Mardi Gras Madness

Cool art at Envie

Mardi Gras has truly taken over both our beloved city and our lives. I am so terribly behind on updating the blog! There are several shiny new posts still swimming in my head, and (once the laundry is caught up around here) I'll get it all blogged out.

In the mean time, check out some of the photos from the last several days and enjoy the tease!

~Anna

The Only Math I Like

This math problem is a two-parter: What do you get at The Bulldog when you order a beer on Wednesday nights? To keep the glass it came in! And what do you get if you return 20 of those glasses? A free t-shirt and 1,000 good karma points for helping the ASPCA! That, my friends, is math I'm willing to study.

If you follow the official New In Nola Facebook page (as you very well should!) then you knew about our planned outing to The Bulldog on Magazine. A few folks actually showed up! Dustin and I got there first, and after a little while of hovering near the people who looked most likely to vacate a seat we were able to snag a couple right at the bar. Once the others arrived we had a gay old time, just sitting there drinking and talking. Paige, a fine member of our party, and I shared some southwest egg rolls that were fab-u-lous. They came with raspberry chipotle dip, which I love (especially over cream cheese and served with crackers). I was the designated driver that night, so after two beers I stuck to Coke (no free glasses- boo). Dustin took one for the team, though, and we ended up with 9 glasses when it was all said and done.

I like to repot to those of you readers that are of the female persuasion what the bathroom situation is like wherever I may roam. It's important to know whether the facilities are suitable for our delicate natures. And besides, who wants to unknowingly walk into a barn? I can gladly report that The Bulldog possesses the best ladies' room I have ever encountered in a bar atmosphere. It was clean, aesthetically pleasing and had some pretty cool stuff in it. They have a Dyson hand dryer that you lower your hands into and it shoots the water off with air. They also have a pull on the bottom of the door so you can open it with your foot rather than recontaminate your hands or waste a sheet of paper towel (like I did before I noticed it). Three thumbs up in the powder room department.

Once the party pared down to four of us and the little hand was on the 12, we decided it would be fun to find a tattoo parlour and a few of us (who are not me) get some fresh ink. But alas, we couldn't find any that were operating. It makes sense, though. Back in Texas, the bars close at 2 am and the tattoo shops close whenever. Here, the booze flows 24/7 and the ink stops early. While it put a bit of a damper on the high spirits of the evening, I can appreciate the thought behind it. So we all just went home and went to bed.

Now I have a shiny new set of drinking glasses, most with different variations of Bulldog logos and a very coveted pink fleur di lis, and a mission: I want to collect enough to get a free shirt (though if you had to buy 20 beers first, is it really free?). Once the trade is made they donate to the Humane Society, which I dig. I'm sure we'll be seen there again.

The Neighborly Things We Do

I've never lived in "attatched" housing before (other than two months of dorm living that first semester of college), so sharing a wall in our shotgun-style home is new, and a bit weird, to me. What makes me feel better about it is that the person on the other side of that wall is wicked cool.

After securing the sitter I walked three feet to Laura's door and visited with her, her man Curtis and their equally awesome friend Emily (Midwifery nuts unite!). Post introductions we had Curtis, playing the roll of Hoke to our collective Miss Daisy, drive us girls to Cooter Brown's for oysters, hot wings, broccoli bites, those chili fries I've heard so much about and Abita Mardi Gras. While the oysters here have a bit more shell in them than some, they're still delicious, and the rest wasn't shabby, either. Classic collegiate fare.

Once our glasses were dry we loaded up again and decided to stop by Ms. Mae's. As great as I'm sure a $1 drink offered in a dimly lit, seedy looking establishment sounds, resist. Stick with the stuff that comes in bottles that they open especially for you. Can't go wrong there. (I'm still shuddering over that thing floating in my plastic cup that looked like it might have once been a lime wedge...)

Emily had to get up early for wedding errands the next morning, so we dropped her off and went to Buddha Belly for the awesomely bad karaoke and ice cold PBR in a can. Nothing can beat listening to people who think they can sing belt it out, and watching people who know they can't sing but rock it out anyway, while sipping the official beer of rockabilly. Throw in a drunken, lengthy conversation with the surprising friendly biker-looking dude that's wearing a live snake as a necklace and I call that a successful night out! Laura and I have decided to go back after the Mardi Gras hub-bub is over and flex our golden pipes. After a little liquid inspiration, of course.

