Snowy Colorado

Regarding Winter......

"One must have a mind of winter 

To regard the frost and the boughs 

of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time

To behold the junipers shagged with ice,

the spruces rough in the distant glitter

of the sun."

~ Wallace Stevens

We had quite a snowfall this past week! 

Denver’s total February snowfall total now stands at 13.5 inches, solidifying the city’s third straight "snowier than normal" February. The total seasonal snowfall total sits just below 34 inches, which is right on track with the long-term normal through the end of February for the Denver area. March is typically Denver’s snowiest month of the year so, hopefully, our state will be above normal in snowpack this year, which will benefit our reservoirs and rivers. 

 Did you know that snowmelt from Colorado furnishes water for seven other states? We love snow!

I live in a suburb of Denver, in a community next to the foothills and we had 9.6 inches of snow this storm instead of Denver's 12 plus inches.  The good thing about snow along the Colorado front range is that the dry ground almost immediately begins to soak up the moisture and the hot sunshine melts it quickly. 

A drive through my neighborhood the day after the snowfall.

"Snow was falling,

so much like stars

filling the dark trees

that one could easily imagine

its reason for being was nothing more

than prettiness.”

~ Mary Oliver

We leave the leaves from our trees on the ground in the fall as we know the deer come by to eat them all winter.  They will dig under the snow looking for them.

This little fawn hiding amused me during the snowstorm.  He hid under a pine tree that is next to my window. He kept peeking out, but didn't want to get wet! Happily, his Mother came for him after a little while when the snow stopped falling.

,

Happy month of March! 

The month of February seemed to fly by for me.  The collage above shows many happy occasions we had last month...Valentine roses, a chocolate heart cake that I made, a granddaughter's birthday and her first time skiing, two other grandchildren's Valentine mailboxes they made to bring to school to collect their Valentine cards, homemade beignets for Mardi Gras, and delicious Lemon Pound Cakes, using Ina Garten's recipe. They were so good!  A bit of lemony sunshine to brighten up a winter day.

Are there signs of spring where you are or is winter holding on a bit longer?

 Stay healthy and safe!

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Some Special New Orleans Restaurants to Enjoy!

Commander's Palace, New Orleans

 

I've spent the last three weeks blogging about the last trip my husband and I took pre-pandemic to one of our favorite places--New Orleans, Louisiana. We've visited New Orleans many times before and if you search on my blog you will see posts I wrote about a few of the magnificent anti-Bellum plantations we visited in the area, a swamp tour we took by boat, the beautiful Saint Louis Catherdral which is the oldest Catholic Catherdral in the United States as well as other landmarks, the World War II Museum, the Museum of Jazz, and many places we dined in the past.  Food is so much a part of the lure of New Orleans. It is a mix of French-inspired Creole and Cajun cultures. Both types of cooking have culinary roots in France, with a nod to Spain, Africa, and Native America, and to a lesser degree to the West Indies, Germany, Ireland, and Italy. Both cultures take their food very seriously and love to cook, eat, and entertain. Creole refers to descendants of the original European French and Spanish settlers of New Orleans. Cajun people are technically descendants of the french descendants of Acadia, which was located in the maritime areas of eastern Canada, that were expelled by the British in 1755.

One of the most famous places to eat in New Orleans is Commander's Palace, located at 1403 Washington Ave, in the French Quarter of New Orleans since 1893. A steady parade of renowned chefs - Emeril Lagasse, Paul Prudhomme, Jamie Shannon, Tory McPhail, and now Meg Bickford - have made Commander's Palace the world-class restaurant what it is today and its leading-edge Haute Creole cuisine reflects the best of the city.

We have dined here for dinner in the past, but on our last trip we took an extended tour of the French Quarter--click here to see that post-- and we stopped into Commander's Palace for a late lunch. One of the attractions of their lunch is the twenty-five-cent martini--a limit of 3 per person! As you can see from the photos above their food is exquisite!  My husband and I enjoyed escargot in tomato sauce and fried oysters as our appetizers, and because we like seafood, we indulged in shrimp and redfish. The portions were all generous so we did not indulge in dessert, but they are famous for their Bread Pudding Souffle with Whiskey Sauce-recipe here.

