I will be dreaming of New Orleans!

I will return on January 5, 2010...Happy New Year!!!

Hear The Bells Ring!

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good-will to men." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...American Poet (1807-1882)MERRY CHRISTMAS

SILENT NIGHT

"A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, But softly gives itself away; While quite unselfish, it grows small." Eva K. Logue....I have no idea who this person is but I love her quote....so I say she is an author of quotes! We all should give our self away softly and gently on this holy night. May the spirit of Christmas, light your way!

Naughty 0r Nice

"Lets be naughty and save Santa a trip."....American country music artist...Gary Allen

"Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than any where else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we will be seeing six or seven." W.C. Fields

Naughty or Nice...try not to see too many prancing skeletons or let your reindeer get out of control.... do not celebrate too hardy...we always have carnival season...coming right around the river bend!!!

a wonderful world

"I see trees of green...red roses too, I see'em bloom...for me and for you, and I think to myself...what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue...clouds of white, bright blessed days...dark sacred nights, and I think to myself...what a wonderful world. The colors of a rainbow...so pretty...in the sky, are also on the faces...of people...going by, I see friends shaking hands...sayin' how do you do, they're really sayin'...I love you. I hear babies cry...I watch them grow, they'll learn much more...than I'll ever know, and I think to myself...what a wonderful world." words by the great Louie Armstrong.

Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, has made New Orleans proud! He grew up very poor, drawing inspiration from bad times, he has said,"Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine-I looked in the heart of good old New Orleans...It has given me something to live for." Born in New Orleans in 1901, he learned to love life with struggles and hardships. Working for a Jewish immigrant family, he was taught how to live with extreme determination. The Karnofsky's gave him odd jobs and he was treated as family. Louie Armstrong later wrote a memoir of his life with them titled, "Louis Armstrong+The Jewish Family." Mr. Karnofsky gave Louie Armstrong his first cornet...the rest is history!

The Karnofsky Project in New Orleans is still helping other Louie want-a-be's, by giving hope to children who desire to play, but can not afford a musical instrument. For it's really... a wonderful world!

"What we play is life." Louis Armstrong

"There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell them." Louis Armstrong

DEAR SANTA

I need help finding time to do everything I want to do, so I am turning to SANTA. Dear Santa can you help me out, there is too much to do and see in New Orleans. My list is long and it is so easy to burn the candle at both ends, but I just have three little places to visit! Every one's list should include Celebration in the Oaks, and of course the newly renovated Roosevelt Hotel. We all should remember the Angel Hair Lobby...I can not wait! One more thing Santa, please, I need a Miracle on Fulton Street! It is decorated so nice, I must go! I am in such a "Happy Holly Daze"....so much to see, so little time...can you help me out, Santa Dear?

Don't just sit around...go and be merry and find joy!!!

"Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?".....Friedrich Nietzsche...German scholar and philosopher (1844-1900)

JOYFUL NOISE

Singing in Jackson Square by candlelight can make everyone feel merry and bright! Every year on the Sunday before Christmas, Jackson Square lights up with candles and song. Since 1946 this Vieux Carre tradition has been a number one favorite of locals. With candles and sheet music provided, all one has to do is make a joyful noise!

"Sing, Sing a song, Sing out loud, Sing out strong, Sing of good things, not bad, Sing of happy, not of sad, Sing, Sing a song, make it simple, to last your whole life long, don't worry that it's not good enough, for anyone else to hear, Sing, Sing a song." Joe Raposo...composer and songwriter (1937-1989)

PRAW-LEENS

Please do not say pray-leens! These little intoxicating mixtures of cream, sugar and pecans are called pralines (praw-leens). A little yummy delight that offers sweetness, rich in history, and is a perfect off-spring of New Orleans. Free women of color, who sold pralines on the streets of the city, were called "praliniers". Fresh made from their kitchen, they would be kept cool in the steamy heat of New Orleans, with fanning motions from palmetto leaves, only to make the sugary treats more desirable!

Today you can find pralines everywhere even in the quick-stops and at most cash registers at gas stations. But it is nothing like coming across Mr. George Clark, selling his pralines from a rigged crate strung around his shoulders. He always wore his Panama hat calling out "number one, one dollar"...Who could resist those sweet pralines? I hope he is still selling them around Canal and Carondelet Street. What a great way to spend your life, selling sweets on the streets of New Orleans!

There's many recipes out there but my favorite is the classic sugar, cream and pecans. Be willing to put time in for practice batches, the sugary treats can be testy! My last batch turn to rocks!

A fun place to sneak a peek of cooking pralines is Aunt Sally's at 810 Decatur. They sell many varieties and have been making pralines for a long time in the Quarter. One more great place is Tee-Eva's on Magazine, 5201. Tee-Eva's is true soul. Years ago I was at an art opening on Magazine and she was jamming with the band. She is the real deal. Her business has been passed to her granddaughter, who now keeps the tradition alive. She makes great pies too!

