Hi everyone, I'm Stormi. I figured it's worth a formal introduction since I've yet to blog for the last couple of weeks. I know I know, if you've already unfollowed or vowed to never read my blog again, I do NOT blame you. Part of this hiatus has been due to my busy schedule. Within the process of cheerleading tryouts, our trip to New Orleans and moving in to a new house, I've yet to find my one hour of bliss & relaxation to sit down and chit-chat. The other part of this hiatus has to do with how bad of followers you all are. Okay, I'm kidding on that one.. I love each & every person who makes my blog a part of their life, I just wish you ladies would COMMMMEEENNNTTTT a little more. Can't a girl get some lovin' around here?! I want to hear what YOU'VE been up to, what recipes YOU'VE tried, and how, if by chance you're insane like me, YOU can relate to my life stories. I don't care if we've just met, never met or we're B.F.F's. Talk to me, people! Anyway, now back to your regularly scheduled program. I promise to not go M.I.A again if you promise to be more vocal. Deal? Deal. ;)
This blog is a tribute to our trip to 'Nawlins for Mardi Gras.. Let me just tell you, I think my child must have purple, gold & green Mardi Gras blood running through his veins, just like his daddy's side of the family. Cash stayed up and wide awake in awe from 2 pm to 11 pm when we finally left our day of parades. We had a fabulous trip, but of course my attention centered around all of the yummy FOOD. When we arrived in Louisiana Friday afternoon, I quickly realized that this city was made for Cash:
Oh, and let's not forget "Cash's Diner" (although I didn't get a picture of this billboard.) I pouted for about thirty minutes because J wouldn't stop there so that we could eat, but it WAS 10 miles the other direction. After five long hours, we FINALLY arrived at the "King & Queen of Mardi Gras' house" aka my future bro/sis in law's.
Cash CANNOT get enough of these two, and they always make us feel so welcome. Two years ago, we stayed at their house for Mardi Gras & I was THREE WEEKS pregnant. Boy, does time fly! Anyway, not only are they the two best people, but they also made our stay VERY "festive." When you think of the epitome of New Orleans, you can think of them. Tracy is a history guru and knows everything there is to know about every square foot of the N.O, and Leon (J's brother!) might as well be hired on as the official mascot for both the LSU Tigers and the New Orleans Saints. He knows anyone/everyone there is to know in that city! Here's Leon's welcome:
And Cash reciprocated with some suga for his #1 uncle..
They even bought us a King Cake first thing!
And guess who got the baby in his first bite?! You guessed it. My one-day-in-the-far-future fiance. I pouted about that one too, I believe.
Their house also has so me cute New Orleans inspired decor as well..
Here's some pictures of our stay, in no particular order. I figure they are important, although AGAIN, the food was my main priority. We'll get to THAT in a bit.. The camera only had its rare appearances throughout our trip, but if these aren't enough, try to imagine the cutest wide-eyed 16 month old baby catching beads and clapping to the sound of brass bands. Epic! Oh, and the smartest thing we ever did was ditch the stroller and bring a wagon on our trip. We toted him around in that bad boy all day, and of course I had to decorate it up..YOU KNOW ME! ;) Oh, and speaking of decorations.. I know I was going to keep Cash's 2nd Birthday theme a surprise, but I accidentally spoiled it in one of my Facebook statuses, so I might as well shout it out... CASH'S 2ND BIRTHDAY THEME IS MARDIIIII GRAAAS! Thanks to Leon & Tracy, we brought back enough Mardi Gras decor for his ENTIRE birthday party.. Here's our trunk when leaving their house. Did I mention how amazing those two were?
Now back to the pics..
*side note. I'm not pregnant, nor are we attending our 6th grade dance. J just likes posing like we are.
The most exciting thing about the trip so far was the fact that J's brother, Leon was asked to RIDE on one of the spectacular floats seen above ^^^ People pay thousands of dollars to ride on them, and he was able to for FREE.99. This is something many citizens of New Orleans' DREAM of and HE DID IT! Not to mention, he did the sweetest act of all time and got Cash a huge monkey that he held out so that we knew it was him. Here's the pics of Leon on the float.. SUCH A COOL EXPERIENCE!
