Louisiana Life March-April 2016

Spring flings: Festivals Around the State p.40

march/april 2016

6 recipes for Our Native Blue Crab, plus a side order of local crustacean history

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Pond To Pot: A Crawfish Tale p.54 Made in louisiana: Leather goods from Baton Rouge p.16

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contents In Every Issue 46

4 From the Editor Bright Red Blues Shining a spotlight on our local crabs.

6 photo contest Louisiana Sunset A spectacular sight 8 biz bits Moving Forward Louisiana businesses shake off oil sector woes.

10 health Being Aware Colorectal cancer updates 12 rural life The Next Generation What happens when farm kids grow up?

14 reel news Patways to Gold In St. Bernard Parish, Jason Waggenspack and Sidney Torres III broaden the playing field with a world-class facility for Louisianashot films.

16 made in louisiana Leather Bound Baton Rouge’s Damien Mitchell 18 great louisiana chef Adventurous Classics Lake Charles’ Andrew Green of 1910 blends traditional techniques with innovative concepts.

28 24 Kitchen gourmet Mudbugs in March 4 Crawfish Recipes 28 home Teche Valley Treasure A Loreauville home offers tranquility and nostaglia.

32 Artist Dave Ivey Capturing “extraordinary character and beauty” in Northwest Louisiana 36 traveler Pilgramige to Oakley House Visiting a historic property in West Feliciana Parish 65 arounds Highlights and Events 70 mississippi travel Across the Border Natchez celebrates 300 years.

84 Lifetimes Statewide calendar

20 roadside dining A “Tail” of Two Cities Taste-testing crawfish in Bossier City and Minden

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features

on the cover

40 spring festivals

We focus a lot of our attention on two important crustaceans in this issue: the blue crab and the crawfish. Turn to page 46 for mouth-watering crab recipes by Stanley Dry. Pictured above and on the cover are a classic boiled blue crab, marinated crab claws and a bowl of crabmeat stuffing – with bread on the side, of course. Stanley has also created some delectable crawfish recipes on pg. 24, and we sent Denny Culbert on a photo mission to capture crawfish farming in “Pond To Pot,” pg. 54. If you live in or happen to find yourself in the northern part of the state, turn to pg. 20 to find two roadside stops that serve crawfish, too.

15 upcoming festivals to check out, plus a statewide list

46 claws for celebration

86 quirky places A Britney Spears Shrine The Kentwood Museum is full of the pop star’s trinkets and treasures.

6 recipes featuring our native Blue Crab, plus a side order of local crustacean history

88 A Louisiana Life All That Jazz New Orleans singer Linnzi Zaorski’s “accidental” career

54 pond to pot

by Stanley Dry

A Crawfish Tale photos by denny culbert

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from the editor

March/april 2016 VOl. 36 No. 4 Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Errol Laborde MANAGING Editor Sarah Ravits Art Director Sarah George lead photographer Danley Romero

Bright red blues Shining a spotlight on our local crabs

ASSOCIATE editor Melanie Warner Spencer web Editor Kelly Massicot travel EDITOR Paul F. Stahls Jr. FOOD EDITOR Stanley Dry HOME EDITOR Bonnie Warren

Advertising SALES Executive Donna Childress

O

ur cover story this issue is about the Louisiana blue crab. What amazes me is that, as far as I can tell, this is the first time that the native crab ever has earned cover status. It has deserved better.

Known in some parts of the state as the “Lake Pontchartrain Blue” and elsewhere as the “Louisiana Blue,” it is one of the great delicacies from the sea.

There was a day, especially before air-conditioning, when folks used the New Orleans Lakefront to catch breezes off the lake. A favorite pastime was crabbing from a stepped seawall. The steps led into the shallow edge of the lake, where the nets were placed. The rest was up to the crabs, who frequently complied.

A Louisiana Blue is a beautifully designed creature. From the front, eyes at the top of the shell stare back while claws wave as though hoping for errant shrimp. In its natural form, there is a blue hue – especially on the claws.

Once plopped into the pot, the crab turns red, just as a crawfish does. Yet, it’s still blue to us.

For all of its attributes one of the blues’s most vulnerable points is its apparent fondness for chicken necks, the longtime traditional crabber’s

4 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

Donna@LouisianaLife.com

bait. A neck would be pinned into a water-bound crab net. For the crabs it is suppertime, though, in this case, they might have done better fasting.

To be fair, it should be noted that there are other places that have blue crabs, mostly along the East coast and into Maryland where restaurants have nevertheless been known to import our local variety when the want quality.

Also, we just know how to fix them better. From its experience with shrimp and crawfish, Louisiana already has its own seafood-boiling infrastructure.

We know how to make the seafood boil ingredients better by stirring in the right seasonings; we’re not afraid to toss onions, garlic, potatoes and sausage into the mix. We’re not afraid of the fat. We know how to make a crab a celebration.

Don’t forget the sausage and potatoes from the pot.

Production Production/Web Manager Staci McCarty senior production designer Ali Sullivan production designer Monique Di Pietro traffic coordinator Jessica DeBold

Administration Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne President Alan Campell Executive Vice President Errol Laborde vice president of sales Colleen Monaghan DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & EVENTS Cheryl Lemoine event coordinator Margaret Strahan ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Denise Dean Distribution Manager John Holzer Subscription manager Sara Kelemencky Subscriptions Mallary Matherne

(504) 830-7231

2012 Gold Award Winner for Companion Website and 2011 Silver Award Winner Tiffani Reding Amedeo for Overall Art Direction

Renaissance Publishing

110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380

Errol Laborde Louisiana Life (ISSN 1042-9980) is published bimonthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380.

Subscription rate: One year $10; Mexico and Canada $48. Periodicals postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Louisiana Life, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2016 Louisiana Life. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark Louisiana Life is registered. Louisiana Life is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork, even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in Louisiana Life are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or owner.

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photo contest

louisiana sunset Alfred Calabrese Jr. of Mandeville captured the sunset over Lake Pontchartrain, writing, “Louisiana has the most beautiful sunsets in the winter.� Send in your photos by going to myneworleans.com/photocontest

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biz bits

Louis Armstrong International Airport broke ground in January for a new terminal.

KENNER

RECORD-SETTING TERMINAL TAKES OFF

Louisiana businesses shake off oil sector woes BY KATHY FINN

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continuing decline in oil prices is not what the energy industry had in mind for 2016, but a plunge toward $30 per barrel oil is what they got nonetheless. The result has been a retrenchment such as the industry has not seen since the 1980s. Analysts said in January that oil companies have scrapped $380 billion in new projects, and more pain lies ahead.

But oil woes aside, projects in other sectors are continuing around the state. Here are highlights of a few.

Waste not, fuel up Biorefining is the name of a game set to kick off this summer at a White Castle sugar mill. NRF BioEnergy is installing equipment that will turn sugarcane waste into biomass pellets for use as fuel in coal-fired plants. The bagasse pellets are similar to coal but do not contain the harmful gases that coal emits when burned, according to the company’s co-founder, Rick Buhr.

The biorefinery being set up at the Cora Texas Sugar Mill plant is the first of 10 that NRF plans at sugar mills across south Louisiana at a total cost of about $300 million.

Buhr said last fall that Louisiana is an ideal location for biorefining because the state harvests about 13 million tons of cane each year. Buhr said the projects all together could create 450 new jobs by 2019.

bossier city

Little outdoor store that could In a competitive business that’s dominated by large national players, a family-owned company in north Louisiana is more than holding it own. Davis’ Clothing and Outdoor, co-owned by Lee Davis and his brother B.J. Davis, is in its fourth generation of family ownership and in recent years has built a substantial following for its outdoor clothing sold online. The Davis brothers last year decided to expand to accommodate more in-store clothing sales, and they added space that tripled the size of their previous footprint. Lee Davis said clothing sales have been strong since the expansion opened, and the company has added a new firearms division as well.

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airport photo courtesy the city of new orleans; davis’ clothing and outdoor store photo courtesy their facebook page; geismar photo courtesy shell chemical lp

Moving Forward

White castle

Work has begun on a billion-dollar project to turn Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport into the kind of up-to-date facility officials have been promising in south Louisiana for years.

A groundbreaking occurred in January for the new North Terminal, which will build 30 gates to accommodate the larger planes now in wide use, along with a 2,000-car parking garage, a central utility plant and a ground transportation staging area. Plans also include an on-site hotel and an $87 million “flyover” from Interstate 10 that will enable easy access to the terminal. The project was announced in 2013 and could cost $950 million by the time all facets are complete. Slated to open by October 2018, the terminal could have a $1.7 billion impact on the local economy, generating as many as 13,000 jobs, according to some estimates.

clovelly

New life for LOOP? The underground oil storage infrastructure that for decades has enabled the storage of huge quantities of oil just off the Louisiana coast could become a hub for blending and trading crude oil if exportenabling improvements are funded at the site, consultants say. Operators of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port have been discussing the with refinery customers the possibility of shipping Gulf of Mexico crude oil to Texas refineries. Officials say that enabling exports would require making the 48-inch pipeline that connects LOOP’s Clovelly storage facility to facilities in St. James Parish flow in both directions, or, alternatively, building a new parallel line. Enabling exports through the LOOP terminal would lower shipping costs and help open Asian markets for U.S. shale or Gulf of Mexico crudes, according to consulting firm RBN Energy LLC.

geismar

Shell likes Ascension The industrial hotbed of Ascension Parish continues to expand as Shell Chemical LP proceeds with plans to invest $717 million in a new linear alpha olefins manufacturing unit at the company’s existing complex. Shell has three alpha olefins units on its 800-acre Geismar site, on the east bank of the Mississippi River, and the new unit will produce about 468,000 tons of product a year. The addition will bring total capacity to more than 1.4 million tons, making Shell Geismar the largest such production facility in the world. Shells’ customers use olefins to make a wide range of products that are ultimately sold to consumers, the company said. The global market for olefins is headed for strong growth, according to industry analysts.

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health

Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Stage IV

new research

aim2

being aware Colorectal cancer updates

BY FRITZ ESKER

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arch is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov), it is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States (of cancers that affect both men and women).

The most recent statistics are from 2012. In that year, 134,784 Americans (70,204 men and 64,580 women) were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. 51,516 Americans (26,866 men and 24,650 women) died from colorectal cancer.

African-Americans had the highest rate of getting colorectal cancer.

The good news is nine out of every 10 people whose colorectal cancers are diagnosed early (stage 1) are still alive five years later. In 2012, 65 percent of American adults were up-to-date with colorectal cancer screening, 7 percent had been screened but were not up-to-date, and 28 percent had never been tested.

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An immune system protein, AIM2, plays a role in the aggressiveness of colon cancer, according to research published in 2015 by scientists at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital led

by Dr. Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti. The findings, published in the journal, showed that AIM2 deficiency causes the cancer cells to grow uncontrollably. On the other hand, the presence of AIM2 encourages the growth of “good” bacteria that helps prevent colon cancer.

According to doctors, it could be possible to prevent colon cancer or reduce risk by increasing AIM2 activity in patients. In patients who already have the disease, AIM2 could reduce the progression of the tumor. While Dr. Kanneganti’s team was excited about the results, they said there is more research to pursue.

prevention & testing

colonoscopy

The most common tool in detecting precancerous polyps and colon cancer is the colonoscopy. The exam typically takes about 30 minutes. A doctor inserts a thin, flexible tube with a tiny video camera inside the colon and sends pictures to a TV screen.

Patients should consult with their doctors about when the right time is for them to begin screening. According to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), the most common recommended starting age is 50, with screenings every 10 years.

However, if you have a family history of colon cancer, then doctors may recommend testing sooner. Doctors Kenneth Champagne and Matthew Boudreaux of the Colon & Rectal Clinic of Acadiana state that if a firstdegree relative (parent or sibling) had colon cancer, then a patient should be screened 15-20 years before the relative’s age at the time of diagnosis. African-Americans have a higher incidence of colon cancer and should begin screenings at age 45.

For other preventive measures, Drs. Champagne and Boudreaux recommend quitting smoking (it doesn’t only increase your odds of lung cancer) and increasing fiber intake.

symptoms

changes in bowel habits Colon cancer is often asymptomatic until it reaches more advanced stages, which is why early screening and detection is so crucial. However, painless rectal bleeding and changes in bowel habits should be checked out by a doctor. While the disease tends to strike older people, it can strike young adults as well, so everyone should be vigilant.

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rural life

the Next generation What happens when farm kids grow up?

BY melissa bienvenu illustration by jane sanders

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ast fall, we experienced a farm family milestone: Our younger son learned to drive a tractor and started helping his Daddy and older brother in the hay field.

I commemorated this watershed event in the not-so-age-old way: bragging on Facebook by posting a picture or two (dozen).

Forgive me, but there is not a mama on the face of this earth who could resist getting downright snap-happy over a blondheaded, freckle-faced, 11-year-old boy on a green tractor pulling a bright yellow hay rake under a blue fall sky.

In my favorite shot, our little man is seated on the tractor, and his father and big brother are standing beside it. The meaning of the photo is unmistakable: a proud farmer posing with the next generation. It is a portrait that cries out to be framed, and yet deep down I suspect it is only that: a pretty picture.

The sad truth is, I really can’t envision our boys following in their father’s footsteps. Farming, or at least family farming, just

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has too many strikes against it for me to wish it on our sons.

At the risk of being a whiner, farming is too hard, too stressful and too risky for the return on investment.

There are much easier ways to make a modest living.

I don’t see much future in it, either. Just 20 years ago, our parish was one of the top milk-producing counties in the southeastern United States. Goodbye to all of that.

Thanks to a collapse in milk prices brought on by dairy

industry politics, a changing world market and other forces, dairy farming has all but disappeared from this part of Louisiana. In a parish that once depended on dairy farms to drive its local economy, I personally know fewer than five families who still milk cows. The local cheese plant and farmer’s cooperative shut down years ago. The two tractor dealerships survive by selling lawn tractors and ATVs to weekenders and others trying to keep up small acreage.

It’s far more unusual to see a working dairy farm than one grown up in weeds. Earlier this year, LSU announced it was closing the local dairy research station which has been here for decades. That really felt like the nail in the coffin.

My husband is one of the few former dairymen who continues to farm in any form or fashion. Harvey built on his lifelong experience growing hay for cows and figured out how to grow something similar yet different: highquality horse hay. We are only in business today because a) the man has no quit in him, b) we are one of the few places around producing square bales of high-quality Bermuda horse hay because most of the others quickly figured out how difficult it is, and c) we’ve had some unrelated windfalls along the way.

And then there are the other costs of a life in agriculture. Any way you look at it, farming is a tough go, right down to the physical price it exacts. Nobody knows this better than my 56-year-old husband. While in some ways he is far more active and fit than many desk-sitters his age, a lifetime spent working hard outdoors is starting to take its toll.

His back has bothered him

off and on ever since he injured it lifting a 100-pound motor in his 20s. The tennis elbows that give him fits would more accurately be called “heavy equipment mechanic’s elbows.” The joint of his big toe still hurts 40 years after he jumped on a nail sticking straight up out of an overturned board in a barn. As a fair-skinned, blond-haired farmer who still suffers consequences from being badly burned as a teenager, he is a dermatologist’s best friend. Because he has had two skin cancers (and a grandfather who died of melanoma), he goes for a checkup every three months. And most of all, he is a fairly recent prostate cancer survivor – and farming is considered a risk factor for that disease.

I haven’t even mentioned the ongoing headaches of finding good farm help, unpredictable weather, tenacious weeds, diabolical grass-eating insects, rogue crop diseases, constant equipment repair, skyrocketing fertilizer prices and, from time to time, that one pain-in-the-neck hay customer. (Fortunately, the majority of our customers are a joy.) Farming is also. We may make our own hours and do as we please at certain times of the year, but at others we are completely powerless over our own schedule. Hay must be harvested when the conditions and weather are just right, and Mother Nature could care less how long you had been planning that vacation. Between our kids’ school and the farm, there is almost no good time when we can leave town for more than a few days. Between early May and late October – when our kids are out of school – we bale hay so frequently that

it’s almost impossible to plan a vacation more than a few days in advance.

These are issues that give me pause when I entertain the idea of our sons becoming farmers. I want what all parents want for their kids: security, success, ease, freedom to travel and experience the world. Farming guarantees none of those ideals. If anything, it puts them farther out of reach.

