Mardi Gras #6

My first Mardi Gras without having to balance work and fun!!! Woo hoo! It was a constant rallying of energy as usual, but this year I was not dependent on Redbull to pull me through! Cori, Sara and I wore and rotated multiple wigs, we had festive tights, glittery tulle skirts, head bands, and lots of carnival shirts! I felt the most prepared this year: from outfits to footwear to beverages, we had our shit together!

Moonshine in all its flavored glory! Margarita & Blackberry mix very well, and the soaked peaches complimented our champagne wonderfully!

Purple & green wigs for the win!

Sara, Me, Tyler, Brie, and Cori at Thoth

Thoth rolled on Sunday with perfect weather. | Confetti & lights at a night parade

Ribbon fun & lots of costumes on Mardi Gras day downtown

Solange Knowles was the honorary Muse this year. Unfortunately she threw her wedding ring off with beads along the route. I doubt it will ever be recovered. 

Rows & rows of ladders for the kiddies. | A float poking fun at the super slow construction progress occurring all across town!

King Cake daiquiri! | The three amigas ready for Muses!

A group of dominos being knocked down by a car!

Me, Tyler (ready to root for his Panthers in the Super Bowl) & Brie at Thoth

A float in Morpheus. | Clean up post parade. Still amazes me how quickly things return to "clean" after the fun! 

A time-lapse of clean up after Thoth.

More wigged shenanigans :)

AV with his tambourine

Me & Brie on Canal Street catching the tail of Rex

Sara, Jen & Jackie at Morpheus. | Purple suits Sara!

610 Stompers doing their thing!

Anthony Mackie chucked cups at us during Bacchus! 

The annual ground photos of the wreckage.

Another Carnival Season in the books :)

LaPlace

While Cori was here, she, Sara and I took a break from the carnival celebrations and escaped north to LaPlace for pounds and pounds of crawfish! We majorly lucked out with the scenery upon arriving at The Crab Trap. Located a few miles off the interstate and down a country road that ends on the western shores of Lake Pontchartrain, we wandered around outside for a bit as the sun was setting.

Some photos are mine, some are Cori's. We did a massive photo-sharing moment before she left, so they are all mixed up, but they are all beautiful!

The Crab Trap & 3 lbs. of the finest crawfish I've ever had!!

I am really glad that we opted out of parades and crowds that evening. Very much worth it!

More King Cake

Here are the King Cakes I tried this year...

District Donut: Matcha, Satsuma, and Ube... unique and tasty: all of the flavors were subtle! Gave Sara a slice of satsuma and ube, she isn't a matcha fan.

Whole Foods: Pecan Praline... not too heavy on the pecan flavor: I liked it. Shared this one with Sara as well. Figured mom would like it, so I mailed one home!

Rouses: Cream Cheese... soooo much cream cheese, too much in my opinion. I couldn't stomach all of it. Glad I only bought a "small" version.

Shake Sugary: Apple, Cheddar & Rosemary. Fun in concept, but I was not digging it. Too much dried rosemary for me.  One slice was all I could do. Others liked it, especially when slightly warmed up.

O'Delice: Cream Cheese... my all time favorite :) I had two of these this season!! It is the only one out of all of the cakes I bought that I actually finished. I know it is a lot of waste, but I am glad I got to try a bunch of different kinds.

I can definitely stand to do without King Cake for a few months. Very much over all of the sugar!!

See my other King Cake adventures here and here!

30: Good Grief

February 2nd, Groundhog's Day: Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring, and I turned 30 years old. Woo hoo! I received many texts, cards, Facebook posts, and calls wishing my a happy birthday. I am not one to make a fuss out of birthdays but I'll admit that it is nice to feel the love!

I was lucky enough to get to celebrate the milestone with some friends at Tracey's! Sara, Brie, Tyler, Averill, Amy, Eller, Jason, and Kenneth (and his girlfriend, whose name I can't remember...hey...I'm getting old and forgetful) all came out to drink, eat and play trivia as their schedules permitted. Our trivia team won, putting the proverbial icing on the cake for the evening! Sara and Brie were in cahoots and surprised me with a cake from Debbie Does Doberge along with fun birthday decorations!

