Fab first night in NOLA

Our trip down felt on the real long end of the single flight spectrum but our bags were first off the carousel, our rental car was ready and my parents had already settled in to our rental house. This is a great house! We rented it two years ago for our first family spring break in New Orleans and couldn't wait to return this year. Freezing when we left DC, it is upper 70s, sunny and positively perfectly gorgeous here. The rear of this house is mostly glass and looks out onto a small patio with palms whose fronds blow languidly in the ever-present breeze. The relaxed umbrella over the table and chairs promises shade if its needed. From every nook, the suggestion to relax oozes.

The kids love it here too. Not thirty minutes after arriving, they'd gotten Misse and Poppy to walk them to get beignets and proceeded to eat huge quantities. T and I went to the market to stock up on provisions and secure the ingredients for the menu I wanted to make for our inaugural night's dinner: flap steak tagliata, roasted potatoes with chimichurri, and the Canlis house salad (from Seattle's Canlis restaurant; recipe was in the Sunday NYTimes magazine earlier this month). Everything was marvelous!

 

On the plane!

Kids have set world record for talking today, but we're on the plane and will be in NOLA in less than three hours! Food, drink, family and sunshine- here we come!

Mango chutney, restorative pedi, packing, wine

Last night I made a batch of the Spiced Mango Chutney recipe from Wednesday's NYTimes Dining section. Written by Cathy Barrow, a DC-area canning maven, it called for an alluring blend of mangoes (I used my beloved champagne variety as they're always better than the larger, green ones and have just hit the market in the past couple weeks), golden raisins, ginger, cardamom pods, Kaffir lime leaves and chiles. Just think of this delicious concoction on grilled chicken or even ice cream. It's quite good though I must say that I halved the amount of chile called for and, even with my Louisiana tongue, still find it quite spicy. So, consider that if you choose to make some of this yourself.

Today was not so good until I reached the pedicure chair at 4pm. GAWD, did I need some R&R this afternoon. Having just mulched the some of my garden, I opted to get a manicure too because the amount of dirt under my fingernails was just gross. Also, in looking closer, it appeared that my nails had never seen care, so jagged and gnarly were they. So three cheers for a mani-pedi and the massage chair.

I've done a decent job packing so far; at least the boys will be well and adequately dressed. T and I just threw a pizza on the grill and are sitting with some good wine. Can't wait to blow this joint tomorrow. New Orleans, yee-haw!