A Vintage Mardi Gras Treasure!

My late Mother-inlaw's Cleopatra Mardi Gras bracelet from the 70's...what a treasure!

Spanish Town Parade

It was a very wet and Pink day in Baton Rouge!

Pink Flamingos represent the yearly parade and are used as a symbol that the parade is coming soon!   

Before I moved here or before I attending my first Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade if you mentioned flamingos I would think of the zoo. Not anymore, I was initiated last year at this wacky unconventional parade in our local Baton Rouge. Yes, there are fabulous traditional Mardi Gras parades throughout the state during the season but I had the most fun 15 minutes right up the road.  

The parade each year focuses on themes, themes that allow the floats to express political commentary, or even to be "tacky" such as:

"Everyman a King" (1982)

"Poor Taste is Better Than No Taste at All" (1986)

"Louisiana's Dirty Laundry" (1992)

"Politically Incorrect" (1998)

"Louisiana Purchase: Name Your Price" (2003)

"Flamingos Gone Wild" (2004)

25 Flockin' Years

FEMAture Evacuation

Quit Flocking Around and Pink Your Own Theme

Flamingeaux Phil Predicts

Buy Yeaux Bailou

     XXXpress It (our first year)

This year's theme:

We didn't attend this year as planned because of the torrential rains and our tornado warning. When our patio furniture started flying, the purple martin house about crashed and someones patio umbrella landed in our front yard, we took it as a sign that it wasn't a good idea to leave the house!

So unfortunately I do not have pictures for you but here is some of what our local paper had to say about the event...

The Advocate, Baton Rouge:

  

The rain was light when the parade rolled at 11:30 a.m., but after about an hour, heavy winds and hard rain forced many revelers to take cover.

Members of the Greater Baton Rouge Drum and Dance Corps dashed for cover after the winds blew something into the eyes of one of the dancers.

“Our banner’s destroyed and the kids are scattered,” Contina Joseph said. “We’d like to return, but I don’t know if we can make it.”

The group did not return to the parade.

The traditionally irreverent parade did not disappoint parade-goers with slogans such as  “BP can I have my life back” and “Oiled not Boiled.”

“These are some of the best floats I’ve ever seen,” Constantine said.

Floats poked fun at politicians Sarah Palin, Gov. Bobby Jindal and even former Gov. Edwin Edwards. Former BP head Tony Hayward was the target of many floats. Floats featured makeshift oil skimming devices and some floats were wrapped in plastic.

The irony, parade judge and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne said, is that most of the parade-goers have no idea the money raised from the parade and group’s ball is used for area charities. Childers said that each year,  the group — which held its first parade in 1981 — donates between $60,000 and $80,000 to local nonprofit groups.

“They’ve outdone themselves this year. The floats are so creative, I know you can’t print most of it in your newspaper,” Dardenne said.

Photos from The Advocate:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/photos/117468918.html

So until next year...who knows what headline lays ahead to become the 2012 covenanted theme.

Gratefully,

Deborah...xo!





Your Place or Mine?

I have tried a lot of different vegetables, my mom was a huge fan of them. But when my husband introduced me to the Mirliton at our local farmers market it was a first!  

The Mirliton is a favorite food of South Louisiana. Once the principal food of the Aztecs and Mayas the Mirliton made it's way to North America and made Louisiana one of it's principle homes. It's also grown in California and Florida.

The Mirliton is also known as the Mango Squash and Vegetable Pear. 

The Mirliton (pronounced mirl-uh-tahn) can be fried, stuffed, pickled, stir fried, cooked with tomatoes and used in salads. Stuffed Mirliton is by far the favorite here in South Louisiana. 

Shrimp Stuffed Mirlitons

What you will need:

4  mirlitons*

1  tablespoon butter

1  cup  finely chopped onion

2  garlic cloves, minced

2 1/4  cups cooked shrimp (small-leave whole, medium/large-cut up)**  

1/2  cup  dry breadcrumbs

1  tablespoon  chopped fresh parsley, leave some for garnish

3/4  teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning 

1/2  teaspoon ground thyme

1  large egg, beaten

1 fresh lemon, 1/2 lemon for juice and 1/2 for garnish

* You can use bell peppers, zucchini or yellow squash 
**You can also use crawfish tails 

Poke Mirleton's with a fork, cover with water in a pot and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 mins. If using bell pepper, reduce cooking to 5 mins. Drain and let cool.

Cut it half discard seeds. Scoop out pulp, chop and put in a bowl, set aside. 

