Last Day of Work and House of Blues

Friday was the last day of work. I helped out with the kid's camp, and the kids brought in a lot of desserts. We had chocolate cupcakes, brownies, chocolate cheesecake, banana bread, and chocolate chip cookies along with breakfast burritos and turkey grilled sandwiches. The rest of the day I just looked up some membership card info for Liz and chilled.

After work I walked with Ashley (the other intern from Yale) to the Praline Connection Restaurant on Frenchmen. We had a variety of foods there, including catfish, okra, pickles, and chicken liver, which were all fried. They also had alligator sausage, which was really good. I didn't try the chicken wings which were supposedly extremely spicy. They had gumbo (which was really dark in color and had sausage and chicken wings in it) and extremely rich, creamy pralines.

We went to the House of Blues to hear Andrew Duhon and Jessica Lea Mayfield after the dinner.

African-Creole Food Tastes Chinese?

We (me, Graham, and Andrew O.) made an excursion into the French Quarter to Bennachin's for some African-Creole food. It took awhile to walk down Royal and we saw Andrew W. and his girlfriend coming back from Bennachin's. They said it was good, so I was excited. When we finally got there and ordered, we asked the waiter about half the menu. Andrew W. told me later that the bennachin, or African jambalaya, was really good. I was going to order that! But the waiter discouraged me. Sigh. Next time I will go with gut instinct. I ended up with boneless chicken, cashews, and rice with a brown gravy. To tell you the truth, I was not impressed. It tasted like Chinese food. Maybe there's some relation?

St. Bernard Excursion

Today we went to work with Amanda and volunteered on two houses. I went with Ashley, Naomi, and Amy to a house in Chalmette while the others (Meghan, Andrew O., and Graham) went with Amanda to a house in New Orleans East.

It was fun to take a break from work and pitch in some hours towards finishing a family's house. We were at Lee Davis' house, putting on the finishing touches. Amy and I spent the morning taping the trims around the floor and windows while Naomi caulked the doorways and Ashley painted the white patches on the walls. After lunch (we went to Charlie's where I got a huge loaded baked potato), we painted primer on the front of the house and finished taping up the rest of the house.

Chris Duhon and New Orleans East

After work I walked over to Ruth's Chris Steak House for the meet and greet with Chris Duhon. Work was mostly just doing writing and looking stuff up. The event was fun and I got autographs and a picture. Once we were all gathered we made our way over to Cafe Giovanni for dinner with the Durham ELI group and parishioners from New Orleans East. The food was good but overpriced. Hearing stories about the aftermath of Katrina definitely put things in perspective and in a rather somber mood. Even though it's been four years out, people are still struggling to pull their lives together. The group was given two questions, what people don't know about Katrina and what we should do/take away from our experience. I think the consensus was that the world doesn't realize how communities affected by Katrina are still working towards rebuilding and that New Orleans and the other neighborhoods still need volunteers and lots of help.

Bread and Butter is Delicious

At work I just finished up the Big Read contact list.

Four of us (Amy, Andrew W., Graham) went to a Holocaust survivors speaker event put on by the Southern Institute. Anne, who was born in 1935, and almost 5 when WWII started, shared her story. It was very interesting hearing from a person who experienced the Warsaw Ghetto and being smuggled out of the ghetto. I can't imagine being a little girl sitting silently in a small chest for days and days. It's difficult to comprehend how fast Anne and her sister had to grow up under the circumstances. But I really enjoyed hearing her story because it brings alive the stories you read in history textbooks and memoirs. When asked about the malnutrition and food in the ghetto, Anne declared that her favorite food is still bread and butter because that's what her father fed them when he came back from Russia for the family. Anne also had a funny story about how she confronted David Duke. Apparently he's tall, and she happens to be short, so she had to reach up to tap him on his shoulder.

After the event we walked over to Crepes a la Cart for some dessert. I got the fruit compote crepe with strawberries and cream. It was really good, and I definitely have to go back to try the other crepes.

Bastille Day

Today was Bastille Day, although I didn't really do anything for it. I met with Liz and another guy for the symposium. After that I spent a lot of time looking up all the contact info for the Big Read.

The museum hosted the French consulate's private event tonight, but I wasn't able to make it. I'm sure there was a lot of good food.

We had a reflection session tonight, and Ashley brought cheesecake for Meghan's birthday!

No Camp = No Free Lunch

Since we canceled camp this week, I don't get free lunch. But that means I have more time to help out around the museum. I'm still working on symposium stuff and I'm helping out with the Big Read contact list.

And we found out today that the Harry Potter midnight show was sold out. Sad.

Birthday Weekend

Meghan's 21st birthday was Sunday, so we went out to Republic New Orleans on Saturday night to kick off the celebration. I didn't realize I pass Republic on my way to work every day. But it was a really cool venue with two stories, couches, and chandeliers. The DJ was good and played a lot of different songs, so it was a good mix.

After Republic we headed over to F & M's for cheese fries! They were really good. The best way I could describe it would be to say that it was like eating Chick-fil-a waffle fries with thick melted cheddar cheese and green onions. Mmmm so delicious and horrible for your arteries.

In the morning Amy baked the cake, and we hid it in one of the drawers in the boys' kitchen until we "surprised" Meghan with the cake. It was nice and moist chocolate cake with chocolate funfetti frosting.

