painperdu

Chatting with Ti Adelaide Martin of the Brennan Family-from the Origins of Commander's Palace to Mr.B's Bistro

Yesterday was King's Day, the Feast of the Epiphany, and  in New Orleans, the official beginning of the Carnival season. Seems like a good time to start my long awaited series on my time there last summer.

So I begin-with a segment of the wonderful interview I had with Ti Adelaide Martin.  Before we headed to the Hotel Monteleone for the International Food Bloggers Conference NOLA at the end of last August, fellow food blogger (and cookbook author), Nancie McDermott and I, were privileged to sit down and enjoy lunch at Commander's Palace with Ms. Martin, manager (along with her cousin Lally Brennan) of the venerable New Orleans restaurant, and daughter of Ms. Ella Brennan, matriarch of the famed restaurant family.

Ms. Ella, as she's known, has been credited with making New Orleans an eating destination, and has launched the careers of many well known chefs. We touched on all sorts of topics from the history of NOLA restaurants, cocktails, the "crashing" (as Ti Adelaide put it) of Cajun and Creole cuisines, the meaning of hospitality in general, and what makes a great restaurant, in particular.

Today, I'm so happy to share the first post from that interview, in which we talk about the origins of Commander's Palace, their flagship restaurant housed in a 19th century Garden District mansion, straight on to the beginnings of the modern restaurant history of New Orleans. Enjoy! and don't forget to check back peridiocally for more from our talk, and my time in the city.

 

Good Luck for the New Year Italian Style-Cotechino and Warm Lentil Salad

Cotechino and Lentils with Sautéed Tuscan Kale

 

Okay, I’m a Southerner by birth and in much of my food tastes, but to tell the truth, I have never liked black eyed peas, which are the traditional Southern dish, along with greens (greens for money, and the legumes for good luck), eaten for luck at New Year’s.

So I was happy to learn from Creminelli Fine Meats that in regions of Italy, Lentils and Cotechino, a mouth-watering sausage, originating in the Modena region and spiced with clove and garlic, is the New Year’s good luck tradition. I broke out a favorite recipe of mine, Lentil Salad, and warmed it up to serve with the Cotechino. In keeping with tradition, I’ve sautéed some Tuscan kale with garlic to add to the platter.

And lucky for you, Creminelli has generously offered to send a New Year’s gift of Cotechino directly to one of you so that you can welcome 2012 properly, too. 

Just leave a comment here at this post, and then retweet the post (and send me a note or comment with tweet URL) for a second entry. But hurry, this contest ends soon, on the 29th at Midnight, PST. BTW, this is my very first contest, so please respond generously! 

Bon Appetit and Good Luck!

Crabmeat Gratin-A New Orleans Classic with a Jarlsberg Twist

Crabmeat Gratin with Jarlsberg

I am so grateful to Jarlsberg USA , who as I mentioned in my last post, made my August trip to New Orleans and the International Food Bloggers Conference held there possible. I've recreated this classic dish, found in many venerable New Orleans restaurants, with Jarlsberg as my tribute of thanks. It's a great dish-a bit rich, but it's only a small serving, so feel free to indulge. I recommend it as a first course for a fancy sit down holiday dinner-like the French (and still observed in some restaurants and quarters of New Orleans) December holiday réveillon (from the word réveil-meaning "waking"-the late and long meals served on Christmas and New Year's Eves) dinner. And by the way, It happens to go great with Champagne.

Enjoy!

Looking Back at 2011 in Gratitude

In spite of the many difficult things this year brought, there was still so much to be grateful for, a loving and supportive family being the most important.

And as I look back, there are also many to thank in the realm of food blogging, and over the next few posts, I’ll be sharing more about them, along with recipes, but for now, here are the people and happenings making it on to my gratitude list for 2011.

1. I am truly grateful to Ronnie Campbell and Jarlsberg USA for their continued support. In the spring, Ronnie commissioned me to work on a Summer Garden Party menu featuring Jarlsberg. I invite you to view the entire menu, and test some of the tasty results like Jarlsberg Vegetable Canapés, Jarlsberg Stuffed Shrimp Cakes and great Summer Vegetable Frittatas for yourself. As always, Ronnie was a delight to partner with.

