I hope everyone had a great holiday! I know I did…pretty busy and sometimes difficult to keep up with the blogs. I spent my holiday season here in New Orleans this year…I gotta say that experiencing a relatively warm Xmas/New Year was strange, but  comfortable at the same time!

 Anyway, I wanted to share some things we tested recently; mainly bread for one of the upcoming books. I got a kick out of the English Muffin Bunny…

 

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Picture 1 from 2: Stacey's English Muffin Bunny (We couldn't find our round cookie cutters and she had to improvise). Although we won't leave it as a bunny, this first recipe run seems pretty good.

I was famished when I got home last night and didn’t have anything prepared to immediately consume. I made my weekly visit to Hollygrove during the weekend and picked up a box of produce…but the farthest I got with those was cleaning and prepping them. I wasn’t in the mood to spend any extensive amount of time prepping, cooking or for a clean-up afterwards. I needed something quick and delicious.

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And it’s my favorite. On most days, I try to keep it light and healthy. I need some good fuel to ”get my engines” running, ensuring a good start to my day. But I consider my weekends for an opportunity of luxury and try to remind myself to enjoy the smaller things in life - especially time. Time to enjoy good company, good food, the ability to stretch out my body and go for a run under the shady trees of Audobon park or explore the city. But first, I sleep in and then I have brunch.

I had a buddy in town this weekend and we went to brunch this past Saturday at Dante’s. I have been frequenting this spot recently and enjoy most items on the menu.

 

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Picture 1 from 2: Debris with Poached Egg and Biscuits (house-made strawberry and apple jelly in the background for the biscuits).

We recently had new Viking appliances installed in the test kitchen. We’re excited to to try these out and I wanted to show you how great everything looks!

Chef Emeril and the team will continue to bring you tasty recipes

 

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Picture 1 from 4: The new refrigerator...

As always, I intend to do more on these trips than I can actually accomplish. Any personal desires get thrown out the window, but eagerly traded in for time with friends and family (as I ought to do during the holidays). I had an agenda of different places to eat and was hoping to share them with you…I was able to accomplish a few (but was only able to document one in my last blog). However, I hope you can accept homemade dishes (I’m sure you can and to me, they were exquisite). All in all, I had a wondeful Thanksgiving in California and hope you did too - wherever you were.

 

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Picture 1 from 8: My dad told me last minute that I was doing the turkey for thanksgiving...grrr. I really didn't mind, but the problem is I usually start planning my trip before I even arrive, so knowing this beforehand would've helped...dad :). I was lucky enough to grab one of the two last turkey's at Trader Joe's.

I’ve hit the ground running and literally haven’t stopped since I’ve arrived. The weather hasn’t been exactly favorable, as it’s been raining non-stop in conjunction with the quintessential, cool-crisp Northern California weather. However, it was just the perfect backdrop for my first meal at Chow’s, since they serve comfort food.

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This time I’m heading back to my hometown for Thanksgiving. As usual, I’ll let you know about my culinary adventures in the Bay Area.

I’ve already got my first stop planned. The travel from New Orleans to Oakland usually works up a good appetite, for a quick fix and nolstagic’s sake, I usually hit up the In and Out near the airport en route to my parents’ house (as I’ve stated in the past, I don’t normally eat fast food, this is an exception).

This time, I’m craving for an all around experience, while keeping it casual. I did my homework and searched for a place that didn’t detour too far off of my destination and found Chow. They have four locations: two are in San Francisco, one in Danville and one in Lafayette (this is the one I’m trying). I’m hoping it’ll fulfill my expectations; good comfort food to welcome me home.

Just as I promised here are a few photos from Po-Boy Fest weekend - to no surprise - it was another huge success. Our driveway leads right onto Oak Street, so family and friends were in and out of the house all day. We walked around, grabbed some po-boys, went back to the house to eat, trekked back out to listen to music and repeated.

 

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Picture 1 from 6: Po Boy Fest is officially my favorite festival in New Orleans. Every year is more successful than the last. (photo courtesy TJM)

I’ve been going to Po-Boy fest for the last couple of years and I’m looking forward to sampling the various po-boys again this year; I’ve blogged about it before (here’s the link http://www.emerils.com/cooking-blog/3539/preservation/).

Each year it gets bigger and better and I’ve just moved to Oak Street (which is where it takes place). So, all I have to do this Sunday (when it happens) is walk out my door to enjoy the food and music. I’m having family and friends over…so hopefully, the weather will be perfect, because that’s all I’ll need. And even though there’s going to be a whole bunch of po-boy’s in my frontyard…I’m making a pot of chicken and sausage gumbo. I’ll be sure to take some photos to share with ya’ll come Monday. Have a great weekend!

 

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Picture 1 from 1:

This po-boy was from last year, Emeril’s tent. They’ll be there again on Sunday!

Personally, one of my favorite events that the Emeril Lagasse Foundation puts together; it was listed as one of the “Top Ten US Charity Wine Auctions,” in Wine Spectator magazine. I can see why - I volunteered for the event two years ago, when it was in New Orleans (it was in Las Vegas, last year). I witnessed these amazing professionals put their talents towards a great cause, and have a good time at it too. Read more »