A breakfast spot that we enjoy very much is The Court of Two Sisters, located at 613 Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. They have daily jazz brunches with a buffet of Creole classics plus an à la carte dinner and a charming courtyard in which to dine, where musicians play jazz.  We usually order the brunch buffet as there are so many selections of unlimited delicious breakfast and lunch foods to choose from. One can also order a la carte.  The building and courtyard hold an interesting history. Don't miss touching the "Charm Gate" as you enter! The charm gates were wrought in Spain especially for The Court of Two Sisters. Legend says that Queen Isabella of Spain had them blessed so that their charm would pass on to anyone who touched them.

We always desire a muffuletta sandwich for lunch during our visit to New Orleans, and one restaurant which makes them well is the Napoleon House, located at 500 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans.   A 200-year-old landmark, the building's first occupant, Nicholas Girod, was mayor of New Orleans from 1812 to 1815. He offered his residence to Napoleon in 1821 as a refuge during his exile. Napoleon never made it, but the name stuck, and since then, the Napoleon House has become one of the most famous bars in America, a haunt for artists and writers throughout most of the 20th century. 

The muffuletta sandwich originated in New Orleans purportedly at Central Grocery where it is still made today. The sandwich is made with soft sesame topped bread, Italian charcuterie, and a spicy Creole olive salad. You can see a recipe on this link.  The sandwich at Napolean House is so large we shared it--delicious! We also enjoyed a drink they are famous for--the Pimms's Cup--recipe here.

A very affordable New Orleans brand restaurant is Pat O'Brien's, located on 718 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter.  Their historical building was built in 1791 as a private home, and later became the first Spanish Theatre in the United States. It was converted back to a private residence until 1942 when Patrick O’Brien and Charles Cantrell purchased the spacious place to become home to one of the most iconic nightclubs in the United States.  They are famous for their dueling pianos, flaming courtyard fountain, as well as their Hurricane cocktail, among other drinks.  The Hurricane is served cold, is sweet, and contains rum--very refreshing!  A Hurricane recipe is here.  Their menu is mostly Cajun cuisine and for our dinner, we ordered a chicken wing appetizer to share, and for my entree, I had Crawfish Etouffe while my husband had their traditional Red Beans and Rice that is served with grilled sausage.  It was all very filling and tasty! We enjoyed the casual atmosphere of Pat O'Brien's very much.

One evening, we dined at another of New Orleans "grand dame" 100-year-old restaurant, Broussards.  Broussard's first opened in 1920, when an eminent local chef, Joseph Broussard, married Rosalie Borrello, and the couple moved into the Borrello family mansion (built in 1834) at 819 Conti Street in the French Quarter, where the restaurant now sits.  Today, Executive Chef Jimi Setchim continues the tradition of a French and Creole-influenced menu.

My husband and tried their Creole turtle soup, and I had the Panned Seared Sea Scallop special while my husband had the Pompano Fish Ponchitrain, served with shrimp.  We could not resist a dessert special: King Cake with frangipane filling for two. The Lucky Baby was sitting on top. Everything was exquisite!

Another of the "great dame" of fine French Creole restaurants is Antoine's, located at 713 St. Louis Street in the French Quarter.  Antoine's has been operated by the same family since 1840.  It is the birthplace of oysters Rockefeller, developed in 1899 by Antonie's son and given that name due to the richness of the sauce. They remain one of the great culinary creations of all time and that recipe remains a closely guarded Antoine’s secret, though it has been imitated countless times.

The restaurant consists of many different rooms and the maitre d' was kind enough to take my husband and me on a little tour, pointing out all the special corners where famous people had dined and the photos and memorabilia on the walls, including much Mardi Gras history.  It was so fascinating!

