Hungry ? Let's Eat

New Orleans...you could live here your entire life and never eat at all the awesome places in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. 

 I am gonna just share a few places and tips from the weekend.

First stop... On Bourbon Street...  Aruaud's 

 I was not feeling really great, so not expecting much, I ordered a flat bread pizza, 

to my surprise it was light and very fresh!

Camo Man had a Shrimp Poboy...he loved it. They use New Orleans style french bread. The bread is a little hard, not your typical soft bread.

This is a great little place for lunch. Not over priced and great food with lots of variety on the menu.

I saw a ton of people ordering the little pots of gumbo (must have been tourist)...being from the south, I was not about to eat gumbo

 in 100 degree weather.

I save that to eat when its about 75 and below. LOL

On Sat. we headed over to the French Market...We stoppped in to rest our feet and have a little drink.

Our waitress mentioned that they always have a little band that starts around noon.

Icy Cold.  

Craving a little sweet?

Not a problem...New Orleans is filled with places to get sweets.

Benigets...ya have to have those!  I was covered in powdered sugar, so I did not want to touch the camera for that. You can NOT come to the Big Easy without getting trying a few of those.

 Dinner at Drago's  (no reservations required)....
well lets just say, the charbroiled oysters are...  

"THE BEST" 
the rib eye NOT so good! 

But I should have know better than to order steak at a restaurant know for its seafood.

 For a great steak go next door to Ruth Chris Steak House. (Reservations are required)

I suggest going eat the oysters at Drago's then walk to Ruth Chris for the rest of your dinner.

OK, now have you looked at your calendar...ya ready to come visit? 

Not yet... What.... shopping,  Oh you want to know about shopping?

OK, next post shoppin in New Orleans..

WELCOME TO THE FRENCH QUARTER

Welcome to the French Quarter...

 pretty quite for a late Friday afternoon.

Unlike its portrayal...not all of the streets in the Quarters are wild & crazy.

Although, I would not recommend

 bringing young children. 

 There are so many child friendly things to do,

the Audubon Zoo,  a wonderful aquarium where you can explore in the comfort of air conditioning.

 Want to know how to snag a balcony view?

Most bars are two story, so they will let patrons go out on the balconies.

Yup, snagged us a balcony seat...

 some bars do not require you to buy a drink.

But if you come in the hot summer months, you will want to be sippin on something. 

They do offer nice souvenir drink cups...or guess you could say Fleur De Li's cups

The French Quarter offers lots of little bars with no cover charge...there you can get a

 cold one usually '3 for 1', and if you are lucky a little band is playing for you to do a little dance.

This is a video I made on my phone...Camo man and his mom dancing the 'Gonzales Jitter~Bug' to

the song Mustang Sally...

                                         

   
Now you do not want to stay in the
French Quarter too long...there is a point
that if you do not go home you
may end up like the fellow below...

(I have protected his identity in case he has family looking for him)

Tomorrow, some fabulous places to eat down

in the 'Big Easy',  so come hungry...

Weekend Trip to New Orleans...Where to Stay

I guess you could say that I have done a little traveling this summer...

Vegas Baby

17 day Road Trip to Washington State

 that included 9 different states

Navarre Beach, FL

Mississippi

When traveling people always ask, after finding

out I am from Louisianana

 "How is New Orleans?"

Well... of course my reply is....

"New Orleans is 'GREAT' and you should

come for a visit!"

Of course we encourage everyone to come and visit. 

I will be highlighting a few fabulous places to stay and visit while in the 'BIG EASY'.

This weekend we stayed at Harrahs located on Poydras Street. 

 We are greeted by a wonderful staff

in the beautiful lobby ...  

The room was large... Some hotel rooms in the New Orleans area are small due to the fact that they are in buildings dating back to the 1800's.

Loved having the television and

 refrigerator built-in.

I have stayed in some hotels were you have very little

room to get around the armoire. 

The room also included a sofa, two chairs,

coffee table and a work desk.

I love staying in a hotel that reflects the location. 

The room was adorened with very large black and white photos of New Orleans.

(In image below is a picture of Jackson Square)

I am very picky about the bathrooms where I stay.

