Deanie’s Fresh Fish Co., Metairie, New Orleans

I love traveling with Mark. He has taught me to enjoy the local flavors wherever we go. Through him I have learned to slow down, treasure new places and enjoy the regional flavor of food and people. Our visit to New Orleans was no exception.

We met a wonderfully nice and knowledgeable young man at the Marriott Metairie in New Orleans. Ronny is his name and he’s a valet at the hotel….but if you ask me he should be in Guest Services. This young man, from the first hello, had my Mark smitten with him. Ronny was so friendly and inviting. By the time Mark and him had finished getting to know each other we had been invited to his house on Sunday for a crawfish cookout. Unfortunately we were getting on a big ship on Sunday….so the alternative was his suggestion of eating dinner at a local joint named “Deanie’s Fresh Fish Co.” Ronny was absolutely spot on. The crawfish dishes were out of this world. So if you are ever visiting New Orleans please make sure you visit “Deanie’s Fresh Fish Co.” in Metairie, New Orleans.

Oh and if you can stay a night try the Marriott, Metairie and have a chat with Ronnie, the valet. I guarantee you will enjoy meeting this young man and find his enthusiasm for his beloved New Orleans contagious.

Deanie’s Fresh Fish Co.
Metairie, New Orleans

Crawfish Etouffee

Crawfish Plate

 

The Rum House on Magazine Street in New Orleans

I’ve been missing in action for the last couple of weeks but I have a great excuse. Mark and I met up with my Son and Daughter-in-Law in New Orleans to board a cruise ship for a 7-day Western Caribbean Cruise. Both New Orleans and the Cruise were fabulous.

While visiting New Orleans Mark and I stopped in “The Rum House” for a quick plate of Nachos. Well we now know we should have taken 4 more people with us to make a dent in this plate. They were fantastic and I am definitely going to be replicating their recipe soon. So if you are ever visiting New Orleans please check “The Rum House” out, we enjoyed it very much.

“The Rum House”
Magazine Street

Nachos

 

The Log Inn Restaurant in the town of Warrenton, Indiana

The Lincoln Room at
“The Log Inn”

When Mark’s birthday comes around I always asked him what he would like for his special birthday dinner. If you were the bett’in type of person you could probably pick a few of my recipes from this blog and think you were risking nothing….but the truth be told every year he picks to eat at “The Log Inn” here in South West Indiana.

Now this restaurant isn’t one of the corporate types, this is a family style all you can eat southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, southern green beans, peas, corn, sweet cider coleslaw, and dinner rolls. Shoot, sometimes we say there are 3 of us when it’s just us two so that we can order a country ham dinner to take home.

If you ever have the chance to stop in my neck of the woods this restaurant is a must go. The Log Inn was a favorite of the late great President Lincoln when he passed through on the stage-coach and it’s a favorite of ours. Check’er out in the small town of Warrenton, Indiana. Shoot, if you’re going, request to sit in the very room President Lincoln ate his meal. I love that room.

For more information check out their website @  theloginn.net

 

My Georgia Adventure

It was a quick trip to Georgia and back. Every minute was packed with adventures. I had a wonderful visit with my cousin, her daughter-in-law and her grand-daughter. That little girl stole my heart. After our visit we were off for a grand food adventure.

It is said that Georgia pecans are the best of anywhere, well I find that statement to be very true. We picked up 9 pounds of them…thinking this should last us a few months. We tried their version of Praline Pecans…Oh my what a delight. I will be working on that recipe for Thanksgiving. Then I discovered a version of a Hashbrown Casserole I had never imagined. It was made with such simple ingredients yet all those flavors tasted great together. Blackberry marinated Pork Chops are also on my list for recipes to recreate. … And then the best was definitely saved for last.

The Lady & Sons

Mark took me to Savannah, yes Savannah, to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant “The Lady & Sons”.  Boy was it fabulous! I have no idea what any of their reviews are like, but I have to tell you she did not disappoint me. We ate there for Sunday Brunch and it satisfied every desire that my taste buds may have dreamed of.

Cheese Biscuit &
Hoe Cake

Upon being seated a plate was placed in front of both of us with a Hoe Cake and Cheddar Biscuit lying upon it. What a wonderful way to start our brunch. The biscuit just melted in our mouths and that Hoe Cake, wow! It was the best hoe cake I have ever ate. Light, airy and full of flavor. It was good all on its own, with the collard greens and with a little maple syrup on top of it. Her recipe will definitely be the one I use from now on.

