Crawfish Bread

The other week I took a stab at making crawfish bread for the first time. It was simple enough to put together but in hindsight I should have added some spices to the mix, perhaps some boil mix would've done the trick.

 

The spread: veggies, cheese, butter, mayo, tails, bread, etc.

 The Trinity: celery, onion, green pepper + garlic

Sauteing everything up. Using crawfish tails from an actual boil would have been awesome!

Loading up the French bread loaf then wrapping it all in foil

The final product

The recipe I was following certainly did not yield a result that was comparable to the delicious variety one can purchase at many NOLA festivals, Jazz Fest being the most popular of these. It was ok, but I felt like there wasn't enough flavor--it needed something else. I am going to research some other recipes online and give it a whirl again in a few months.

NOLA Is Cool

While perusing Buzzfeed I came upon this article. It is by no means an all inclusive list, but a nice one none-the-less, of the many events that take place in New Orleans throughout the year. It is nice to live somewhere that constantly has things going on. I may not partake in every festival or celebration, but knowing I have the option is pretty cool.

 

While I am chatting about how cool NOLA is... I got my Food Network Magazine in the mail the other day and good ol' Sucre was mentioned in an article called 50 States, 50 Ice Cream Treats! The "All Things NOLA" sundae is a very popular one.

 

And since I am already talking about the various media outlets I have seen New Orleans things featured in recently, I went to see Now You See Me which was partially filmed here. There were many instances where you could clearly see the French Quarter and City Park. One of the characters even says names of real places ("they turned left on Burgundy", "we are going down Exchange Place", "he went into the Napoleon House"). Super cool!

10,000 Days

What were you doing 10,000 days ago? Can't remember? Well, I know what I was doing: I was making my appearance into the world! That's right...today is my 10,000th day on this planet. Seems like a lot of days huh? No, I didn't just happen to know this number, nor did I sit with a calender and figure it up. AV mentioned to me a while ago that he will be 10,000 days old later this summer and that he thinks that is a noteworthy accomplishment; so I got on the web and found this website. I plugged my birthday in and figured that I am about two months older than AV so I would be celebrating my 10,000th day about 60 days before the date he mentioned. Sure enough, February 2, 1986 was 10,000 days ago! How many days old are you??

Tubing Time

On Sunday the fellas and I drove over the lake to Washington Parrish and floated down the Bogue Chitto River. I went a few years ago but hadn't been back since: AV and Evan are much more seasoned water fun adventurers! Our group of nine started around 11:30 and slowly made our way down the river stopping a few times to toss a Frisbee and football around, munch on some snacks, and re-apply suntan lotion. There were lots of fluffy white clouds in the sky with no hint of rain in sight. We leisurely floated for nearly six hours before reaching the end of the route. Before heading back over the causeway we stopped for chicken at Raising Cane's. It was my first experience with the Louisiana-based chicken chain--not too shabby. Unfortunately despite my best efforts I managed to obtain a gnarly sunburn on my upper legs. Putting pants on this morning was less than comfortable!

Obviously phones/cameras are not a wise accessory for tubing due to the extreme risk of dropping that treasured technology in the water so I have no true evidence of our trip but the following are all mementos from the day!

A map of Wayne's World Canoeing & Tubing

 

Little Raising Cane's

 

This skit was referenced on multiple occasions throughout the day!

Cool video from the Google Maps car going over the Causeway

Being lazy on the river sure can be exhausting! After a shower to get the sand off it was bed time for this tuber! Not a bad way to spend a Sunday :)

Jimmy John's Junkie

Holy crap! How have I never eaten at a Jimmy John's before?! Sure I follow Drew Brees on Twitter and he promotes them a lot, but I thought, "oh whatever, it's a sandwich shop, what's the big deal?" I also thought that it was a NOLA thing, not a national chain. Brie, Micah and I stopped by the one out in Elmwood while perusing for items for their new place and wow, the "Turkey Tom" made with a lettuce wrap instead of bread was awesome!! So awesome in fact that after a few hours of craft shopping Micah and I decided we needed another and totally went back! (Brie had been smart enough to get 2 wraps on our first visit--she's a professional!) We were definitely called out by one of the guys working there by the way...no shame though, it was delicious!

Brie Moved Out

While I was away in VA Brie moved to her new place. Technically she is still on Joseph Street (about nine blocks away) but I'd be lying if I said it isn't weird not having her here. I find myself looking for her car outside and when I peaked in her room and it was completely empty it was definitely a sad moment.

 I love her new place though and am super excited to have an open-invite to a girl's only place (read: clean place)!

 

Christian has moved his stuff into Brie's room (it is much bigger than the closet-of-a-room he was in) and thus will now be sharing a bathroom with Evan so I am back to having my own lady's room!!!! That is the biggest plus of this whole situation for sure :)

Drs. Andrew & Lesley Maggard

My road trip home last weekend was to celebrate the nuptials of my cousin Lesley and her handsome groom Andrew. They just graduated from VCU's Pharmacy program earlier this month and have moved to the Roanoke area. Needless to say 2013 has been a year of many great celebrations for them!!

 

Lesley was a STUNNING bride! 

  The aftermath of my hair-do (22 bobby pins) | Bryan's boutonniere and the mini copy of "I Will Joy" sang during the ceremony

 The wedding program | The happy couple with the Junior Bridesmaid, Andrew's niece

 Fellow bridesmaids with the adorable flower girl | 3 generations of Smith men (Orville, Chester & Bryan)

At the rehearsal dinner | The newlyweds making their exit under a shower of bells and ribbon

 
Their ceremony and reception were both wonderful and fun. I wish I had better pictures to share but I am looking forward to seeing their professional shots soon!

Just Me & the Open Road

Last Thursday I set out early in the morning before the sun had even thought about making its appearance for a 14+ hour drive home. My trip consisted of a lot of NPR listening, a lot of bad singing, a lot of RedBull, a lot of leg-stretching breaks and a lot of steering wheel tapping.

 

 

 

On my way up I was able to stop in Roanoke to have dinner with some friends who will be moving to the West coast later this summer.

 

After the wedding celebrations I was in town for I had to turn around and head back south. I took an alternate route back that sent me through NC, SC, around Atlanta, by Montgomery and Mobile then back to NOLA. It was a more mountainous drive and I passed by a lot more cities than the MS, AL, TN, VA option.