2. And speaking of Jarlsberg USA and delight, I was overjoyed that they sponsored me to attend the International Food Blogger’s Conference in New Orleans at the end of August. I had intended to post a series reporting back on the trip shortly after returning to L.A., but life intervened. It was a fabulous time, however, and the series, albeit a bit delayed, is still coming-kicking off soon with a great interview with Ti Adelaide Martin, general manager of the legendary Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. So please check back.

BTW, Ronnie sent me this great Jarlsberg T-shirt to wear at the conference. It captured many an eye, as you can see the burgers are rather prominently featured. Ronnie's response- “well, you will be around the corner from Bourbon Street.”

3. While I’m remembering sponsors, I have to thank Lindsay Olives for sponsoring me to attend Camp Blogaway last May. They sent a case of their Black Olives and their wonderful new Lindsay Green Naturals for me to play with. Take a look at the Fiesta Cheesy Olive Spoon Bread and the Chicken PIccadillo Chiles Rellenos I created using them.

 


4. More opportunities came to create featured menus when the lovely Barbara Blake invited me to create menus to feature at her website, Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch, including a Summer Sonoma Winery Picnic Brunch, and at and At Home for the Holidays Brunch featuring yummy Cheese Blintzes with Chunky Apple Compote, Shiitake Stuffed French Toast and Spiced Pumpkin Waffles.

5. Speaking of summer and wine, there were many sponsoring companies that allowed me to revive a much beloved summer tradition in my household-the Rosé Fest, my tribute to pink wines. Big thanks to all the wineries (please check out the list at the Rosé post) that contributed their delicious fruits of the vine, and to Melissa’s Produce, the California Fig Board and Creminelli Meats for sharing product that I was able to use in creating tasty and properly rustic summery dishes to accompany blush wines. BTW, Creminelli has generously offered one of their custom salume products-one traditionally served at New Year’s for luck-to give to a lucky reader at my very first blog giveaway. So please check back next post to enter the contest.

6. Okay-this company is one I should have thanked last year, but their gift to me lasted well into 2011. Albert Uster Imports sent me a surprise chocolate goody each month for a year. Not too good for the waistline, but oh, soooo yummy. You can check out a few of the treats at my Valentine’s Day post.

 7. I’m grateful to Ballantine’s PR for inviting me to dine and get away at two of the fabulous resorts they represent-Coast Restaurant at the Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara, and the Portola Hotel in Monterey. Because of the turmoil in my life this fall, I have not been able to tell you about the Portola Hotel yet, but I promise I will soon. Hint-if you’re a beer lover, you must check back for that.

 8. I am truly grateful for the food blogging community, for all the wonderful fellow bloggers I met at IFBC in New Orleans, for the old and new friends I spent a weekend communing with at Camp Blogaway in Big Bear, and for our local Food Bloggers Los Angeles community. You’ve all been a uniquely supportive and nurturing bunch that I am proud to be a part of. 

And last, but certainly not least, a BIG THANKS to all of you, who continue to check in and read my blog, even when I’m not too regular about posting (I commit to being better in 2012), and giving me your feedback through the comments you leave. And don’t forget- next week I’ll be doing my first giveaway contest. So come back and leave a comment!

 

Bon Appetit!

 

A Grateful Remembrance

 

This year was filled with many rivers to cross for my family and me. My mother crossed her final river a couple of weeks ago. We were deeply saddened to see her go, but she was in tremendous physical pain her last few days, and as my Aunt Gloria said so simply and eloquently to me earlier this week, “that’s what makes us let ‘em go.”

My mother was a young child during the Great Depression. Her family could not afford to have a portrait shot taken of her, as they did of her two older siblings. In fact, there are no pictures at all of her as a child. There was, however, a drawing of a little brown skinned angel in the house, so whenever she would ask her mother where her picture was, my grandmother, Mama Dear, would tell her “Look at that angel, that’s you.”

And my mother was an angel to so many throughout her life. Several generations of children, of all ages, and whether they were related to her or not, called her Nanny. My Uncle Reiss has said, she took on the role of being his angel as an adolescent and young woman. When she married, she took on the job of loving and caring for us, her children, as a mother. She took on caring for Mama Dear's, and her sister, Adele, through long illnesses and the end of their lives. When my Aunt Adele’s youngest child, Illona, was born only 10 days after my youngest brother, Eric, she took on caring for her, carting them around like twins. When we were grown, she finally took the opportunity to begin the task of caring excellently for herself. And when my Aunt Adele’s children had children of their own, she became their de facto grandmother.