Fixant Une Envie De Sucre

Or, Fixing a Sugar Craving. I was going to go with Getting A Sugar Fix, it just wasn't as pretty in French. But no matter how you say it, there's one place you can definitely get it: Sucre, on Magazine Street.

After trying the new menu at Nacho Mama's on for size, we needed something sweet to calm our flaming tongues. I had passed by Sucre earlier in the week and wanted to give it a try. And they stay open late, which worked since it was almost nine. We parked across the street, and after ogling the antiques next door (totally marked on the need-to-visit list) we entered the glistening hall of sugar. This is no ordinary, neighborhood sweet shop. Along with good coffee and creamy gelato, they have cute little gourmet chocolates, macaroons of every hue and absolutely gorgeous confections, which I'm not even sure what you would call. Maybe art, because they were beautiful. Shelby had some chocolate gelato, Dustin had a pumpkin spice creation and I got a citrus mango concoction called Finesse. Each dessert was the perfect size, and not overly sweet. With Dustin's huge cup of coffee and all the fixings, they brought our selections plated beautifully on a large white plate with chocolate and strawberry drizzle. I got a picture but, um, it wasn't until we'd already jumped on the plate like starving cats. That stuff was good. Fluffy and tart and creamy. And Dustin's had the essence of pumpkin pie, but in a totally contemporary rendition. We also bought one of their small, shimmering king cakes to take home. Rather than the traditional purple, green and yellow sugar they are usually finished with, Sucre's are airbrushed with opalescent food color, then dusted with edible glitter. To finish the truly royal presentation, a tiny gold baby is included (Dustin was dismayed that they didn't pre-hide it, so he had me do it when he wasn't looking). While we truly did give moderation a try, once we got it home, the cake didn't last long.

My mom is coming into town this weekend! A perfect excuse to go out and discover some more good eats. We'll probably stop by Sucre as well, I suppose. In the interest of making sure my guest has a good time, you know. Oh, the things we do for family.

To The Zoo

I've said it once before, and I'm sure I'll say it many times to come, but the Audubon Pass = Awesome. It's so cool to be able to just wake up some random morning and go "Hmm. What shall I do today? I think I'll go to the zoo!" It also helps that the zoo is less than a mile from our house. With little planning and no special circumstances whatsoever, we took off to the Audubon Zoo.

Dustin and I had gone when we'd visited NOLA for two weeks last March. We had taken the streetcar from the French Quarter, but had underestimated the walk from the park entrance at St. Charles to the front gate of the zoo. I'm still not sure how far it is, but I am quite certain I was not wearing the appropriate footgear.

This go 'round, I was prepared, Nike's and all. The zoo was much less crowded this time (we had unwittingly gone during some sort of Fest or another before). I love the walk down the main promenade- the huge fountian with a bathing mother elephant and her offpsring, surrounded by spitting hippos. The urge to add a bottle of Palmolive is almost too much. We of course made the rounds: elephants, tigers, lions, bears, monkeys, etc. They finally opened the dinosaur exhibit, so we were very ecited to check it out. I'm afraid, though, that I had really talked Shelby into the idea that the dinosaurs were in fact alive, something that made her go from giddiness at the thought of seeing them to sheer panic once we made it through the door. Oops. After paying a couple of bucks for us all to get in, she spent most of the time in her daddy's arms, hands over her eyes, frequently squirming and screaming. The exhibit really was prety cool, though. The dinosaurs screech and move and blink and spit. It was built in a building that once housed birds, so the cages were fixed to look as though they were made for dinosaurs, some of which had gotten out (very Jurassic Park). There's an outside portion of the exhibit as well, complete with a mama triceratops and her baby. You can touch the dinosaurs (I assume, since the signs urge you to be gentle rather than keep your hands to yourself) and everytime we triedto touch the little one, it's mother would yell at us. Very neat stuff. We were also able to see the seal feeding, which was fun, but very crowded. It wouldn't have been as bad if the moms had heeded the stroller conduct guidlines and parked them in the designated area, rather than using them to take up space around them so no strangers would be within arm's reach (or, ya know, within viewing range of the show). We didn't wait around to finish the show, so we went on walking, and after seeing plenty of interesting animals, we made it to my favorite part: the Swamp. It's a recreated bayou, complete with old boat house, black bear, racoons, old rusty jalopy and alligators. Lots of 'em. They also have a little cafe, banquet room and porch elevated above the reptiles so you can eat a po-boy or dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets while watching the gators soak up some sun. After we had a little lunch, we continued our walk by the nutria (are we the only ones that call them nuture rats?) and the otters, and past the large aquariums filled with all manner of native animal, fish and crustacean (the gift shop where the baby alligators are was closed). I love this area, all of the tanks are decked out as though they were under a porch, inside a crawfish trap or some other place one might find the inhabitants locally. There's even a life-sized statue of the Swamp Monster lurching around a corner. The reast of the zoo- while beautiful and educational, is unremarkable. We fed the ducks and turtles, walked through the Amazon and madeour way back to the Haigen Daz stand. By this time they were closing, so we distracted Shelby as we skirted the carousel. Another day, dear. We ended our trip with a visit to the gift shop, where we bought a bouncey ball for Shelby and New Orleans-Opoly for us. It's pretty neat, and we've got a running game going right now (no matter what -Opoly it is, an afternoon just isn't enough).