For dinner we went to Zea's Rotisserie and Grill again. It is always an awesome choice to come here to eat. This time I got the half rack of ribs Thai style with sauteed corn and Zea potatoes. The whole plate was delicious. The ribs were juicy and full of flavor with a tiny bit of a spicy kick. Meghan got free sweet potato bread pudding, so we all got a few bites of it. It definitely reminded me of carrot cake, but it was still good.

Preservation Hall

After work I headed over to the French Quarter with Andrew W. and Graham for dinner and Preservation Hall. We planned to go to Coop's Place, which is supposed to have great Creole food. I was excited, but when we got there, the guy at the bar informed us that only people 21 and over could be in there. I didn't realize you had to be 21 to gamble, but anyway, we walked over to Preservation Hall and went to the Gumbo Shop for dinner. I had the chicken andouille gumbo with garlic mashed potatoes, and it was quite good.

Preservation Hall was a lot of fun because the band took requests. I thought it was going to be a show where they played a planned set of songs. People requested The Saints, You Are My Sunshine, St. James Infirmary Blues, etc. It was definitely an interactive environment. Andrew requested West End Blues, which is supposed to have one of the hardest trumpet parts, and the guy just went, "We could, but no."

Boys Hope Girls Hope

Our speaker tonight was Cory from Boys Hope Girls Hope where Naomi works. It was really interesting hearing about the organization. I'm glad that there are people who are making the effort to help kids from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed. The organization is set up with two houses, one for the boys and one for the girls. Participants are recommended by counselors, teachers, or the court, depending on the situation. Once selected, the kids live in the houses with house parents who make sure homework gets done and direct reflection sessions. Cory said that 100% of the kids who participate and who stay for at least 1.5 years, make it to college. The program grants scholarships to the kids to attend private Jesuit or Dominican schools and then college. Apparently Boys Hope Girls Hope can be found in 16 cities around the nation and in 4 foreign countries.

P.S. We had food from Cajun Seafood for dinner. Hot sausage po boy, corn on the cob, and a potato!

Yummmmm Ice Cream!

Wednesday wasn't too exciting. We made spaghetti and meatballs, and it was really good because we added celery and green peppers. Then we actually made garlic bread (really wheat bread with butter and garlic seasoning) and lemonade.

After dinner (I took some more of those shrimp and corn pies leftover from the gala), I walked to Creole Creamery with Graham and Andrew W. I got a single scoop of cake batter on a sugar cone. It was sooo good, and it was a lot of fun to go hang out in an ice cream shop whose tagline is: "Eat ice cream. Be happy."

Rainy Days

It's been raining a lot recently, which brings down the temperature, but then everything is wet. We made red beans and rice. And I finished writing up the interview with Anthony from Marcela's Cookery.

For dinner I had some of the leftover crawfish and corn pies from the gala. They are still delicious!

Tuesday was breakfast foods, so nothing special. For our reflection session we had food from Juan's Flying Burrito. I've been waiting to try their food. I ordered the Flying Burrito (chicken, steak, Gulf shrimp, yellow rice, salsa, guacamole, cheddar and jack cheese) without beans. It was so good! I've been craving Chipotle, so it was nice to get a burrito.

The reflection session definitely made me think about what the museum does, and I wrote a blog entry on our group blog.

Fourth of July and the National WWII Museum

After Essence, it was nice to sleep in and have a relaxing day. Most of us hung around the suite and ate. We headed out to the Riverwalk for fireworks at 7:15, and we enjoyed the show by the river. Afterwards we walked down the river to the French Quarter for beignets.

On Sunday we went to the VooDoo BBQ grill for lunch! It was soooo good. I had the loaded baked potato with jerk chicken. I'm sure the food there is horrible for your health, but it tastes delicious.

After eating we walked down to the National WWII Museum right off Lee Circle. It was a really nice museum with a lot of videos and oral histories that made it fun. Certain parts of the museum were depressing, but it was very informative overall.

Essence Music Festival 2009

Friday was a super short day at work. It was nice having some time off before going out for Essence.

We headed over to the Superdome and got there right before 8 o'clock. It was exciting walking in, and I have to say that I'm super impressed how cold they kept the place even with so many people. We saw Ne-Yo, John Legend, and Beyonce. Beyonce is amazing! She sounds great and the high energy she keeps up is absolutely insane.

Leah Chase Gala

The dedication on Wednesday was really nice. We had several speakers, and Mitch Landrieu, the lieutenant governor showed up, too. I got to meet Leah Chase, and she autographed a plate for me.

Thursday night was a blast! There were so many different kinds of food and desserts, and it was a lot of fun helping out and eating. The music was great, too, with Leah Chase's daughter performing and the Soul Rebels playing afterwards. My favorite dish of the night was definitely the mushroom and beef from Dickie Brennan's.

Shopping!

Wednesday was mainly prepping for the gala. We ended up making breakfast foods of pancakes and eggs for the food camp.

After work the girls went shopping at Oakwood. The mall was fairly small, but I had fun. Victoria's Secret has a lot of very nice smelling body sprays, so I'll have to go back and explore those options.

Amy made snickerdoodles, and they were good. We definitely have a never ending supply of baked goods. For some reason Meghan's oatmeal raisin cookies disappeared. I wonder who had the munchies...