Nawlins

A few pics from our food, drinks, drinks, food, music, food, drinks tour of New Orleans:

Local beers from Gnarly Barley Brewing at the Longway Tavern. Our waiter was from Cincinnati and gave us a list of really good recommendations for the rest of the trip

Heirloom tomato salad with popped sorghum, white chocolate, and sorrel 

Napoleon House for a quarter Muffuletta sandwich and Boudin sausage

Does this even need a caption? Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde

The happy travelers at Kingfish cocktail bar for Pimm's cup and sazerac.
I have no photos from K-Paul's, but rest assured we had all the favorites for dinner - fried green tomatoes, shrimp remoulade, chicken and andouille gumbo, pan-fried flounder with jambalaya ... It. Was. A. Feast. 

"Trash grits" for breakfast at St. Roch Market (a bit off the beaten path, but SO worth it)

Drinks on the front porch of The Columns Hotel overlooking St. Charles Ave.
Next up were oysters at Peche. Tip: talk football with the guys at the raw bar shucking oysters and they'll slip you a couple extra

More gumbo and boudin at Cochon. This was described as the Publican of New Orleans. I'd say that's about right 

Our final destination ... Bacchanal Wine. Also off the beaten path and well worth the trip. Enter through the wine store, pick up a bottle, and join the backyard party for live music. An absolutely perfect end to a perfect weekend

Sharing the love

I've made baguettes the last two weeks and am loving the results. The best part is, each batch makes four, so I can share the love with family and friends! Last week, I made pan con tamate (Spanish tomato bread) for friends at a BBQ. Today, I dropped off my extra baguettes with unsuspecting neighbors. I felt like a hero.

This is actually a photo from last week. The baguettes I made today were even better! 

A few other good things to share:

• This lovely article about Prince and his grand plans for an autobiography.
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - not an easy read, but absolutely excellent.
• Derry Girls, a funnier than expected (and sometimes heartwarming) comedy on Netflix about a group of high school kids in Northern Ireland in the 1990s.
• Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew with Sweet Cream. I feel a little weird recommending something from Starbucks, but I am obsessed with this stuff. Bring your mug in and treat yourself! 

Back to school

I'm a couple of weeks late, but here's the fourth grader:

Molly, age 9. I'm late posting, but this WAS taken on the first day of school

I'm throwing this one in there, just because. We're not sure why this photo happened, but I think it's worth saving. My mom titled it "Whitesnake" (if  anyone remembers Tawny Kitaen)

We've had an interesting start to the school so far ... some of Molly's friends have been a little inconsistent. I think they're starting to notice who's popular and are on the lookout to upgrade. But overall, Molly seems more happy than not. There's always someone to play with. She's spreading her wings and starting to walk to school with some of the neighborhood kids. We'll see how it all goes. She's got to go through this stuff at some point or another ... might as well toughen up before middle school when the real drama hits!