She taught me to read at a very early age, and instilled a love of words in me that remains to this day. It was her life’s calling. Not only did she teach countless other children to read throughout her career as an early childhood teacher, she continued her mission as a volunteer, taking books into schools in underprivileged areas with Reading is Fundamental, well into her retirement. She was still reading books that I, or others, brought to her in the last three months whenever she could manage.

It didn’t stop with early childhood reading. She believed in education. She was ever grateful for the opportunity to receive a college education (she was the recipient of a music scholarship to Xavier University), and worked tirelessly on behalf of Xavier, her and my father’s alma mater. By the way, in gratitude to Xavier for providing her with her education, she made a decision to now give back with the establishment of the Phenella Perez  Educational Scholarship Fund.

My mother and I have very different personalities, and different ways of dealing with things. There were times I could become very frustrated because of that, but the older I got, the wiser my mother became to me. One of the greatest lessons she quietly taught me in her later life, was that just because someone else did something wrong, didn’t mean I shouldn’t do the right thing. It’s a lesson I’m still working on.

I was still learning from her until the end. She had a final lesson to teach us in her last few months. As she grew ill, it became our loving task to care for her. She faced her last days with tremendous courage and serenity. Although she was willing to do whatever her doctors recommended to save her life, and although she worked diligently with the physical and occupational therapists (they grew to love her, too) to restore her physical life, she accepted from the beginning that it may be her time, and she was ready to go. She gently encouraged us, her children and brothers, as the time grew nearer, to let go, as well.

I am grateful for all the lessons.

We will miss her tremendously, but we take comfort in knowing there were at least as many who love her, both those we knew, and those we learned of only through the stories she told us, waiting to greet her on the other side.

Mom with Uncle Reiss when they were young

Mom, Uncle Reiss and me at my first Mardi Gras. Yes, those are bunny ears. As Mom said, every baby was a bunny at their first Mardi Gras.

Mom, my brother Al and me on May Day

 

A Precious Visit

Bev, my brother, Al, and Arthe'

I have been away from this blog for too long. There are several reasons. Computer problems, bigger challenges than I anticipated putting together the audio and slide show of my interview with Ti Adelaide Martin of the Brennan family, with which I wanted to start the coverage of my food blogging trip in New Orleans at the end of August. More importantly, my days have been occupied with daily trips to the hospital.

My mother was released from the hospital a few days ago after a 3 week stay, and a very serious surgery and period of rehab. In the last week she was there, I took her life long friends, Arthé and Beverly to visit her. Afterwards, Arthé christened it "a precious visit". The following is a section of a piece I wrote after the visit which I want to share with you now. And I promise- the coverage of the New Orleans trip is coming soon.

Meeting John Besh, Eating at Restaurant August and Recipe for Brown Butter Fig Tart

John Besh, Barnaby Dorfman of Foodista, and future foodie (Photo courtesy of Foodista)

Although everyone I mentioned it to, leading up to my interview with John Besh, said he’s such a great guy, I still wasn’t prepare for how completely impressed I would be with him. He’s charismatic, warm and thoughtful, and (icing on the cake) tall with boyish good looks tempered by a tiny bit of gray that’s beginning to touch his temples.

Chef Besh spoke to the attendees of the International Food Bloggers Conference after our Saturday night wine pairing dinner at the Monteleone. I had a chance to observe him out in the hallway before he took the stage. Everyone wanted to greet him. Women hugged him, the men shook his hand, he was even kissing babies. When I got the chance to speak with him at his flagship Restaurant August, the Monday after the conference, I said to him, “You should run for mayor. You’re such a natural.”

“I’ll leave that to Mitch,” he said, laughing. “He’s doing a great job. And Ray. I really liked Ray, too.” And such a diplomat, too.

My cousin Paul, who luckily called me just as I was preparing to go to lunch,  and I decided on the 3 course pre-fixe lunch for only $20.11, an incredibly great deal, but as we looked over the menu perusing our options, our server came to the table, and said, “Order lightly. The chef is going to send out several items for you to taste.” We were served an incredible array of amazing food. When we were finished-more like when we just couldn’t eat any more- Paul looked at me and said, “I have never had a meal like this!”

We began with two amuses bouches- the first a Fish Mousse (served in a delicate eggshell) with Truffle Sabayon and Bowfin Caviar, the second an Asparagus served (again) with Truffle Sabayon and a (barely) Poached Quail Egg.

