weekend!
We cancelled the Katrina benefit, but we still enjoyed some fabulous cajun food!
We had to scrub the planned New Orleans style party, but we still had a case of Abita, fixuns for six pounds of jambalaya, fifty coconut shrimps, two dozen hush puppies and a pan of cornbread muffins. What to do? Invite over the 'rents and their friends! Had a great time playing a new game (called "Farkle") with the Budnicks and Mom and Dad; mom got hammered on New Orleans Sunrises, and we still had some leftovers! Good times had by all. And we still were able to raise some much needed relief for the Red Cross. Hooray!
I really enjoy creole food. I was first exposed to Orleanian culture by some of mom and dad's other friends, the Dunn's. They came home from Mardi Gras one year with a Zydeco music tape, a king cake, and a big batch of food. My first real taste of the food, though, came when I lived in Champaign. There used to be an awesome cajun restaurant in Champaign's old train station called, appropriately enough, the "City of New Orleans". Their andouille jambalaya was out of this world, and from all accounts, the seafood gumbo was too. It's a little harder these days to find good, inexpensive cajun food in this area, although "Heaven on Seven" comes close, they more or less miss the boat on the "inexpensive" part, but what do you expect for Naperthrill. I was happy we still got the chance to cook up some of our favorite food, because any time you cook four kinds of meat for two dishes, you're doin' okay.
Zydeco music is definately an acquired taste, however. It can get really annoying after a while. I think it's the squeezebox, but a lot of it is in French, which doesn't help. I also downloaded a metric assload of Dixie Jazz which claims to be the direct ancestor of America's first original music style. It's very pleasant and upbeat, which sets it apart from the more gritty and bluesy Chicago-style jazz which came later. It's actually kind of amazing the cultural connections between New Orleans and Chicago, which manifest themselves not just in the wonderful food but also in the music.
I also learned that the day-train partner for the opulent dinner- and sleeping-car Panama Limited, called the aforementioned City of New Orleans that the Illinois Central Railroad operated during the early 20th century, was therefore significantly cheaper and less glamorous than the Limited. It was the choice mode of transportation for millions of poor folks, many of them African-Americans, to migrate northward out of the segregated Delta to perceived economic freedom in the north. Unfortunately, that latter part proved to be an enormous fraud. However, the cultural ties, driven by family ties, between the two great cities remain. I, for one, am glad to be an indirect recipient of them.
We had to scrub the planned New Orleans style party, but we still had a case of Abita, fixuns for six pounds of jambalaya, fifty coconut shrimps, two dozen hush puppies and a pan of cornbread muffins. What to do? Invite over the 'rents and their friends! Had a great time playing a new game (called "Farkle") with the Budnicks and Mom and Dad; mom got hammered on New Orleans Sunrises, and we still had some leftovers! Good times had by all. And we still were able to raise some much needed relief for the Red Cross. Hooray!
I really enjoy creole food. I was first exposed to Orleanian culture by some of mom and dad's other friends, the Dunn's. They came home from Mardi Gras one year with a Zydeco music tape, a king cake, and a big batch of food. My first real taste of the food, though, came when I lived in Champaign. There used to be an awesome cajun restaurant in Champaign's old train station called, appropriately enough, the "City of New Orleans". Their andouille jambalaya was out of this world, and from all accounts, the seafood gumbo was too. It's a little harder these days to find good, inexpensive cajun food in this area, although "Heaven on Seven" comes close, they more or less miss the boat on the "inexpensive" part, but what do you expect for Naperthrill. I was happy we still got the chance to cook up some of our favorite food, because any time you cook four kinds of meat for two dishes, you're doin' okay.
Zydeco music is definately an acquired taste, however. It can get really annoying after a while. I think it's the squeezebox, but a lot of it is in French, which doesn't help. I also downloaded a metric assload of Dixie Jazz which claims to be the direct ancestor of America's first original music style. It's very pleasant and upbeat, which sets it apart from the more gritty and bluesy Chicago-style jazz which came later. It's actually kind of amazing the cultural connections between New Orleans and Chicago, which manifest themselves not just in the wonderful food but also in the music.
I also learned that the day-train partner for the opulent dinner- and sleeping-car Panama Limited, called the aforementioned City of New Orleans that the Illinois Central Railroad operated during the early 20th century, was therefore significantly cheaper and less glamorous than the Limited. It was the choice mode of transportation for millions of poor folks, many of them African-Americans, to migrate northward out of the segregated Delta to perceived economic freedom in the north. Unfortunately, that latter part proved to be an enormous fraud. However, the cultural ties, driven by family ties, between the two great cities remain. I, for one, am glad to be an indirect recipient of them.