Farming is a tough go, right down to the physical price it exacts.

Nobody knows this better than my 56-year-old husband.

But then there other days in the life of a farmer: beautiful days when your 11-year-old’s golden hair glistens under the October sun as he proudly helps his dad harvest hay for the first time.

Days when your teenager works long summer days not only learning to operate the baler, but how to fix it when it breaks down. Days when they’re building skills, knowledge and confidence they can’t get elsewhere. Days when life is an embarrassment of riches and boys are becoming men right before your eyes. On those days, I don’t worry about what the future holds. I just breathe in the here and now and take lots of pictures. u

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reel news

Pathways to Gold In St. Bernard Parish, Jason Waggenspack and Sidney Torres III broaden the playing field with a world-class facility for Louisiana-shot films. BY lisa leblanc-berry PHOTO BY ROMERO & ROMERO

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ther than disappointment over the second-biggest movie of 2015, Jurassic World, not getting a single Oscar nomination (not even for visual effects!), all of the other Louisianashot movies that managed to be nominated for the gold were thankfully without controversy. The Feb. 28 Academy Awards were otherwise veiled with outrage. The #OscarSoWhite trending hashtag that resumed after black actors and directors were shut out of all Oscar nominations for the second year in a row inspired host Chris Rock to lighten things up by Tweeting, “It’s the white BET awards, dang!” Rev. Al Sharpton crusaded a national “tune-out.”

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Baton Rouge native Jason Waggenspack has managed locations, produced television shows and directed independent films. His extensive experience in the film industry will help draw projects to Louisiana.

Celebrated director Spike Lee took another approach. He suggested starting a program like the NFL, where teams are obligated to interview minority candidates. Glaring omissions among Oscar noms included Will Smith (Concussion), Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) and Michael B. Jordan (aka Adonis Johnson, in Creed). The controversy resulted in various A-list stars boycotting the 88th annual awards, including Lee. But the red carpet was still dazzling.

It was encouraging to see that this year, one of Louisiana’s star-studded locally filmed features, based on a book by New Orleans author Michael Lewis, landed in the best picture hat for the Academy’s top award. Even though Hollywood South didn’t come away with a pile of gold Oscar statuettes, Brad Pitt’s The Big Short held a seat at the grown-ups table with an impressive five Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), topping all the other Louisianashot movies of 2015.

Industry leaders are hopeful that Louisiana fares better on the Feb. 26, 2017 red carpet. Jason Waggenspack is among those optimistic powerhouse Hollywood South visionaries devoted to making such dreams possible.

He has played a part in the biggest films to hit Louisiana.

“I believe inspiring creativity is our calling,” says the energetic founder of The Ranch, a sprawling new world-class film studio located in St. Bernard Parish.

“I want to help people realize their greatest imaginations while building a film-friendly community.”

The Baton Rouge native, whose recent projects have included Terminator: Genysis, Deepwater Horizon and Daddy’s

Home, has partnered with St. Bernard resident, attorney Sydney Torres III, to create The Ranch film studios in Chalmette. The state-of-theart complex provides one of the largest film production facilities in Louisiana. It encompasses 22 acres, and includes more than 210,000 square-feet of production space and 20,000 square-feet of high-end office space. Further expansions are underway.

“Some of our unique features at The Ranch include our Advantage Program were we have formed brand alliances in an effort to give our customers significant discounts on things they need for every day production,” Waggenspack explains. He was busy coordinating multiple projects including Billionaire Boys Club (Kevin Spacey) and Mena (Tom Cruise) when Louisiana Life spoke with him about the new facility that is generating a buzz among Hollywood directors and producers.

Waggenspack served as locations manager for such blockbusters as Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (he shut down a major intersection of downtown New Orleans for six weeks to shoot the human colony) and Twilight: Breaking Dawn, to name a few.

He founded Neutral Ground Films in 2007 and has since produced hit television series set in New Orleans, while also co-directing indie movies.

“Here at The Ranch, we are trying to create a new model for the state,” he explains. “It’s a model that not only makes money, but also gives back to the community on many levels.

We see The Ranch brand as a creative story that is unfolding.

My vision has always been to have filmmakers serving filmmakers.”

The Ranch began in 2014 when Waggenspack took over two formerly blighted big-box stores in Chalmette.

“I stumbled upon the real estate while scouting the film Terminator: Genysis. I was introduced to Sydney Torres III, and shortly after getting to know each other, we decided to go into business together.

With extensive experience in location scouting, we offer clients initial location scouting services to help draw their projects not only to The Ranch, but also to Louisiana.”

Regarding future plans, Waggenspack reveals, “The Ranch has its sights set on expansion with additional

“It’s a model that not only makes money, but also gives back to the community on many levels.” purpose-built sound stages and completing a campus that serves as a breeding ground for visual artist poets and filmmakers. We also have set our sights on producing, and have begun humble conversations with the needed partnerships.”

As the facility continues to attract more A-list actors and directors to south Louisiana, going for Oscar gold will undoubtedly intensify. “We are currently courting several major blockbusters while also housing independent films,” he adds. Hopefully by next year, Academy taste will have shown more racial diversity, and the money men will continue to greenlight inspired Louisiana-based films long past the tent-poles of summer. u LouisianaLife.com | 15

louisiana made

Leather bound Baton Rouge’s Damien Mitchell BY JEFFREY ROEDEL PHOTOS BY ROMERO & ROMERO

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t first glance Damien Mitchell’s workspace, nestled in one of Baton Rouge’s older residential districts, could be mistaken for the home base of just about any creative in the newly surging, social mediafueled makers movement. A smattering of Apple products lay about the clean lines of

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Damien Mitchell dedicates his time to creating timeless, functional and stylish leather goods.

a Mid-Century modern couch.

Alabama Shakes and Tame Impala record covers rest on the wall. And tacked above piles of schematics, drawings and work-in-progress are hand-written goals, polished sketches and tangential inspirations on a mood board of sorts aimed like a Nerf gun at the year ahead.

Clad in a red flannel shirt with lumberjack check and burgundybrown leather boots, the 25-year-old pours herbal tea for his guest.

One of his own creations, not for sale unfortunately, is an image of old-school Air Jordan sneakers levitating above the ground and subverted with a sharply succinct caption: “Vanity.” Swoosh.

It’s no surprise then that the maker label has not sat well with Mitchell until very recently.

“I struggle with the ‘maker thing,’ because it kind of gets a bit cliché,” Mitchell says. “A lot of times it’s just traditional patterns, nothing unique, nothing original to the design, but it’s nice materials and it’s handmade the maker can charge an extreme amount of money for it.”

Where many makers are devoting themselves to preserving practices that are in some cases long lost, Mitchell’s goal is innovation. He studied industrial design at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette where he worked on projects for new electronics, clothing, automobiles – one of his professors was on the team that designed the very first Ford Mustang – and even pitched futuristic conceptual designs to director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: Episode VIII), for the filming of Johnson’s 2012 thriller Looper in New Orleans.

Mitchell keeps a day job as a designer at a local engineering firm, but this son of a seamstress who grew up around his aunt’s tailoring shop has a real passion for working with his hands.

“Any time there’s a pen in my hand, I’ll be drawing a shoe,” he says.

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In college, Mitchell apprenticed at Musso Shoe Repair where he learned how to make footwear from men twice his age. For the past two years, he has worked almost exclusively with leather. His slim wallets reveal a love for Japanese minimalism and all things Apple. They look a bit like two U-shapes spooning each other and are perfect for the man that doesn’t want a cheeseburger-thick back-buster in his pocket.

Mitchell sources his material from Tandy Leather Factory in Metairie, making the trip there twice a month to flip through hides and brush his hands over each piece.

“I like to make sure I’m getting the best ones,” he says.

Though he has notebooks filled with more complex handbag and backpack designs and even some completed shoe prototypes, he knows he has to take things slow. He’s a one-man operation – for now.

“The challenge is to create products simple enough for me to manufacture on my own but good enough for people to want,” Mitchell says. “That’s the struggle.

How do I get past that roadblock? Continue to make better designs. Good design will get me there.” u

Q&A There are so many smaller brands out their taking a more hand-made approach to their products. But who do you see being innovative? Tanner Goods in Portland is great. I like a lot of their products.

I’d say their leather turntable slip mat is my favorite of theirs, because it’s such a simple product that typically wouldn’t get much attention, but because of Tanner’s execution you want to show it off. There’s also a French company I like called Côte Et Ciel. Their approach to backpacks is unorthodox but still completely functional. I like their Isar rucksack.

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Do you have any

inspirations that might surprise people? I find graphic design inspiring. Massimo Vignelli basically revolutionized advertising and graphic design in the States when he came over from Italy. Women’s fashion is inspiring. I don’t know if it shows up in my work, but I look at it a lot. I follow Anna Wintour, Vera Wang and Chanel on Instagram.

Let’s say you can only own and wear three pairs of shoes for the rest of your life. What do you choose? Clarks Desert Boots, a pair of Air Jordan 1s, and some Vans Authentics.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working? When I’m not working, I’m working. I’m always drawing and trying to make new things. I play darts at Radio Bar. I have a motorcycle, and I work on that a lot, ha ha. I probably work on that more than I ride it.

What’s the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you? “Don’t try to figure everything out before you start. Learn along the way.”

More information, damienmitchell.us

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great louisiana chef

adventurous classics Lake Charles’ Andrew Green of 1910 blends traditional techniques with innovative concepts. BY SARAH RAVITS PHOTOS BY ROMERO & ROMERO

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hef/owner of Lake Charles’ 1910 restaurant, Andrew Green, is a native of the area who is finally back in his hometown after bouncing around to Houston (as a child) and New Orleans (as a young adult). Over the course of his culinary career, he trained at some of New Orleans’ most prestigious restaurants, including Herbsaint, August and Bayona. He quickly worked his way up from dishwasher to assistant manager in the Crescent City before moving back home.

Now, at the helm of 1910, he serves a combination of classic American and Cajun food, using French cooking techniques with sauces and proteins. “We try to use as many local ingredients as possible,” he says, adding that much of it comes from Inglewood Farms, which has the largest certified organic soil farm in the state. “Fried gumbo balls are one of our specialties,” he says. “We call them gumbo croquettes served with filé aioli and potato salad puree … One of biggest challenges has been balancing what will impress guests and what will be too weird or out of their comfort zone… our menu is a blend of common items that people have heard of and also some semi-new and adventurous items like pork cheeks.” u

1910 949 Ryan St., Lake Charles; (337) 602-6278, 1910.la 20 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

Creative collaborations between Green, his waitstaff, bartenders, wine reps and even his customers are key. “Collecting ideas from a crew of trustworthy individuals is something that I have been enjoying thoroughly,” he says.

Sauteed Scallops with Kale and Charred Tomatoes

8

fresh U-8 dry packed scallops

¹⁄³ julienned red onion 1 tablespoon butter 2 cups stemmed kale 4

sliced cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste vegetable oil for sautéing buerre blanc

2 cloves chopped garlic

1. Pat scallops dry with paper towel and add salt and pepper.

Cook for four minutes on each side in a heavy-bottom sauté pan. Remove from pan.

2. Saute red onions in another pan with one tablespoon of butter.

3. Once butter

separates, add kale and cook over medium heat for about five minutes.

Char sliced cherry tomatoes in hot skillet for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

4. buerre blanc:

Saute garlic, shallots, and thyme until aromatic and just barely turning color, add wine and reduce au sec (until dry); add cream and reduce by half. Remove from heat and slowly melt in butter.

5. Plate kale with beurre blanc sauce.

Add scallops and cherry tomatoes.

“One of biggest challenges has been balancing what will impress guests and what will be too weird or out of their comfort zone.”

½ shallot 1 sprig thyme 1 cup dry white wine 1 cup cream ¼ pound of butter

Collard Greens

LouisianaLife.com | 21

roadside dining

A “Tail” of Two Cities Taste-testing crawfish in Bossier City and Minden

BY CHRIS JAY PHOTO BY ROMERO & ROMERO

O

ne look at Kim’s Seafood & Po-Boy in Bossier City should be enough to alert an observant diner that they’re in for a treat. Flanked by a Western wear boutique and a remotecontrolled helicopter shop, Kim’s beckons passing drivers on Highway 80 with a 12 foot-long photograph of a fried catfish poor boy. Inside the restaurant, the mouth-watering

Bossier City’s Kim’s Seafood & Po-Boys’s crawfish is a signature item, served with dip sauce and locally made pork sausage.

22 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

scent of boiled crawfish and fried seafood is exhilarating. To step out of a banal strip mall parking lot and into a place like this is one of the simple joys of living in Louisiana.

Kim’s owner Duc Duong previously owned two poor boy shops in New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina destroyed both businesses, sending the Duong family scrambling to Port Arthur, Texas, where Duong’s family works in the shrimping industry. The Duongs arrived in Texas just in time to be waylaid by Hurricane Rita, and, reeling from the double-whammy, they beat a path north as far as the cash in Duc’s pocket would carry them.

A decade later, the Bossier City incarnation of Kim’s Seafood has become a popular destination for poor boys, fried seafood platters and boiled crawfish in season.

The restaurant serves more than a dozen varieties of the sandwich, including favorites like fried shrimp as well as harder-to-find options like Patton’s hot sausage.

During crawfish season, the dining room is often elbowto-elbow with diners intently peeling and devouring pounds of boiled crawfish, spicy new potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and sausage. Crawfish are served in beer buckets, and seafood platters arrive on paper plates, but the lack of silverware doesn’t stop a line from forming by 6 p.m. on most nights. As they stand in line, many customers will fix their gaze on a makeshift Hurricane Katrina memorial near the soda fountain.

“I look at it every day,” Duong said of the memorial during a 2012 interview with American Public Media’s Marketplace. “It’s to remind people.” u

Crawfish Hole Number Two On any given weekend night during crawfish season, there’ll likely be a line out the door at Bush Carnahan’s Crawfish Hole Number Two in Minden. The spacious dining room – a product of several expansions over the years – seats 128, but another 50 or so typically mill about in the entryway, hungrily eyeballing nearby tables and waiting for their names to be called.

Like the venerable Cajun Claws in Abbeville – one of my favorite crawfish joints in the world – Crawfish Hole Number Two offers a cozy bar where customers can swig a cold beer after checking in with the hostess.

What are they waiting for?

Big, reasonably priced platters of golden-fried American catfish and brown paper bags filled with clean, bright-tasting crawfish cooked with lemon wedges and onions. For those who doubt that a high-quality crawfish boil could be found so close to the Arkansas state line, which lies just 30 miles to the north, please be assured: Crawfish Hole Number Two deserves to be considered among the very best crawfish joints in Louisiana.

In recent years, the restaurant has expanded their menu to include rib eye steaks, grilled fish and more, but I’ve yet to see a plate of grilled fish carried past my table during any of my visits. It’s not called “Tilapia Hole Number Two,” after all.

Kim’s Seafood 901 Benton Road, Suite E. Bossier City (318) 752-2425

Crawfish Hole Number Two 12903 Highway 371 Minden (318) 377-0252 crawfishhole2.com

LouisianaLife.com | 23

kitchen gourmet

mudbugs in march 4 crawfish recipes BY STANLEY DRY PHOTOS BY EUGENIA UHL

Instead of serving crawfish piquante over rice, put it over a rice waffle. The extra labor that goes into the wafflemaking is worth the extra flavor and texture.

24 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

J

ust as we were enjoying oyster season in November, boiled crawfish showed up on the menu everywhere we went. Talk about an abundance of riches.

There was only one way to deal with such a windfall: A dozen oysters on the halfshell followed by an order of boiled crawfish. That combination is unbeatable.

We’re fortunate that we can get frozen crawfish tails year round, but the arrival of live crawfish is always a cause for celebration. After we’ve eaten our fill of boiled crawfish, there are usually leftovers, and that’s when we start looking forward to the next meal.

We all have our favorite crawfish dishes. Etouffée and bisque are often at the top of the list, but sometimes it’s fun to try something new. Since crawfish can be prepared in an almost infinite variety of ways, we have plenty of options.

I’m a big fan of tacos, as is everyone I know. They can form the main part of a meal or eaten as a snack, and they can be filled with almost anything you can think of. The taco recipe this month uses corn tortillas (I’m partial to the white corn variety) filled with crawfish, sliced avocado and green salsa. Flour tortillas can be substituted, if that’s your preference.

