Category: food

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The city is dressing for Christmas

New Orleans is a beautiful town anyway but when she dresses for Christmas, there’s a magic in the air that no one can deny.  Not if you have been here to see it anyway.  You can feel the Christmas spirit all over the city.  My place is no exception.

Christmas is my favorite time of year by far.  The love that this city shows it citizens is just heart warming and my ‘Angle tree’ has only shown me even more that this is where I was born and this is where I’ll die.  I can’t imagine another city with more heart and soul than New Orleans.

Just look at some of the famous people that have come from here if you don’t  believe it.  Look at Emeril and what he did for his employees through the Katrina mess.  He took care of everyone that worked for him by paying them every week just like they were still working until they returned to his restaurant when it was back in business.  Now that’s a man with a heart and he’s not the only one.

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Well are you as stuffed as I am?

Talk about a Thanksgiving feast, well we sure had one.  We had turkey of course but also gumbo, dirty rice, green beans, sweet potatoes and just about anything else you can think of.  I ate until I couldn’t eat anymore.  I think we have enough leftovers to feed a couple more families.

We had 5 families that we had invited for Thanksgiving that wouldn’t have had a Thanksgiving meal otherwise.  I was so proud to be able to do that for those families.  They were so thankful to us for doing what we did.  I did it for them because they have all suffered so much for so long that I wanted them to have something to be thankful for and a community that cares is something to be thankful for.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed as mine was.  Mine was full of love, food, good friends and family, and new friends too.  What more could anyone ask for?

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Are you planning a feast?

Well there are 10 Turkeys to be cooked, 5 hams, 25 pounds of potatoes, more green beans than I can count and more food than you can imagine.  Of course we have to have some traditional New Orleans food like Gumbo, dirty rice and such.

I think I just gained 10 pounds just thinking about all of the food.  Cakes, pies, banana pudding and more deserts than you can imagine too.  The cooking will begin tomorrow so I have a busy day ahead of me.  Hey, do you like carrot cake?  Well here’s a great recipe for it that I guarantee you will love!

Carrot Cake

2 cups grated carrots
1 small can of crushed pineapple not drained
1 1/2 cups Wesson oil (doesn’t have to be Wesson oil)
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (may use 2 if desired but I use 1)
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Cream oil and sugar together. Add Carrots, pineapple and nuts. Add eggs one
at a time and beat well. Add dry ingredients sifted together.

Bake in 3 layers at 350 degrees approximately 45 minutes or until done by
sticking a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.

Frosting for Carrot Cake

1 8 ounce package of creamed cheese
1 stick of margarine
1 box of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of chopped pecans

Have cheese and margarine soft. Set out of refrigerator a few hours.
Use electric mixer to mix in powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts.

Put in refrigerator after you frost it to make it set better after frosting.

Enjoy!!!!

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Angel tree update

I told you about putting up an ‘Angel Tree’ in my establishment a few days ago.  Well I thought I would update you on it’s progress.  A local business has donated 10 Game Boys and 10 games for it for children on the tree.  Another local store has donated turkeys for every ‘Angel’ on the tree.  Then another business has donated $15 gift cards for every one on the tree so the children can get what ever they want.

Angel requests are still coming in as more families learn that it’s up already so as fast as an ‘Angel’ is taken, there’s almost another to replace it.  Luckily a lot of local churches have come to offer gifts for the children and families too.  There is a lot of need this year in our community unfortunately with so many still trying to rebuild their lives but that’s one of the things that makes New Orleans a great city, people really care about each other and my little ‘Angel tree’ is proof.

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Britney Spears

Britney Spears is also from Louisiana as most of you probably know.  Bless her heart, she’s finally getting her life back together.  She is a prime example of a young girl that got too much too soon and fell from grace.  She is doing much better now thank God.

So much so that she’s working hard on a comeback and doing quite well with it from what I understand.  She also has gotten permission from the courts to bring her two young sons home to visit with her family.  This poor girl has fought back hard only to have one of her sons rushed to the hospital while here because of a severe allergic reaction to something he ate.  I bet that scared the living daylights out of her.  First of all just because it’s her son and second of all, because she lost custody and the first time she’s allowed to take them out of California, this happens.

Britney, honey, you are on the top of my prayer list along with your sons.  I wish you only good things and hope and pray your comeback is a total comeback and not just musically.  Hang in there hon!!!

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Angel Tree

Every year, we put up an ‘Angel Tree’ in my establishment.  Local families in need come to me with the names of their children to place on the tree with a short list of items they want for Christmas.  I have done this for many years and this year, I decided to put the tree up early to allow for more childrens names and also to give people that want to help, more time to buy the gifts for the children.

I accept names of children from newborn to 18.  The only thing that is one the Angel card is if the child is a boy or a girl, how old they are and three items they would like to have.  I have seen items from tennis shoes to PSP’s put on the list but usually there are affordable things and nothing elaborate.