Our dinner at Antoine's was superb! Our waiter treated us like royalty. He even brought us an appetizer on the house of one of his favorites, and a dish perfected at Antoine's: Pommes de Terre Souffles, or puffed potatoes, seen on the middle right of the photo collage above. I had to try the oyster Rockefeller as my appetizer, seen in the middle left. They were out of this world! I never had better. My husband had escargot (bottom left). As for entrees, my husband had Pompano Pontchartrain (top photo), which was a grilled delicate pompano filet, butter poached jumbo lump crabmeat, white wine sauce, onion rice, seasonal vegetables. I had the special fried Soft Shell Crab served with almondine sauce. As for sides, we tried a crab souffle and lobster mac and cheese.

It was our first night in New Orleans and we were celebrating!  I'm so glad we did, as our trip to New Orleans, and all the places we dined there, were the last for the year 2020, and so far for 2021.  Since then I have done the bulk of the cooking at home and we have not dined out in a restaurant since. Hopefully, dining out will become a reality again for us one day. In the meantime, we are trying to stay safe from exposure to the covid virus.

Chicory Coffee and Beignets breakfast at Cafe du Monde

I hope you enjoyed this series of New Orleans, Louisiana posts. They brought back wonderful memories to me.  I hope to be able to travel there again someday to enjoy even more of its history, friendly ambiance, and hospitality.  Do you have a favorite New Orleans memory that you'd like to share?

Stay healthy and safe!

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Mardi Gras World

Since the first Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 1857, elaborate floats have paraded through the city of New Orleans on the Tuesday before Lent. It is one of the largest public carnival parties in the world. Thousands of people fill the streets to watch the parades of colorful floats and to catch plastic beads thrown into the crowds by the "Krewes" on the floats. Marching bands and dance teams come from all over to perform, and social clubs and groups of artists and organizers spend practically every month of the year preparing floats and celebrations. More about the history of Mardi Gras can be read on this link.  Sadly, Mardi Gras parades have been canceled this year due to the pandemic, but as a substitute, many homeowners have decorated their own home fronts and porches as if they were floats, with different themes.  To see a news video about the innovative way homeowners are doing this go to this link.  

 On our trip to New Orleans, last January, my husband and I took a tour of the Blaine Kerns Mardi Gras World,  which is a 300,000 square foot working warehouse located along the Mississippi River, next to the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. Kern Studios, the world leader in float creation, has been a part of Mardi Gras history since 1932. Now the family-owned and operated business designs and builds floats for festivals and celebrations all over the world.

Their warehouse is enormous! As a visitor, you get the opportunity to walk around the entire grounds and watch the artists at work.  They work all year to sculpt, paint and decorate over 500 floats for a normal Mardi Gras year.

Their sculpture medium is styrofoam, which is covered with paper mache, and then painted.  Styrofoam is used so that the giant figures made for the floats remain light in weight.  The detail achieved is amazing.

Inside this room is a giant piece of styrofoam which a robotic machine will sculpt, using a 3D pattern programed into the robot's computer.

The robot was nicknamed "Pixie" after a former long time employee.

 It is used to make extra large sculptures, 60 feet or longer, in a method called digital fabrication.

We were able to stroll up and down the warehouse aisles inside Mardi Gras World.

These are just some of the many float figures we saw....

...and more.

We learned that often the styrofoam sculptures are repurposed or repainted, or combined with another part or different head so that they could be re-used.

I believe this figure, that was once a sculpture of a person from the movie "The Matrix," was in the process of being repainted to be made into a cowboy figure.

We saw many heads and bodies being repurposed this way

Floats were also being constructed from wood...

...and then painted and decorated with 3D sculptures.

The floats are pulled by trucks in the parade...

...and riding on the floats are the krewes--who are comprised of local social clubs/organizations that fund a float each year.  Wearing costumes and masks, they wave to the crowds and throw beads and trinkets as the floats pass the crowds.  Multiple Mardi Gras parades take place for two weeks before Fat Tuesday.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a wonderful celebration and hopefully the parades will return next year!

If you'd like to a recipe for a Madri Gras specialty King Cake that I make -- click here.

If you'd like to see my recipe for a Gluten

 Free Seafood Gumbo cooked in a slow cooker-- click here.

PS:... some good news...