Melt butter in a saucepan, add garlic and onion and cook onion till tender. Pour in bowl with pulp and add shrimp, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, parsley, Cajun seasoning, thyme and beaten egg. Combine together and spoon mixture in each half of the Mirletons.

Place Mirletons on a baking sheet, place a small dab of butter on each half.

Bake at 375 for 30 mins.

Garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.

  

Served with a rice pilaf or yellow rice on the side...Enjoy!

Cajun Catch Seafood Market

814 West Orice Roth Road
Gonzales, LA 70737-4143
(225) 647-3474

Gratefully,

Deborah...xo!

Book Club Anyone??

Click over to my Facebook Page to get all the details of my

Spring Book Club

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Some-Like-It-South/151167371606704

R.S.V.P:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Some-Like-It-South/151167371606704#!/event.php?eid=138968116168501


The Movie, starring Emma Stone will be out in August, check out the FB page:

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/thehelpcommunity

Invite all your friends and family to this event!
The more the merrier!! 

Gratefully,

Deborah..xo!

Keep ART in schools!

I find myself on the run again today, the weather is so nice here that the outdoors is pulling at me to get some much needed spring clean-up and sprucing up done! But came across this in the paper this week and thought it was a wonderful positive story of some very talented young people that I wanted to share.

BR students’ art takes district firsts

Advocate staff report

Published: Mar 2, 2011

Three East Baton Rouge Parish public school students won first-place awards in the 2011 Louisiana School Boards Association’s District Level Art Contest held in January. The winners go on to the state competition representing the East Baton Rouge School Board at the LSBA Convention at the Crowne Plaza Wednesday through Friday. Artwork will be displayed at the convention.

Each piece of artwork had to represent Louisiana and be created with regulation media (oil, acrylic, watercolor, pen and ink, charcoal, pastel, crayon, colored pencil, batik or stitchery).


First Place Winners:

Photo from EBR Schools

Airelle Williams-3rd grade-Parkview Elementary..."The Blue Possum".

Photo from EBR Schools

Kayla Richardson-8th Grade-Westdale Middle..."Cultural Fusion".

Photo from EBR Schools

Phillip Hahn-12th Grade-McKinley High..."Gator"

The blue color was used for the Possum and Gator as a tribute to our beloved "Blue Dog" here in Louisiana.

Some very talented young people...awesome!

Gratefully,

Deborah...xo!

After the dance tradition...The Praline!



This beloved Louisiana confection got it's name from the tradition of young women in New Orleans making them before going to a ball and then enjoying them with friends (and beaux) at their homes afterward.

And since I had some pecans left over from the pie and I'm a "southerner in training", I decided to try and make this very southern classic candy...

What you will need:

1  cup  firmly packed light brown sugar

1  egg white, beaten

1 1/2  cups  chopped pecans, lightly toasted

What to do:

Preheat oven to 400.

Put the pecans in a small saucepan, on low heat, warm the pecans...only takes a couple of minutes. This will provide the "toasted" effect.

Stir together brown sugar and beaten egg white, fold in chopped pecans.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto a heavy-duty aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

Turn off oven; place baking sheet in oven, and let pralines stand 8 hours in oven.

Will make about 20 Pralines.

Doesn't get any easier than that!



Gratefully,

Deborah...xo!

A Southern Love Letter...

A beautiful book and it's Read Across America Week...a win-win!

It is perfect timing for me since I just received my new book Stealing Magnolias. It is a beautifully illustrated book by Debra Shriver and takes us on her journey from a New Orleans courtyard. Debra is a twelfth-generation Southerner, passionate preservationist and jazz devotee that created this book as part-love letter and part-scrapbook. It gives readers a rare tour behind courtyard walls and private gates of our mysterious city, which is often considered the Paris of America.

So whether it's food, gardens, decor, decoration, architecture or design, this book engages the reader to experience every element of the world's most romantic cities.  So I will make the time this week to find a quiet place and take it all in. Then I will place it perfectly on the nightstand of our guest room for others to enjoy during their stay!

I first discovered this amazing book at my local B & N for $60, a little pricey, not that it is not worth it! But I was able to find it on Amazon.com for $34...had to anxiously wait for it in the mail, but worth the savings!

If you have kids or you are a kid at heart...Put on your hat and read with a cat!

 Tomorrow, March 2nd would of been Dr. Seuss's 107th birthday...Happy Birthday!

His first children's book published in 1937...



I love them all but you gotta love...

And it isn't Christmas at our house until we see...

Tell me what your favorite Dr. Seuss book is!

Gratefully,

Deborah...xo!