Post Tracey's Sara, Brie and I met up with AV at St. Joe's for a drink.

I'm not going to get into all of the thoughts that have ping-ponged around in my head about what this birthday means, I am just going to take it as it is and keep doing my thing. Age is just a number :)

King Cake Festival

Ochsner held their third annual King Cake Festival at Champion Square outside the Superdome on Sunday. The proceeds from the event benefit the children's hospital. There were over two dozen vendors and food trucks cranking out samples of their version of a king cake while bands played on the stage. Each sample cost a ticket ($1) and you were given two doubloons upon entering the festival to use for casting your vote for People's Choice. 

 

Sara and I each had 10 tickets to gobble up. I was feeling adventurous and tried Kingfish's "Mardi Foie King Cake" made with foie gras (fattened goose liver) and a duck fat icing. It was the only savory slice I had, all others were laden with sugar. I can't remember all of the bakeries we tried, but after 9 samples I was DONE! I couldn't force a 10th down. 

Most bakeries served tiny samples in little plastic cups. Maurice's French Pastries had a strawberry shortcake like option. One I tried was apple fritter and another was sweet potato. Some were like doughnuts, others brioche. There was something for everyone.

The Hyatt Regency's bakery, Pain Frais, did a fried dough filled with chocolate curry sauce with toasted coconut. They had the longest line of any vendor and their portion was huge compared to everyone else's! It was unique and very tasty: worth the 20 minute wait!

The creepy King Cake Baby was wandering around taking picture with everyone. Curtis (Sara's brother), Sara and I took our turn as her parents watched!

I left the festival feeling glad to have gone and participated but sick from all of that sugar. Despite the fact that while working at Sucre I was surrounded by sweets and king cakes, this year, without working there, I have tried a bunch of other cakes and feel 10x worse. I have less than a week more of temptation then they'll be gone from bakeries and grocery stores until next year. Just typing this makes me want to go eat a handful of lettuce to counteract the sugar.

Katie's Chocolate Club: January

As my lovely hand written note says, this month's chocolate club was to help keep me motivated while I continue my job hunt :) I don't remember exactly how I stumbled across the New Jersey based Sciascia Confections (pronounced sha-sha), but I sure am glad that I did! I keep a list of interesting chocolate places to consider for my club each month and Sciascia's website happened to tickle my fancy in January!

The smooth brown box arrived secured with a well formed golden bow (my time at Sucre will always cause me to take note of ribbon/bows...something I'll have to live with forever). I always appreciate a hand-written note as I know that requires an extra personal step in the fulfillment process. All of the truffles were in perfect condition, not that I would expect much melting to occur up and down the east coast with the current winter weather!

 

ROW #1

S'more: Campfire memories rolled into one neat bite: fresh marshmallow is covered in dark chocolate and coated in crushed organic graham cracker crumbs.

La Vie en Rose: A candied rose petal adorns a creamy dark chocolate ganache truffle splashed with a whisper of rose water, organic raspberries and raspberry liqueur.

The Holy Grail (milk): The ultimate caramel: silky and soft, infused with Tahitian vanilla bean and accented with a  touch of sea salt crystals harvested in the Camargue region near Provence, France.

Nuts about Nutella: A pure hazelnut and chocolate truffle cream center is surrounded by a rich dark chocolate, studded with chocolate-covered caramelized hazelnuts.

Chariots of Fire: Ancho chili pepper-together with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla- brings a warm heat to this dark chocolate truffle rolled in pure and intense Valrhona cocoa powder.

ROW #2

In the Limelight: Fresh lime zest is the star in this organic coconut, white chocolate truffle splashed with rum, an infusion of Madagascar vanilla, and cloaked in 70% dark chocolate with toasted organic coconut.

A Walk in the Rainforest: 100% Kallari Ecuadorian farmer-ownded, heirloom cacao, is used to make this 75% organic dark chocolate truffle infused with Tahitian vanilla bean. Kallari chocolate is rainforest alliance certified.