"L'esperienza de questa dolce vita." Italian for "The experience of the sweet life." Dante...Italian poet 1261-1321

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." Laura Ingalls Wilder

awakening

The french word reveillon means awakening. A reveillon dinner was a meal served after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. A feast to awaken your senses and spirit for the joy of Christmas! The tradition can be traced back to the 1800's with the meal being celebrated with only family members to break a day long fast. Imagine oyster gumbo, turtle soup, egg dishes, bread pudding and yes, drinkable spirits, all prepared before hand. There are many restaurants starting their own reveillon dinners with a prix fixe menu for holiday celebrations. This is a great way to sample a local feast and have yourself an "awakening" New Orleans style!

Another tradition in the South of France, this is my favorite, is "thirteen desserts". Small but satisfying, for the mind, body and spirit! The sideboard or small buffet is decorated with thirteen desserts, being the number at the last supper-Christ and the twelve apostles. The holy trinity is represented by three candle sticks. Arranged beautifully on the sideboard are figs, almonds, dried grapes, plums, pecans, pears,almond paste pastry, soft and hard candies, tea cakes, blood oranges, dates, and melon. You must take a sample of each for luck in the new year. This meal is eaten before going to Midnight Mass with family and friends. Whatever your traditions are, there is always room for more, you can start something new from a city rich in traditions and always filled with cheer! Be awakened!!

"Custom reconciles us to everything," Edmund Burke...Irish statesman & author (1729-1797)

"I came here because the city has a tradition and is a very respected food city." Emeril Lagasse

"Lucky 13"

KNOCK KNOCK! WHO DAT? 13-0 THAT'S WHO!!!

The New Orleans team was admitted into the NFL on November 1, 1966. That day being All Saint's Day in the Catholic Church, gave way for the appropriate name of the New Orleans Saints! On September 17, 1967, the first game between the Saint's and the Ram's started a love affair with New Orleans and its home grown team. As you know love can have it's moments of pure ecstasy or disappointments, but through it all you never give up if it is true love. With New Orleans it is always true love! I can not name a Catholic Saint that did not have any hardships and in the end...Sainthood was granted! You only grow and learn to earn your Sainthood! It is coming...13-0...Lucky numbers for New Orleans! Everyone, get out your gris-gris for a little luck! In the Big Easy, that can mean a lucky fleur de lis charm or talisman that will protect Our Boys! Novena's are being said and candles being lit...nothing else need be said but "Bless You Boys"!

"God, makes three request of his children. Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have now." African American Proverb

"When you reach the top, keep climbing." a Proverb quote

p.s...... send some joy!

"The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their differences." The great author and poet, Audre Lorde, could have been describing how the City of New Orleans lives with the rest of the world! But I will use this beautiful quote for sharing a small act of kindness, by sending wishes in a holiday greeting card. Please send some joy to: A Recovering American Soldier, c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington DC 20307-5001

A small act, is a kind act! with joy to all!

i am dreaming

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream." Vincent Van Gogh....Dutch painter (1853-1890)

till death do us part

"What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?" W.C. Fields

Many years ago the "French-Paradox Theory" of French Scientist Serge Renaud, showed that wine reduces the death rate! It started a huge controversy that is still challenged today! So the saga goes on, but so does growing grapes, making wine and drinking the delicious results. For a wonderful sample of a French provincial style tasting room which over looks the vineyards, go to Pontchartrain Vineyards, 81250 Old Military Road...North of Covington. You will need the phone number(985-892-9742); even if you do not get lost, you will think you are! Remember, the anticipation of wine tasting just makes for a delightful love affair.

"Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of good wine." St. Thomas Aquinas

"When a man drinks wine at dinner, he begins to be better pleased with himself." Plato

PEACE

I believe we all seek the divine in our own and private way. Honoring God by going to an extraordinary place, gives me such peace, and a renewal with daily life. The ancient practice of pilgrimage to me is a quick trip to Lacombe to sit in a simple wooden pew.

Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine, on Fish Hatchery Road in Lacombe, is an awe inspiring chapel built in 1923 by Father Francis Balay. The wooded spot was so similar to the Gave de Pair area in France, that Father Balay believed a chapel should be erected honoring Our Lady of Lourdes of his native country. His belief is enjoyed by many who find their way as a favorite place for prayer and devotion. Many claim with answered prayer that the water from the spring has cured them of mind, body and spiritual ailments. I believe it is a perfect place for a private afternoon of renewal and PEACE.

"Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof." Kahlil Gibran (Lebanese born American philosophical essayist, poet 1883-1931)

"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." St. Thomas Aquinas...Scholastic philosopher and theologian 1225-1274.

LA LA LA

Not everyone can whisk themselves off to the South of France but you can enter John Besh's La Provence with a short drive to Big Branch! Open the door and there to greet you is a wonderful pear painting with the warm colors of welcome! Be ready to have all of your senses filled. With a rustic South of France feeling...you may not want to leave!

