacon in Dutch oven until crispy, and remove to meat platter. Pour out excess fat reserving 2 tablespoons, add sausage and brown lightly, add vegetables and saute until onions are clear.  Return meat to pot, adding remaining meats, stir.  Add 1/2 water and heat to boiling.  Stir in roux, rice, seasoning, and remaining water.  Mix well and bring to boil.  Cover with lid and lower heat to slow simmer.  Cook 30-45 minutes until rice is completely cooked.  Serve while hot.

Serves 8.  Freezes well in zip-top bags and can be reheated in microwave.

Crawfish!

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Seafood/CrawfishBoil.htm

Here in Louisiana crawfish are a wonderful opportunity for family, friends, and food--our favorite things for keeping tradition alive.  Our favorite way to eat crawfish is boiled, but we also enjoy them fried, in an ettouffe gravy, in crawfish Couvillion, and in poboys.  Yes, we love our crawfish!


I'm posting about crawfish because I've had the pleasure of enjoying boiled crawfish two nights in a row.  What a weekend!  Last night we had a wonderful time with some friends from work.  Laughing, telling stories and boiling crawfish.

http://stacyburkhartphotography.weebly.com

Tonight Rich and I had the kids over for......yea, crawfish!  We definitely taught our children the importance of Cajun traditions because our sons can boil a sack of crawfish!  Really, they were perfect!  Exactly enough seasoning with corn, potatoes, mushrooms and onions as sides.
What a fabulous weekend..... and there's still another day left!

Gumbo Cookoff and Family Fun

Sid's Seafood Gumbo

Last night was our family gumbo cookoff that I mentioned in my last post.  It would be almost impossible to choose a winner, which of course we never do.  We've agreed to call these get-togethers "cook-offs" just to add a friendly competition to the cooking part.  

Lee's Gog Gumbo

Here in Louisiana we rarely get more than two people together and NOT have a meal.  It's just part of our culture.  And while it may be a mostly unhealthy part, we choose to hang on to that tradition.  After all, families have to eat, and getting together is way more fun when there's traditional (fattening) foods involved.

Angie's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

In the end, I have pictures but no clear winner.  We laughed about the first empty pot being declared the winner, but that would discourage making plenty, and when 30+ folks gather, there needs to be plenty of food!  Almost everyone chose to take a bit from each pot and mix it in the same bowl.  That's a way to bow out of the voting and not declare a favorite.

Lee's Pralines

I must admit that they were all delicious, but you know me and sweets, right?  The very best dish was the pile of pralines that Lee brought over.  Sweet, gooey goodness with pecans--it doesn't get much better!


Here's wishing you a Happy New Year of health and happiness.
Happy Quilting,
Mary

Crawfish Etouffe

Crawfish Etouffe photo from Emeril Lagasse website

In Louisiana many people eat crawfish and consider it a wonderful delicacy.  My family prefers them boiled with potatoes, onions, mushrooms and corn.  However, we also eat them fried, especially on French bread as  Po'boys piled high with tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, mayo, ketchup and mustard.  And when we want crawfish when company is on the way, we mix up a pot of  etouffe.   On Friday I used four pounds of crawfish to feed about 12 people, but we're big eaters when crawfish is on the menu!  My sister and her girls came for a visit last week.  Since we're Catholics and this is the Lenten season, I had to find something other than meat to cook for supper.  Laura suggested crawfish because it's not a food they get very often in Tennessee.


To make the etouffe, I generally use a huge Dutch oven made of cast iron.  It holds what seems like a ton of gravy, browns my seasoning well, and heats evenly.  The following is my version of crawfish etouffe but uses only one pound of crawfish tails which serves four.  At the end of the recipe I have added other uses for crawfish etouffe.  Afterall, once you master the art of making etouffe, you'll love the dish so much you'll want to wow your friends with it often.


Crawfish Etouffe

1/4 cup oil or butter

one medium onion (1 cup chopped)
two stalks celery (1/2 cup chopped)
one medium bell pepper (1/2 cup chopped)

1/3 cup plain flour

one can Rotel tomatoes
2 cups water
one pound Louisiana crawfish tails (peeled and deveined)
salt and pepper to taste


In a heavy pot, heat the oil on medium heat and saute the onion, celery, and bell pepper until just wilted.  Add the flour and brown until the vegetables are well sauted.  Add tomaotes and cook down, stirring continuously so they do not burn.  Add the water, salt and pepper.  Allow to simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes to make a gravy.  Finally add the crawfish and simmer for 15 minutes.  Serve over rice.

boiled crawfish photo from pdphoto.org

We generally eat crawfish etouffe over rice the way we eat rice and chicken gravy or beef gravy or whatever gravy.  However, in Louisiana we love our crawfish etouffe so much that we've experimented with other ways to eat it.  If you're not on a diet, you might fry up some catfish, place a few strips on the plate and smother it with etouffe.  Talk about delish!  


We also like crawfish dip, which is essentially etouffe cooked down.  I generally use smaller crawfish for dip or chop the larger ones so that the dip is more consistently thick.  We love buttery crackers with our dip, but chips and other crackers work also.  


Crawfish etouffe mixed in with cornbread is very good.  Simply crumble the cornbread and use it the way you would rice.  And of course, there are many ways to use crawfish etouffe with pasta, but if you simply boil the pasta and drain, then mix it in with the etouffe, you'll have a fast, easy pasta dish.  Simply keep the pasta and etouffe warm on the stove top for about 10 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the juices from the crawfish.  


If you haven't tried eating crawfish in the past, you might want to consider purchasing peeled, deveined tails from the freezer section of the grocery store.  Boiled crawfish can be a bit intimidating.  They aren't the prettiest plate of food when compared to, say baked turkey or roast leg of lamb.  But they are just as delicious and once you develop a taste for them, you'll probably be thrilled to break a mudbug in half and peel the meat from the tail portion.  You can't imagine the wonderful aroma or the succulent taste.....it's something you simply have to experience.