Asparagus with Truffle Sabayon and Poached Quail Egg

Then we were served the first course of our prix fix menu- for Paul, a Salad of Grilled Chilton Peaches, Aceto Balsamico, Basil Pesto, Bacon Crisp and Whipped Ricotta. For me- this luscious Pâté de Campagne of La Provence (Besh's own hog farm) Pork with Pickled Wild Mushrooms and Seasonal Marmalades (I especially liked the peach), served with thick slices of toasted Brioche.

Then 3 hot appetizers- a Green Curry Bisque with Gulf Shrimp, Potstickers and local Heirloom Chile Peppers (Paul pronounced this his favorite dish), a Sweet Corn Agnolotti with Chanterelles, Petit Tomatoes and Field Peas, and a handmade Potato Gnocchi tossed with chunks of Blue Crab and Black Truffle. Truffles- again! I thought of my L.A. food blogging buddy and truffle junkie, Erika Kerekes, knowing she would love eating here.

Corn Agnolotti

And now for our entrées: Pan Seared Gulf Sheepshead with Silverqueen Corn Custard, Succotash (that’s what the menu called it, but I saw all sorts of yummy and unexpected things like black eyed peas, summer squash and figs in the mix) and Tomato Vinaigrette; Crispy Mangalista Pork Belly with Creole Cream Cheese Malfatti (a kind of gnocchi), Mustard Greens (Paul said -these are not your mother’s mustard greens), Tomato Confit and Sauce Blanquette, and Pan Seared Louisiana Blackfish with Tarragon Pistou (which I  found absolutely delicious!), Petit Summer Vegetables and Candied Blood Orange.

 

Gulf Sheepshead with Corn Custard

 

Crispy Pork Belly with Malfatti and Mustard Greens

 

Louisiana Blackfish with Tarragon Pistou and Petit Summer Vegetables

 Are you just completely drooling and sated yet? Save room for dessert...

When Robert Kerner, the wonderful captain recommended the Brown Butter Tart of Celeste (a local variety) Fig with Bourbon Ice Cream to us, I declined, saying, I make a fig tart of my own that I love, opting for the Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Croquant with Salted Caramel and Mc Ewam's Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream ("people ask me what Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream tastes like, Robert said, "I tell them it tastes like being a kid"). But fortunately for me, the kitchen sent out their fig tart anyway, along with the desserts we ordered. So-okay, I guess one can never have too many good fig tart recipes in their repertoire, and I’ll be adding this one to mine. Yep, it was that good. 

Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Croquant with Salted Caramel and Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream

I know some of you have been waiting patiently to hear reports back on my trip to New Orleans. Ah-the rest of my life has forcefully raised its head since my return, but there's lots more to come, including a sit down interview with Chef Besh, Susan Spicer, chef/owner of Bayona, and the irrepressible Ti Adelaide Martin of the Brennan family, and general manger of Commander's Palace. So keep checking back. In the meantime, you may want to give the Brown Butter Fig Tart a try. Recipe follows  ... 

Dropping by Coop's Place- and Catfish Meunière Recipe

Coop’s Place is nothing fancy- just a dive with great food and low prices on their wines by the glass. It’s frequented by locals- the French Quarter characters one of my aunts still calls “hippies” (another friend refers to them as French Quarter rats), as well as working people from the nearby Central Business District, and tourists. I was first introduced to Coop’s Place on the first post-flood Mardi Gras, where we were entertained by a nimble server snaking his way through the standing room only joint with arms stacked full of plates. 
 
When I was last at Coop’s, there was a house kitty lounging lazily on a wide window sill above me-Stella-I thought that was quite an appropriate name for a French Quarter cat. I regretted that I didn’t get a pic of Stella, so was hoping to get one this time around.

I asked my waitress where she was today.

“Unfortunately” the waitress responded “some assholes around Mardi Gras (no doubt a dig at tourists) complained about her. She retired to a house down the street with a nice courtyard.” I don’t know, I kind of like the idea of a cat in a restaurant, I’m thinking. Keeps the rodents away, at least. Then she added “but she still shows up on Sundays sometimes, when the regulars come for brunch.”

BTW, just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, the servers, are part of Coop’s charm-even their Website refers to the bartenders as “snarky”. Although there are “Be Nice or Leave” signs in many restaurants around the city, the one at Coop’s reads “Be Nice or Starve”. Fortunately, I’ve never starved at Coop’s, and this time the waitresses let me hang out most of the afternoon, taking advantage of New Orleans very enlightened free wireless policy. All of the businesses in the Quarter and the Central Business District share free wireless internet access, in fact, you can most times pick up one of their networks just sitting out on the sidewalk.

