Before the paint job, this house was extremely boring (photo below). When I saw it up for sale, I thought: Who would want such a boring house? Then, it got painted by the new owners and WOW! They had vision. Here's what they did:
Brick exterior: Olive green
Fascia: Fuchsia
Windows: Yellow and orange
Door: Fuchsia and Yellow
Shutters: Deep blue
Ironwork: Purple
Picket fence: Butter yellow
Bravo! And thanks for brightening up the neighborhood!
How can you go wrong with this combination? (click on photo for a larger view)
This lovely raised Creole cottage just off Marconi near City Park is luminous with its periwinkle lap siding, softly yellow doors and bright white trim.
It's simple and stunning.
Siding: Periwinkle blue
Trim: White
Doors: Yellow
Roofing: Gray
We're barely one month away from the start of Jazz Fest, which runs seven days over two weekends beginning Friday, April 23. I will be blogging from the Fairgrounds, where the enormous festival is held, and uploading photos of people, performers and food!
Traditionally, food gets kind of short shrift during media coverage of Jazz Fest. And why not? With some 350 acts performing, it's hard not to put the focus there. Simon & Garfunkel headline at the festival, as do Widespread Panic, the Allman Brothers Band, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie, The Black Crowes, Pearl Jam, Jeff Beck, and so many more. See the whole lineup.
But what about the food? We're talking Crawfish Bread, Snowballs, Cajun Jambalaya, Po-Boys, Crab Cakes, Fried Green Tomatoes, Banana Bread Pudding, and so much more. See all the food vendors here.
My plan is to try as many dishes as possible and update this blog as the tastes sink in. I'd love to hear about your own favorite dishes during the festival.
Geez, I'm hungry. Is it mealtime?
Have you ever attended or had a birthday party at City's Park's Storyland or Amusement Park? I'm working on a video for City Park and I want to include some quotes from happy campers.
Here's what I wonder:
What kind of party did you have?
What space or rides did you enjoy?
What was the best part of your experience there?
Thanks in advance! Deadline March 1. You can post below or send an email to me at kathyprice@aol.com.
Let me know if I can use your name, or not.
See my latest City Park video below:
They meander past weedy lots where torrents of water from breached levees shaved blocks of houses off their foundations on Aug. 29, 2005.
Nearly 2,000 people died along the Gulf Coast, mostly from the flooding, which reached attics in some areas. The flood damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and affected 80% of the city. (The tourist-attracting French Quarter, where most of the tour buses originate, did not flood, and its iconic buildings remain intact.)
From ground level in the Lower 9th, a scattering of residents and the construction workers struggling to build back the community might look up and see the tourists, who have paid $40 or so for a "Katrina Tour."
If the bus includes a savvy guide, the passengers' gazes may be directed to another type of visitor, those volunteers on the ground working with one of the dozens of nonprofits tasked with bringing displaced families back home.
Though many other places in the country need volunteers to recover from disasters too, New Orleans presents a compelling gumbo of history, architecture, food, music, joyousness and diversity, along with an awareness that it was that it was not the Category 3 hurricane (which missed the city) that caused all this suffering, but a government-created engineering failure of the levee system, along with the ecological decimation of the wetlands that have historically protected the crescent-shaped city from Gulf storms.
See the whole story at www.latimes.com
You are right to associate New Orleans with rich food that is emotionally and spiritually nourishing but perhaps not that physically healthy.
But there are a whole bunch of New Orleans restaurants that are healthy on all three levels. They include:
Green Goddess: This tiny place just opened May 2009 in the French Quarter and is a hit with local vegetarians. (307 Exchange Avenue, The menu is described as globe-trotting and includes Sweet Potato Biscuits with Pepper Jelly, the Green Goddess Wedge Salad, and Abado Mess 'o Greens Cuban Sandwich. Lots of meat dishes too. Download lunch menu and dinner menu. (307 Exchange Place, 504-301-3347)
Fair Grinds Coffeehouse: A hip coffee place off Esplanade Avenue in Mid-City, not too far from the New Orleans Museum of Art and City Park. At Fair Grinds, efforts are made to serve organic and fair-traded foods and coffees. My favorite is a little bowl of chickpeas with raisins and spices that you can eat hot or cold. The environment is wholesome as well, with Scrabble games on Mondays, yoga upstairs and all sorts of art and music events. See Vegan News (3133 Ponce De Leon, 504-913-9073)
Bennachin: A West African restaurant in the French Quarter, Bennachin serves plenty of meat, but you can find very delectable vegetarian dishes, wilted spinach, fried plantains and exciting ginger drinks.Very casual. (1212 Royal St., 504-522-1230)
By Kathy Price-Robinson for DIY Life:
Lately, when Louisiana residents like myself see New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton on TV, it's usually not in reference to the Saints' first-ever trip to the Super Bowl February 7.Rather, in numerous ad spots, Payton can be seen discussing tainted drywall from China that was used in his home in Mandeville, just north of New Orleans. In the ads, he urges homeowners to take notice and perhaps seek legal help.
Payton is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court against Knauf Plasterboard Tainjin Co. Ltd, a Chinese drywall manufacturer. According to Payton and and his attorneys, ingredients in the drywall smell like rotten eggs, and corroded certain metal components in the house -- such as plumbing and electrical equipment -- and caused his family to become sick. Payton now considers his house uninhabitable and moved his family out.
See the whole story at www.diylife.com
Do you think it was hot sauce?
Baumer Foods would like to think so. Their Crystal Hot Sauce is the office mouth-burning condiment of the Saints.
Crystal Hot Sauce was first made in 1923, when the Baumer family first ground up, aged and then bottled cayenne peppers. Baumer Foods was founded by Alvin and Mildred Baumer on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans. Their son, Alvin Baumer Jr. now carried on the tradition.
Each year, 3 million gallons of Crystal are shipped out of the New Orleans plant, and it is sold in 73 countries.
Now that the Saints are headed to the Super Bowl Feb. 7, they're sure to slugging down the hot sauce. As we say in New Orleans, "Bless dem boys!"
See a New Orleans family hand out bottles of Crystal Hot Sauce during last year's Mardi Gras.
Online Special: Six bottles of Saints-branded Crystal Hot Sauce and a Saints koozie for $5.
Who says you have to be filthy rich and go back five generations in New Orleans to lunch at Antoine's?
Furthermore, we can enjoy the lunch specials at this venerated, world-famous establishment that's been feeding the powerful and not-so-powerful since 1840. You'll want to start (and finish?) your lunch with an Absolut flavored vodka martini for only 25 cents!
After that, you can order a complete lunch for $20.10. (Get it?)
Here's the special menu:
Starters (choose one)
• Butternut Squash & Shrimp Soup
• Cognac Baked Oysters
• Fried Crayfish Salad
Main Dish (choose one)
• Chicken Clemenceau
• Louisiana Gulf Speckled Trout
• Shrimp Creole
Dessert (choose one)
• Classic Strawberry Cheesecake
• Pecan Bread Pudding
• Chocolate Moose
Antoine's is at 713 S. St. Louis St. in the French Quarter. For reservations: (504) 581-4422
