Back from the Big Easy

SHE’S BA-ACK!  Aw, coming home from New Orleans is always so bittersweet.  I feel like I leave a piece of my heart there every time I leave 😦  I hope to live there at some point in my life, but for now I’m limited to short visits packed full with family, food and fun.

And oh is that food good!

DISCLAIMER: The food I have eaten in the past week was not 100% organic and at times was less than nutritious, but life is too short to get hung up on those details.  If you go somewhere known for their decadent food and skip out on all it has to offer just because it’s not “healthy” you’ll be miserable.  A week of eating in NO won’t kill you and considering how many temptations there are I think I did pretty good!

And without further ado I give you…

How To: The New Orleans Edition – Part I

 How to survive your grumpy sister at the airport:  Purchase an iced chai

How to ensure safe driving: Place a snowman “slowman” outside your house.  I’d never seen one of these before and thought it was so funny, until Joey told me they’re actually not that rare…

How to eat a soft shell crab: Fried and shared at Middendorf’s.  My sister and I had never had soft shell crab before so naturally it was a must to order one.  It’s crazy looking!  I think I ate a couple legs and a bite of the body (that’s weird to say!).  The meat in the body of the crab is so weird because there’s hunks of yellow fat, which may have grossed us out a little.

How to avoid fried shrimp: Get it stuffed and broiled.  Beanie and I shared and were so impressed!  This restaurant has been around for 75+ years so apparently we aren’t the only ones who think it’s good.

How to commemorate your experience at Middendorf’s:  Take a picture on the almost-to-narrow-for-two-people-to-stand-on dock, and…

Watch out for water snakes…

How to survive Southern heat and allow your uncle some vacation time of his own: Excursion to Florida.  See how the water gets darker closer to the shore?  It’s seaweed and lots of it!  But the water is so warm and hey, it’s even oil free!

Turns out I can only drink a few sips of pina colada before it starts to taste wayyyy too sweet 😦

How to get the most out of your hotel’s breakfast buffet:  Have a little something different everyday!

Day 1: Scrambled eggs with bell peppers and salsa, grits, fruit and pancake that I didn’t end up eating because a mini blueberry muffin was calling my name instead he he

BTW, I LOVE GRITS (almost as much as oats!)

Day 2:  Chef-made omelette with bell peppers, tomatoes, green onion, mushrooms and salsa + fruit on the side

Oh and a glass of OJ because I needed some juice after my uncle and I conquered the Florida heat/humidity on a morning run!  Oh yes, running was done on this vacation.  I managed to rack up ~7 miles while in Florida, success!

Day 3:  Waffle made on the spot and topped with banana slices + eggs, grits and strawbs.  Shared the waffle with Beanie but ended up only eating half of my half, so filling!

How to take advantage of a rainy day in Florida: Hit the outlet mall and ham it up in the Sunglass Hut 😛

How to celebrate your last night in Florida: Head to The Crab Trap for dinner.  This restaurant was only a few minutes down the road from our hotel and it was RIGHT on the beach.  It had huge open windows inside so you could see out onto the beach — such a cool location and atmosphere!  We ordered crab cakes as an app and they totally put the ones we ate in Sausalito to shame!!  SOOOO good 🙂

I ordered shrimp and crab legs.  It comes with hush puppies (they were just okay) and two sides: corn and veggies.  I’m such a crab leg novice.  My mom had to help me.  I rarely get to see her NO upbringing in action so it was fun to watch her crack those legs like a pro!  I only managed to eat about half of all of this but somehow my plate was empty by the end on the night, hmmm I wonder who ate it all…

How to return to New Orleans: By eating boiled shrimp and stuffed artichokes from Kjean Seafood.  These shrimp are boiled with spices so the end product is delightfully spicy.  These had such a better texture than any shrimp you could buy here.  My mom told us after she moved to Colorado she used to bring back 100 lbs. of shrimp in styrofoam coolers everytime she made a visit home!! 

Trust me, you do not want to see the ingredient list for this artichoke…

I have no idea how my mom managed to eat all of hers, I was losing steam 1/4 of the way in but rallied and made it through half of this choke.  Every nook and cranny is stuffed with, well, stuffing.  Really good but really filling!

How to end a night in the Big Easy: Spend quaility time on the front porch accompanied by a nice rocking chair and a cute but slobbery dog 🙂

I’ll be back with more tomorrow!  So glad to be back amongst the living blogging 🙂