Brussels Sprouts: A New Love

Why has no one ever told me how wonderfully delicious roasted Brussels sprouts are?? Hollygrove has been keeping the locally grown edible bulbs coming so I keep buying them!

I like to roast them with a little olive oil, no salt or pepper needed. Here I cooked them along with diced radishes I also procured from Hollygrove. I have found that roasting radishes cause them to lose their peppery/spicy taste. Super easy and super yummy!

Chopsticks

"Learn how to use chopsticks" has been on my Bucket List for quite some time and though I am no pro, I think I finally have the hang of it! Zack has made me practice picking up random things on the table the few times we have dined at places with chopsticks, so this past week when he, Sara, and I went to Kyoto I gave it a whirl. 

As you can see in this photographic evidence, chopsticks are no longer my enemy!

Picking up sushi wasn't so bad, but I am not sure how good I would be at grabbing smaller things like individual noodles or rice. I'll keep working with it though and hopefully my skills will only improve!

Crawfish Festival

After watching Andy shave his head on Saturday, Sara, Zack and I made the trek out to Chalmette to the Louisiana Crawfish Festival where we met up with Laura from work and her husband and friends. This was unlike any other festival I have been to since living here. It was more of what I know as a "carnival" with rides, a ferris wheel, and games scattered among the food and craft vendors.

High light = crawfish bread :) YUM!

Sara and I taking it all in! The people-watching was supreme!!

Lovely sunset over the crowd.

St. Baldrick's Shave Day

Zack's roommate, Andy, has been raising money the past few weeks for St. Baldrick's Foundation, a charity that funds research to help find a cure for childhood cancer. The organization's main fundraiser is head shaving events where volunteers raise money then symbolically have all of their hair shaved off.

Andy's hair was already lengthy when he decided to become a shavee, so he continued to let his locks grow for impact. Look at those flowing brown strands! He said he was more than ready to get rid of all of that hair!

A group of men being shaved. We saw hair, beards, and even eyebrows go!

Andy's time in the chair. He made some great facial expressions throughout his trimming. 

He is going to save so much money on shampoo now! The shaved look works for him..he just needs to be careful to not get sun burnt!

 Behind the stage there were clumps of hair mixed with yards of electrical cords. Funny how hair on a head can be beautiful and admired, but in piles on the floor it just seems gross!

With the help of many friends and family members, as well as a matching agreement with his parent's business and his employer, Andy raised $8,400, making him the highest single-person donor! He out raised all but one team!!

In total the Finn McCool's Irish Pub St. Baldrick's Fundraiser raised over $90,000 and dozens of men and women left with much less hair than when they arrived! It was a nice day to be out and support such an important and humbling cause :)

A picture I stole from Zack's shots: Me, Sara, Melissa, Andy, Parissa and Keith

Corporal

Monday night Sara and I ventured into the Quarter to One Eyed Jack's to see Michael Shannon's band Corporal perform. Brie gave me the heads up that they were playing and though I have never heard his music before, I was intrigued enough to check it out.

Video off of YouTube

I enjoyed the show! It was kind of folky, funky, garage-band esque. 

I was already a big fan of Michael Shannon's acting and now I can say I am a fan of his music too :)

True Detective: My Review

HBO had a winner with the eight episode premiere of True Detective. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson were magnificent as Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, two extremely opposite minded people working together and against each other over the course of nearly two decades. I predict some Emmy nods coming their way.

I am attracted to dark subject matter entertainment, and True Detective did not disappoint. Instead of being cliche in its time frame or pace, this show was able to swing back and forth seamlessly between present day and years passed to tell its story. Dispersed throughout the episodes were bread crumbs of information leading viewers closer and closer to the discovery of the "Green Eared Spaghetti Monster". However, not every detail or scene appeared to link directly to the conclusion like I thought it would. Upon reflection I am satisfied with the seemingly "important" tid bits not being as relevant in the final scenes. Instead of assuming that the story concluded with the credits, I prefer to believe that the characters and their mission will continue on and that those tid bits were not filler, but necessary elements to the greater narrative.

A large theme of the show that intrigued me the most was Rust's philosophies on humans, existence, and the meaning of life. He and Marty could not have been more different in their beliefs, but in the end they were both very broken men. Rust needed to shut everything out while Marty needed to have his cake and eat it too then lose it all. Hitting the bottom was what finally brought these two guys together to a place where they could forgive past transgressions and focus on a common goal.  

 "I got an idea: let's make the car a place of silent reflection from now on. Okay?"

If you haven't already: watch it. 

Spring Has Sprung?

Spring, you are welcome to make a full appearance any time now. I am over the windy days and chilly nights. 

District: Donuts. Sliders. Brew.

I finally made it to District on Magazine the other week. The three best friends opted to sit the parades out in exchange for donuts and sliders! With so many sweet options, sharing was the way to go. 

  

The Brown Butter Pistachio and Coconut Cream Pie were both divine! And my cheeseburger slider and BLT special were heavenly! With the donut menu rotating daily as well as constant special sliders being changed up, I will certainly be back to check out their other culinary masterpieces :)

Lagniappe

Some Mardi Gras lagniappe (pronounced "lan-yap")

Dancing cop

Jimmy Fallon poking fun at Mardi Gras

A shot of the clean up

Endymion

Super Krewe Endymion rolled through Mid-City on Saturday afternoon. I was particularly excited to see this parade because my main man Norman was a co-marshal! He looked like a sweaty mess, but he was smiling a ton (which is rare--he has perfected the bad-boy-scowl) and tossing beads and cups to the thousands of people screaming and waving their arms at him! I was happy to get a good picture of him...oh that black shirt!

Endymion, the largest krewe, has over 2,500 masked members that ride.

Norman on his float :)

 Ed, Me, Zack, and Sara | Me and Sara

Pretend you're standing on the parade route via these videos!

A glimpse of the crowd when the last float had passed by | Ground aftermath 

This was my favorite parade of 2014 for sure--not just because of Reedus--the weather was great, the crowd wasn't too rowdy where we stood, the floats were gorgeous, and the vibe was fun!

Parading

With work being, well, work, I had to balance fun and sleep this Mardi Gras season. I didn't push myself to go to every parade, but saved up my energy for the ones I enjoy the most!

No parading on Wednesday, Muses on Thursday, sat out Friday, Endymion on Saturday, rested on Sunday, Orpheus on Monday. It worked out nicely.

From top left down: 

Flambeaux women (typically men carry these propane fueled metal torches), 610 Stompers busting a move (they had to be freezing, it was in the low 40s that night!), two Orpheus floats, and the St. Augustine marching band (definitely a crowd favorite).

Don't pay attention to what you see in the video, just listen to the marching band!

Orpheus was a chilly night! 
Zack, Andy, Sara and Me parading despite the frigid temperatures!

THOUSANDS

I haven't quite finished crunching the numbers just yet, but THOUSANDS of King Cakes left our kitchen over the past nine weeks! Of course Carnival season varies in length from year to year but this was definitely the most Sucre has ever produced. 

Packing boxes for shipping: packaging air pouches for cushioning, wrapped cakes with beads, close up the tissue paper and add a cute Easter postcard, tape the boxes up and stack for UPS to whisk away across the country to eager customers!

The weather worked against us a lot this year (snow storms = delivery delays), but we made it through. Now if Spring temperatures would stick around I could mentally prepare for Easter time!