First up is the view from J's Florida room
His backyard view from the deck (Buddy loves to lay in the grass out here)
And the living room (which is a mess, but yes, he does keep his Harley parked in there-it cannot be out in the elements)
I left his house on Tuesday to head to NOLA; I arrived around 4ish and headed out to dinner with two other ladies from LA.
The first night we went to Mulate's; I had shrimp 4 ways, with the best being the shrimp gratin. I have to figure out how to copy the recipe and will then try it at home. I did buy their seasoning which I'm hoping will help replicate it.
Wednesday, we went to Bubba Gump's. We've been here before (only in CA) when we went to Anaheim. It's just okay, not anything spectacular. Again, I had shrimp 4 ways (the best part about this was the serving dish).
Thursday, we headed out to The Crazy Lobster. I had the creole shrimp pasta and I would not order this again. It wasn't even "ok", but it looks good.
Friday, J arrived and after we got Buddy situated at the hotel, we walked to Cochon Butcher for dinner. It's been featured on the Food Network.
J ordered some sort of sandwich and some brisket sliders; I had a muffaletta; then we shared an order of mac & cheese. This restaurant was fine, but pricey. It was getting late by this time, so we just went back to the hotel as we were going to get an early start on Saturday.
Saturday morning we headed out after giving Buddy his 6:30 am shot. Our first stop was Café DuMonde for beignets. I thought since it was quite early there would not be a line, but I was wrong. Luckily it only took about 10 minutes to get a seat.
The menu is on the side of the napkin holder, not that it matters, they serve drinks and beignets, nothing else.
J had coffee, I had water. You pay the waitress (in cash) when she brings your order. She will not leave until she gets her tip.
Once we finished breakfast, we headed out on a walking tour of the French Quarter. No pictures as all of the "landmarks" are just typical buildings now, some with plaques identifying what the historical significance is and some without. During my last trip to NOLA, I posted some of these types of things so didn't want to replicate that.
We had an uninspiring lunch at burger bar & grill of which I can't even remember the name.
For dinner, we went to Drago's. During our walking tour, we came upon an Oyster Festival with various NOLA restaurants having food booths. Drago's had the longest line, so figured we would give it a try. There is nothing cheap in NOLA.
J started with charbroiled oysters. I am not a fan so he ate the whole dozen.
I decided to give their shrimp and creole pasta a try. It was better than the last place, but nothing special.
J had charbroiled lobster for dinner. He said it was good.
After dinner, we went back to hotel to give Buddy his shot and then headed out to run the streets of NOLA. We went to the Riverwalk and did a little bit of shopping, then back to the French Quarter so he could pick up some coffee and pralines to take into his office and we also picked up some local LA food items, like bbq sauce and jams.
Sunday morning we both headed back to our respective houses. He will come here for the week of July 4.
This morning while running errands, I picked up some things to do a little bit of canning.
I decided to try "Food in Jar's" Raspberry Habanero Jam.
My changes: the recipe calls for a lemon but does not tell where to add it, so I just added it into the pan with the raspberry, sugar mixture. It calls for 1 habanero cooked with the raspberries but that you remove when cooked; I used 1 1/2 habaneros and chopped it finely and left it in. I also used 8 4oz jars. I think it tasted good and all the jars sealed, so now just need to wait a few weeks before opening one. I don't think the added habanero made things too spicy.
And that's what has been happening around here.
Lisa thank you for adding to your blog. I really enjoy what you post. Thank you..... hugs, bunky
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