One child asked for nothing for himself.  He only wanted three things for him to give to his parents and younger sister.  This was a 10 year old ‘Man’ and I took his card personally.  I guess I adopted the family that year for Christmas because I also invited them to my home for Christmas dinner.  It was one of the best Christmases I can remember having.  Yes the young man got plenty as did the whole family.

You see, they had lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and were trying to get their lives back together.  I felt honored to be able to help them.  Their mother still works for me and he even has a little part time job in the evenings taking out the trash and picking up around the outside of the place for me.  He does a great job too.  They are a very humble family and grateful for anything anyone does to help them.

So if you see an ‘Angel Tree’ somewhere, you should know that you are someones ‘Angel’ when you take that child, family or elderly persons name and buy them gifts.  We are all someones ‘Guardian Angel’ sometimes in our lives if we choose to be.  Please choose to be.

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Enough gloom and doom, let’s have a party

What is New Orleans known best for?  Their parties.  So enough of the gloom and doom of the economy.  LET’S PARTY!!!!  Halloween is tomorrow night and we’re all geared up to throw a ‘Monster Bash’ if you will.  Costumes are everywhere here so there’s no reason not to get all decked out in a costume and cast your cares to the wind, if only for one night.

Personally, I think we all need to just throw caution to the wind from time to time to keep our souls healthy. It’s good to let the problems of everyday life go if just for one night to sort of recharge your batteries so you can face whatever the next day or week shall bring so get out and enjoy yourself for Halloween but be safe too.  HAPPY HALLOWEEN YA’LL!!

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Angelina Jolie

Bless her heart, she can’t even feed one of her new born babies without causing a stink.  Have you heard about it?  She is on the cover of W’s November magazine and is apparently breastfeeding one of the twins.  It’s not a full frontal picture of her breast or even the baby on her breast.  She’s sitting with the opposite shoulder facing the camera and part of her breast on the opposite side is visible.  SO?

Have celebrities not worn less on the red carpet?  Look at some old pictures of Cher is you don’t think so.  What Angelina is doing in this picture is the most beautiful thing a woman can do for her baby.  She’s breastfeeding and not just hanging her boob out for everyone to see.  It’s crap like this stink that drove women away from breastfeeding.  Sure there are some that for one reason or another can’t breastfeed their baby.  Then they have to give them a bottle and that’s okay but breastfeeding is the way nature intended for us to feed our babies.

I will admit I think there is a time and a place and also a way to breastfeed.  No woman should just whip her breast out and feed her baby where ever she is.  If she’s in public, you can very discretely place a baby blanket over your shoulder and cover the fact that you are breastfeeding and most people won’t know at all.  Or if she’s entertaining at home with both men and women, she should excuse herself and invite the women to join her in the other room if they would like while she feeds the baby but that’s my opinion.

There has been countless into the benefits of breastfeeding.  Breastfed babies usually score higher in math, they have stronger immune systems and therefore, don’t get sick nearly as often and have less severity to when they do get sick.  So what’s the big deal here?  I think Angelina should be commended – not chastised!!

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Hurricane Ike

I can’t explain to you what has gone through my mind these past few days.  The sheer emotional roller coaster and memories of Hurricane Katrina have come flooding back (bad choice of words) since Hurricane Ike decided to hit Texas on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Oh how my heart goes out to all those people that have lost everything.  Oh how my blood boils when I think of all of our people left stranded for days on end with little or no relief from our own government but they are trying really hard to make sure the mistakes they made back then, aren’t made again.  I must commend them for seeing the error of their ways and honestly, I don’t think there really is a good way to prepare for the enormous amount of help people need after these types of storms.

How can anyone know where to be so that everyone can get to the fresh water, ice and food they are going to need.  They can’t exactly just drive in.  I guess they could ‘drop’ supplies in like they do for people stranded in mountainous territories but how do you know where you drop it is safe for the people to come to?  How do you know that most of the people will be able to make it to the supplies?

I’m so glad I’m not the one that has to figure that all out.  I’m just glad I left town and wish others would heed the warnings when a storm of this magnitude is headed their way.  You would think seeing what New Orleans went through would be enough to make them aware of the dangers of staying to protect your home.  You can’t protect it from winds and water like that but you can protect yourself and your family by leaving.  A life saved is worth far more than any worldly possession.  That’s just my opinion.

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Half Full

People are always asking if you sees a glass as half full or half empty.  Okay, here’s the way I look at it.  If you’re putting something in it, then it’s half full.  If you’re taking something out of it, then it’s half empty.  If you don’t know which it is and you just found a glass with something in it, then it’s half full.  Besides, what difference does it make anyway.

I guess it all goes back to wondering if you are a pessimist or an optomist.  I, my friends, are an optomist.  I know life is what you make it and I prefer to make the best of it as long as I can so my glass is half full.  That’s just me, half full of it!  😉