Does This Tuesday Make Me Look Fat?
All images by Kirsten Valentini
In the Spring of 2010, my family ventured to New Orleans to visit our extended family. While there, we experienced most of what New Orleans has to offer a 15 year old and her 13 year old sister. While we were unable to imbibe the classic Sazerac or bright red Hurricane, as the two food-focused girls we were (and still are), we indulged in New Orleans’s culinary offerings.
Our favorites included Oysters Rockefeller, buttery, herbed baked oysters and Po’boys, a traditional New Orleans sandwich, served on a style of French bread with your choice of filling. We also made repeated stops at Cafe du Monde for beignets, covered mile high with powdered sugar. Consumer warning: be sure to breathe out as you take a bite to avoid suffocating on powder sugar. My sister can attest to the pain of eating a beignet the wrong way.
2 years later, I returned with my father for a college tour. For our one night back in the Big Easy, we dined out at Galatoire’s where the dress code requires men to don blazers, which the restaurant does have available if you forget yours. The dining room itself is a departure from my preferred restaurant environment - it’s rather brightly lit and jam packed with tables. Nevertheless, it’s perfect. We squeezed into a table against the mirrored wall and ordered a selection of Creole classics: turtle soup, seafood okra gumbo and crabmeat sardou. Each dish was as equally delicious as the next.
Then a few years later, my family planned a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, which in hindsight was an odd choice as both my sister and I were underage and I was in the middle of a semester of college. I will admit that this trip was not one of my finer moments, mostly because I had packed the MOST impractical shoes for a walking city and was utterly distraught over it. However, despite my wretched attitude, there were a handful of unforgettable moments, revolving around my favorite activity - eating.
Our hotel served King Cake every morning for breakfast and so I ate King Cake every morning for breakfast! King Cake is like coffee cake but better. While it can be made in a variety of ways, my favorite version includes flakey layers and a cinnamon filling, topped with royal icing and sprinkles in the classic green, gold and purple. King Cakes traditionally have a small plastic baby embedded somewhere in the pastry; if you’re the lucky recipient of the baby, expect a year of luck and prosperity.
Regardless of my fashion faux-pas on this trip, I still love New Orleans and Mardi Gras. But for now, I’ll celebrate Mardi Gras from my own home where my shoe choice matters less.
To celebrate this year, my menu includes Jambalaya and King Cake, paired with Sazeracs.
Embracing the classic colors of New Orleans, I decorated my table with green, yellow and purple taper candles, some masks I’ve collected from my past visits, bright yellow water goblets and some funky salt and pepper shakers. If you’re without masks or any of the items I used, I recommend finding whatever you can in the classic green, yellow and purple for your table.
Using embroidery thread, I stitched laissez les bon temps rouler into some linen napkins to complete this tablescape.
If you want to try this at home, you’ll need a thread, some embroidery floss, an embroidery hoop, napkins and a pencil. Using your pencil, write out the phrase you want stitch onto your napkin. Then using the backstitch, stitch your napkin. Here is a great tutorial for the back stitch: Back Stitch Tutorial.
Mark your calendar! Mardi Gras is on February 16, 2021.