Susan's blog

Louisiana-style Super Bowl Brunch: Crab Cakes Benedict

I ventured into Colts territory at the end of January for a girlfriend's weekend; my hostess is a die-hard Colts fan with an admitted soft spot for Saints quarterback Drew Brees. I took 12 pounds of Louisiana seafood with me, and paraded up and down the 65 in Indiana with Saints flags flapping off both sides of my rental car.

Louisiana Cookin' supports Mitch Landrieu for Mayor of New Orleans. Our staff has worked closely with Landrieu and the Louisiana Office of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism over the last few years as we all strive to rebuild Louisiana. We have a great respect for his ability to put together talented teams of people, set goals for them with deadlines attached, and hold them accountable.

I know that my friends in the snow belt will laugh, but it's going to dip into the mid-20s tonight, and tomorrow's high is predicted to be mid-30s. We endure 10-12 weeks of really hot weather and high humidity in the summer for the privelege of being able to wear shorts, albeit sometimes with sweatshirts, year round- this kind of weather is cruel to us. I got home tonight, put on my fleece PJs, and pulled some vegetable beef soup out of the freezer—I added some zest to my standard corn bread to really warm us up.

We at Louisiana Cookin' send warm greetings to all for this holiday season. We hope it's filled with love, laughter, and lots of great food. Our offices will be closed until January 3, and Lagniappe, our weekly culinary e-newsletter, will return on January 7. -Susan  

 I've always loved Thanksgiving. My grandmother hosted each year, and it was guaranteed that all the cousins I only saw a few times a year would be in attendance. Dinner was always served shortly after noon, and various great aunts and uncles and distant cousins would stop by for a visit later in the day. 

 We shot our February cover yesterday—oysters!—and I realized mid-afternoon that I'd had nothing to eat but oysters and chocolate. Not that that's always a bad thing! Today, Friday the 13th, I'm going to buck tradition and go for some pho. Usually I pick up fried catfish from Rouses on Friday. What's on your lunch plate?

This is a repost from the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, regarding the FDA's attempt to prevent people from eating raw oysters for a significant portion of the year. We here at Louisiana Cookin' are against the ban, and ask you to join us in asking your representatives to to support the bills introduced last week.

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The weather was beautiful over the weekend and Jim and I decided to drive up to Baton Rouge and spend the afternoon at the fair. I've always loved livestock barn, and was not disappointed—lots of baby goats, pigs, and poultry. It's set up as a petting arena, and you can purchase cups of kibble to feed to the various animals. The cows couldn't be bothered, but the goats were quite excited.

Last Friday I hopped in my car and zoomed over to beautiful Lake Charles for a quick visit. The local convention and visitors bureau had a gaggle of travel writers in for the weekend, and they invited me to join them for what turned out to be an incredible wine dinner at La Truffe Sauvage.