It's Official! I've Moved!

I've finally packed up the last of my words and have moved permanently to my new blog:

Do It Yo' Damn Self

Don't forget to update your readers and/or sign up to get weekly posts sent to your inbox.

We've got a good thing going, you and I. Let's keep it up.

Paz afuera,

Annie.

How to Help Nathaniel Zimet

For those of you who don't know about the unfortunate events of Sunday morning, Boucherie Chef, Nathaniel Zimet, was shot three times in an attempted robbery. Go here for the full story.

I want to start a directory of sorts of ways we can help. So far all I know about is the Pizza Delicious offer to donate 20% of this week's profits (they operate Thursday and Sunday nights). If you haven't tried Pizza Delicious yet, this would be the week to do it.

Please use the comments section to post info on other fundraising events.

Southern Food & Beverage Museum

Quick note: after this post, I will only be broadcasting from my new blog: Do It Yo' Damn Self. I was insane to think I could maintain two blogs and a freelance writing career. I will still be posting about local food events in the Louisiana Love Story category, so look for them there.

Earlier this month we were able to stick the bean with a babysitter in order to hit up the World Cocktail Week Celebration at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum. This was my first time to the museum, and had I not been preoccupied with sampling every single drink, I would have spent more time oggling the vintage barware. I also hadn't realized that the museum is on the Riverwalk, so we were able to wander out onto a balcony with our drinks to watch the swollen Mississippi encroach on dry land.

But, like I said, it was all about the drinks. After sampling each one, we were deadlocked in a tie for #1 between two lovely bartenders and their respective libations.

In this corner....Christine Jeanine Nielsen of Loa:

Her offering, Sunshine, was a mix of cucumber vodka, yellow chartreuese, honey syrup, and housemade cucmber skin bitters.

In the other corner we had Star Hodgson, an independent bartender available for hire (ask me for her contact info):

Her drink was dubbed Poplin & Lace and was a mix of St Germain, gin, lime juice, orange bitters, pernod, and topped off with foamed egg whites.

Menu Released for Party in the Garden. TONIGHT!

As I mentioned last week, tonight’s event at Hollygrove Market is going to be OFF THE HOOK. I just have a feeling. Check out the planned offerings and try and tell me you’re not titillated:

Bayona

- Cold Asian Noodle Salad with Shitakes and Ichiban Eggplant

Boucherie

- Blueberry Gazpacho with Beet and Tuna Ceviche, Red Potato Chips

Blackberry Specialty Cocktail

Crescent Pie and Sausage Co.

- Corn Maque Choux (vegetarian)

Cure

- Berry Rum Punch

Eiffel Society

- Macon Fry Arugula Salad (vegan)

Hollygrove Market &Farm

- 360 Vodka with Pineapple Sage Syrup and Lime

Iris

- Spring Vegetable Soup (vegan)

La Petite Grocery

- Zucchini and Summer Squash Fritter with Herb Emulsion (vegetarian)

Le Foret

- Duck Liver Pate with Shiitake Confit, Watercress Salad and House Made Crackers

Lilette

- Bruschetta with Ryal's Dairy Goat Cheese, Heirloom Tomato, Mint, Olive Oil (vegetarian)

Martinique

- Tea Sandwiches with Herb Cream Cheese, Tomato, Cucumber (vegetarian)

Housemade Pimm's Cup Infused with Fresh Coriander

MiLa

- Chickpea Panisse with Squash Marmalade (vegan)

Slice Pizzeria

- Papaya Mint Bruschetta with Red Onion, Jalapeno, and Cilantro on House Made Flatbread (vegan)

Sylvain

- Fava Bean Bruschetta with Ryal's Dairy Goat Cheese (vegetarian)

Three Muses

- Duck Confit with Housemade Rigatoni

The Muse (Cucumber-Infused Gin, Strawberry Puree and St. Germain)

Two Cook for You Catering

- Farm Egg Salad Crostini, Spring Onion, Easter Egg Radish, House-Smoked Bacon

Ye Old College Inn

- Watermelon Gazpacho

New Blog is Launched. Boo-yeah!

Hallelujah! Fireworks! Trumpets! Thunderous Applause!

Actually, it’s silent here in my cube, except of course for the constant whir of the overworked air conditioner.

Nonetheless……my new venture is out there in cyberspace for all to see.

Based on the feedback I received from you generous readers, I am keeping Eat Drink Nola (for the time being), and moving certain topics over to the newbie: Do It Yo’ Damn Self.

Here is the breakdown:

Eat Drink Nola: Local food events, restaurants, & food-related happenings.

Do It Yo Damn Self: DIY home improvement, I Love Lucy-style kitchen disasters, black thumb gardening, brat-rearing, pro bono work for the Louisiana Board of Tourism (shhh…they don’t know about it), and an announcement of my mood-altering copywriting services.