I had the first dose of the covid vaccine! When Colorado approved the next age group availability of 65 and over, I qualified, and I diligently searched online until I found a local grocery store pharmacy that had available appointments. I had no symptoms afterward except for a bit of tenderness at the injection site.  I was given an appointment to come back for my second dose in 28 days. I had the first dose on the same day my husband received his second dose.  He had no adverse symptoms either, except for some tenderness at the injection site.  We felt a lot of relief to get the vaccine, as we knew our age made us more vulnerable to more severe illness from the disease.  We'll still be wearing our masks and social distancing for awhile, until more people receive their vaccine, but it was a definite step forward for us towards getting back to normal!

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The Garden District in New Orleans, Louisiana

In my last post--click here-- I showed some photos of the scenic and historic French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, from a trip my husband and I took last January. We had visited New Orleans a few times before and always enjoyed the history, ambiance, food, and entertainment. On this trip, we wanted to spend some time exploring the area known as the Garden District, so we took a "Hop-On Hop-Off" City Tour Bus, which included a guided walking tour opportunity in the Garden District.

The bus traveled down Magazine Street where many shops, art galleries, and restaurants are located.

The walking tour guide first spoke to us before this old plantation mansion once owned by the Livaudais family, of French heritage, at one time this area was comprised of sugar beet plantations and was called the city of Lafayette. After the American Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when the land was purchased from the French, there was a dramatic growth in the city. The population of New Orleans doubled by 1810 and tripled by1830, to almost 50,000 full-time residents. Affluent people began erecting large homes on spacious lots between Magazine Street and Nayades--now called St. Charles Street--that was ideal for ornamental horticulture. People nicknamed the area "the garden district," and the name stuck. Nearly 20 years later, in 1852, Lafayette became part of New Orleans.

In the late 1800s, some of the large lots were subdivided as uptown New Orleans became more urban. This created a pattern of 19th-century mansions surrounded by “gingerbread” decorated late Victorian-style homes. That is the reason why the Garden District is now known for its architecture just as much as its natural scenery.

The Garden District may no longer have many opulent gardens, but it is known for its streets lined with large and magnificent old oak trees as well as some palm trees.

I was enthralled to see all the moss hanging from this tree.

Another thing that enthralled me was the assortment of vintage wrought iron fences that surrounded most of the properties...

...as well as in the construction of porches, awnings, and balconies made of wrought iron

This Greek Revival house, built in 1865, has an octagonal turret, added in the late 19th century. The last private owner, Nettie Seebold, willed the estate to the Women's Guild New Orleans Opera Association in 1955. Furnished with 18th- and 19th-century European and American pieces, the house underwent extensive renovations in 2008.

Founded in 1947, the Women’s Guild promotes and fosters an understanding of opera, cooperating with New Orleans Opera through active fundraising, opera advocacy, and custodial care of the Opera Guild Home.

This stately home was used as the location for the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," starring Brad Pitt. Both exterior and interior locations were used in the movie.

This Victorian mansion surrounded on all sides by a very high privacy fence is the home of actress Sandra Bullock.  You can see some interior photos of the 6,615 square foot home in this Variety Magazine article.

This magnificent house is the home of the actor John Goodman. Our tour guide told us he has been seen often walking his dog in the neighborhood. 

This pretty Queen Anne style house made me smile as it had a mannequin dressed for the Christmas holiday on their front porch to greet visitors. the home was part of a home tour a few years ago and you can see some photos of the interior on this link. 

The Garden District also has one of the oldest community cemeteries in New Orleans- Lafayette Cemetery, dating back to 1833 

Later we were back on our Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour bus headed back to our hotel in the French Quarter and we saw an iconic streetcar traveling the other direction on St. Charles St. It's another convenient way to travel around the city, although they don't give you an informative tour narrative along the ride as the tour bus will. 

We learned from the tour that one of the largest Mardi Gras Parades is held along St Charles Street and it was fun to see this tree and building fence along the street covered with past parade Mardi Gras beads!

 

Mardi Gras celebration will be on February 16th this year, but the usual parades are canceled for this year. Instead, many people in New Orleans are decorating their front porches as if they were the floats that would have traveled down the street in the parade.  It's one way of keeping the celebration alive!  More about Mardi Gras in my next post. Meanwhile, stay healthy and happy.

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