And here's the proud Wife, Brother & Nephew after the float went by.. they were ALL proud to be Leon's family! I think this may be my favorite pic of all =)
Okay aside from the float, the second best thing HAD to be all of the food. I'm a fat girl at heart, so I savored every single moment of meal times. Here's some of the yummy places we ate:
RAISING CANE'S:
Raising Cane's is a chicken tender lover's heaven, and I enjoyed every moment of the 3 times I ate it while there. It's basically the Dairy Queen of New Orleans. They have the best crunchy chicken tenders with the perfect old school fries to pair with it, and to top it all of.. their BELOVED Cane's Sauce!!! If you haven't eaten at Raising Cane's..you MUST. And try the sauce..or die! And if you HAVE eaten there, and you want to use the sauce as a dip, sandwich spread, toothpaste, or anything else that you can imagine like I do, I've created a copy-cat recipe that's as close as it gets. Just whisk it all together & ENJOY. On everything.
RAISING CANE'S COPYCAT "CANE'S SAUCE":
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (good quality real mayo)
- 1/4 cup Heinz ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- S&P
- Tony's Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
DON'S SEAFOOD:
I promise I didn't just eat chicken tenders the entire time I was there.. For lunch one day, we went to the cutest little Po-Boy shop called Don's Seafood, with every kind of sandwich you could imagine. THEY. HAD. THE. GREATEST. SHRIMP. PO BOY. I. HAVE. EVER. TASTED. Our table was silent for the entire meal while we all devoured our sandwiches in some sort of sandwich heaven. I ordered the classic Fried Shrimp Po-Boy "dressed" (lettuce, tomatoes & tartar sauce.) A-MAZING. The casual, seat-yourself restaurant with its red checkered table cloths made for a comforting meal that I couldn't get enough of. If you're ever in this area, PUH-LEEEEZ visit Don's Seafood off of Aris St.
COPELAND'S
The last restaurant I fell in love with was a place called Copeland's. A little more upscale than the last two I mentioned, but totally worth every penny. (It's priced reasonably, btw. Not expensive, just a bit dressier!) They literally have the best Crawfish Fettucine I've ever tasted (that includes my own!) It could possibly be one of the best dishes I've ever had. They also have a stand-out Spinach & Artichoke dip appetizer that was TO DIE FOR. Crazy enough, it wasn't the dip itself that was the stand-out part of the dish. The recipe I gave a few blogs ago was just as good, if not better than Copeland's. It was the side to the dip that blew my mind. I've seen Spinach dip served with tortilla chips, crustini, and even bread.. but NEVER. have I seen. dip. served. with. FRIED BOWTIE PASTA NOODLES!!!!!!!!!! I know, I know. It sounds completely crazy, but I assure you.. it is the BEST. The inside of the noodles were cooked to a perfect al-dente, and the crunchy crust paired perfectly with the creamy dip. I found the recipe online, so take back whatever I said to serve my Spinach dip with, and PUHHHHLEEEZ SERVE IT WITH THESE! I plan on doing it tomorrow. What a cute & elegant appetizer for any party!
COPELAND'S BOWTIE PASTA CHIPS
NEED:
- 8 oz bowtie pasta
- 2 eggs
- 2 to 3 tbsp milk
- Bread Crumbs
- S&P
- Garlic Powder
- Seasoned Salt
- Tony's Chacheres Creole Seasoning
- Canola Oil (for frying)
STEPS:
1. Boil bowtie pasta in boiling salted water for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat; drain and let cool.
2. Season bread crumbs with all seasonings and mix into shallow bowl.
3. Mix eggs and milk and dip each piece of pasta into mixture.
4. Roll each noodle in seasoned bread crumbs.
5. Fry pasta in oil until deep golden brown.
Top with Parmesan cheese.
Lastly, if pictures of that King Cake was just TOO much for you, and you have no plans to travel to New Orleans to get one, please do NOT go to your local grocery store and try to purchase one. They do not do the "real" ones ANY justice. Here's a recipe I found online that's pretty close to perfect, as far as making it at home goes. Let me know it goes!
CLOSEST-TO-NEW-ORLEANS KING CAKE:
NEED FOR PASTRY:
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
NEED FOR FILLING:
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup melted butter
NEED FOR FROSTING:
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- Purple, Gold, Green sprinkles
STEPS:
1.Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2.When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3.Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
4.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
5.To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup flour. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.
6.Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
7.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Push the doll into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. Top each 1/3 of the cake with the each color of sprinkles.
Hope you enjoyed seeing our trip! *Laissez Les Bon Temp Rouler*
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