When we make any kind of one-pot crawfish dish, we usually eat it with rice, but there are other options. The recipe for crawfish piquante, a spicy tomato stew, calls for serving it over rice waffles for a change of pace. The rice

flour in the recipe is available in Asian food stores, as well as some supermarkets. The recipe doesn’t specify it, but you can separate the eggs, beat the whites until stiff, and fold them in at the end. It adds another step, but it does make for a remarkably light waffle.

The recipe for crawfish stew calls for serving it over cheese grits in place of rice.

Grits, often reserved for the breakfast table, are quite at home on the dinner table, as well. There’s something very soothing and comforting about grits, and that is often welcome at the end of the day. Stone-ground grits are the best choice, if you can find them. If not, use oldfashioned grits. By all means, avoid quick or instant grits.

For another change of pace, the recipe for crawfish shells uses pasta shells combined with crawfish, peas and seasonings. It’s very easy to make, perfect for a dinner you can put together quickly after work. This recipe, as well as the one for grits, calls for freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Please use the real thing. Grated “parmesan” in a can just won’t give you the same result. u

Seasoning controversy Every experienced crawfish boiler has his or her own seasoning preferences, but the biggest difference is whether to add additional seasoning after the crawfish have been boiled. Some swear by it; others think the legislature should outlaw the practice.

LouisianaLife.com | 25

recipes Crawfish Piquante With Rice Waffles crawfish piqante

¼ cup olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 4 cloves garlic, diced 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 tablespoons prepared roux 2 cups chicken broth

Crawfish Shells

Crawfish Tacos

¼ cup olive oil

Salsa

4 cloves garlic, diced

4 tomatillos

Crawfish Stew

½ cup dry white wine

2 serrano peppers, or to taste

4 tablespoons butter

1 pound crawfish tails

¼ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves

1 large onion, chopped

Coarse salt to taste

1 bell pepper, chopped

Tacos

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups chicken broth

1 medium onion, chopped

3 tablespoons prepared dark roux

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound crawfish tails

1 pound crawfish tails

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Coarse salt to taste

Coarse salt, black pepper, and cayenne to taste

1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 cups green peas Cajun/Creole seasoning to taste ½ pound medium pasta shells 1 ½ cups freshly-grated Parmesan

1 cup crushed tomatoes in puree 1 bay leaf Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Cayenne pepper to taste Hot sauce to taste 1 pound crawfish tails Rice waffles (recipe follows) 2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops 2 tablespoons chopped parsley Rice Waffles

2 cups rice flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons melted butter 1. CRAWFISH PIQUANTE: Cook

onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in oil over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Add tomato paste and roux,

stir to combine, and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Add chicken broth, crushed

tomatoes, bay leaf, and thyme.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, season with salt, peppers and hot sauce, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

4. Add crawfish and simmer for another 30 minutes.

5. RICE WAFFLES: Preheat waffle iron. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Position a rack on a baking sheet and place in oven.

6. Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add milk, eggs, and melted butter; stir to combine.

7. Spoon batter on hot waffle

iron and cook until crisp and browned. Transfer cooked waffles to baking sheet and keep warm in oven.

8. Serve crawfish piquante over

rice waffles, garnished with onion tops and parsley.

Makes 4 or more servings.

26 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

Crawfish Stew With Cheese Grits

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet,

add garlic and cook briefly until fragrant. Add white wine, crawfish and lemon juice, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat a medium-size

pot of salted water. When it comes to a boil, cook shells until al dente, according to package instructions.

3. Add peas to the crawfish

mixture and season with Cajun/ Creole seasoning. When pasta is ready, strain in a colander and add to the crawfish mixture. Stir to combine, adjust seasoning, and simmer for a few minutes.

Turn into a serving bowl, add Parmesan, and toss.

Makes 4 servings.

Fresh lime juice to taste Tortillas

1 stalk celery, chopped

Cheese grits (recipe follows)

1-2 sliced avocados

2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops

Lime wedges

2 tablespoons chopped parsley Cheese Grits

1. SALSA: To make salsa, remove husks from tomatillos.

Wash tomatillos, place in a pan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool.

2. Combine tomatillos, serrano

peppers and cilantro in blender or food processor and puree, adding water as necessary.

Season with salt and process with additional peppers, if desired. Transfer salsa to a bowl.

3. TACOS: Heat olive oil in large skillet, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

4. Add garlic and cook briefly.

Add crawfish and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and lime juice.

5. TORTILLAS: Heat tortillas, allowing 1 or 2 for each taco.

Fill tortillas with crawfish mixture, a slice of avocado, and salsa. Serve with lime wedges for each diner to use, as desired.

Makes 4 or more servings.

1 cup grits, stone-ground or old-fashioned Water Coarse salt 4 tablespoons butter, softened 2 cups freshly-grated Parmesan

1. crawfish stew: In a heavy

pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small pot over

medium-high heat, add chicken broth and roux and whisk to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, then add to cooked vegetables.

3. Add crawfish and lemon juice.

Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne, and simmer until thickened and crawfish are tender, about 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings. Add chopped green onion tops and parsley and serve over cheese grits.

4. CHEESE GRITS: Cook grits according to package instructions. Then stir in butter and Parmesan. Adjust salt, if needed.

Makes about 4 servings.

LouisianaLife.com | 27

home

teche valley treasure A Loreauville home offers tranquility and nostalgia.

By bonnie warren | photos by craig macaluso

S

ugarcane farmer Todd Landry his wife Kelly live in a peaceful, three-acre setting on the banks of Bayou Teche in Loreauville. The Landrys built their dream home a decade ago to take full advantage of the site, which is dotted with sprawling live oak trees and is fondly referred to as Teche Valley bottomland. “There is something very special about being able to live on the property where I grew up,” Kelly says. “The property 28 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

has been in my family for 50 years, and watching our five children [Alexa, 26; Nevin, 24; Trent, 20; Victoria, 19; and Myrna, 12] thrive here has allowed me to reminisce about the wonderful times I

had with my family as a young child.” Todd is also from the area, and he is quick to point out that the location of their home in Iberia Parish is about as good as it gets. “I never tire of watching the peaceful, slow current of Bayou Teche flow past our home,” he says.

The Landrys’ home pays homage to A. Hays Town, a highly regarded Louisiana architect whose distinctive designs captured the South.

Hays included the best of early Louisiana architecture with

FACING PAGE: An old

barn adds to the charm of the setting THIS PAGE TOP: The side garden offers a pastoral view of the live oak tree-filled grounds. BOTTOM: New Iberia architect Keri LeBlanc designed the Landrys’ home to pay homage to A. Hays Town, famous Louisiana architect who designed more than 500 homes.

LouisianaLife.com | 29

THIS PAGE & OPPOSITE PAGE BOTTOM: A

friendly sunroom has windows on two sides and a French door that opens onto the side garden. FACING PAGE, TOP: Kelly and Todd Landry

modern amenities. “We called in architect Keri LeBlanc from New Iberia to help us with the design,” Todd says. The couple acquired many of the components for their house over several years before beginning construction. Included in their stockpile of treasures were window trims, brick inlays, the gate and posts on the stairway and even old Hunter fans.

The almost-5,000 square foot home features a St. Louis brick exterior with a porch across the front of the house, tall windows and doors that add to the classic look of an historic home.

The core of the house showcases an open floor plan that encompasses the large family room and kitchen. “It’s my favorite space,” Todd says. “It’s the hub of the house and where everyone gathers.” Ken Gautreau, New Iberia master craftsman, is credited with building the kitchen cabinets from old sinker cypress that was pulled from the Atchafalaya Basin and the bottom of Lake Dauterive at Fausse Pointe. Todd adds, “The sinker long leaf pine used for the floors was pulled from the Sabine River.”

A sunroom is surrounded with windows on two sides and a French door that opens onto the private garden that is surrounded

30 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

with a fence made of old cypress boards.

It opens into the kitchen through a brick doorway, with a cutout in the brick wall over the sink. “I enjoy sitting in the lightfilled sunroom and enjoying God’s great wonders,” Kelly says.

The living room next to the kitchenfamily room connects to both the front and rear porches, thus capturing the unobstructed view of Bayou Teche that flows at the rear of the property. A large fireplace adds a feeling of warmth to the space. Here the focal point of the room is the hand-carved pirogue that leans against the mantel. It was made by Dro Gondron, the couple’s brother-in law, and Jean-Paul Stiles, Dro’s grandson. “It’s a six-foot full scale model and uses the same materials and design principles as the full-size pirogue,” Todd says. A large master

suite and a guest bedroom complete the downstairs, with three additional bedrooms on the second floor.

The large double carport in the rear of the house doubles as a family entertaining area.

“It’s a perfect place for our family, relatives and friends to gather for a cookout,” Kelly says. “We love to entertain and having such a perfect covered spot for entertaining is a joy. Most of all, I agree with Todd. He was right when he said this is about as good as it gets.” u

LouisianaLife.com | 31

artist THIS PAGE: The Poplar Tree, Keithville OPPOSITE PAGE TOP: South

Pasture, Keithville BOTTOM: Waiting for

Dinner, Keatchie

Dave Ivey Dave Ivey captures character and beauty in Northwest Louisiana By John R. Kemp

A

Greek philosopher once described paintings as “silent poetry.” Dave Ivey’s energetic and impressionistic style of painting outdoors creates silent poems of a warm and softly lit rural landscape in northern Louisiana just southwest of Shreveport. His paintings appear as vague memories suspended between realism and illusion. Each captures the immediacy of a moment and a place while drawing in viewers to complete the visual narrative with their own imaginations and experiences.

“My paintings grow out of the Southern rural life,” says Ivey.

“My wife and I enjoy close to our home in the country where we are surrounded by horses, cows and the many elements of 32 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

the natural world. I know this world closely, and in my paintings I seek to render seemingly ordinary aspects of its landscape in ways that reveal their extraordinary character and beauty.”

Living on a farm with his wife, Cathey, in the small community of Keithville close to the Texas border,

Ivey’s favorite time of day to paint outdoors is in the early morning before the hot and humid sun burns off the afternoon. “The early mornings are cooler and the air is not as hazy,” he explains.

“When I first began to paint all I wanted to do was to get outside and paint. I didn’t pay much attention to the light, but as I progressed it has become important to me. I look for scenes that are backlit where the focal points are silhouetted. I find that helps me to not overwork a subject with too much detail and, consequently, achieve a mood and thought.”

Though Ivey occasionally paints in other parts of the country, especially in Arizona, he feels most comfortable in the landscape surrounding his farm. “One day I was painting scenes of the Southwest from photographs when it occurred to me why am I doing that when I have this in my backyard,” he says, looking over at his painting of a meadow near his farm. “I know and feel what it’s like to be out there in the hot sun and steamy air. That’s why I paint in the South. It’s my heart. It’s where I live. It’s what I know. It’s all right there ready for me to paint.”

In recent years, Ivey has developed a convincing painting style that creates his own illusion of reality. “I do not treat my subjects in a photo-realistic manner,” he says, addressing the changing light and atmospheric

conditions. “Instead, I seek to convey the atmosphere of a particular place at a particular time – the play of light, season and time of day on the land and animals that inhabit that land. My more recent work shows this concern for atmosphere through looser brush strokes and the addition of colors to my palette to convey the subtleties of light and time of day.”

To create these subtleties, Ivey depends less on brushes and more on rapid and brisk strokes of a palette knife that trail off at the edges of the canvas. As a result, his paintings often look unfinished or resemble studies for later paintings in the studio, which in some cases they are.

“The effect didn’t start out as a conscious effort,” he says. “It’s a process that evolved over a period of time. The looseness

and unfinished appearance around the outer edges of the paintings are more of a statement for me to stop and not to overwork or overstate the painting. I make a statement and leave viewers to draw their own conclusions for the rest of the painting and to carry the painting further emotionally.

I want to pull the observer into the painting to not just look and say that is a picture

of a cow, horse or landscape but to complete the thought themselves.”

Although most of Ivey’s paintings are completed outdoors on location, he occasionally brings them back to his studio for final touches.

He also uses many of his smaller studies as guides for larger studio paintings where he takes elements from each painting for an entirely new composition. Depending upon the painting’s narrative, he may add farm animals that he has photographed on his farm or seen while driving through the local countryside.

“As I develop the painting,” he explains. “I will size up a scene to determine if I feel it is pleasing or if it lacks character or if an area is dull. If so, I will add a tree or building or even LouisianaLife.com | 33

change the placement of cows or horses. I have never had one stand and pose for me.”

Ivey became a professional painter late in his career. Born in Yokohama in 1948 to a U.S. serviceman stationed in Japan after World War II, the young Ivey and his family often moved from one state to another before settling in North Louisiana during his high school years.

Upon graduation, he studied

I seek to convey the atmosphere of a particular place at a particular time graphic art at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, did a stint in the Navy, returned to North Louisiana to marry the girl back home, and launched a 35-year career as a graphic artist, illustrator and editorial artist for newspapers,

magazines and advertising companies. By 2008, time had come to follow his dream to become a professional painter.

To make up for his lack of formal training in painting, Ivey read leading art magazines and books and attended workshops at the Scottsdale Artist School and the Fredericksburg Artist School. “That was the turning point in my career,” he says.

“It made me think about what is important to me and why I am doing this.”

Painting outdoors, or en plein air – as it is called in the art world – came naturally to him. “While looking at different artists,” he recalls, “I realized that most of them held a common thought and that was painting from life outdoors. I realized that was what I needed to do if I was going to progress as a landscape painter. I purchased an easel and books on painting and went for it. I am an outdoor person, and I cherish the time I can get out to see the world, feel the surroundings and breathe the air that we have been given. Being in

34 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

nature is in itself rewarding.

Plein air has set me free.”

Ivey often talks about his paintings in terms of story and narrative. In a sense, they are windows for viewers to enter into the forests, meadows and rolling countryside that he sees and breathes every day. “I want those who view my paintings to do more than look at them,” he says.

“I want them to inhabit the world of each painting and to experience it fully.”

TOP: Heading Home, Caddo Lake BOTTOM: Dave Ivey

Ivey, whose work has been shown in several national and regional juried shows, is represented by Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans. For more about the artist and his work, visitdaveivey.com or carolrobinsongallery.com. u

LouisianaLife.com | 35

traveler

Pilgrimage to Oakley House Visiting a historic property in West Feliciana Parish

by Paul F. Stahls Jr.

O

akley House in West Feliciana Parish, one of the most famous of Louisiana’s landmark homes and one of the oldest of State Parks’ 19 State Historic Sites, will co-star with other historic public and private homes chosen to be part of the 45th annual Audubon Pilgrimage tours, March 18-20.

Named of course for John James Audubon, who found 32 of his Birds of America during his four-month stay at Oakley in 1821, the Pilgrimage (not to mention all those blooms and birds of spring) makes this the best imaginable time to pay a call.

Set in today’s hundred-acre patch of forest now known as Audubon State Historic Site, five miles south and east of St. Francisville via U.S. 61 and Louisiana 965, Oakley appears to visitors strolling its old carriage drive just as it did to Audubon when he arrived from the Bayou Sara steamboat dock. Built in the earliest months of the 19th century, when this was still the western extremity of Spanish West Florida, it remains as a rare example of 36 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

an unusually large pre-Greek Revival home, complete with a nearly full-height brick basement and two full upper floors, both clad in such tropical features as slendercolumned and heavily jalousied galleries for directing breezes into and through the house.

James Pirrie (a Scotsman who incongruously was serving as territorial magistrate for the Spanish regime) and his wife, Lucretia Alston (widow of Ruffin Gray whose 1796 Spanish land

would become Oakley Plantation), began construction of Oakley House about 1801. They furnished it in the simple and elegant Federal style, creating an interior that also appears much as it did in Audubon’s day thanks to many items of furniture and accouterments gifted to State Parks by descendants.

One old bookcase contains Lucretia’s handwritten volume of plantation recipes, alongside her ledger of herbal cures and medicines compiled from her readings and from knowledge THIS PAGE: Oakley House, near St. Francisville OPPOSITE PAGE TOP LEFT: Audubon’s room. TOP RIGHT: A barn full of history. BOTTOM: Plantation kitchen

of apothecary learned as a student of the Ursulines in New Orleans. Hand-colored prints from the original edition of Birds of America adorn every major room, and Audubon’s office/bedroom contains items owned or used by him during his brief sojourn at the plantation.

