Cajun Critters Swamp Tour

When Adam told me we could do a swamp tour if the price was good, I immediately went to google for help. After a quick search on "New Orleans swamp tour" I discovered Cajun Critters Swamp Tour in Westweego, LA. The tour is two hours and costs only $24/person. I reserved a spot on the 9:30am tour the day before but when we got stuck on the Huey P. Long Bridge it became clear we would not be there in time. I called the gentleman who does the tours to inform him of our lateness. He was really nice, explained to me what to do once we got off the bridge, and instructed me to call him when we were near. Fortunately, swamp tours are not very popular on a Tuesday morning in mid-April, so he held the tour for us. We didn't step on the boat until 9:50am.
I don't remember the man's name who gave the tour, he is the same nice man who I spoke with several times on the phone. He and his family have been in New Orleans for over one hundred and fifty years, so he knows his stuff. The tour is great even without alligators, birds, and turtles to watch for. The scenery is beautiful, the bayou is a beautiful thing.

We did see a dozen alligators or so. Some were off on a log basking in the sun, others swam up to the boat. They were not very big, the largest we saw was probably around five feet, the smallest was around 2 feet. The tour guide and his grandson would throw marshmallows at the alligators to get them to swim nearer, it was fun to watch. I want to take one home, they are so cute!

There is a lot of neat stuff to learn about and see, the tour was really enjoyable and since there were so few people on the tour (the five of us plus 3 Chinese tourists) it was really easy to see the animals and take pictures. The guide even brought some pictures of his own for us to look at, including some photos from when Elisa Donovan and his wife swapped places for a week.

Gumbo Shop

I made my second visit to the Gumbo Shop this afternoon for lunch with the Suters, the Coats, and Lynda. My first visit occurred a little over a year ago when I was on spring break and I remember really enjoying the food and the company. The visit today was just as enjoyable and even better than I remember.
I ordered a Roast Beef Poor Boy and it was so amazingly delicious.

You know how sometimes you get an unexplainable craving and when you satiate that craving you feel as though everything is good in the world, you have entered your own heaven on earth and things could not possibly get any better. Well for some reason I was craving roast beef, and this poor boy hit the spot. The gravy sauce was all over my fingers and I wanted to lick them clean in front of everyone in the restaurant in order to continue the taste euphoria, but I mostly resisted and kept it classy. It's hard to stay classy when the food is messy and delicious and all you want to do is lick your plate clean. Today I made the comment that I didn't think of southern food as being fancy or classy and apparently that comment implied that I thought Southern food is trashy. This is not true. Let me explain myself. Southern food is delicious, I would eat it everyday of my life if I could. However, it is not a food that can be eaten and fully enjoyed in a fork and knife manner (like steak or salad). Your hands are essential in the enjoyment. For example, crawfish, fried chicken, and poor boys. The food is greasy and so I would be afraid to wear a nice cocktail dress out to a southern restaurant because I either 1) wouldn't be able to order anything really amazing without sacrificing my dress to gravy or grease drippage, or 2) would order amazing food but would be unable to enjoy it due to guilt steaming from ruining my dress. Furthermore, southern food is so filling that I would prefer to be in something comfortable for the duration of the meal. Preferably something with an expandable waistline.
All that is to say that I really enjoyed Gumbo Shop and I truly love southern food.
Price: my poor boy was around $10, I ate half at lunch and took the other half home for dinner. It was amazing cold, too.
Additional comments: While I and others I was with really enjoyed it, the Suters were not completely impressed. They felt like they had better homemade southern food, but liked it enough to consider coming again.

Crawfest

Today was the third annual Crawfest at Tulane University.

So much fun! I love crawfish! To top it off, today is the most beautiful day. Sunbathing all around. Here are some pictures of the delicious food.


It is a little sad that after all your hard work in ripping the head off and peeling the tail you end up with such a small amount of meat. But its so delicious that you put up with it anyways.Yummy, yummy, yummy I got crawfish in my tummy.

