I’m speechless…  Just click the link to see more wacky photos of  birds stealing ice cream.

These shots are fantastically intruiging and have such wonderful color.  As described by the artist,  Douglas Adesko, “there are only a handful of activities that are truly fundamental to our existence, and eating is one of them.  Family Meal is a visual exploration of this primal act in the context of contemporary American family life.”

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, visited the French Quarter and stood in line to go to Acme Oyster House, you know how valuable this card can be!!  It’s like this…before 7am I had already tasted the Oysters Foch Poor Boy from Antoine’s (that’s French Bread smeared with pate de foie gras and topped with cornmeal-crusted fried oysters and the famously muddy-colored and delectable Colbert Sauce) before scarfing down about a dozen icy-cold, gently briny, raw oysters from Acme.  This weekend is the French Quarter Festival with the celeb-studded Oyster Eating Competition at The Mint.  It’s gonna be fun and crowded; that front-of-the-line card is sure-fire gold.  I’m gonna surprise someone and give it away.  This is New Orleans baby, and that’s how we roll!

While browsing the internet, I came across the coolest knitting patterns ever!  A BLT, a pork chop and a  salami sandwich!!!  Seriously, what could be better than this?!  They are created by  Needle Noodle and making me really want to pick up a pair of needles now!

Let’s hope that my garden grows abundantly this year!!!  It’s the first time I’ve started a rooftop garden, so I’m sure I’ll have lots to learn and some killer pesto by the end of the summer!

So far, I’ve made a stop at my local hardware store for some basic tools, soil and planters, and I’ve visited the farmer’s market and stocked up on a variety of herbs–basil, rosemary, thyme, mint, lavender, parsley and oregano.  The weather hasn’t been quite warm enough for me to plants my seedlings, but in a week or so, I should have them in pots.  I can’t wait!!!

And if any of you are green-thumbed readers, please feel free to share your tips on herb and vegetable container gardening!

I recently read a “Tweet” (that’s a Twitter message for those unfamiliar) by the LA Times Food Section, about what one of their readers claimed was “the BEST brownie EVER!“  What was interesting about that tweet, was the brownie sundae kismet - I had just eaten a glorious Brownie Sundae at DarWell’s Cafe in Long Beach Mississippi, thinking “Now that  was the best brownie ever.”  So, on a whim, I tweeted back to the LA Times, that we might need to hold a Brownie Sundae “smack-down,” and they expressed interest.  I figure I better tell them what they’re up against.  To start, DarWell’s Brownie Sundae is made by a woman who doesn’t like chocolate; she doesn’t even know how good her brownies taste ’cause she’s never eaten one, but the number she has to make every day speaks volumes.  Fudgy, not-too-sweet, deeply chocolatey, the brownies are exceptionally moist, yet just cakey enough.  When a batch is made and set out on the counter, you gotta move fast to get one, because some crazy clown from New Orleans (me), might grab them all and run.  Sometimes there are nuts (pecans or walnuts or both) tucked into the brownies, and sometimes not, but it really doesn’t matter unless you don’t like nuts.  There’s nothing magical about the ice cream, it’s not made in-house, nor fancy-schmancy - it’s a good ole commercial grade vanilla and the fudge sauce too is just what it is, thick, sexy, liquid chocolate.  Together however, the combination, isn’t just “the BEST brownie EVER,”  it’s better than “the best”, it’s transcendent, the parent of that so-called “BEST brownie ever;” it’s even rumored that folks are forming a new religion based on Darwell’s brownie sundae.  So there.

I will admit the “Fudgy Skillet Brownies” recipe in the March issue of “Everyday Food,”  is a serious contender, as is “Miss Cathy’s Brownie Pie” from Joey K’s in New Orleans…maybe it’s time for that smack-down.   Anyone got a contender?

 

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Picture 1 from 4: I think I found my new favorite neighborhood coffee shop!

Down the street from my apartment is a coffee shop called the Roasting Plant. It’s shtick is freshly ground coffee beans that are brewed to order for each cup of coffee or shot of espresso. And to top that, they even roast all the beans in their storefront, brew their coffee at the perfect water temperature and serve their drinks in heat-insulating glass mugs. Wow. Pretty thorough, huh?

Check out this amazing chandelier made by artist Ingo Maurer.  It’s title, Porca Miseria, means miserable sow in Italian and it is made entirely of plates and cutlery!   I saw it at the MoMA a few days ago and I just love it!

This is a St. Lucy’s “eye pie.”  St. Lucy is the patron Saint of eye ailments and blindness and even though her Feast Day is December 13, the pies appear on St. Joseph’s altars (yesterday was St. Joseph’s Day) because she is a Sicilian Saint.  The ancestors of Sicilian immigrants who settled in New Orleans in the 1800’s are vibrant and St. Joseph’s Day is a big deal, celebrated with meatless dishes and many symbolic cookies, cakes and breads.  The St. Lucy’s Eye Pie is fig-filled, and, if made traditionally, has a chick pea flour crust.  People with eye ailments are said to abstain from wheat as homage to St. Lucy.

These high fashion lollipops were designed by artist Massimo Gammacurta and several powerhouse brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel and Louis Vuitton to be passed out at runway shows.  How sweet is that?!