Just outside, a parterre garden filled with azaleas and hip gardenias (the hips once used for decorating the living room and dining room) retains its original formal pattern of boxwoods, although the hedges themselves, gnarled beyond salvation, have been very recently replaced.

Behind the garden and home, next to a small “kitchen garden,” stands the reconstructed kitchen built on original foundations around the original open-hearth fireplace, with its pots and kettles suspended by swiveling iron hangers above the blaze.

The room is large enough to double as exhibition space for occasional demonstrations like the spinning and weaving of cotton and wool on a vintage spinning wheel and giant 200-year-old loom.

Beyond the kitchen, a visitor with map-and-guide leaflet in hand is free to explore two nearby slave cabins (frequently used for presentations on the life and labors of the slaves, skilled workers as well as fieldhands), and a well-preserved barn still houses buggies, wagons and oddments of tools and harness beneath the hayloft.

Standing at a respectful distance from the old complex, a modern Interpretive Center presents cotton planting and ginning exhibits and a hands-on display of 1820s apparel, plus artifacts like Audubon’s own paint box, glasses and army-style cot.

A small theater offers a film about the plantation,

the Felicianas and Oakley’s most celebrated visitor.

Audubon’s role at Oakley was to tutor young Eliza Pirrie in painting and dance, in return for room, board and salary, with ample free time for drawing the birds he found there in what he considered an astounding abundance of species. He also found time to

complete a portrait of Eliza, a copy of which hangs in the house until such time as the original might be acquired.

Many opportunities for following in the artist’s footsteps – and meeting the descendants of his birds – can be found in the vicinity, beginning by hiking Oakley’s own forest trail and (four miles LouisianaLife.com | 37

Audubon prints

east via 965) the ridgetop trails at a section of Audubon’s beloved Tunica Hills, now a Nature Conservancy property called the Mary Brown Preserve. He was equally successful on his explorations of nearby Bayou Sara and, in woodlands north of St. Francisville, around such plantations as Beechwood and Beech Grove (neither still standing) where wife Lucy tutored for extended periods while Audubon was off to complete his paintings, to find sponsors for the publishing of Birds of America and, ultimately, to find a qualified and willing publisher in London.

Other grounds often trod by Audubon lie west of Oakley on 965, between U.S. 61 and the long-since vanished river town of Bayou Sara, where Audubon collector Arlin Dease invites guests as well as passers-by to relax among the statuary and gardens of his

cultural arts center (and guest cottages) called Hemingbough.

All told, of the 435 worldfamed, life-size Birds of America, 167 were painted in Louisiana, of which 80 were done in the Felicianas during his visits (totaling about 23 months), including the 32 created at Oakley.

When you depart, head straight to your book dealer or abebooks.com (thousands of dealers) to find for yourself and the 8-to-12-year-olds in your life A Nest for Celeste by master artist and storyteller Henry Cole. Closed, it’s a decorator item; opened it’s an inch-thick story of Audubon, his young apprentice Joseph Mason and a mouse named Celeste, brought together for a few months at Oakley.

With its fast-paced tale and every-page scenes rendered by the deft shadings of Cole’s pencil, it is a masterpiece of children’s literature. (Tegen Books, 2010.)

38 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

A ticket to this year’s Audubon Pilgrimage will unlock the gates and doors of Oakley and Rosedown State Historic Sites, the expansive gardens and oak alley of Afton Villa plantation gardens, the famously haunted 1790s Myrtles Plantation and three private homes: 1809 Cabildo, 1836 Rosale and the Vinci Cottage on the grounds of 1817 Virginia House on Royal Street in St. Francisville. The homes are open 9:30 a.m. till 5 p.m. daily, as is the “Rural Homestead” living history village where volunteers in period garb demonstrate open-hearth cooking, quilting, mule-powered plowing, blacksmithing, grist milling and the “carding” and spinning of cotton.

Speaking of vintage garb, it’s become a tradition for locals to dress in 1820s style right along with the roleplaying reenactors, especially at Friday night’s wine-and-

cheese reception at Grace Episcopal’s Parish Hall and Saturday night’s “Light Up the Night Soiree.” Friday evening also bring a “Royal Street by Candlelight” tour, “robust” hymn singing at United Methodist, tours of Grace Cemetery and, at Temple Sinai, a stage presentation on Audubon’s life. Ticket information for home-tour and evening events is available at (225) 635-6330, audubonpilgrimage.info or in person at the Historical Society Museum (11757 Ferdinand St., with its wonderfully redesigned and expanded historical exhibits).

Following on April 30, 1-5 p.m., the annual spring “Garden Stroll,” presented

by Master Gardeners of the LSU AgCenter will provide access to gardens at four private homes and at the Bains Elementary School garden, scattered from St. Francisville eastward to Jackson. The Master Gardeners will be available all afternoon for consulting, and proceeds benefit the local 4-H Scholarship Program and West Feliciana school gardens. Call the West Feliciana AgCenter at (225) 635-3614 or visit strancisvillespringstroll.org for details and tickets.

As always, St. Francisville’s 28-year-old and increasingly famous Southern Garden Symposium, with its outstanding lectures, workshops, social events and silent auction, will be headquartered at Hemingbough and Afton Villa on Oct. 7-8. Visit SouthernGardenSymposium.org or call (225) 635-3738 for particulars. u

LouisianaLife.com | 39

louisiana's

spring festivals

Louisiana prides itself in being the festival capital of America, if not the entire world. Whether your passion is food, art, music – or something on the fringe – all regions of the state have large and small fests that draw in both locals and visitors to celebrate. Springtime is a particularly busy time of year, as we enjoy the sunshine. On the following pages, we present a statewide list of happenings, as well as draw your attention to 15 festivals that are worth the trip.

January Southern Boat Show Houma Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival Cameron Battle of New Orleans Commemoration Chalmette Martin Luther King Jr. Festival Lake Charles

March Crawfish Etouffee Cookoff Eunice Jazz on the Bayou presented by Ronnie Kole Foundation Slidell

Abita Springs Earth Fest Abita Springs Louisiana Redbud Festival Vivian Bloomin’ on the Bricks Natchitoches Hammond Smokin’ Blues & BBQ Challenge Hammond The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival New Orleans Louisiana Crawfish Festival Chalmette Irish Italian Isleños Fiesta Chalmette

40 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

New Orleans Sacred Music Festival New Orleans Jane Austen Literary Festival Mandeville FoodFest (America’s Hometown Eats) New Orleans Sulphur Mines Festival Sulphur Merryville Heritage Festival Merryville Terrytown Spring Festival Terrytown Soul Fest New Orleans Louisiana Nursery Festival Forest Hill

Congo Square Rhythms Festival New Orleans Black Heritage Festival Lake Charles Flea Fest: Flea Market Lake Charles Live at the Lakefront Lake Charles Iowa Rabbit Festival Iowa NOLA Pyrate Week New Orleans Zfest Zachary Independence Sicilian Heritage Festival Independence

Laotian New Year Broussard Audubon Pilgrimage St. Francisville Hogs for the Cause New Orleans Week New Orleans New Orleans Wednesday at the Square New Orleans New Orleans International Beer Festival New Orleans Amite Oyster Festival Amite Swamp Stomp Festival Thibodaux

Zapp’s International Beer Festival Baton Rouge

April Catfish Festival Washington Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Show Franklin Bayou Jam Concerts Slidell Chauvin Folk Art Festival Houma Acadiana Dragon Boat Festival New Iberia French Quarter Festival New Orleans

north by chris jay

Ruston Makers Fair April 9 • Ruston

Scottish Tartan Festival April 2 • Minden

ASEANA Spring Festival

You know you’re in for a treat when the frequently asked questions section of a festival’s website begins with “Should I wear my kilt?” At the annual Scottish Tartan Festival in Minden, visitors can enjoy traditional Celtic music, Highland Scottish cattle herding, Gaelic language workshops and more. If you work up an appetite tossing cables, head over to the food vendors for a Scotch egg or a “coo burger” made of Scottish Highland beef. The answer, by the way, is yes – you should absolutely wear your kilt.

WHERE: Scotland Farms, Minden TICKETS: $7/adult; $3/children MORE INFO: scotlandfarms.com

Family Fun Fest Larose Fête Française New Orleans Southdown Marketplace Spring Arts & Crafts Festival Houma Cultural Crossroads Spring Arts Festival Minden Boggy Bayou Festival Pine Prairie Cajun Hot Sauce Festival New Iberia Grand Isle Migratory Bird Festival Grand Isle

April 2 • Shreveport At the corner of Texas Avenue and Milam Street in downtown Shreveport, an ornate gateway welcomes visitors to the Asian Gardens of Shreveport. Since this park opened in 2007, the not-for-profit organization that created it, the ASEANA Foundation, has hosted biannual festivals of Asian culture among the flower beds and sculpture gardens. Each edition of this festival celebrates the culture of a different Asian country. The Spring 2016 festival will feature the food, music and dance of Laos during a traditional Laotian celebration known as Sa Bai Dee. Fans of authentic Asian cuisine, especially, will find much to enjoy at ASEANA Spring Festival. In addition to restaurants and caterers, well-regarded home cooks operate food and drink booths at the festival. Past editions of the festival have drawn more than 2,000 attendees, so visitors with a taste for homemade papaya salad or Laotian crunchy rice should plan to arrive early. WHERE: The Asian Gardens of Shreveport TICKETS: Free admission MORE INFO: (318) 797-4258

Cajun Woodstock for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital Church Point Bayou Teche Black Bear and Birding Festival Franklin Franklin Parish Catfish Festival Winnsboro Covington Antiques Festival Covington Scottish Tartan Festival Minden Jazz in the Park New Orleans Italian Festival Tickfaw Natchitoches Jazz/R&B Festival Natchitoches

all photos sourced from their respective facebook pages

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival New Orleans Italian Heritage Festival (Festa Italiana) Kenner Old Algiers RiverFest New Orleans (Algiers) Louisiana Forest Festival Winnfield Holiday in Dixie Shreveport Plaquemine Pow-Wow Plaquemine Angola Prison Spring Rodeo Angola Louisiana Railroad Days Festival DeQuincy

FestForAll Baton Rouge Saints and Sinners Literary Festival New Orleans Denham Springs Antique District Spring Festival Denham Springs Great Louisiana BirdFest Mandeville Original Lake Charles Crawfish Festival Lake Charles Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival Ponchatoula Festival International de Louisiane Lafayette

Makers fairs – DIY arts and crafts fairs that often have a decidedly “not your mom’s craft sale” quality to them – are thriving in communities throughout Louisiana, including Ruston. The Ruston Makers Fair, held in downtown Ruston, debuted in September 2015 and is now planned as a biannual event. The Spring 2016 fair is expected to feature more than 50 local artists as well as live music, food vendors and more of the hip, youthful vibe that made the first installment a smash success.

WHERE: Corner of Louisiana Avenue and Monroe Street TICKETS: free admission MORE INFO: facebook.com/ rustonmakersfair

DeltaFest Monroe Baton Rouge Blues Festival Baton Rouge North Louisiana Spring Bluegrass Festival Oak Grove Freret Street Festival New Orleans Etoufee Festival Arnaudville Houmapalooza Spring Music Festival Houma Scott Boudin Festival Scott Melrose Arts Festival Melrose Mandeville Live Concertsl Mandeville

Battle of Pleasant Hill Annual Reenactment and Festival Pleasant Hill Louisiana Earth Day Baton Rouge Cypress Sawmill Festival Patterson Kite Fest Louisiane Port Allen

May Greater New Orleans International Dragon Boat Festival Madisonville Bunk Johnson Jazz Festival New Iberia

LouisianaLife.com | 41

central louisiana by chris jay

Lecompte Pie Festival April 29-May 1 • lecompte

Mayfest May 6 & 7 • Leesville

With two stages of live music, arts and crafts vendors, classic car exhibits and more, it’s easy to see why Mayfest has garnered so much positive attention in recent years, including being named 2012 Festival of the Year by the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association. Grab a funnel cake and wander the square in downtown Leesville, where you could catch a performance by a gospel choir, watch a chalk artist design a trompe-l’œil on the street, or stumble upon a group of local dulcimer players warming up outside of a local art gallery. WHERE: Downtown Leesville TICKETS: Free admissionMORE INFO: vernonparish.org/may-fest

Sunset Herb and Garden Festival Sunset Mayfest Leesville Poke Salad Festival Blanchard Thibodaux Firemen’s Fair Thibodaux Zydeco Extravaganza Opelousas Bayou Country Superfest Baton Rouge Oilman's Fishing Invitational Houma Zwolle Loggers and Forestry Festival Zwolle Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival Belle Chasse

Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival April 16 & 17 • Melrose For two days each spring, the serene grounds of Melrose Plantation near Natchitoches are transformed into a bustling arts marketplace as more than 100 arts and crafts vendors set up shop among the ancient live oaks and gardens of this National Historic Landmark. Paintings, stained glass, pottery and hand-crafted jewelry are among the items that will be shown and sold by artists and makers from throughout Central Louisiana.

There’s something moving about seeing local artists striking bargains with shoppers just steps from the tiny cabin that once served as a makeshift gallery for folk artist Clementine Hunter. One more reason to attend in 2016: Hunter’s famed African House Murals, removed from the plantation grounds for restoration in 2014, will be returned to Melrose on April 9. All proceeds from the festival benefit ongoing upkeep and restoration efforts at Melrose. WHERE: Melrose Plantation TICKETS: Free admission MORE INFO: melroseplantation.org

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Breaux Bridge Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo New Orleans New Orleans Wine & Food Experience New Orleans Contraband DaysLouisiana Pirate Festival Lake Charles Starks Mayhaw Festival Starks Tomato Festival Chalmette Cochon de Lait Festival Mansura Mudbug Maddness Shreveport

42 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

Greek Festival New Orleans New Orleans Jambalaya Festival Gonzales Marion Mayhaw Festival Marion Riverboat Festival Columbia Herb and Garden Festival Sunset Jeff Fish Fest & Rodeo River Ridge

June Lake Arthur Regatta Lake Arthur FestiGals New Orleans

Krewe of Terreanians Fishing Rodeo Houma St. Tammany Crab Festival Lacombe Bon Mangé Festival Gheens Church Point Buggy Festival Church Point Louisiana Bicycle Festival Abita Springs Back to the Beach Festival Kenner Bluesberry Festival Lafayette Louisiana Catfish Festival Des Allemands Wednesdays on the Point New Orleans (Algiers)

If you’ve ever visited Lecompte, a small town located 12 miles south of Alexandria via Highway 71, chances are good that you stopped into Lea’s Lunchroom for a slice of pie or a ham sandwich. Lea’s Lunchroom has been open since 1928 and, in 2000, the popularity of their pies led to Lecompte being designated “Pie Capital of Louisiana” by the state legislature.

The annual Lecompte Pie Festival features carnival rides, fireworks, a parade and plenty of pie. Plan to visit on Saturday, when you can catch the 10 a.m. parade followed by pieeating contests and the annual introduction of the Pie Queens. WHERE: Old Lecompte High School TICKETS: $3 MORE INFO: asliceoflouisiana.net

Cajun Heritage Festival Larose New Orleans Oyster Festival New Orleans Louisiana Peach Festival Ruston French Market’s Creole Tomato Festival New Orleans Garden Fest Baton Rouge Beauregard Watermelon Festival DeRidder The Day the War Stopped St. Francisville Louisiana Corn Festival Bunkie

Let the Good Times Roll Festival Shreveport Smoked Meat Festival Ville Platte Southern Fried Swamp Fest New Orleans Louisiana CajunZydeco Festival New Orleans Lake Arthur Freedom Fest Lake Arthur Juneteenth Folklife Celebration Opelousas Juneteenth Heritage Festival Grambling

plantation country

by JEFFREY Roedel

FestForAll

Baton Rouge Blues Festival

April 2-3 • Baton Rouge

Celebrating inclusiveness and community on a grand scale in the Capital City, this weekendlong party hosted by the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge launched in 1974 and stands as an eclectic amalgam of musicians, artists and chefs – as well as an entire “Children’s Village” filled with activities and entertainment for little ones. More than 100 visual artists and makers from across the region create a one-of-akind marketplace with their latest handcrafted creations and vie for $6,000 in prizes while dozens of bands – most leaning toward blues, jazz and indigenous Louisiana sounds – usher in springtime on stages throughout downtown Baton Rouge. WHERE: North Boulevard Town Square and Galvez Plaza TICKETS: Free admission MORE INFO: artsbr.org

July Tales of the Cocktail New Orleans Independence Day Parade Houma Cajun Music & Food Festival Lake Charles Running of the Bulls New Orleans Bucktown Bash Metairie Mandeville City Seafood Fest Mandeville Cake and Ice Cream Festival Abbeville

Louisiana International Film Festival Apri 14-17 • Baton Rouge L.A. glitz comes to the other La. through the brainchild of veteran filmmakers Chesley Heymsfield and Dan Ireland.

