King Cake Time

It is that time of year again when King Cakes take over every bakery, grocery and restaurant in the greater New Orleans area! I make a point of trying different varieties and often bring them to work to share. Here are a few I have sampled thus far this season...

The "Queen Cake" from Gracious Bakery has a yummy almond filling and a cherry hidden inside in lieu of a baby!

O'Delice's cream cheese King Cake is my absolute favorite! More will be purchased this year. Lots more.

While on a Dong Phuong bahn mi run I had to pick up not one but two to try! Cream cheese and strawberry (the first fruit filled cake I have tried).

Others I have tried but not documented (so did it really happen??) include a homemade variety by a co-worker, Bread's on Oak's vegan cinnamon version, Randazzo's and of course Sucre's. The season is still young, I'm sure I'll get to taste a few more before Mardi Gras!

The 3BFs: Disbanded

After two and half years of living down south Zack finally pulled the trigger and has left New Orleans for the bitter cold of Pennsylvania where he hails from. Why he made the move north in January and left NOLA mere weeks before Mardi Gras is beyond me, but if it is one thing I have learned about him: he does his own thing.

As a tribute to his unique style a bunch of folks at work wore plaid, flannel, hoodies, beanies, or highlighter colored clothing on his last day.

Head smash sandwich

  Curtis & Jackie photo bombing the 3BF

 The final picture taken of the infamous trio. 

I have had a hard time with his departure but am holding on to his promise that he will be back to visit often. Until then Sara and I will hold down the fort and continue to badger him via group text messages!

Worst Meal Ever

There comes a time in every frequent diner's life when they come across a meal that they just down right do not enjoy. I consider myself a "picky non-picky" person if that makes sense as I am willing to try anything once but I know what I don't like. Well, unfortunately I had a terrible dining experience last weekend. I have no interest in saying where we ate as I know that many people have had great meals there and I am aware that my personal preferences played a large role in my dissatisfaction. 

My main complaints were the level of spiciness and the excessive use of salt. Kenneth, Sara, Zack and I ordered a few dishes and shared them family style. I did try chicken feet which weren't awful but they were smothered in a buffalo sauce of which I am not a fan. My mouth was on fire after every bite I attempted to eat. It did not take me long to call it a loss and watch as the others dove in. Even my beverage was spicy--it was whiskey and ginger and boy was that ginger strong! I was able to dilute it enough with water to make it tolerable.

Chicken feet!

 The fortune cookie that aptly confirmed that Zack is the "glue" in our friendship.

 Zack, Kenneth, me, Sara

 A later text convo about the meal:

Orphan Black

By the technical definition, I do not, in fact, have an addictive personality, but man can I fall in love with a good television show if given the opportunity! My most recent obsession is Orphan Black. I have binge watched the 20 episodes that make up season 1 & 2 of this BBC original show. The third season doesn't start until April so I have until then to figure out how to watch it!

Tatiana Maslany does a brilliant job playing 11 different clones in this sci-fi thriller set in Canada. Different accents, different looks, different mannerisms: Tatiana can do it all! I have been kept in suspense and constantly surprised throughout every twist and turn in this story.

Watch these trailers and get hooked like I did!!

Season 1

Season 2

Tatiana playing so many roles!

Interstellar

Before I lost my chance, I made a mad dash to the theater on Saturday to see Interstellar on the big screen. I had heard pretty good reviews but knew that there were skeptics out there too. Around the two hour point I realized that I had failed to note how long the film was (2:49 for those wondering) and became antsy in my not-so-comfy cinema chair. I have been mulling over my thoughts and have concluded that, overall, I enjoyed the story, but I would need to see it again to catch all of the details (I am a big fan of re-watching things, I notice so much more the 2nd go round). 

I loved the acting: I foresee Oscars. I hated the score--too much organ playing for me. I loved the outer space visuals. I hated Anne Hathaway's crying face. I loved the looping back of the story to explain things. I hated the similarity to Inception towards the end. I loved that I did not see everything coming (maybe that is just my lack of intelligence, but oh well). I hated that the music was sometimes louder than the dialogue and I wanted there to be closed captions. 

Matthew McConaughey can pretty much do no wrong these days. Also, his crying face made me cry. 

Chantillo

Amy & Raf got married!! While they aren't actually adopting the hybrid last name, Chantillo (Chan + Castillo), it was their signature hashtag for the festivities! Despite the dreary weather outside, the nuptials and following celebration were gorgeous and super fun! I am so glad I was able to share their special evening with them!!

The final cake in all its glory with modern floral starburst attachments!

Raf's aunt made the groom's cakes in honor of his slight obsession with foot ware :)

Beautiful chalk work on the walls of the Board of Trade building

The bride surrounded by her sparkling bridal party… New Years was a fun theme with the glitter and gold, silver and sparkles!

 Sara and I at the reception

Cake Decorating

Last week I had the pleasure of playing "assistant cake decorator" to the ever talented Sara! Commissioned to make a wedding cake for a friend's wedding, the five tier cake proved time consuming, but fun to create! We spent New Year's Eve and the majority of New Year's Day diligently working: spreading out on the tables at work and taking advantage of the ample space and lack of co-workers. 

Below are some shots of the steps…

I placed the fondant covered styrofoam tier on top of a few buckets to get it to a more comfortable height to attach the glittery silver and gold circles.

 A close up of the sporadic placement. Spraying the fondant circles with color was more difficult that I imagined-- the spray gun blew the pieces around because they were so light!

 Spacing dots on the bottom tier. Again, a styrofoam piece wrapped in fondant. Each dot gets attached with a little dab of water.

 Scallops galore. After circling the base I hand-painted each one gold.

 Sara modeling with the assembled five tiers! Bottom tier & middle tier = cake. Top 2 and gold tier = styrofoam

 Almost, but not quite finished! 

Stay tuned for the final masterpiece...

McMain Banners Round 2

Once again this year I documented McMain's weekly Saints inspired banners. (See last season here.)

 Unfortunately New Orleans won't be seeing the playoffs this year… better luck next time I guess!