This is Hootie, the Highway 51 owl. Cute, yes?

 

I was bored so I did what I do when I'm bored - cook. I made the beautiful king cake from scratch! Ok not really, I made it from a box mix called Mam Papaul's. Most of the store bought king cakes taste like big cinnamon rolls or donuts. These do not. They have more of a bread quality with some cinnamon and a little glaze and sugar on top. These are super easy to make and you can order the box mix on line. It's not expensive at all. The truffles are a little more time consuming because you have to roll out each one. I always add a little chocolate liquor to the melted chocolate/cream mixture. Godiva is my favorite. The little decorative swirls were made from melted pink chocolate chips. These were so good. I always get requests from people to make them. I should make them more often.

Henry and I recently took a little drive through the Global Wildlife Center located just northeast of Hammond, LA. It's free to drive in and look around. The animals roam free on the property. You can take the tour and feed the animals too. This is a great place to take your kids. They also have a large gift shop with unique items. Check it out! http://www.globalwildlife.com/safari-tour For lunch we headed over to Lee's Diner in Hammond. The food is always great. They have burgers, salads, gumbo - a good variety of stuff. It's inexpensive and the service is fast and friendly.

Henry's birthday

Tomorrow is my dear friend Henry's birthday. Being monitarily challenged I took him out for breakfast at Paul's Cafe in Ponchatoula. After that we perused the wide variety of items at CJ's Antiques across the street. I got Henry a little electric skillet for one. He said he liked it so I'm happy with my purchase. We also visited with the mailbox kitties, roof kitty and the Mid kitties. They were very fiesty today. It must be due to the crisp fall air. Hope you like my pics and HAPPY BIRTHDAY HENRY! I am a lucky girl to have you as a friend.

Thanks to our great friends Phil and Bonnie from VA, we were able to stay at a very cool penthouse condo in the Warehouse District. We had our very own hot tub on the balcony. Friday dinner was at Ernst Cafe. We shared the panko crusted crab cakes, shrimp and fried green tomatoes with remoulade and kobe hot dog. The crab cakes were crispy and delicious as were the fried green tomatoes. The hot dog was more like sausage, which was fine, but nothing to rave about. Breakfast was a short walk away at M's, a little coffee shop with nice big, fresh breakfast sandwiches and inexpenisve plates.  The owner, Sean Rixner, believes in quality and customer service. Saturday night we had a fabulous dinner at Muriel's Jackson Square. Denise, Rick, Marian, Mark, Rachel and Scott met us at the bar for drinks and we swapped hurricane stories. Then it was time for dinner. Chef Gus Martin sent out a lagniappe plate (he does not believe in "amuse") of  crab and red pepper over tomato, it tasted to me like there was a bit of tasso or something smoky in there but I don't know for sure what it was. I could have eaten it on a poboy. It was so good. My entree was the redfish with lump crab and crab butter sauce which is outstanding. The process of making the butter takes about thirty hours. I could eat it with a spoon. Drinks were a French 75 and Muriel's coffee. The coffee has a praline liquor and is warm but served with a straw. So good. I think hubby was a little tipsy after his. After dinner we took a little dip in the (very) hot tub during a light sprinkle of cool rain. Serenity now! Sunday it was time to get back to reality. Enjoy a few pictures of our mini vacation.

We took a ride up 51 today. Most of it had been closed since the storm. We fed the mailbox kitties, visited with Chef Horst and had a lovely breakfast at Paul's Cafe. Afterward we went over to CJ's Antiques and scored some very cool stuff! Of course, it was then time for my Saturday afternoon nap. I love naps. For all pics click the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12736636@N00/sets/72157631598807122/

Our little hummers

I've been outside playing with my new camera. Here are some of our little hummers that visit daily.