The Louisiana International Film Festival gives “Hollywood South” the platform it deserves for encouraging an in-depth cultural exchange and toasting world-class movies.

In addition to its popular Film Society that debuts top U.S. studio films, acclaimed documentaries and international pictures throughout the year in Baton Rouge and New Orleans – including sold-out pre-release screenings of Boyhood, Gone Girl, and Imitation Game, among others – LIFF is Louisiana’s two-day “mini-Sundance.”

The festival’s focus is on storytelling and independent cinema with the best of upcoming studio releases taking a bow, filmmaker panels and discussions and workshops, and a handful of guest spots by movie stars and awardwinning filmmakers, too. Emmy-nominee Vincent D’Onofrio (Jurassic World, Daredevil) made an appearance last year.

Live music includes Louisiana rock and funk performers and a special symphonic performance of classic movie themes throughout the years. WHERE: Cinemark Perkins Rowe TICKETS: Festival pass packages and tickets for individual screenings are available online MORE INFO: lifilmfest.org

Bayou BBQ Bash – “Morgan City Under the Bridge” Morgan City Celebration on the Cane Natchitoches Marshland Festival Lake Charles Erath Fourth of July Celebration Erath Swamp Pop Music Festival Gonzales Let Freedom Ring Festival Thibodaux Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration St. Francisville

Buddy guy photo courtesy Baton Rouge Blues Festival; all other photos sourced from their respective facebook pages

Lebeau Zydeco Festival Lebeau Louisiana Watermelon Festival Farmerville Natchitoches/ NSU Folk Festival Natchitoches Essence Festival New Orleans Golden MeadowFourchon International Tarpon Rodeo Golden Meadow-Port Fourchon Slidell Heritage Festival Slidell Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo Grand Isle

August Dirty Linen Night New Orleans Delcambre Shrimp Festival Delcambre French Film Fest New Orleans Whitney White Linen Night New Orleans Satchmo SummerFest New Orleans Polos & Pearls St. Francisville Red Dress Run New Orleans Gueydan Duck Festival Gueydan

April 9-10 • Downtown Baton Rouge

Equal parts reverence and joy fill the air at this annual celebration of Baton Rouge’s well-trod tradition as a Blues Mecca. Along with a more intimate and funky prefestival Rent Party, the event is expanded to two days this year, adeptly honoring hallowed sounds with its Gospel and Soul stages, then showing off what a slate of this generation’s most enticing performers are bringing to the Blues – from the delta to the swamp and beyond. Past headliners include Dr. John, Charles Bradley, Bobby Rush Robert Randolph and the Family Band, and Arrested Development.

WHERE: Downtown Baton Rouge TICKETS: Available online and at the ticket office the day of the festival MORE INFO: batonrougebluesfestival.org

Arts & Crabs Fest Lake Charles Le Cajun Music Awards and Festival Lafayette

September Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival Opelousas (Plaisance) Southern Decadence New Orleans Oldies Fest Port Allen Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival Natchitoches The "34th" Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival Plaisance

Best of the Bayou Houma Germantown Bluegrass Festival Minden Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival Morgan City Calca-Chew Food Festival Lake Charles Bogalusa Blues & Heritage Festival Bogalusa Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival New Iberia Sugar Festival Arabi St. Theresa Bon Ton Festival Carlyss New Orleans Burlesque Festival New Orleans

LouisianaLife.com | 43

cajun country

by Jenny Peterson

Contraband Days April 26-May 8 • Lake Charles

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival May 6-8 • Breaux bridge

The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival began in 1960 after The Louisiana legislature named Breaux Bridge the “Crawfish Capital of the World.” Attendees will enjoy crawfish prepared in every imaginable way. There are also crawfish races, where numbered crawfish race eight feet to a finish line.

Over 30 zydeco, Cajun and swamp pop bands will play over three days. Cajun dance contests, cook-offs, carnival rides, arts vendors, demonstrations and a parade carrying the Crawfish Queen kick off this world famous festival. Where: Parc Hardy, 6200 US Hwy. 6, Breaux Bridge Tickets: Friday and Sunday $5; Saturday $10 More info: bbcrawfest.com

Rougarou Festival Houma Bayou Lafourche Antique Show Thibodaux Alligator Festival Luling St. Martinville Kiwanis Pepper Festival St. Martinville Jim Bowie Festival & BBQ Throwdown Vidalia Downriver Festival at the French Market New Orleans Louisiana Chicken Festival Dubach

festival international de louisane April 20 - 24 • Lafayette Lafayette’s annual International de Louisiane festival is a free music and arts event celebrating the cultural French heritage of South Louisiana with hundreds of performing and visual artists over five days. This year is the 30th anniversary of the community festival which showcases the French, African, Caribbean and Hispanic influences of the region through performing arts. The festival is known for bringing a variety of unique and emerging performers to South Louisiana. This year’s lineup includes zydeco, Cajun and French musicians along with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra. An artisans market will feature hand-crafted jewelry, pottery and art from around the world and food vendors will showcase Acadania’s renowned cuisine. Two stages will offer family-friendly activities, performances and art to educate future generations about the history and distinct culture of the region. This beloved annual festival is an international experience and a celebration of all things South Louisiana—food, music and culture. Where: Downtown Lafayette Tickets: Free More info: festivalinternational.org

Community Day and Outhouse Race Festival Choudrant Oldies But Goodies Fest & BBQ Cook-Off Port Allen Louisiana Hot Air Balloon Championship Festival Gonzales Louisiana Seafood Festival New Orleans

October Tour de Teche Bayou Teche French Market's Boo Carré Ragley Heritage & Timber Festival Ragley

44 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

Rhythms on the River Morgan City Sugar Fest Port Allen Cal-Cam Fair Sulphur State Fair of Louisiana Shreveport Andouille Festival LaPlace Opelousas Spice and Music Festival Opelousas Voice of the Wetlands Houma Taste of Louisiana Houma Louisiana Cattle Festival Abbeville

Harvest Festival on False River New Roads Oktoberfest Kenner Louisiana Gumbo Festival of Chackbay Chackbay/Thibodaux Bridge City Gumbo Festival Bridge City International Heritage Celebration Baton Rouge Black Pot Festival and Cook-Off Lafayette Ponderosa Stomp Festival New Orleans North Louisiana Fall Bluegrass Festival Oak Grove Springhill Lumberjack Festival Springhill

Lake Charles Contraband Days is a pirate-themed festival with more than 100 events over 12 days named after “Contraband Bayou,” where legendary pirate Jean Lafitte was rumored to have dumped stolen treasure.

Celebrating nearly 60 years, Lake Charles’ oldest festival celebrates pirate history with special events, music, cannons, rides, fireworks and a pirate-themed parade along the city’s marina.

Attendees on both land and water can observe costumed “Buccaneers” take over the city and make elected officials “walk the plank” into the lake. Where: 900 Lakeshore Drive, Lake Charles Tickets: Adults: $10; children ages 6-12: $5; children 5 and under Free.

Gate passes available for multiple days. More info: contrabanddays.com

Red River Revel Shreveport Oak Alley Plantation Fall Arts and Crafts Festival Vacherie Yellow Leaf Arts Festival St. Francisville Denham Springs Antique District Fall Festival Denham Springs International Rice Festival Crowley Old Farmers Day Festival Loranger Greater Baton Rouge State Fair Baton Rouge Angola Prison Fall Rodeo Angola

New Orleans Film Festival New Orleans Sweet Dough Pie Festival Grand Coteau French Food Festival Larose Louisiana Yambilee Festival Opelousas Blues in da Parish Festival Violet Gretna Heritage Festival Gretna Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival New Orleans Roberts Cove Germanfest Rayne (Roberts Cove)

greater new orleans

by Sarah Ravits

Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival

Jazz in the Park Wednesdays till October • new orleans

Outside the French Quarter in New Orleans’ iconic Louis Armstrong Park, a free weekly concert series boasts some of the most beloved, as well as up-and-coming local acts. Whether you live in New Orleans or are planning on visiting for an extralong weekend, this festival should be on your agenda.

The crowds are lively but manageable – you can get close enough to the stage with room to dance or bring a blanket and sit in the grass.

Local food vendors offer a diverse range of snacks and beer, and arts and crafts booths are abundant.

Where: Armstrong Park, New Orleans Tickets: Free admission More info: facebook.com/ JazzInArmstrongPark

Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival Madisonville Book Sale Friends of the Jefferson Public Library Metairie Louisiana Cotton Festival Ville Patte Fesitvals Acadiens et Créoles Lafayette Louisiana Art and Folk Festival Columbia Violet Oyster Festival Violet October Fete Kaplan Louisiana Tournoi Ville Platte

April 8-10 • Ponchatoula

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell April 22-24; April 28-May 1 • new orleans The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is a 10-day celebration of the city’s art, culture, music and food.

While much of the lineup hails from New Orleans and the surrounding areas, the festival also draws huge international headliners that range the gamut from ‘60s folk/rock icons like Neil Young and Paul Simon to big-time rappers like Snoop Dogg and Flo Rida and blues sensation Gary Clark Jr. Rain or shine, Jazz Fest has exposed New Orleans to the world, and vice versa, for more than 40 years. Where: The New Orleans Fair Grounds Tickets: Varies ($65 / day in advance; $70 at the gate, other rates apply) More Info: nojazzfest.com

Franklin Harvest Moon Festival Franklin Rapides Parish Fair Alexandria West Louisiana Forestry Festival & Fair Leesville St. Tammany Parish Fair Covington Louisiana Book Festival Baton Rouge Voodoo Music + Art Experience New Orleans

November Louisiana Indian Heritage Association Powwow Gonzales

festival international photo by david simpson; jazz fest photo by ron valle; all other photos sourced from their respective facebook pages

Thibodauxville Fall Festival Thibodaux Louisiana Pecan Festival Colfax Three Rivers Art Festival Covington Destrehan Plantation Fall Harvest Festival Destrehan Sugar Day Festival Alexandria Words & Music Festival: A Literary Feast in New Orleans New Orleans Houmapalooza Fall Music Festival Houma Atchafalaya Basin Festival Henderson

Louisiana Swine Festival Basile Giant Omelette Celebration Abbeville Southdown Marketplace Fall Arts & Crafts Festival Houma Veterans on Parade Port Allen Louisiana Renaissance Festival Hammond Mirliton Festival New Orleans Sabine Freestate Festival Florien Treme Creole Gumbo Festival New Orleans Hell Yes Fest Comedy Festival New Orleans

Celebrating all things pertaining to this sweet, tart fruit, the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival celebrates 45 years this spring. About an hour drive from New Orleans, the fest takes place over three days, with live music and signature events including a strawberry eating contest, a parade and an auction. It even has its own royal family, complete with a king, queen and grand marshal.

It’s recommended that one arrive with an appetite so sample all the creative strawberrythemed libations and food.

Where: Memorial Park, Ponchatoula Tickets: Free admission More info: lastrawberryfestival.com

Westwego Cypress Swamp Festival Westwego Oak Street Po-Boy Festival New Orleans Port Barre Cracklin Festival Port Barre

December Christmas on the Cajun Coast Morgan City Patterson and Franklin Christmas Under the Oaks Sulphur Bonfest Port Allen Reflections of the Season Port Allen Festival of the Bonfires Lutcher

Fall Harvest Festival Grant Christmas on the River Monroe-West Monroe Fire and Water Rural Arts Celebration (Le Feu et L’Eau) Arnaudville Noel Acadien au Village Lafayette Celebration in the Oaks New Orleans Delcambre Christmas Boat Parade Delcambre Christmas Festival of Lights Natchitoches Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival Buras

LouisianaLife.com | 45

TO 6 recipes for our native Blue Crab, plus a side order of local crustacean history

by Stanley Dry Photographs by Eugenia Uhl

a

* Ma

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C et d

s Claw b ra

Boiled Crabs The 1901 edition of The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book included instructions for eating boiled crabs with a knife and fork, “without once using the fingers.” That must have been quite a feat, and it certainly bears no resemblance to the modern crab boil, where everyone rolls up their sleeves and has at it. Judging from the old recipe, there was much less hot pepper involved in the boil than is customary today.

It is difficult to imagine an environment more perfect for the blue crab than Louisiana’s jagged coast, which nestles an abundance of marshes and estuaries within some 7,721 miles of shoreline.

Blue crabs are found along the East Coast and across the Gulf states from Florida to Texas. Louisiana landings account for 83 percent of the Gulf total and 25 percent of the U.S. total. The blue crab’s economic impact on Louisiana comes to $293 million a year, more than twice that of the crawfish industry.

There are dozens of brands of crab boil on the market, and they very greatly in the amount of red pepper they contain, so it’s advisable to start with the amount recommended on the package and add additional to taste. You’ll need a large pot with a removable basket and a heat source, usually a propane burner. Into this pot will go water, salt, crab boil, halved lemons, garlic, and any other spices, such as cayenne pepper, you wish. Bring the pot to a boil and let it boil for about 10 minutes. Taste the water and add additional crab boil and other seasonings, as desired.

If you’re cooking smoked sausage, corn, and/or small red potatoes, add them to the pot. When the water comes back to a boil, add the live crabs and cook for 10 minutes.

Turn off he heat, dump in a bag of ice to stop the cooking, and let the crabs soak in the water for 10 minutes to absorb the seasonings. Lift out the basket, turn out the crabs on a newspaper covered table, and dig in, no forks needed, though knives are useful for cracking the claws.

The scientific name for the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) means “tasty (or savory) beautiful swimmer,” and that is a most fitting description considering how delectable it is and how many ways it can be prepared and served. From spicy boiled crabs spread out on newspaper-covered tables and accompanied by cold battles of beer to delicate lumps of snow-white crabmeat served in elegant restaurants along with expensive bottles of Champagne or chardonnay, the blue crab’s appeal is near universal.

That popularity comes at a price, which is reflected in the soaring cost of crabs and crabmeat. Fresh jumbo lump crabmeat, which not that many years ago was around $12 or so a pound, often goes for more than $30 a pound, when you can find it.

There are a number of factors that figure into the price rise, but the demand from out-of-state is a big part of it. The truth is that a lot of crabs and crabmeat are shipped to the Chesapeake Bay area, where crabbing has declined precipitously.

Some years ago we ate huge, meaty steamed crabs, the kind we rarely see here, in a small Baltimore restaurant. I complimented the owner on the crabs and asked where they came from. “Lake Pontchartrain,” he replied. I should have known.

*

Marinated Crab Claws Serve these with good crusty bread to dip in the marinade.

1 2

1

1

1 6 ½

½ ½ ½

¼ ¼

1

½ ¼

1

1

cup dry white wine tablespoons crab boil (whole spices) tablespoon crushed red pepper teaspoon freshly ground black pepper bay leaf cloves garlic, peeled cup chopped celery with leaves cup chopped red onion cup chopped red bell pepper cup chopped yellow bell pepper cup chopped parsley cup chopped green onion tops tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed cup white wine vinegar cup fresh squeezed lemon juice cup extra virgin olive oil Hot sauce to taste (optional) Cayenne pepper to taste (optional) pound cooked crab claws, cracked

In a non-reactive pan, combine white wine, crab boil, crushed red pepper, black pepper, bay leaf, and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool.