My favorite performer from the day was the Zydepunks. Check out the video:

Slumdog Millionaire

I know my blog is meant to be food focused so I apologize that I'm about to talk about a movie. However, to be fair this blog has really become a monologue of reviews for food and venues, I'm really just expanding that to now include movies.

Slumdog Millionaire = AWESOME movie
I went with some friends to a Friday night showing, the Friday after the movie won 4 Golden Globes so it was really crowded. We sat in the second row, which was hard on the eyes and I don't recommend that to anyone. However, that being said I would suffer through sitting in the front row to see the movie again. The story is so interesting. I tried to write a synopsis but decided that imdb does a better job so here is the summary from imdb: "The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love"

I'm generally a sucker for foreign films because they seem to have a bit more creativity in storyline and are more realistic than many American plots. This plot did not disappoint, and the movies score is great too. My current addiction is featured multiple times. When I first heard her I knew this movie was going to be awesome. She is up for some Grammy's this year! And Slumdog is up for best movie at the Oscar's!
Everyone go see this movie.

Cranberry Sauce Recipe

A week ago I went to an early Thanksgiving dinner with friends from church called "Friendsgiving"
It was a lot of fun and it got me started early on eating way too much in a single meal. The dinner was a potluck and the suggestion was to bring something your family traditional eats for Thanksgiving. I looked up what was eaten at the "first Thanksgiving" but all the recipes I found looked to hard or required baking which I am currently unable to do, so I made cranberry sauce. I had never had cranberry sauce before, so it was a fun and new experience.

Ingredients

* 1 cup (200 g) sugar
* 1 cup (255 mL) water
* 4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries
* Optional Pecans, orange peel, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Method

1 Wash and pick over cranberries. In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.

2 At this point you can add all number of optional ingredients. We typically mix in a half a cup of roughly chopped pecans with or without a few strips of orange peel. You can add a cup of raisins or currants. You can add up to a pint of fresh or frozen blueberries for added sweetness. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice can be added too.

3 Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry sauce base makes 2 1/4 cups.

McAlister's Deli

I seem to blog in spurts, sorry about that my one follower.
I have been to McAlister's Deli twice now so I figure it deserves a post.
The first visit was in Roswell, GA on my first day of hurrication. I ordered a pizza on a whole wheat tortilla with some sweet tea. Of course, sweet tea is a must when you are in the south. McAlister's is popular for its tea which you can buy in the gallons. I opted for a large cup of it with free re-fills! McAlister's is a nice place, you get a lot of food and servers bring it to your table for you. A meal is about $7-$11 on average, but you get enough food and drink for two servings.

I love colorful food, so I especially was fond of this pizza. I don't know if color variety is proportional to flavor but I would venture to say that there is some positive relationship between the two. It was a Mexican-inspired dish, with black beans and peppers and corn, not the typical dish you would expect to go along with sweet tea but they still made a good pair.
The second time I went to a McAlister's in Metairie, LA with some people from church.
I got a turkey and cranberry sandwich with bacon! I do love bacon, and this sandwich did not disappoint me. The bacon was delicious and I felt there was plenty to enrich every bite with its greasy and hammy goodness.

Chocolate Truffles

In mid-October I made some chocolate truffles for a women's retreat. They were really tasty! I had a hard time forming them into balls because they melt so fast in your hands. Thus, they took an odd shape, but people seemed to really enjoy them.
I found the recipe on kraft.com

6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup KARO® Light Corn Syrup
6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
suggested coatings: powdered sugar, finely chopped PLANTERS Walnuts, BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, unsweetened cocoa
48 REYNOLDS 2-1/2-inch Pastel Baking Cups


PLACE butter, cream and corn syrup in medium saucepan. Bring to boil on medium heat. Remove from heat. Add semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolates; stir until completely melted. Pour into bowl; cover.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours or until firm.

PLACE baking cups on baking sheet or tray. Shape teaspoonfuls of the chocolate mixture into 1-inch balls; roll in 1 cup of the desired coatings until evenly coated. Place 1 in each baking cup. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.