Entries Tagged as 'vacation'

Our First Crawfish Boil

April 8th, 2008 · 7 Comments


Dallas :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans

Dallas had to work a lot over the weekend we were in New Orleans but there was one thing he knew he wanted to do in his limited spare time and that was go to a crawfish boil. He’s wanted to do this in the past, but it wasn’t the season. In my head it was going to be something like the steamed crab we had in Baltimore. And it sort of was.


Shucking Oysters :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans

We couldn’t figure out where to go before our trip. And once we were there we still didn’t know. So, we were walking up Iberville and when we walked past Felix’s we saw people inside eating mounds of crawfish so we beelined in. We barely got past the door when a guy at the bar, who was shucking oysters right there, asked if we’d like oysters and something to drink. The answer? Why, yes. Yes we would. So we ordered some beer and ate some oysters while the waitress prepared our table. We paid that bill and were escorted to our table.


Crawfish Boil :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans


Crawfish Boil :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans


Crawfish Boil :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans

For the boil we ordered 2 pounds to share. Like the crab experience in Baltimore, the taste was really good, but it was a lot of work for not much payoff. I guess it’s the same when you get crab legs too. One of Dallas’ coworkers who lives in New Orleans said that she thought it was a pretty good boil. Seasoned well, a bit spicy, good taste. So, we were glad our first one was liked by a local. Some of us were surprised by how much 2 pounds of crawfish looks like. In these photos one of these bowls/baskets is one pound. But actually, the coworker said when they order it in at the office they usually get 3-4 pounds per person.


Fried Pickles :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans

On the menu was something else I’d never seen before: fried pickles. All I could think about was how Jeannette discovered years ago that her mom had a deep fat fryer and we talked about having a deep frying party where each person would bring something they wanted to fry. We never did it, but I remember Yvan really really wanting to fry a pickle, so this menu item reminded me of him. When we got it the dish was fried pickle chips. They were ok. They tasted like fried stuff dipped in .. I don’t even know what.


Shrimp Po’Boy With Red Beans and Rice :: Felix’s, French Quarter, New Orleans

For dinner I had a half shrimp po’boy with red beans and rice. It was ok. Everyone who had the crawfish boil agreed that it was really good, but that the rest of the food was just average. Oh, and the oysters were good. Really big and juicy ones. And the Abita beer was good.

The funny thing is that after we had this dinner then we started seeing signs at a lot of restaurants saying crawfish are back in season or that they’re having boils. Dallas wanted to keep going back for more, but we didn’t.

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At The River Front

April 7th, 2008 · 4 Comments


Spanish Plaza, French Quarter, New Orleans


Creole Queen Cruise Ship, French Quarter, New Orleans


Crescent City Connection, French Quarter, New Orleans


Riverwalk Marketplace, French Quarter, New Orleans


Riverwalk Marketplace, French Quarter, New Orleans

After my cooking class I shopped a bit on Decatur St. and then strolled around Woldenberg Riverfront Park. I also walked a bit around the Spanish Plaza, which features a large fountain surrounded by seals of the provinces of Spain. It was dedicated to New Orleans by Spain in 1976. I saw a lot of steamboats, ferries and cruise ships (I saw the Creole Queen docked & boarding) in the Mississippi River and admired the Crescent City Connection bridges. It was a really warm day and I was just happy to be outside. Finally, I walked through Riverwalk Marketplace, but didn’t stay there long because blech. It’s just a mall. I did see all these fuckin’ hot sauces and coffees there, though. When my legs were starting to give out, I rested by watching an IMAX movie called Hurricane on the Bayou. It was actually a pretty great film about the Louisiana bayous and how threatened they are. It was told from the point of view of some local musicians, and so, as you may have guessed, it has a great soundtrack.

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New Orleans School of Cooking

April 6th, 2008 · 3 Comments

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!

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