Combine cooled wine mixture with remainder of ingredients (except crab claws). Stir and adjust seasonings as desired. Place cracked crab claws in a flat non-reactive container (an 8½ x 13-inch pyrex dish is ideal) and pour marinade over. Cover, seal tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and marinate for 6 hours or longer, stirring occasionally. Makes 4 servings as an appetizer.

TIPS for crab claws: If you’ve saved the claws from your crab boil, you’re good to go, but rescuing them from hungry eaters is often difficult, to say the least. If you need claws for this dish, you can buy them, already cooked, from a fish market or supermarket. In either case, you’ll need to crack the claws with a nutcracker of the back of a large knife.

Baked Tomatoes filled with Crabmeat Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking dish.

Cut off tops of 4 large tomatoes; scoop out pulp and seeds with a spoon.

Salt interior of tomatoes and invert on a rack to drain.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter plus in a frying pan, add ¼ cup diced onion, ¼ cup diced bell pepper, and ¼ cup diced celery, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Transfer vegetables to a mixing bowl and stir in ½ cup breadcrumbs.

When mixture is cool, stir in ½ cup heavy cream, 4 teaspoons chopped parsley, and 4 teaspoons chopped green onion tops. Add 1 pound lump crabmeat (picked over) and toss gently. Season with coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper and Cayenne pepper to taste.

Add 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Fill tomatoes with crabmeat mixture, mounding the tops. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, dot with butter, and bake until tops are browned, about 30 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

This crabmeat stuffing can also be baked in other vegetables, in a crab shell, in individual ramekins or used as a stuffing for fish, such as flounder.

* We tend to think of gumbo as more of a winter food, but it's also a great transitional springtime menu item., especially when it contains seafood.

o g u mb a r k o crab and

*

tips for crab cakes This recipe can be partially prepared in advance. After the crab mixture is formed into cakes, the cakes can be covered and refrigerated until later in the day when it is time to cook them. A number of variations in the recipe are possible, such as substituting unsalted cracker crumbs for bread crumbs, using clarified butter or a mixture of butter and oil for frying.

ith

* crab cakes w

lem on mayo nnaise

I have always favored jumbo lump crabmeat, but given the cost, I find myself using more backfin and claw crabmeat.

They’re not as pretty as lump, but they can be combined with lump crabmeat in crab cakes, gumbos, and the like. Claw crabmeat is particularly flavorful and can actually improve the taste of some dishes.

There is nothing quite as elegant and indulgent as chilled lump crabmeat served with extravirgin olive oil, lemon, coarse salt, and freshly-ground black pepper. On second thought, sautéed soft-shell crabs are also a contender, but that is a subject for another article. Meanwhile, enjoy these toothsome recipes for hardshell blue crabs.

Crab Cakes with Lemon Mayonnaise

This dish is easy to prepare and can serve as the centerpiece of a luncheon or as a first course in a dinner menu.

Too often, crab cakes suffer from an overabundance of breadcrumbs. There should be just enough binding to hold a crab cake together. The slight pressure of a diner’s fork should cause it to crumble. If you wish, you can use a mixture of lump and claw crabmeat in this recipe.

1

1

2 1 1

1 ½

pound lump crabmeat, picked over teaspoon cajun/creole seasoning tablespoons lemon juice tablespoon chopped parsley tablespoon chopped green onion tops egg, lightly beaten cup breadcrumbs

For Frying

Crab & Okra Gumbo Cooking okra in oil before adding liquid eliminates the “sliminess” that some people find unpleasant. ¼ 2 2 1 1 6 2 2 1

1

1

¼

cup vegetable oil medium onions, chopped stalks celery, chopped pound okra, sliced (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes cups chicken broth tablespoons dry roux bay leaves teaspoon dried thyme leaves Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Cayenne to taste Hot sauce to taste pound claw crabmeat, picked over pound lump crabmeat, picked over cup chopped parsley

In a large dutch oven or heavy casserole, cook onions, celery, and okra in oil on medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 1015 minutes. Add tomatoes, stock, dry roux, and bay leaves; break-up tomatoes with your fingers or a spoon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until okra is tender, about 30 minutes. Season with thyme, salt, peppers, and hot sauce. Add crabmeat and cook until crabmeat is just heated through. Add chopped parsley. Serve with steamed rice.

Makes about 6-8 servings.

¼ ¼ 1 ½

cup olive oil cup flour egg, lightly beaten cup breadcrumbs

lemon mayonnaise

2 ¼ 1

½ 1

egg yolks teaspoon salt tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice cup extra-virgin olive oil teaspoon finely-grated lemon zest Cayenne pepper to taste

Place crabmeat in a mixing bowl.

Add cajun/creole seasoning, lemon juice, parsley, green onion tops, egg, and breadcrumbs. Mix gently with a fork, being careful not to breakup crabmeat. Form mixture into 4 cakes.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. When oil is hot, dredge crawfish cakes in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Fry until nicely browned, about 4 minutes; turn and cook on the other side until browned, about 2 minutes. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with Lemon Mayonnaise. Makes 4 servings.

Lemon Mayonnaise In a mixing bowl,

beat egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice with a wire whisk until pale yellow and creamy. Continue beating with whisk, while slowly adding olive oil, a drop at a time in the beginning.

As the mixture emulsifies, increase slightly the amount of oil you’re adding, while continuing to whisk, until all the oil has been added. Add lemon zest and cayenne, and whisk to incorporate. Adjust seasoning.

Makes about ½ cup.

Artichoke Hearts, Green Peas & Lump Crabmeat This dish features s a blend of savory and sweet flavors, and, served with the addition of toasted bread, provides a good crunch.

Combine 1 (9 ounces.) package frozen artichoke hearts, 2 tablespoons olive oil, ¼ cup dry white wine, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large nonreactive skillet. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup frozen green peas, stir, cover, and cook until artichoke hearts are tender, about 3 minutes.

Add 1 pound lump crabmeat (picked over) and stir gently, being careful not to break-up crabmeat. Season with coarse salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. Cook just until crabmeat is heated through. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and serve on toasted bread.

Makes 4 servings.

A CRAWFISH TALE There was a time when, if folks wanted some crawfish, they would hope for high water

and then go searching for mud holes in the field behind the house. Or, they would park the truck along the old highway and go looking in the ditches that lined the road. At least these crawfish were survivors, having withstood passing vehicles and the occasional dripping of motor oil. That's all changed now.

Though the end might still be a boiling pot, the beginning of a crawfish's life is more plush.

No longer do they come from a field or a ditch; they come from an “aquafarm." Pictured here is FrugĂŠ Aquafarms (cajuncrawfish.com) in the Acadiana community of Branch, where crawfish is raised with the same precision as the season's crops. It is amazing to see science and nature working side by side, so that we can all have better heads to suck. - Errol Laborde

photos and captions by

Traps baited with pieces of pogie line a rice field in Branch, Louisiana, that was flooded after harvest to support the crawfish crop and is fished by FrugĂŠ Aquafarms.

Fishermen are trained to keep their eyes on the next trap to be pulled because the boat stays in constant motion even as they pull, empty, bait and place it back in the water.

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Around noon each day, fishermen bring their catch to the FrugĂŠ Aquafarms facility to be washed, bagged, and shipped alive throughout Louisiana and Texas.

Nic Dion and Ronnie Boudreaux (pictured right) eagerly await the first round at a backyard boil in Lafayette.

Every crawfish cook has a different take on their spices, vegetable selection and boiling technique. Elbow-toelbow with friends and strangers, guests peel and devour the bounty.

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around the state

Monster Croc Pecan Apple, for example, combines the firm tartness of a juicy green Granny Smith apple dipped in homemade caramel sauce, rolled in crispy pecans and inundated with milk chocolate with a final drizzle of white chocolate into a glorious rendition of flavor.

The sweet fusion of chocolates, pecans and caramel ends with a delicious tart bite of the apple all exploding perfectly together.

No Louisianian would turn down eating a Crocodile Nest. These delectable clusters combine butterscotch, peanut butter and noodles drowned in milk chocolate into a delicious patty.

NORTH Redbuds in Vivian BY jeanne frois

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here’s no tree that symbolizes the renewal of spring other than the redbud – sprays of countless magenta flowers springing forth straight from the dun-colored leafless tree bark like a sign of redemption. Louisiana, in spring, is ablaze with this exquisite sight. For over half a century now, the town of Vivian has celebrated these trees at the Louisiana Redbud Festival. The town was named for the daughter of an official of the Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Gulf Railroad. This train route, in the 1890s, ran from Kansas City, Missouri and traveled an almost vertical downward line that sometimes straddled Oklahoma and Arkansas before swerving over into Louisiana.

With station stops at Shreveport and Lake Charles, the line finally ended at Port Arthur, Texas near the Sabine Pass on the Gulf of Mexico. Due to bankruptcy in the early 1900s, the railroad was absorbed and became known as the Kansas City Southern.

Although some of its events are held the second-to-last day of February, such as the Little Miss Redbud Pageant and the Miss Louisiana Redbug Scholarship Pageant, the heart of the festival carries over several days in March. Events include the Miss Wilted Redbud competition; the Mayor Mike VanSchoick Clean-Up Day complete with a poster contest and a bicycle prize, the Redbud Kids and Pet Parade, Ruby Collins Memorial Treasure Hunt (clues are posted on the festival website), photo and coloring contests, a run / walk to promote healthy living, car show, food and music. And like any true Louisiana festival worth its salt, the Redbud Festival culminates with an old fashioned fais do-do dance. u

bossier city

EASTER CANDY It has been medically proven that eating chocolate releases tryptophan, an essential amino acid that in turn produces serotonin, the “happy chemical” that bombards us with a release of euphoria-inducing endorphins.

And now that we’ve laid the medical rationalizations that give us an excuse for eating chocolate, let’s cut to the chase. If you want to take Easter baskets to a new high, do your bon-bon shopping at The Chocolate Crocodile for innovative takes on cacao treats. The

One of my personal favorite candy bars, the immortal Snickers, is featured in the Monster Snicker Apple: again, the apple of choice, Granny Smith, receives the familiar dunking into caramel sauce, then cooled, submerged in milk chocolate and covered in smashed Snickers. But it isn’t finished until the final step of drizzling white chocolate over the entire creation.

If you want smaller filler items for your baskets, try the chocolate-dipped pretzels – a salty, curly-cue pretzel wears a deep dark chocolate coat with the frippery of a white chocolate drizzle. The Colossal Dipped Maraschino Cherries are a cluster of three fruits covered in creamy milk chocolate and whipped with the lacework of white chocolate.

Redbud Celebration (318) 286-8093, P. O. Box 1, Vivian, laredbud.com

The Chocolate Crocodile 460 Boardwalk Blvd., Bossier City, (318) 742-3316 thechocolatecrocodile.com

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around the state Moreauville

PONTHIEU MUSEUM Just across the way from the Sarto Iron Bridge, a visit to the Ponthieu Grocery Store and Museum is a must. Directly across Highway 451, it allows you to step back in time with memorabilia, folk-life presentations and hands on crafts. It is also a Post Office Museum.

From the American flag waving in its front yard to the large Red Coca Cola above the front porch, its almost Rockwellian, Louisiana style.

central Causes to celebrate in Bordelonville BY jeanne frois photo by mike moreau

A

voyelles Parish may have more small towns than large, but it is a region in Louisiana that’s imprinted with a strong sense of history. From the settling of Napoleonic soldiers, who named Mansura after the Egyptian plane they fought upon, to the fierce Civil War battles, to the ravaging floods of 1927, it is a part of Louisiana filled with resilient spirit.

In the second decade of the 20th century, the confluence of floodwaters from the Atchafalaya, Mississippi and Red rivers frequently deluged parts of Avoyelles, engorging Bayou des Glaises, especially around the Big Bend Area. In 1915, the Avoyelles Parish Police Jury gave the green light to construct a permanent raised bridge at Sarto Lane to span the bayou and aid in evacuation of people. Completed in May 1916, it was a steel truss swing bridge that served both boat and vehicle traffic.

It survives today in its original spot as a precious landmark, the first bridge in Louisiana to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This spring, the bridge turns 100 and the good people of nearby Bordelonville are ready to celebrate this momentous occasion with a gigantic celebration. Bordelonville has also combined to the festivities a celebration of the Grand Opening of the Bordelonville Fire Training/Community Center (housed in the town’s former school). This extends a welcome to all graduates, former students, faculty and staff that either educated, were educated at, or worked at the old Bordelonville Elementary and High School. Thrown into the celebration mix for good measure: the First Annual Homemade Cake Festival (homemade cake-baking in this community rises to an art form).

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Scheduled events include a historical discourse at the Sarto Iron Bridge complete with bridge and Ponthieu Museum tour. Over at the Fire Training/Community Center where the cake festival will be in full swing, attendees can enjoy the incomparable fare prepared in the community: homemade cakes of any variety, jambalaya, crawfish pistolettes, white beans and fried catfish poor boys. Cake walks, cake-making demonstrations, games, a 5K run/ and walk and a dance will help everyone make merry.

On Sunday night, members of

the Bordelonville Volunteer Fire Department will serve a sumptuous dinner of barbecued pork steaks and rice dressing. All proceeds will be used to repair and upgrade the Fire Training/Community Center.

Community members have applied for various state grants to help fund the major repairs needed for the Center and other projects but were refused because the grant did not relate to improving the health of the community.

According to James Armand, one of the organizers, most of the funding for the Center comes from donations of graduates.

Citing the state’s refusal to help, they remain undaunted.

“We are an unincorporated community, and the Fire Department and Water District are the major governmental entities in the area,” says Armand. “We’ve decided that we will have to roll up our sleeves and get to work for ourselves.” u

Centennial of Sarto Iron Bridge, 1St Annual Homemade Cake Celebration, and Grand Opening of the Bordelonville Fire Training/Community Center April 16-17; contact jharmand@gmail.com

Ponthieu Grocery Store 8554 LA 451, Moreauville, (318) 997-2465

around the state BROUSSARD

ZOOSIANA When I was 3, I had a parakeet named Petey. I loved whenever he perched on my head when released from his cage. One morning his cage was empty, and my mother told me to be “very happy for Petey because some birds had come for him and they all flew off together in freedom.” She was a smart mother.

At Zoosiana, the Zoo of Acadiana in Broussard, children of all ages can indulge in their love of parakeets by feeding the colorful little birds from a feed stick out of their own hands.

Indigo Bunting

Painted Bunting

Scarlet Tanagers

Cajun Country Flight Zone in Grand Isle BY jeanne frois

A

pril in Louisiana is one of our best months, with fresh air perfumed with the scent of flowers. During April, coastal Louisiana, lying smack-dab in the Mississippi Flyway, that great avian migratory pathway, becomes filled with the jeweled colors and tender songs of countless birds returning to their summer homes after wintering in Mexico. Millions of these tiny stalwart creatures embark on the 18-hour flight across the turquoise waters of Gulf of Mexico and head straight for the coastal forests and beaches of Grand Isle, their first sight of land. It is a 600-mile journey and results in the tender scene of hungry, thirsty little birds sipping water and taking sustenance.

Grand Isle residents awaken to April days filled with throaty warbles, tweets and the cries of seagulls, as backyard feeders attract the likes of indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, golden swamp canaries and the five vivid colors of the Painted Buntings that looks like a tiny rainbow come to life accompanied by song.

The gloom of oak-hackberry forests are alight with color as birds seek rejuvenation from their long journey amid the trees and their little claws leave marks like Runic symbols in the sand.

Raptors swoop overhead and waders get their feet wet.

Held annually, The Grand Isle Migratory Bird Celebration, created to support purchase and management of the Grand Isle Sanctuary that safeguards undeveloped chenier habitats, offers an open invitation to celebrate these tiny winged descendants of dinosaurs. Events such as bird-watching, banding, boat tours, native plant identification, island history tours and kayaking take

place along the Grand Isle Birding Trail. Habitats include live oak and hackberry forests; salt marshes and tidal ponds where you just might bump into a moorhen or a merganser along the way. Sponsored by The Sanctuary Group, the celebration also offers bird art, games, prizes and fun for children and adults. u

When it comes to feeding stations, this establishment doesn’t forget giraffes. who bend their necks to eat right out of your hand. Goats, llamas, chickens, horses, donkey, deer, pigs and more are fed in the Petting Zoo as squeals, clucks, brays and neighs of delight accompany the sound of laughing children.

