Fleur de Aleta

Not long ago, my husband and I went to the Westbank.  This was when the President was in town and we forgot that many of the New Orleans roads would be closed.  Traffic was a nightmare.  Having two car accidents along the route didn't help speed things up either.  But my loving, wonderful, thoughtful husband was determined that we get to the Westbank Best Buy that afternoon. I needed something for my computer and this particular store was the only place we could find it.  On the way we went over the GNO (Greater New Orleans) Bridge to cross the Mississippi River.  I took pictures.  I love bridges :)  (Before you get on the bridge, there's a little sign with a pelican on it - too cute) On the way home, we took a different route, staying on the Westbank Expressway and coming back over the Mississippi River by the Huey P Long.  But the locals call it the "Huey P Narrow."  Construction is underway to make the lanes larger, but for ...

I went to Walgreens first and asked one of the employees for "Nemos." Cue confused look and the words, "The fish?" "No.  I'm trying to find nemos, it's chocolate." "You want a chocolate fish?  We don't sell chocolate fish." Needless to say, they didn't have it.  Nor did two gas station stores.  I was hopeful when a Brother's employee pointed me to an aisle... only to find that he meant the gold fish crackers! Up and down the aisles, telling employees I'm trying to find nemo's a getting some of the craziest expressions in response.... I felt like an idiot. Yes, it was a hunt to find Nemo, but not the clown fish!  Someone even asked if I wanted the movie store?! We ended up going to the local grocery store and settling for brownies. But... if you FIND NEMOS, please let me know - what store, what city, what state.  Because I'll send my husband there!! No, this is not PMS. It's not even for me. ...

Yes, you read correctly, bacon in a can . I was tempted to put this on my food blog, but that's for recipes.  This.... is definitely not a recipe. It all started when Greg's siblings wanted to have a special breakfast gathering to celebrate their parents' 55th wedding anniversary.  Bonnie asked Greg to bring the meat, sausage, turkey bacon, regular bacon. But we didn't bring the bacon in a can.  Bonnie had this at her house: In order to get the bacon out of the can, Bonnie had to open the can at both ends and push the wrapped bacon out.  It unfolded to reveal a bunch of bacon strips.  Greg tried some and said it was a little salty.  Bonnie's daughter said it was "wet."  I didn't have the nerve to try it. Good conversation piece though.  After the taste test, Bonnie concluded, "It will be good to use as seasoning in a dish."

Bon Ton Café on Magazine Street in New Orleans is a must! My parents invited us to go to the restaurant, after having been there with my aunt and uncle a few weeks ago.   It doesn’t look like a big restaurant from the street view in the Warehouse District, but it has plenty of room inside, along with a quaint New Orleans style brick interior and some of the friendliest staff you will ever find. Something to note is that this restaurant is not open during the weekends!   We went for lunch.  If you go, ask for Joy as your waitress.  She’s great.  She remembered my parents from their first visit and even recalled what my parents do for a living and that it was my Mom’s sister and her husband that came with them the first time. Oh and Joy is a trip, she has to start or stop every sentence with “Bebe” in a Southern drawl. My meal started with turtle soup.  I’ve never tried this before.  Honestly?  I’m not sure I’d g...

Above is a video I recently created using a program I'm attempting to learn.  I thought it might be a cute way to introduce my new blog :) Yes, another blog.  But I have a good reason to subdivide things.  I like to stay organized.  Having things variously posted on my blog can drive me a little batty.  Recipes here and there was fine when I wasn't cooking much and I do plan on cooking more (just have a big project in front of me right now).  So, I like having a separate recipe blog. Writing about gardening when I first started it was fun to post here too... but I could really clog up my FleurdeAleta blog with gardening and I don't want to do that either.  However, there's a lot to share with gardening :) I'm also afraid I'll forget the research and tidbits that I've learned about the flowers.  Where to plant them, how to take care of them, water requirements, etc.  So, this new blog is my memory bank for future reference.  An...