Down Like Cooter Brown

With the exception of having three fried oysters on my seafood plate when we went to Joey K's not long ago, until Sunday, I had yet to go out and have an oyster since moving to the Crescent City. A raw one I mean. Am I or am I not the only one here who thinks that's an absolute travesty? Show of hands.

So, when an awesome couple from Dustin's work asked us if we wanted to go bite some bivalves together, the answer was a resounding Yes! We had planned on going to a fancier oyster bar, but they were closed. Dustin and I were already en route, and when we found out we'd be meeting them at Cooter Brown's, I felt a bit overdressed. I mean, heels at a place named after the drunk from the Dukes of Hazard didn't exactly have me stoked (not as used to wearing them as much as I once was, I gotta pick my nights, ya know?). But the place turned out to be awesome. Having been a hang out and drunk-food haven for the college crowd for 20 years has definetly seasoned it well. And it's pretty dark in there, good for when you've been out throwing 'em back all night and your lipstick is smudged on your racoon-like face. They have a very impressive beer list, so if you choose to cut out the middle man and do your drinking and have your fourth meal all in the same place, you're good to go. We had a great time drinking Abita Mardis Gras (I am seriously going to cry when they stop making it after the season is over) and slurping down some ice cold shuckers. Don't order 4 dozen oysters if you're in a hurry, though, because it's not a fast order. But we didn't care, and enjoyed the atmosphere, the company, and the crazy Jets fan whom I thought was going to have a stroke (everything was great, except for the awesomely bad joke the guys played on me; I'm not telling, but you guys are going to h-e-double hockey sticks for real, just so you know! ;) ). I will offer a warning though for future patrons: Their horseradish is seriously not kidding and it will assault your sinuses like a fireball of sterno and fury. No matter how little we mixed with our ketchup, we couldn't get the ratio right, so finally decided to take teeny little pinches with our mini forks to add to the mouthfulls. Have a head cold? Go to Cooter's. For two pitchers of Mardis Gras, 2 Irish Car Bombs for the boys and 48 raw oysters, it came to $75. Having waited this long for oysters, I didn't even care.

After we left there, we weren't ready to throw in the towel just yet. So we went down to the Avenue. It was a quiet night, a bit rare from my experience, so in addition to the huge gin and tonics Al hooked us up with, we tasted a few of the local beers we hadn't yet tried. The Sweet Potato ale wasn't bad, but I've seen people order it and have to wait a while as the bartender has to wait for the head to go down to resume pulling. I'm personally not sure if it's worth all the effort. The Southern Pecan, however, was delicious. I don't like southern/buttered pecan flavored anything, but that stuff was good. We also tried something strawberry flavored (Dustin loved it, but if I want that much strawberry taste, I'll get a smoothie) and something with a white horse on it that started with a C. Hey.... After that much tasting, you might not remember either. I can't remember the tab, either, but I do remember it wasn't much for the drinks, the tastes, and the pint we each ordered afterwards.

After all that, I kinda wanted to go back to Cooter Brown's and have some cheese fries....

Sharks And Sushi And Booze! Woo-Hoo!

I would like to start this post with a big fat kudos to my wonderful hubby for buying the Audubon Family Membership a few days ago. Absolutely the best $130 we ever spent. I look forward to mild, sunny days spent making faces at chimps and rainy days perusing the jellyfish reproduction tank.