The huge zoo savanna can be easily explored by riding the Safari Train as you hear the thunder of zebra, deer and oryx hooves dancing across the tundra. The Keeper Talks demonstrate animal enrichment projects at various exhibits—past enrichment recipients have been cuddly koalas. The expression on the faces of these denizens of the zoo, in addition to their body language, reminds me of well-loved and perhaps spoiled pets – content, trusting, laid-back and amused.

The ZooLive Animal Show features critters who take to the stage and show off their abilities.The Play Area features slides, rock walls, hideouts, bridges and crawl tubes.

The Grand Isle Migratory Bird Celebration April 15-17, (800) 259-0869. grandisle.btnep.org

Zoosiana, Zoo of Acadiana 5601 US Highway 90 E. Broussard

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around the state

LAPACE

GOOD FRIDAY AT FRENIER LANDING

Plantation Country The Pulitzer Connection in Baton Rouge BY jeanne frois

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obert Penn Warren won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1947 for his immortal work, All the King’s Men, the saga of politician Willie Stark, a not-so-veiled masterpiece based on the political life of Huey Long. He also won a Pulitzer Prize twice more for poetry and remains the only writer to have ever won for both prose and poetry. Warren served as the United States Poet Laureate from 1944-45.

This Kentucky native entered Vanderbilt University at the age of 16, where he mingled with a group of writers and wrote poems in a university magazine named The Fugitive.

Warren would then be educated at UC Berkeley, Yale University and finally, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving his literature degree in 1930. Four years later, he came to LSU to teach, recruited, fittingly, through the auspices of a program spearheaded by Huey Long to draw scholars of national acclaim to the school to bring enrichment of reputation and greater growth. He would remain there for the next seven years. While at LSU, Warren founded a literary quarterly, The Southern Review, that remains in print to this day, and published the works of Eudora Welty, Katharine Anne Porter, Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot. It was lauded by Time as a journal “superior to any other in the English language.”

Warren’s writing time at LSU was prolific, publishing a series of textbooks that gave birth to the New Criticism movement,

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and volumes of poetry. While Warren was still at LSU, Huey Long was assassinated in 1935. Later, reflecting on All the King’s Men, Warren said the novel would never had been written if he had not moved to Louisiana. A 1949 film adaptation won three Academy Awards. Today, the Robert Penn Warren Room in the LSU English Department is a fascinating enclave of related material and photographs where visits can be made by appointment. u

Frenier Landing Restaurant and Oyster Bar, built on stilts, offers a beautiful view of Lake Pontchartrain at the edge of a swamp. Covered with a tin roof and having a varied and delightful menu of seafood item makes it the perfect venue for a Good Friday meal.

Start off with the delicious crab cake topped with a spicy cream Louie sauce, or the Crabtini: lump crabmeat tossed in remoulade and served in a chilled martini glass sprinkled with capers.

The Whole Stuffed Flounder, christened with crabmeat and crawfish cream sauce recalls the glory days of Bruning’s Restaurant on the Lakefront of the West End of New Orleans. The Eggplant Napoleon is a rich concoction of fried aubergines, resting upon linguini and crowned with shrimp and crabmeat, over which crawfish cream sauce has been swirled.

Non-observers of Lent can enjoy the Ponchatoula Pork Chop and Strawberry Jalapeno Glaze entree: Imagine the sweetness of strawberry preserves and the hot kick of jalapeno pepper blended together and augmented by the succulence of tender pork.

Robert Penn Warren Room LSU Department of English, 260 Allen Hall, Baton Rouge, (225) 578-4086

Frenier Landing 113 Dottie Lane, LaPlace, (985) 224-2178

around the state

new orleans

HISTORICAL ENCLAVE

Greater New Orleans Jane Austen Festival in Mandeville BY jeanne frois

I

once wrote a book chapter in the middle of the night. My writing tools were a portable electric typewriter that sounded like a machine gun perched atop the stove in a tiny kitchen – an insular location that, with doors closed, ensured I would not awaken my sleeping family. Other writing locations in my career included the bathroom vanity, my knees and a card table.

Therefore I was one day vastly amused to read a magazine ad for a very elaborate writing table with the caption, “This desk makes me feel like Jane Austen even when I’m writing the electric bill.”

Not personally claiming any iota of Miss Austen’s talent, it was my marked opinion that such a true writer would not care what she wrote upon as long as whatever she wrote upon it was good.

I later discovered the highly acclaimed Jane Austen penned her work upon a wooden portable writing desk, almost like a laptop, that she could take anywhere. I was not surprised.

Each year in Mandeville, the lady who gave us work that absolutely sparkles – Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park is celebrated under the auspices of the Jane Austen Literary Festival. Sponsored by the Jane Austen Foundation of Louisiana, this volunteer group exalts and lives up to the high-quality standards that made Jane Austen an enduring and beloved writer. Events include “The Perfect Love Letter” competition, wherein contestants write epistles describing love of a person, place, or thing – whether real or imaginary.

The English Regency period comes alive in the Looking for Mr. Darcy reading contest. Combined with the “No Plain Janes” costume competition, attendees are encouraged to spend the

entire weekend costumed in high collars for the gentlemen and empire waistlines for the ladies. Past venues have included opportunities to get your hair styled; use a quill pen for letter writing; watch Regency dancing demonstrations and take lessons. This unique celebration adds a literary shine to the diversity of Louisiana festivals. u

The Confederate Memorial Hall Museum opened on the 76th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans with the express mission to preserve and commemorate the military history and heritage of the South. This collaborative effort between wealthy philanthropist Frank Howard and a Board of Governors consisting of local Confederate Veterans Associations and members of the Directors of the Howard Memorial Library ultimately formed the Louisiana Historical Association.

Collecting Confederate artifacts, relics and Civil War records, these treasures were soon housed in its present location, a beautiful red building in the Richardson Romanesque style on Camp Street.

Resting upon and around gleaming hardwood floors are display cases filled with personal items of soldiers who fought and died in the conflict; regiment flags; weapons, uniforms. With its own mission statement that specifically promotes no ideology or rhetoric, the museum is the oldest in New Orleans that only seeks to provide to the general public knowledge and understanding of the men and the tribulations they endured fighting in this great conflict – as part of enshrining American history and paying tribute to those who were willing to die out of their own sense of patriotism.

Jane Austen Literary Festival March 19-20, 2016, contact: info@janeaustenfestival.org

Confederate Memorial Hall Museum 929 Camp St., New Orleans. 504-523-4522. confederatemuseum.com

LouisianaLife.com | 69

mississippi travel

across the border Natchez, Mississippi celebrates 300 years By Cheré Coen

I

n the 18th century, French colonists traveled up the lower Mississippi River searching for a prime area to settle and found a dramatic bluff with a wide view of the river as the perfect spot. In 1716, they constructed a wooden palisade fort in the region occupied by the Native American tribe known as Natchez and named the site after its first residents.

This year, the city of Natchez celebrates its founding by the French with a year-long celebration. The Natchez Tricentennial not only marks its French origins – Natchez is the oldest continuous European settlement in the Lower Mississippi Valley – but also the periods of time the city operated under British and Spanish colonial rule before becoming part of the United States with the establishment of the Mississippi Territory in 1798.

The “Jewel of the Mississippi” also served as the first capital of Mississippi in 1817 and was home to African slaves who contributed greatly to the region’s economy.

Because of the town’s antebellum wealth, extravagant homes were built, most of which survived the Civil War. Today, there are more than 1,000 structures listed on the National Register

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of Historic Places and about a dozen of those are designated as National Historic Landmarks. Many of these homes are open for tours or as bed and breakfasts and two annual events open private homes, the Spring and Fall Pilgrimages.

The Museum of African American history celebrates the role Africans and AfricanAmericans played in the development of Natchez and the William Johnson House, operated by the National Park Service, honors a successful free man of color in antebellum Natchez. Johnson

acquired several city buildings, approximately 2,000 acres of land and several slaves. He kept a diary for almost 16 years, the lengthiest and most detailed personal narrative authored by an AfricanAmerican during this time in U.S. history.

On the outskirts of town is The Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, a site where the local Native Americans lived and prospered from 700 A.D. to 1730, when relations between the tribe and the French deteriorated.

“We have such a varied history,” says Jennifer Ogden Combs, Tricentennial executive director.

The quaint town that rests atop the bluff isn’t the bustling town it once was during the days of cotton and steamboats, but it’s now

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Plantation with awards presented in 13 categories. This year’s show will start with the Natchez Rally Drives, starting April 8 from Memphis and New Orleans.

The Natchez Festival of Music, a month-long celebration in May, will include a visit by Glen Ballard, a six-time Grammy winner for co-writing songs such as Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.”

“It’s not just about the history commemorative.”

And it’s not just about parties either, Combs adds.

There have been revitalizations of historic areas in town, continued expansion of the Natchez Bluff Trails Project and development of Fort Rosalie, the site of the original French fort, and the Forks of the Road site, the former second-largest slave market in the U.S. u

a top tourist destination, attracting visitors for romantic weekends, history and architecture buffs and those seeking special venues for weddings and special events.

“We’re the bed-andbreakfast capital of the South,” says Jessica Cauthen, public relations director of Visit Natchez. “We’re also the biscuit capital of the world.”

Put all those elements together and you’ve got a year of unending events and entertainment. Planners began with Natchez’s annual events, compiling a list that was quite impressive, Combs says.

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“It was stunning how much we have happening here,” she says.

Then the Tricentennial committee began adding special conventions, historic commemoratives and other events directly tied to the anniversary. But everything had to connect with the residents of Natchez, offering economic development and growth in addition to tourism, Combs explained.

“We constantly asked ourselves, how do we use this anniversary to positively impact our community for the long-term,” Combs says.

Here are some of the varied events happening in Natchez this year: The annual Spring Pilgrimage March 5 through April 5 will feature 24 antebellum mansions among flowering azaleas open to the public. New this year is the Confederate Pageant, updated and made more historically balanced by Natchez native, best-selling author Greg Isles.

The Euro Fest Classic European Auto & Motorcycle Show heads to Natchez for its inaugural automotive and motorcycle event on April 9. The free, family-friendly event will take place on the grounds of Rosalie

The National Park Service turns 100 this year, so the Natchez Tricentennial will dovetail with the Park Service’s anniversary at its historical sites throughout town. The official anniversary date of the French fort being established at Natchez is Aug. 3 and The National Park Service will dedicate the Fort Rosalie site as a green space park with walking trails and historical markers, in addition to other events commemorating the date.

Find out what the fuss is about at the two-day Natchez Biscuit Festival Sept. 23-24, held during National Biscuit Month of course.

The event features music, food, cook-offs and those famous Natchez biscuits.

The Great Mississippi River Balloon Race spreads color against the sky Oct. 16-18 and festivities such as balloon glows, food, music and more happen on the grounds of Rosalie Plantation and on Broadway Street downtown. New this year is the Blufftoberfest beer festival selling craft beers and offering Oktoberfest-style games and contests. Five breweries from Mississippi and Louisiana are participating in this event, including the local Natchez Brewing Company.

Closing out the year will be the annual Christmas parade, which will become the Heritage Parade this year, expanding to include representations of the town’s history, such as Native American dancers and African drummers.

And that’s just the tip of the 300th birthday cake. For information on Natchez and a complete list of events, visit visitnatchez.org. For information on the Tricentennial, visit natchezms300.com.

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advertising section

Rehabilitation

Aging Parents Maintaining Health & Happiness Springtime is full of activity in Louisiana; plants and flowers begin new growth, weddings, graduations, and sporting events beckon, and family holidays bring loved ones close for food and fun. With all the activity of spring, it can be easy to overlook some necessary decisions or dismiss lingering concerns. For the adult children and loved ones of aging parents, help is often needed, especially during such a busy season. Making the decision to leave the home and to seek retirement living is a complex process, rife with questions. The same goes for changes in health, whether expected, slow, and gradual, or surprising and immediate.

Louisiana has a number of health care providers and resources for families experiencing change and needing assistance with an aging loved one. Being prepared and having somewhere to turn can make a world of difference in showing you care.

Retirement Living People who choose The Oaks of Louisiana (ages 55+) in Shreveport choose more than a place to live, they choose a lifestyle. Maintenance-free living with luxurious amenities gives residents more time to live life to the fullest, and to get the most out of life, they need a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Because an Oaks lifestyle promotes physical, mental, and spiritual health by incorporating the International Council on Active Aging’s 7 Dimensions of Wellness, residents are ensured to live happier and healthier.

From the area’s only LifeTrail outdoor fitness system, indoor saltwater pool, croquet lawn, and putting green to enjoying group activities, special interest clubs, out-of-town trips and more, residents

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find The Oaks an ideal choice. With apartments starting at $1,563, The Oaks lifestyle is surprisingly affordable and full of options. From independent living to assisted living, to total care and short-term rehabilitation, residents are assured a continuum of care as their needs change.

Learn more atoaksofla.com.

Cardiovascular Care Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women.Theprevalence of obesity and diabetesin Louisianaputsour communitiesat an even greater risk of heart disease.

People of any age and gender are at risk for cardiovascular disease. Nearly 150,000 Americans who die from cardiovascular disease each year are under the age of 65, according to the American Heart Association.In fact, one out of every 20 people under the age of 40 has heart disease!

Here’s how you can reduce your risk: • Quit smoking.

• Eat a heart-healthy diet.

• Control high blood pressure and diabetes.

• Get active.

• Maintain a healthy weight.

• Manage stress.

• Get regular health screenings.

With 15locations throughout South Louisiana, Cardiovascular Institute of the South has an international reputation for providing state-of-the-art cardiovascular care and is known as a world-leader in preventing and treating both cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease. To learn more, call CIS at1-800-425-2565or visit cardio.com.

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and is a leading cause of serious long-term disability. New advances in medicine can reduce the effects of a stroke if they are given to the patient as soon as the stroke symptoms occur.

Getting to the hospital immediately can greatly improve one’s chances for recovery and decrease the effects of the stroke. Rehabilitation after a stroke is important to help regain lost function and improve independence. Inpatient rehabilitation programs are typically the first step in the recovery process.

The Rehabilitation Center of Thibodaux Regional, located in Thibodaux, has an acute care hospital-based rehabilitation program that provides intensive therapy, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy as well as medical management involving a physician who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. The Center has Stroke Specialty Accreditation by The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

For more information regarding Inpatient Rehabilitation after a stroke, call the Rehabilitation Center of Thibodaux Regional, 985-493-4731.

Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Dr. Kevin Darr of Covington Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute is a board certified and fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon with a commitment to offering comprehensive, progressive orthopedic care, including today’s most innovative and progressive practices to achieve optimal function and performance.

“In addition to traditional orthopedic treatments and surgery, I also offer minimally invasive alternatives utilizing state-of-the-art technology and integrative orthobiologic therapies and treatments,” says Dr. Darr.

Dr. Darr is entering his third year of offering orthopedic cell-based treatment and sixth year of offering patients platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. Most recently, he has begun enrolling patients in two new studies utilizing micro-fragmented fat tissue (Lipogems®), evaluating its use in relieving pain and inflammation related to osteoarthritis and tendon/ligament injuries.In addition to these studies, Dr. Darr is conductingfour IRB-approved research studies using autologous adult combined cell therapy along with PRP to improve function and relieve pain associated with osteoarthritis, soft tissue pathology including tendon and ligament disorders, and osteonecrosis in various joints. He gives frequent national lectures on his outcomes.

For more information about Dr. Darr’s studies and services, visit DrKevinDarr.com or call 985-273-5888.

advertising section

Regional Travel Visiting Mississippi!

From the Mississippi Gulf coast all the way to the edges of Tennessee, the state of Mississippi is quite expansive, covering a lot of ground, history, and culture. From gritty blues music and sweet barbecue to the bold strokes of world-class fine art, Mississippi offers travel experiences as diverse as its people and landscape. Engage in the past with tours of historic homes and battlegrounds or through scavenging relics at flea markets and antique shops. Take in the beautiful outdoors through cycling a trail or kayaking down a winding river. Indulge in its flavors at a food and wine festival, a contemporary, rising restaurant or a quick bite from a local food truck. However you like to travel, wherever your affinities lie, Mississippi offers a nearby travel destination with a little of it all.

Spring is festival season in Tupelo, Mississippi, so there is no better time to plan the perfect weekend getaway—from craft beer and barbecue,

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to classic cars, the arts, and all things Elvis.