 I rate the bathroom more than the actual room. 

This one gets a gold star!

It was super duper clean with plenty of towels.

Love having a towel bar located just below the sink. 

Another built-in,  love having all the space to put on my makeup and not having to 

move my stuff around the coffee pot. 

  The next house I build, I want a built-in located like the one above. The granite were the coffee pot is located makes clean up from spills easy.

This was our view, if you request they also offer rooms with a view of the Mississippi River. 

We did not require room service, (too many great places to eat & drink)  but the rest of the hotel staff was very attentive to our needs.

Join me tomorrow for a trip to the historic
 French Quarter.

Fabulous Friday Four

Happy Friday to you...

I hope you enjoy visiting this Friday's Fabulous Four

Four fabulous blogs that I love to follow...

Robin ~ The Robin's Nest   
Where Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Robin shares her life with us in the beautiful Pacific Northwest though her fabulous pictures.
 I always check in to see Robin when she shares a beautiful photo for Wordless Wednesday.
She uses her grand ability of photography to show off her craft ideas.
She has placed them on her side bar so they are easy to find.
My favorite and a must see is her ' Christmas Tree for the Birds'. I have never seen anything like it.

She loves making new friends, so make sure to stop in a leave her a comment.

Lisa ~ Celebrate Creativity
 Celebrating Creativity In All It's Forms

I have been following Lisa since she started her blog. 
Make sure you have a cup of coffee or beverage of choice, when you visit her blog you will be drawn in for a while looking at all her great ideas. 
 A must see is her craft room!  
 Seriously you have to check it out. It is unbelievable.

 What drew me to love Lisa was her variety of crafts,
She highlights scrap booking, cooking, quilting, gift ideas.  Her tutorials are very clear to understand.
Right now she shows you how to dress up a table for that end - of - season BBQ.  You will find how to make the napkins along with the napkin rings.
Lisa always finds the time to email me with the sweetest comments.

Amy & Angie ~ I Heart Faces

I met these girls at the very first Blissdom, but have just really gotten addicted to their blog.

If you have a camera, well this is the blog for you. 

 They have everything you need to know about photography.

Susie ~ Susie Harris    
 Where Friends Become Family

First, I must inform you that this is my sisters blog.  It was brought to my attention that some bloggers did not realize that we are kin.  
If you have not visited her blog well... let's just say she loves to paint...and I mean paint everything. 

She lets you into her life...the good, the bad, and the frog legs. Yes, she even did a post on frog legs.

We also love to take our "Road Trips".  I have tried to get her to do a Sisters Travel Blog...but she reminds me that somethings are left unsaid!  LOL

Oh and almost forgot if you do not know her yet......
 let me give you a little dirt on her....
 she has a nasty little secret ...
she has an addiction ...to Sonic Route 44 Cokes.
I can not believe that Sonic has not asked her to be their spokesperson.

Hope you have enjoyed reading about

 your Blogland neighbors.

Check them out, maybe leave them a comment that I sent you by.

If you have a blog or know of one that you would like to see featured leave me a comment.

I Heart Faces

The   i heart faces  ~ Photo Challenge is

'Beautiful Eyes'....

I knew exactly which picture that I wanted to enter...

My beautiful niece Kaylee

Doesn't she have the most beautiful eyes?

( Love ya K  thanks letting me shoot ya )

Click here to view more great entries

Fabulous Friday Four

Welcome to another Fabulous Friday Four

I would love to introduce you to four fabulous blogs I love to follow...

Courtney at "EB" ing  A Mommy  ~
The Challenging, yet rewarding journey of caring for my son with EB

  A post kept popping up on my Face Book and I thought it was spam. So one evening I finally clicked on the page. 
To my shock it was not spam, it was about a dear family living about forty miles from me.
 The FB page was Prayers for Tripp...I followed it to Courtney's blog. 


This blog educated me about a rare genetic skin disease called 'EB'. 
Some of the pictures are graphic, but this is her story...her life with a beautiful child who suffers in great pain with 'EB'.

Her blog about Tripp and their journey will capture your heart and leave you wondering...
why?   what can I do to help?    where does this sweet family find the strength day after day?