At Bayona:

 

At Satsuma:

 

At Coop's Place:

 
Coop’s menu is full of New Orleans classics like Gumbo, Po’Boys, Shrimps Remoulade and Creole, Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, even old time dishes like Oxtail Stew.

I really like their great version of dish Chicken Tchoupitoulas (a Paul Prudhomme creation), a real deal still priced at $13.95, and last time had another redfish dish, but this time I went for the Redfish Meunière. Fish with Meunière Sauce is one of those dishes you see all over New Orleans, with redfish, trout, catfish, whatever fresh Gulf region fish is available. It’s one of the dishes on the combo plate I always pick up at Jazz Fest. The version Coop’s served me is a little heavy on the Worcestershire sauce for my taste, though, so when I returned home, I thought it was about time to try my hand at Meunière Sauce.

When I started searching through recipes, however, I realize that maybe there’s a reason I’ve never made it before. The recipes vary widely. One is made with only seafood stock, one with beef stock, and another recommends either beef or veal stock.  Some have up to a half cup of Worcestershire sauce, and some have none. The amount of butter in each recipe varies a lot, too, and a couple are made with a roux, one with only a beurre manié to thicken it. One sautés a mirepoix first, a couple just boil the veggies with the stock, and one just skips them altogether. It’s served both with pecans and without.

Ah well, this is the version I came up with for today. I used a combination of shrimp stock because I had a cup of it thawed out, and a half cup of veal stock from a concentrated base to complete the amount needed. I can see where the meat stock would be good, though, giving it that hefty depth I find so appealing in some versions of the sauce. There's always next time...

Recipe follows:

Keeping Cool on St. Anthony Street-and New Orleans Snow Balls

Many of my childhood summer vacations were spent in New Orleans- the city my family left when I was 6 years old- visiting my father’s family. All of my mother’s family had already moved to Los Angeles. When I asked her why they left, she responded “I was the last one in my family to go.”

We stayed between the two houses my grandfather built next door to each other almost 100 years ago in the Creole section of the city. My Aunt Leticia and her family lived in one, and my unmarried aunt, Nanny Marion lived in the other.

Aunt Leticia married the boy across the street, my Uncle JuJune, and after their wedding he moved into the house where she had grown up. Uncle JuJune’s sister stayed in his childhood home with her family, so in the evenings, after washing the dishes, Aunt Leticia would sit on the front porch, cooling off with a glass of lemonade and talking across the street with her sister in law and the other neighbors.

 

Aunt Leticia spent most of her days cleaning, and cooking for her family, and any other of my uncles and cousins who might drop by. Her only regular outings were to 6 A.M. Mass at Corpus Christi Church on Sunday mornings and the Saturday trips to Schwegmann’s, the big new supermarket on Airline Highway. She’d get dressed up, and Uncle JuJune would pile all of us kids in the back of the car and off we’d go.

When the California cousins were visiting, Sundays brought a large gathering of extended family for supper in the big unpaved yard between the two houses. There were huge feasts of gumbo, fried chicken, ham and potato salad, with ice cold watermelon to finish.

Summers in New Orleans were steamy enough to immediately fog up my glasses when I stepped outside the air conditioned house, but there were plenty of treats to keep us cool. Sodas were delivered by the crate load to Aunt Leticia’s house, the way that bottles of milk were delivered to our house in Los Angeles. Nehi, in orange, grape and strawberry flavors, Barq’s root beer and of course, Coca Cola, which flowed at meals there like wine does in the French countryside. In Los Angeles, sodas were a holiday-only treat in the household headed by my dentist father. There was also a neighborhood specialty called huckabucks, a fruity punch mixture frozen into paper cups, sold by one of the neighbors, and the ubiquitous NOLA specialty, snow balls, paper cones filled with shaved ice and topped with sticky sweet syrups- my favorite was bright red strawberry, but sometimes I’d go for a half and half with spearmint. And Aunt Leticia made a pineapple sherbet that my mother still longs for to this day. Unfortunately, none of my cousins learned to make their mother’s sherbet, but I decided to try my hand this summer. I think I came up with a very good sherbet. I hope Aunt Leticia would be pleased with my results. If you’d like to give it a try, you’ll find the recipe for the pineapple sherbet at my friend Greg Henry of sippitysup.com’s blog, where this story was originally posted when Greg generously invited me to participate in his summer memories series several weeks back.