The day got off to a rough start- at 8 am while on the phone with my mother, I randomly decided to check the website of one of the schools we're applying to for Shelby to start next Fall. I had been convinced the deadline was the 16th, so hadn't been worried. But no. It was today. By 4 pm. I got off the phone and thanked all that is holy that the MIL got us a printer/ scanner/ yada yada for Christmas. I got all the documents copied and the form printed and filled out, took a shower, washed my mop, applied make-up and put together a non-homeless person-looking outfit in just over an hour. I deserved a cookie. I tore across Uptown to hand deliver the goods and disaster was put off for another day. The whole Kindergarten application process is insane here. I mean, meet-and-greets in November? Deadlines in December? Admission testing? For 4 year-olds?? I didn't jump through this many hoops trying to get into college. Insanity at it's pinnacle. But I'm positive our future little Mensa member has nothing to worry about. As long as we accrue all of our parents' points on time.

After the madness of the morning, and the triumphant end to my frantic-ness, I redeemed my afore mentioned cookie in the form of a cafe au lait and a blueberry muffin from Cafe Luna. I got Dustin a cafe Americana and a cinnamon chip muffin. We split the muffins three ways between the three of us and relaxed a bit before continuing our day.

And this day included surprising Shelby with a trip to the Audubon Aquarium! To say she had a pretty good time would be an obvious understatement. We saw everything they had to offer, avoiding the wet and unbelievably cold weather outside. Sharks and frogs and Nemo and otters, as well as a tropical bird that was really pissed off people where in the Amazon habitat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to goose Dustin near the python case and get the reaction I did when he and I visited in March. I was surprised the kiddo didn't seem very interested in the penguins but freaked out over the egret tracks in the floor of the Mississippi river area. I was less surprised she didn't want to touch the stingrays or sharks, though she did make me touch them so she could watch and ask me about it. They said it was the last time the shark would be out for people to get close to and touch, so I'm glad we were there for it. I know that particular baby shark is used to being handled, and he's probably always that docile, but I always feel like those "touchables" at aquariums are just waiting for me to reach into the water before they decide to find out for the first time what people tastes like.

After taking in all that the aquarium had to offer, and taking what I believe to be some of the best photos ever taken with a camera phone, thank you very much, we decided to continue the theme and grab some sushi. Seeing all those majestic sea creatures in artificial habitats gave me a hankerin' for some fish. But instead of our old standby, Samurai (which was only a block or two away) we decided to try a place on St. Charles. We were looking for Sushi Brothers, but their parking lot happens to be across the street from them, right next door to a different sushi restaurant. We really hated to park in someone else's lot, but hated even more the thought of walking across four lanes of traffic in the blinding frozen rain. Sorry, Sushi Brothers. Maybe on a warmer day. I am glad we gave Hoshun a try, though. I loved the atmosphere inside, very Asian-chic, although every now and then there would be just of a touch of the oddly Victorian. And I love oddly Victorian. They have an awesome looking wine bar, and have totally been put on the Romantic Date Night List. The food was divine. I had Blue Moon beer on a whim, and it was quite tasty. Dustin, of course, had Nola. Shelby and I split the miso soup, a much larger portion than expected (with fried wontons!), and ordered shrimp tempura for the table, which came with three panko shrimp, and tempura veggies including a slice of sweet potato, zucchini, red bell pepper, mushroom and a huge head of broccoli. I love me some tempura, but this happened to be under cooked and flour-y tasting. Dustin likes the raw flour taste, so he thought it was great. Had it been cooked longer, I'm sure I'd agree. Dustin had the spicy salmon, the spicy tuna and a crawfish roll, I had a salmon & avocado and crunchy roll, and Shelby had her very first personal California roll (she usually gets one crab stick), which she finished all on her own (six pieces of sushi is a lot for a little girl! I was impressed). I'm sure it helped that they gave her her very own kids-chop-stick-connector-helper-thing. Which I brought home. The sticky rice was a bit loose, though, which I learned when I kerplunked my first piece into the communal soy sauce, but it tasted good, so I can't really complain. It came to $40 or so, which was good for 4 beers and so much food. Hoshun= two thumbs up.

We finished off the evening by grocery shopping at the Rouses down the street and getting what we neded to restock our bar after the holidays. When we came home, Dustin used his new bartender app on his MyTouch to create a drink called California Cocaine. Intersting title, tasty drink. Though a word of caution- one is plenty. Yummy cocktails and discount previously viewed movies from Blockbuster made for an awesome end to the day.

I couldn't find a recipe for California Cocaine, but this one is close. Rather than grenadine, use one shot of Blue Curacao and make sure the rum is Malibu. It's much tastier than anything you'd do with a rolled up Benjamin.