The Lady & Son’s
Sunday Buffet

There were lots of choices on their buffet line. Southern Fried Chicken, BBQ Pulled Pork, Creamed Potatoes with Gravy, Green Beans, Lima Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Yams, Mac and Cheese and Collard Greens.  I have never ate Lima Beans, Black Eyed Peas or Collard Greens before. To my surprise I enjoyed both the beans and peas. But the Collard Greens were out of this world. I will be making these at home using Paula Deen’s recipe.

We also ordered some of her “Fried Green Tomatoes”. They were served with a Red Pepper Sauce and a Vidalia Onion Relish. Just lovely…the only drawback was that commercial green tomatoes just don’t have the fresh,tart and bold taste of the ones picked from your garden.  I am definitely going to be serving mine with her sauce and relish from now on.

Gooey Butter Cake

Now, not to let me down, they served a choice of desserts. We both chose her “Gooey Butter Cake” I can not describe how this melts in your mouth. It is the most delicate yet perfect taste of buttery heaven. I will be baking this, out of this world deliciousness, this weekend. I prepare a lot of dishes from Paul Deen’s various cookbooks and every single time the are wonderful.  But how did I ever miss this one. I can’t wait to see how this turns out for me. Thinking this recipe will also make it to my Thanksgiving table.

My Georgia adventure was a wonderful quick trip. I was able to visit with family that I rarely get to see and I was able to experience the recipes from one of my favorite cooks of all time, Paula Deen. I hope you all will get a chance to taste her food whether it’s at her restaurant or just from recreating it from her delightful recipes.

 

Can you remember the apron? Do your children know of the kitchen apron?

This little diddy was found on a table card in one of my favorite restaurants here in Evansville Indiana. The St. Joe Tavern is known for its fried chicken, where you are bound to find a wait to get a table in this 50 person joint.

The apron was good for many, many purposes.

I don’t think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Great Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath. Because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coops, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were an ideal hiding place for shy kids. and when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust is a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ‘old-time apron that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER: My generation’s Great-Grandmas used to set their hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Grandma had air condition and was able to let her pies cool inside. My mother’s generation was busy working outside of the home to bake a homemade apple pie, my generation of women generally use ready-made pie crust and our daughters and great grand-daughters set theirs on the counter to thaw.  This generation would go crazy trying to figure out how many germs were on my Great Grandma and Grandma’s apron.

 

Good Ole Home Cooking found in Clinton, Tennessee

Chocolate Cake at “Golden Girls Restaurant” in Clinton, Tennessee

We’re in Clinton Tennessee, fly fishing on the Clinch River. We are hungry and got to eat so we decide on a local restaurant rather than a chain restaurant.  Once inside this little cafe, we find a wonderful delight of good ole home cooking. We have enjoyed their food so much that we are now on day 2 of eating every meal and dessert here. They can also count on us for breakfast and maybe lunch on day 3.

There’s nothing terribly fancy on their menu, just remarkable soul comforting dishes. An example, southern fried Catfish with mashed potatoes, brown pan gravy, macaroni and cheese made with Velveeta and hoe cakes and that was just my dinner. Mark loved their liver and onions with spiced apples and of course mashed potatoes and gravy served with hoe cakes.

Yesterday we had stopped in right after fishing so we went back for dessert much later the evening. The chocolate cake was made that morning by scratch, so we had to try it…and love it we did. After checking out the dessert card placed on each table I saw that today they would have freshly made pies. Well HELLO chocolate pie. Can’t say I was all that surprised to see it on the menu as this morning at breakfast I saw the owner making all the pie fillings by scratch so I had been debating on which pie I was going to have for dinner the entire day of fishing. And yes you heard me correctly I saw her making the pies. Their dessert kitchen is oddly smack dab in the middle of the restaurant. You walk through it to the back seating area and through it to pay for your meal. Very odd, but you can’t help but admire the owners love for making food the old fashion way, some of this, some of that and lots of passion and love for making meals that not only feed your body but your heart and soul also.

So, if you are ever in or near Clinton, Tennessee this restaurant is a must for a meal or maybe just dessert or maybe dessert for dinner. We won’t pass this wonderful place up on our next visit to this area.