Although it didn’t seem quite as steamy as I remembered those childhood summers on this trip (New Orleans has been experiencing a bit of a dry year), it was still very hot. So when I noticed a snow ball shop around the corner from my cousin’s Linda house, I knew I had to stop by and pick one up-strawberry and spearmint, of course.

New Orleans Snow Ball

Impressions on August 29th Six Years Later- and Quinoa Salad

Today, August 29th, is the 6th anniversary of the flood. I awoke to the haze and smell of smoke over New Orleans- a smell I am used to during fire season in Los Angels, but not here. “Something’s burning,” I said to someone I passed this morning. “A fire on the marsh,” she replied.

As I drove along the highway, I heard an announcement on WWNO, New Orleans’ NPR station, that the city has been selected as the only American city to receive KIVA loans, normally given to aspiring entrepreneurs in developing nations. Well, I think, New Orleans is like a developing nation, in many ways.

I mentioned Saturday to Poppy Tooker that each time I’ve visited to New Orleans, post- Katrina, that I’ve picked up a different mood in the city. During the Carnival season of 2006, the first after the flood, there was jubilance as refugees from the storm streamed back into the city. A year later, there was a palpable heaviness across the city, as returnees squarely faced the daily difficult tasks of rebuilding and restoring their lives, and I heard many discussing their Katrina stories then. I didn’t hear many more of those stories in the prevailing years, until now. I am hearing Katrina stories from everyone on this visit. “Well it’s the 6th anniversary, and on the same day of the week,” Poppy said, “talk about post-traumatic stress- that’s a hell of a stressor.” And so it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Driving around the city, I still pass boarded up house, and even some that still bear the post-flood spray painted house markings, but most who are back are feeling bullish about New Orleans-that is if you don’t live in the Lower 9th or New Orleans East, or happen to drive through the neighborhood of my birth, the 7th Ward, where so few have returned. Of course, not many drive through there either.

I am joining a few friends this afternoon- sort of an open house meet up at Satsuma-a bohemian type café in the Bywater neighborhood serving the sort of food one doesn't normally associate with New Orleans. Among them, Christopher Porche-West, a photographer with New Orleans roots who, like my youngest brother, Eric, was born in Southern California, but returned to live here in the city of his ancestors. Christopher documents with his camera, the street life of the Crescent City. Also, Jerry Williams, a friend I met when he was living in Los Angeles, but who moved back to this city of his birth after the storm to join in the recovery effort. For over 5 years, he’s had an upfront seat with the political hierarchy of the city, and has been a liaison to neighborhood groups, but has had enough, and is itching now to move on. Over glasses of wine, we catch up, and chat about the serious gripes I’ve heard from another friend, living in New Orleans East, about how little has been done for her neighborhood.

Later, my friend Monique Gaspard filters in, and then, writer, Keith Weldon Medley. We order BLT with avocado and goat cheese sandwiches, minty quinoa salad and Thai rice noodles, while the conversation moves to the fire in a nature reserve on the edge of the city- it’s been burning for about a week now, but today’s shifting winds brought it to the city’s attention-and New Orleans’ indigenous culture. We wonder whether the influx of new arrivals who flocked to New Orleans after the storm, with grassroots visions of rebuilding the city from the ground up, are sensitive enough to it. The topics range from Louis Armstrong and second lines, to our unique racial sub-group as Creoles of color, to Valena C. Jones School, the grammar school at the heart of the 7th Ward, where my mother spent her first years as a teacher, and I, my first year as a student. Generations of our community were educated at Jones School, along with luminaries like James Weldon Johnson, whose name Keith has taken. I mentioned to Keith, whose mother also taught at the school, the shock and sadness I felt when I drove by it today. “I almost cried,” I told him. “I have cried over it,” he responded. The sturdy brick building was boarded up after Katrina, but now the boards have been broken off, and the windows broken, presumably to be stripped of anything valuable in its infrastructure. “Demolition by neglect,” Keith said, “there’s no respect for our history.”

Sadly, I suppose I must accept that nothing lasts forever, and everything must change.

A huge thanks to Mirassou Winery for providing us with libations, and to Satsuma, for letting us take over their large community table, and for providing their Quinoa Salad recipe which I have adpated and included for you on the next page.