Monkey's Uncle: Early Spanish explorers called coconut "coco," because it resembled a monkey's face. Chomp on this: dark chocolate and creamy organic coconut ganache with a splash of rum.

The Holy Grail (dark): The ultimate caramel: silky and soft, infused with Tahitian vanilla bean and accented with a  touch of sea salt crystals harvested in the Camargue region near Provence, France.

Mad about Vanilla: A dark chocolate shell (topped with caramelized cocoa nibs) holds a fragrant Madagascar, Tahitian, and Mexican vanilla bean-infused white chocolate ganache.

ROW #3

Portrait of Aunt Hazel (the nut): A milk chocolate exterior with caramelized hazelnuts hugs a pure hazelnut praline and caramelized coconut center, with a touch of sea salt. A National Award-Winning Confection.

Mad about Vanilla: A dark chocolate shell (topped with caramelized cocoa nibs) holds a fragrant Madagascar, Tahitian, and Mexican vanilla bean-infused white chocolate ganache.

Duke of Earl Grey Tea: Creamy dark chocolate truffle infused with fragrant earl grey tea, honey, and topped with local bee pollen (a superfood containing nearly all the nutrients required by humans).

"Honey, I'm Home!": Times have changed, but simple pleasures remain, like this dark chocolate truffle with hazelnut praline, orange blossom honey and a candied violet petal. "Welcome home dear."

In the Limelight: Fresh lime zest is the star in this organic coconut, white chocolate truffle splashed with rum, an infusion of Madagascar vanilla, and cloaked in 70% dark chocolate with toasted organic coconut.

ROW #4

Lemonade Stand: In support of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, we created this organic lemon zest-infused dark chocolate truffle. Sciascia Confections supports alexslemonade.org.

Chariots of Fire: Ancho chili pepper-together with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla- brings a warm heat to this dark chocolate truffle rolled in pure and intense Valrhona cocoa powder.

Romeo & Juliet:  The classic pair: dark chocolate and raspberries, united once again in this star-cross'd truffle swirled in raspberry liqueur and blanketed with pure organic raspberry dust.

The Holy Grail (milk): The ultimate caramel: silky and soft, infused with Tahitian vanilla bean and accented with a  touch of sea salt crystals harvested in the Camargue region near Provence, France.

S'more: Campfire memories rolled into one neat bite: fresh marshmallow is covered in dark chocolate and coated in crushed organic graham cracker crumbs.

Holy cow these were awesome! I don't know that I could name my favorite if I had to. The S'more was fun with its semi-liquid marshmallow center. Nuts about Nutella was like a Ferrero Rocher without the crispy wafer part: I love chocolate and hazelnut together! Perhaps it is the combination of three types of vanilla, not that I could tell you the difference between them, but the Mad About Vanilla was killer. If I had to pick one that I was not as wild about it would be the Chariots of Fire but that is only because I am not a fan of spice. The heat was not overwhelming by any means, but again, if I had to pick my least favorite, that would be it for me. 

I will be keeping Sciascia Confections in mind should I get a hankering again and want to repeat a chocolatier. Or if I am ever in New Jersey I would love to stop by their retail location. Yum yum yum!

*all names/descriptions were copied directly from the guides provided with the collection.

NOLA Winter

It is cold and windy in the Big Easy today. A drastic change from the 70 degree day we had not 24 hours ago. Granted it was warm and rainy, but still, the weather flip flops a lot in these parts. The wind chill did not stop from me leaving the comfort of my warm bed though. Instead I travelled to Metairie where I had a new Mardi Gras shirt on hold for me! How exciting! And I felt the pull of Whole Foods luring me in so I stopped by for some turkey loaf... yum!! 

The shirt I bought on display at NOLA Boo: I did not purchase the tutu skirt!

Now I plan on staying in for the duration of the "freeze advisory" that is in place. I'll be doing laundry, working on a small painting project, and most likely  watching a few episodes of Justified (my latest binge show). I am thankful that I am not snowed in like my comrades in Virginia. While a snow day was always a celebrated event when I was a kid, being an adult and having to go out in that mess to run errands or go to work is the worst.