The last time I was in New Orleans was in December 2006. Dallas was there for work and I tagged along and did fun stuff while he worked. I had a great time and always wanted to come back. He had work to do in New Orleans again last year but I was traveling at the same time. Finally this time I was able to tag along. It sucks that he’s got to work over the weekend, but it’s better for me since I only had to take 2 vacation days to have a 4-day weekend.

Chef Michael DeVidts :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

Chef Michael DeVidts :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

The last time we were in New Orleans was my first visit so I was content to just wander and look and see what I might run into. This time there were a few things that I reserved ahead of time and really wanted to do. One of those things was to take a cooking class. Unfortunately, all of the hands-on cooking classes I looked up were about $100 or more. I settled for this demonstration class at New Orleans School of Cooking.

Chef Michael DeVidts :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

Even though the class wasn’t hands-on, I still found it to be really fun and informative. Plus, it was only $27 and you got to eat pretty generous servings of the 4 things we learned to make. Also included was coffee, water, tea and Abita beer.* Chef Michael DeVidts was our instructor. He had a great sense of humor and we got a 2-hour history and culture lesson along with a cooking lesson.

Shrimp & Artichoke Soup :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

Crawfish Etouffee :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

Bread Pudding with Hard Sauce :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

Praline :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

Michael showed us how to make shrimp and artichoke soup, crawfish etouffee, bread pudding with hard sauce, and pralines. We also got to take home recipes and if we try to make one and then email Michael, the New Orleans School of Cooking will send us an official diploma saying we completed the course.

Abita Amber :: New Orleans School of Cooking, French Quarter, New Orleans

* Michael told us about the history of some local breweries, all of which are no longer around. Except Abita. During class I had Abita Amber and really liked it. At another restaurant during the trip I had Abita Red, which was also very good. One of Dallas’ coworkers told me that she really likes a beer called Purple Haze that is made by Abita. And she told Dallas that he may like a really dark, strong one called Turbodog. Haven’t tried the last two yet, but the trip isn’t over!