Being a vegetarian for many years, I choose very carefully what to have an affair with and my choice of cheating is Escargot au Pistou! That is so french! Something about the earthly flavors and surrounding myself with the airs of Provence..voila..I am there like magic. In a dream state...sitting at an antique french bar next to a warm crackling fire or on a hot summer's eve sitting in the quaint courtyard with scents of Louisiana, that only Louisisana can produce. Now if I can not always get to my dream state, I can dream over John Besh's book..."MY NEW ORLEANS"...either way I will be dreaming of my La Provence! When it slowly comes to the end...I feel a sense of being proud...I was raised in Louisiana and Louisiana is my home...and baby it ain't nothing like it!

"Dreams are necessary to life." Anais Nin

"Nothing happens unless first a dream." Carl Sandburg

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope someday you will join us, and the world will live as one." John Lennon

LOUIE AND THE REDHEAD LADY

Chef Louie serves up passion and The Redhead makes joy! I could really just stop now and leave desire of wanting more here, but there is nothing wrong with wanting more! We are a community who knows how to indulge in more. And if you don't quite have the life you want, go to Louie and Ginger's and let them serve up some passion just for you. Louie's has a pulse that makes you feel a little under an hypnotic spell. It is the family you would choose. Come in and sit at your mama's table and fall in love at first bite!

I can find no perfect substitute for cheer and joy for everyday! Louie and Ginger are a loving example of following your heart with passion. They both do what they love and that love shows for each other! That in itself is a recipe for happiness. Love what you do and love the person you are sharing it with!!! They have the real deal...now I know it is not always easy but these two bond with each other and go with guidance that only can come from above! The address to almost heaven is...1851 Florida Street, Mandeville...go and let love and passion fill your day!!! xoxo

"Nobody is to be pitied as much as the person who gets nothing out of his job but his pay." Dale Carnegie

"Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put heart in it, take yourself out of it." author unknown

JOLLY YOU!!!

If you can not find jolly in New Orleans...you are not looking hard enough. Or something just might be wrong! Maybe an adjustment should be considered. Just for today have a jolly session! Practice being jolly. HO HO you know...laugh, smile, think outside the box...now that should come easy, even on the streets you can find an outside of the box person. Study the word jolly...think jolly...eat jolly...drink jolly...a jolly shared is a jolly doubled!

"Well, my opinion is-it's a jolly strange world." Arnold Bennett (British novelist, playwright, and critic 1867-1931)

"There might be some credit in being jolly." Charles Dickens (English novelist, considered the greatest of the Victorian era 1812-1870)

bread crumbs

You do not have to be a foodie to know a good bread. Bread alone can make or break a meal, especially if that meal is a po-boy! George Leidenheimer came to New Orleans from Germany and founded Leidenheimer's Bakery in 1896, his family still operates the business today. As their motto goes...."good to the last crumb." It is so true! New Orleans food grew with Leidenheimer bread.

I love seeing a Leidenheimer bread truck with Vic and Nat'ly, painted on the side, creations of artist Bunny Matthews, it just makes my day! Now, this is so New Orleans!

"Give us this day our daily bread." The Bible

"Acorns were good until bread was found." Francis Bacon...artist

sugar sugar

Etienne de Bore, the first person to hold the title of mayor for New Orleans, successfully granulated cane juice in 1795, an event which inspired a change in history. The original sugar kettle is a landmark on LSU campus, marking Eteinne de Bore with revolutionary vision for the commercial use of sugar.

Sugar kettles were used for processing sugar cane into sugar and syrup. Early use was powered with an animal-powered roller mill. The cane was crushed and the extracted juice was heated, clarified, and evaporated in a set of large sugar kettles. The cane grinding season was in the fall with a feel of crispness in the air. This was a festive time with social gatherings and a little gossip around the kettle. "Hot Punch" was served....to loosen one's tongue and to get in the spirit! I have had the pleasure of experiencing being around a sugar kettle, dipping a cup, and tasting the sweetness of pure sugar cane juice. How sweet it is!! "Hot Punch" was a drink made with boiled cane juice and French brandy. Sugar kettles are not used today, but originals and reproductions can be seen scattered around in beautiful gardens for aesthetic purposes.

"Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one's bath like a lump of sugar." Pablo Picasso

Here's to "Shananigo" and Muey! How sweet life was!!!

JINGLE JANGLE JINGLE

Here comes Mr. Bingle...a favorite childhood memory that comes to life every Christmas. Mr Bingle was a delightful holly-winged snowman who was a helper to Santa Claus. He lived at Maison Blanche department store on the famed Canal Street during its heyday! "Ocsar" Isentrout was the voice and puppeteer of Mr. Bingle. When Mr. B. would appear it was definitely the season of Christmas, he would dance and fly right into every child's heart. For years I have dusted off my Mr. Bingle and proudly displayed him but the real magic of Maison Blanche and Mr. Bingle are sadly missed!


"It is never too late to have a happy childhood." Tom Robbins...American novelist

"The world is full of people who have never, since childhood, met an open doorway with an open mind." E.B. White...American writer 1899-1985