Drop by Courtney's blog give her a little extra strength to make it through today!

Bridget at Bake at 350   ~ 
Cookie Decorating and More


Oh my sweetness...This blog will have you grabbing the cookie cutters...Don't have any?
 Not to worry you can buy them from her. 
Bridget's blog is the go to blog for every thing from decorated cookie to brownies.
 Don't worry she has a handy Cookie Index right on the side bar along with a super Cut-Out Cookie Recipe.
Bake @ 350  (Just love the name!) has been featured my Martha Stewart for her Spooky Sweets.
What ya waitin for?   Today's Friday...go get inspired and make some cookies this weekend.

Missy at My Cottage Charm  ~ 
 Where Heart and Home Come Together


My Cottage Charm, this is the blog for
inspiration...Missy pours her heart into every DIY project.
 She does not miss a detail.
Missy is not lying when she said
"Power Tools are my friends."  You have got to checkout her
 'Door Header'  DIY, it will have you walking around the house looking for the doors you can add headers too.  
 The project that I want to make is her awesome camera strap.  If you do not have one or having been wanting to make your own...this is it! 
Knock on her door ~ it's always open ~ tell her I sent you by.

Donna at D Reyne  ~  Everyday Elegance


Donna is out of town right now, but she left some flowers to greet us. 
Take a look around, I am sure she won't mind. 
If you look over on her side bar, you have to checkout her Tinker House.  Love it!
Also on her side bar you will find her Esty Boutique.
 Oh LaLa ... I found the cutest linen crossover purse.
Even though she is out...leave her a comment, let her know you stopped by.

Hope you have enjoyed reading about

 your Blogland neighbors.

Check them out, maybe leave them a comment that I sent you by.

The winner of the Slap Ya Mama is ..... Bonnie !  

 (E-mail me your address so I can get that to ya)

 Way to Go Bonnie...now if you use this and get slapped, please do not blame me! LOL

Don't worry if you did not win, I will have some more southern treats to give away soon.

Slap Ya MaMa ~ It's Smothered Okra & Tomatoes

No need to visit the farmers market when

 you have neighbors that drop off their

extra garden veggies right to your door.

 A big bag of garden fresh picked okra. 
 I wanted to share with you just one way we cook it in the South. 

[First I picked out all the tiny ones  ~ 

 I like to boil these in salted water and eat them dipped in vinegar. ]

Smothered Okra & Tomatoes 

To make Smothered Okra & Tomatoes

Wash and cut your okra

Chop up one yellow onion

Place in pot with enough water to keep it from sticking.

Add one can of Rotel and a can of diced tomatoes

Add more water if needed... I usually add water up to half of the okra...the water will cook out.  Stir occasionally because it will stick to the bottom of the pot, add water as needed.

Can you tell we love garlic at this house? 

If we do not have fresh on hand we use this.

I add about 2 tablespoons

Slap Your MaMa... southern sayin that means its sooo good you would risk slappin your momma for it.

Well we love this seasoning ... it has less salt than some of the other local brands.

I add a shake or two of this ...
my Smothered Okra & Tomatoes are gonna be so good my family might wanta "Slap Me". 

I would love for one of you try
 Slap Your MaMa...leave me a comment & follow on my side bar saying you would like to try some and I will ship one out to a lucky winner...easy enough.

As it cooks down it will turn a darker green. 

 This takes about three hours on low to simmer.

You can eat Smothered Okra & Tomatoes over rice or it can be frozen to add into a shrimp gumbo when the weather gets cooler.

YUM!

Another favorite okra recipe that my family loves is fried okra with fried chicken.

Make sure to join me for Friday when I introduce you to the new Fabulous Friday Four,  links to four great bloggers.

Directory to Your Local Farmers Market

This week is Farmers Market Week

Do you have a local Farmers Market? 

 Not sure if you even have one in your area?

Visit the Farmers Market Directory  to locate the one nearest to you.

  Feed your family fresh locally grown items where you actually meet the farmer and play a part in boosting your local economy. 

Did you know there are over 7,000 markets around the country.

Go out and visit your local market this week...
let me know what you find.