So mosey on over and check ‘er out. Go ahead – sign up for the DIYDS mailing list. I’ll pick two random people from those who sign up today to receive Food & Wine cookbooks.

Fellow Over-Indulgers: Do Not Miss these Events

I promised to debut the new blog today, and I shall, although in true procrastinator form it’ll probably be at 11:59 pm. Additionally, I don’t want to detract from two very exciting upcoming events that I want/need/must attend so badly that I begged my friends to babysit. Friends, as in adults with lives and better things to do with their weekend. Suckers.

Without further ado (in chronological order):

World Cocktail Week Celebration

Southern Food and Beverage Museum (1 Poydras Street #169)

This Friday, 6-9 pm

Live music as well as cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from:

· Windsor Court Hotel Grill Room and Polo Lounge

· Café Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick Bar

· Cure

· Victory Bar

· Sylvain

· Arnaud’s

· MiLa

· Cake Café

· Zea’s

I've been dying to check this place out. Tickets: $25 in advance, $35 at the door. To purchase, go here or here.

Hollygrove Market’s Party in the Garden

Hollygrove Market (8301 Olive Street)

Monday, 6-9 pm

Food and drink from the likes of:

· Three Muses

· Lilette

· La Petite Grocery

· Le Foret

· Sylvain

· Café Amelie

· Iris

· Cure

· Martinique Bistro

I have been to Hollygrove’s events in the past and they are always ballin. Go here for a glimpse.

Tickets: $35 in advance from Hollygrove's website or $40 at the door.

Patois

New site launcing on Monday! That's right -- I set a goal -- and it's scary. In the meantime, here blows another photo collage. I'll just say this: if you haven't gone for brunch at Patois, you have seriously erred and you must get thee there with a quickness.

Coquette

New site coming soon! Really soon; I promise. In the meantime, here are some pictures from a recent lunch at Coquette:

This is where I send people when they have one chance to eat out and thus IT MUST BE GOOD. It has transformed a building haunted by the ghosts of restaurants flopped into a cool oasis of deliciousness.

Curse Shmurse.

Two things that really shine at Coquette (other than the food, of course):

1) The service. These people know their shiz, and impart their knowledge without snobbery. It wouldn't necessarily come to mind as a baby-friendly setting, yet the staff has always been exceptionally cool about me bringing Lucia to lunch.

2) The tasting menu. Two courses and a dessert for $20. And this isn't your "let's make a special to use up whatever we have a surplus of and get peeps in here on the off hours" kinda thing. It's thoughtful and balanced and freaky delicious.

A Lesson in Amateur Detective Work

Look closely.

What do you see?

A ribbon of fat, perhaps?

Ssshhh. Listen. This is not just any fat ribbon. This fat ribbon has a story to tell, and we must listen closely. This gelatinous leftover is the crux of a mystery that has slowly developed over the course of one long and convoluted night, effectively tying together a series of previously uncorrelated events.

This fat ribbon is the smoking gun.


EVENT 1

3:00 A.M.

Awoken by a strange mechanical rumbling.

"Is Max drying clothes? At 3:00 am?! WTF?"

Not until I heard the unmistakably annoying "beep beep beep beep" did I realize what I was hearing was actually the microwave. Still weird, but not as weird as the dryer.


EVENT 2

3:25 A.M.

Awake again, but this time the culprit is an overweight pug who has spontaneously chosen my bedroom as his place of repose and is performing his usual rooftop-lifting snores.

"How did that fat bastard hoist himself up onto the bed without waking me up?"

I sweep my feet back and forth under the covers searching for his hot, smelly body so that I can catapult him to the floor. I come up with nothing.

Annoyed, I pick up my head to look for him, and that's when I realize that the cacophonous snores are not coming from overweight pug, but from husband! Repeated prods in his back and shoulder do not rouse him. Adult tantrum including tearing the comforter from bed does not rouse him. I sleep in guest room.

And that brings us to the present. The ribbon of fat laying on my counter is my "aha" moment -- the final clue to the mystery of the night's clouded events.

"Why would Max have been eating the WEEKS OLD proscuitto? More so, why would Max be MICROWAVING proscuitto? In summary, why would Max be MICROWAVING the WEEKS OLD proscuitto at 3:00 a.m.?"


Only one conclusion can be drawn:

ALCOHOL.

How to Secure Financial Instability in Your 30's

1. Go to Stein’s deli to buy an item that you were tipped off to by another blogger, in this case Caputo 00 flour.
2. Upon finding that the item you need is not yet available, ignore common sense telling you to leave.
3. Buy copious amounts of alcohol and expensive coffee.