Anything is possible when planning your trip around these one-of-a-kind special events.

Tupelo’s culinary culture takes the power of possibility to another level with something to satisfy every craving. After a day of festival fun, treat yourself to farm-fresh creations, haute cuisine, food truck fare and more at one of Tupelo’s many eateries.

Before heading back to reality, make a visit to Elvis Presley’s Birthplace to see the humble home where the King of Rock ‘n Roll was born. No matter what you’re looking for, in Tupelo, it’s all possible. Imagine what you can!

For more information, including a link to all spring festivals and events, visit Tupelo.net or call 800-533-0611.

Whether attending a signature event or touring historic homes while azaleas are in bloom, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is a great place to take

your family to make your own history. Visit the Vicksburg National Military Park and check out educational museums to immerse yourself in American history. Watch riverboats cruise down the mighty Mississippi River from one of many scenic overlooks or book a guided tour of the city for a truly unique experience.

Enjoy Vicksburg’s biggest festival—the RiverFest Music and Arts Festival—April 15-16 for live music concerts and free daytime activities.

Other activities include the DiamondJacks Rhythm Run, the Old Court House Flea Market, and Alcorn State University’s Jazz Fest. Spring is the perfect time to take part in traditional Vicksburg events like attending the Guinness Book of World Records’ longest running melodrama Gold in the Hills—celebrating its 80th year—or kayaking the mighty Mississippi at the Bluz Cruz Canoe and Kayak Race.

Find out more at visitvicksburg.com or by calling 1-800-221-3536.

Welcome, intrepid shoppers, seekers of the stylish, and explorers of great living! You’ve arrived at the right place—Ridgeland, Mississippi—for an exciting retail getaway experience that delights and satisfies. The Ridgeland Retail Trail is paved with locally owned, unique treasures and more.

Incredible talent has helped Ridgeland grow from a small artist colony to a premier shopping destination with over 140 restaurants and quality accommodations.

This spring and summer, Ridgeland will host a variety of events. The Ridgeland Fine Arts Festival takes places April 2-3, while the Ridgeland One Behind the Other “OBO” Tandem Bike Rally rolls April 1-3. The Sante South Wine Festival welcomes sippers and tasters on April 2. Outdoor competitors will enjoy the Magnolia Meltdown Half Marathon (May 14), Dragon Boat Regatta (May 21), and Heatwave Classic Triathlon (June 4).

Ridgeland is also home to a variety of attractions including the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444-mile National Scenic Byway, the Mississippi Craft Center, and the 33,000-acre Ross Barnett Reservoir for parks and outdoor activities.

Explore VisitRidgeland.com for more info.

When Modern Was Contemporary: Selections from the Roy R. Neuberger Collection is on view at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson beginning April 9, 2016. The fifteenth presentation of The Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition Series, the exhibition features works by 52 of the modern era’s modern masters, including Alexander Calder, Willem de Kooning, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and numerous others. This presentation marks the first time this collection has traveled from its home at the Neuberger Museum of Art in New York.

Financier Roy R. Neuberger (1903–2010) was committed to buying the work of living artists in order to support the artists themselves. By 1950, the center of the avant-garde art world had shifted from Paris to New York, and Neuberger’s was the most important private collection of modern art in the country. Neuberger said of himself, “I have not collected art as an investor would, I collect art because I love it.”

Visit msmuseumart.org or call 601-960-1515.

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events offer new reasons to revisit old haunts.

Whether your kind of cultural experience is “pacquing” eggs on Easter Sunday or spending your day strolling through a market, Louisiana’s bounty awaits this spring.

Statewide Attractions & Events

festival international

Traveling Louisiana Your Guide to Spring Events & Attractions While mulling over your options for weekend fun this spring, it’s good to take into consideration the events and destinations right in your own backyard. Louisiana is a state big enough to offer widely different landscapes and cultures while small enough to allow for quick day or weekend trips to any of its diverse destinations. From the mystique and joie de 78 | Louisiana Life march/april 2016

vivre of French-speaking Cajun country to the shopping- and sports-devoted cities in North Louisiana, there are innumerable ways to experience the state’s rich offerings. Festivals celebrate it all: tomatoes, strawberries, frogs, black bears, German, Irish, Italian, Scottish, and French heritage, arts, music, writing, and more.

Additionally, one-time art exhibits and special

River Oaks Square Arts Center is located in the heart of Alexandria’s historic downtown and is one of the South’s most unique arts centers. River Oaks features over 20 exhibitions and nearly 200 visual artists annually. The center offers premiere education components with featured artists and houses studio space for over 40 working artists.

April 8 through May 28, River Oaks will host its 2nd Annual Dirty South Mug Competition, featuring over 100 mugs from over 80 artists. While both functional and non-functional mugs created by regionally and nationally renowned ceramicists will be on display, tea bowls will also be incorporated into this 2nd annual event. Massachusetts based potter, Kristen Kieffer (Guest Juror), will conduct a two-day workshop on April 20-21. The opening reception will be held on Friday, April 24th with day-long clay features. The event is sponsored by GAEDA and co-sponsored by Ugly Mug Marketing.

For more information on River Oaks Square Arts Center, visit their website, riveroaksartscenter.com, follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For class enrollment, call 318-473-2670.

It is with excitement that New Orleans City Park invites you to join in an extraordinary new opportunity for the Louisiana community. It’s an event that will appeal to everyone. Locals will love it, families will embrace it, and visitors will come to New Orleans to experience it. The New Orleans Botanical Garden inside City Park will be transformed like never-before.

From February 23, 2016, through May 1, 2016, China Lights will fill the Botanical Garden in City Park with more than 30 extraordinary, blazingly bright silk-covered structures. Picture an incredible glowing dragon 192-feet long, a three-story, lit-from-within pagoda towering high enough to be seen from almost any vantage, and dozens of dazzlingly colorful lighted displays created at City Park by a team of over 100 artisans and technical staff from Sichuan Tianyu in Zigong, China.

Tickets are available on CityParkPresentsChinaLights.com and are $18.00 for adults, $12.00 for children 3-12 years old, and free for children under 3 years.

Ready! Set! Fête! The fourth annual AlexRiverFête celebrating culture, community, and collaboration will be held May 5-7, 2016, in Alexandria, LA. This three-day festival is set along the banks of the iconic Red River and brings thousands of people together for fun.

Mark your calendars now and plan to be in Downtown Alexandria to celebrate the arts and heritage of Central Louisiana.

Dinner on the Bricks, ArtWalk, and the Louisiana Dragon Boat Races™ along with live

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entertainment from local talent and major musical acts, as well as great food and a popular children’s play area, just scratches the surface of the fun on hand. With so much to see and do, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at the Fête. Fête means “an elaborate festival, party, or celebration,” and that’s just what you will find in Alexandria this May. Make time to enjoy the party!

As always, AlexRiverFête, promises to be an unforgettable experience. Learn more about the festival and lineup at CityofAlexandria.com/Fete.

The French Market District is comprised of a scenic six-block stretch along the Mississippi River in the New Orleans French Quarter from Café du Monde to the Farmers and Flea Markets, and includes The Shops on the Colonnade on Decatur Street, The Shops at the Upper Pontalba on Jackson Square, and the newly opened Crescent Park on the river.

Experience historic architecture, sidewalk dining, live music, boutique shopping, and plenty of affordable souvenirs, from locally made pralines and spices to artwork and cookbooks.

Enjoy complimentary walking tours, fitness classes, children’s concerts and workshops, author signings, cooking demonstrations, and various cultural events throughout the year.

The French Market District is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 9:00am to 6:00pm (with some restaurants open later).

Every Wednesday, the Crescent City Farmers Market produces a fresh farmers market from 1:00-5:00pm. The 30th annual French Market Creole Tomato Festival will held June 11 & 12, 2016.

View the full calendar of events, maps, and shop listings at frenchmarket.org.

Cities & Parishes Lafayette is at the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun & Creole Country, an area known as the ‘Happiest City in America’ and it’s no mystery why. With their distinctive blend of food, music, and culture it’s no wonder people from all over are heading down south with a smile on their face.

One annual event bringing together all the elements that make Lafayette so unique is Festival International de Louisiane. The largest non-ticketed outdoor Francophone event in the U.S., Festival International highlights the connections between Acadiana and the Francophone world. Held Wednesday–Sunday, April 20-24 throughout Lafayette’s Downtown, Festival International hosts 500 performing and visual artists from 17 countries including Europe, Africa, Canada, the Caribbean and the Americas to share their talents across seven stages with Lafayette’s artists, residents and visitors.

Visit LafayetteTravel.com/Festival-International for performance schedule, lodging, and travel information.

For those who prefer their food with a side of competition, Shreveport-Bossier: Louisiana’s Other Side has two upcoming cook-off events that are guaranteed to please the palates of gumbo and barbecue fanatics.

The Fourth Annual Battle of the Gumbo Gladiators, a competitive gumbo cook-off and

fundraiser for Volunteers for Youth Justice, will be held in downtown Shreveport’s Festival Plaza, 11:00am-5:00pm, Saturday, March 19.

Admission is free and gumbo samples may be purchased for $1 each. During the event, gumbo teams will compete for cash prizes and attendees can sample nearly 100 gumbos in categories including seafood, non-seafood and “gumbo of the people.” More information is available at gumbogladiators.com.

Another popular annual cook-off, the Ark-La-Tex Ambassadors BBQ Cook-Off, will be held in Festival Plaza, 11:00am5:00pm, Saturday, April 9. This national barbecue festival-sanctioned event draws barbecue teams from throughout Louisiana, Texas, and beyond to compete for cash prizes and bragging rights. Team registration forms and more information can be found at arklatexambassadors.com.

To learn more about the unique culinary scene in Shreveport-Bossier, visit shreveport-bossier.org/dining or call 800-5518682 and request a free copy of Eat Here: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shreveport-Bossier.

Savor the difference in Iberia Parish this spring. Celebrate 150 years of TABASCO® and see the Avery Island experience! Journey the TABASCO® Factory like never before with an all-new expanded tour, visitor center, and Creole-cottage cafeteria-style restaurant,

1868. Or, sample the best Cajun dishes on a TABASCO® Food Tour with departures to Iberia and Vermilion Parishes. Jungle Gardens has also made its trek more interactive with new signage, and guided birding tours are available upon reservation.

Make plans now to attend the first ever Dave Robicheaux’s Hometown Literary Festival, April 8-10, 2016, celebrating New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke’s famous detective from New Iberia. Authors/publishers panels, book signings, look-a-like contests, great food, lively music, and guided tours are just the start of what’s sure to become a beloved festival.

In Iberia Parish, it’s all too hot to pass up! For more information on destinations and events, visit IberiaTravel.com.

Spring has sprung in “The Most Cajun Place on Earth,” also known as Vermilion Parish. This South Louisiana area located minutes south of Lafayette and west of New Iberia is alive with the food, music, language, and scenery that define the Cajun cultural heritage.

Spring is the season for great catches at local seafood and farmers markets, which can be found all over the parish. Located at Bayou Carlin, the Delcambre Seafood and Farmers Market takes place every first Saturday this season and features an open air market with local produce, fresh seafood, music, and more from 8:00am-1:00pm. The Abbeville Farmers Market in Magdalen Square runs March 19, April 16, and May 21. On select Saturdays, the Erath Farmers Market brings fresh produce, seafood, and crafts to Erath City Park.

Music is alive this season, too, with Abbeville’s Sounds in the Square Spring Concert Series on Thursdays in March and April from 5:309:00pm. Lastly, don’t miss the food, music, and fun at the 6th Annual Stir the Pot: Seafood Cook-off & Festival at Palmetto Island State Park on April 2.

For more information, events, and ideas, visit MostCajun.com.

“Allons aux Avoyelles,” the Egg Knocking Capital of Louisiana, to “pacque some eggs.”

Festivities in Avoyelles Parish begin on Easter Saturday, March 26, in Cottonport. Pockin’ on the Bayou activities begin with a 5k run and 1-mile walk with registration at 7am. A full day of contests concludes with the “Egg Pacquing” competition beginning at 2pm with different age groups knocking chicken or guinea eggs.

Easter on the Red River Festival celebrates its 11th Anniversary at Ben Routh Recreational Park on Saturday, March 26th starting at 11:00am with registrations for all contests: egg decorating, Easter bonnets or caps for men, cake walk, egg hunt, and egg knocking (Children at 12:30pm, Adults at 3pm. Bring your own hardboiled eggs for competition!) Vendors, crafts, plants, jewelry, bow, etc. and food booths open at 11:00am. Call 318-253-0064 for more information.

The knocking continues on Easter Sunday morning in Marksville. Knocking on the Historic Courthouse Square begins with registration at 9:00am and competition follows with different age groups and categories of hardboiled chicken or guinea eggs (bring your own). Call LouisianaLife.com | 79

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318-253-9500 for additional information on the Marksville competition.

Experience Ruston & Lincoln Parish, one of USA Today’s most charming towns in the South! Spring will be a time to celebrate the arts and culture in Ruston, the hub for the arts in North Louisiana. The Dixie Center for the Arts in Downtown Ruston has several exciting events in store this spring starting with a musical performance by the Dukes of Dixieland on March 18 and the interactive mystery play “Monday Always Leads to Murder” performed by the Ruston Community Theatre on April 21-24.

You don’t want to miss the Spring Ruston Makers Fair on April 9, which brings makers, music, food and fun to Downtown Ruston.

This event is a time to appreciate and support the unique arts culture of Ruston while makers and artists showcase and sell their incredible pieces of art, jewelry, woodwork, soaps and more! For more information and upcoming events in Ruston & Lincoln Parish, visit experienceruston.com.

Surrounded by the waters of Bayou Teche, Atchafalaya River, and the Atchafalaya Swamp Basin, the Cajun Coast, in St. Mary Parish is known for its natural splendor and “road less traveled” atmosphere. There’s no better way to spend a fall day than exploring the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area or winding along the Bayou Teche Scenic Byway. Cajun Jack’s Swamp Tours take visitors through the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest overflow swamp in the U.S., or you can experience the wilderness by paddling through the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge. Golfers won’t want to miss a chance to hit the Atchafalaya at Idlewild, which was rated the number one golf course in Louisiana

by Golfweek Magazine in 2008 and 2009.

This spring, St Mary Parish is alive with festivals and events including the Irish-Italian Parade and Porch Party (March 19) Cypress Sawmill Festival (April 1-3), the Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival (April 15-16), the Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Show (April 15-17) and Rhythms on the River every Friday for nine weeks beginning April 1. For more information, visit cajuncoast.com.

The heart of plantation country, Iberville Parish is known for its serene landscapes, quiet swamps, and elegant history. Located between the diverse waterways of the Atchafalaya Basin and bustling Baton Rouge, Iberville Parish is home to magnificent antebellum homes, majestic churches, and fascinating historic sites. Explore Iberville online through a new interactive map at VisitIberville.com and plan your journey to the Parish. From attractions such as stately Nottoway Plantation and architectural gem St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church to rounds of golf at The Island and seafood at Roberto’s River Road Restaurant, Iberville Parish welcomes visitors craving an authentic South Louisiana adventure.

Whether history beckons you to the Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site or the

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Hansen’s Disease Museum in Carville, or the beauty of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area draws you in for fishing and bird watching, Iberville Parish promises an unforgettable escape, whether for a day, a weekend, or more.

Rest, relax, eat, and explore along the winding Mississippi River. For more information and to plan your trip, go to VisitIberville.com.

Whether looking for a day trip or an overnight getaway, the Alexandria/Pineville area offers a variety of experiences for all travelers.

The area is perfect for girlfriend getaways. Stay overnight at Loyd Hall Plantation B&B or the quaint Susan’s Cottages before heading out for a day of antiquing and shopping the area’s many flea markets. Relax at a spa or stroll through an art museum before catching fantastic live music at one of the restaurants in town.

Or, gather the guys and the golf clubs for a few rounds on the links. The Alexandria/Pineville area has six traditional golf courses from which to choose including OakWing Golf Club, Links

Camping in the Kisatchie Forest in Alexandria/Pineville

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on the Bayou, and one of the nation’s oldest Par 3 courses, Bringhurst Golf Course, as well as three disc golf courses. For the adventurer, hike one of many trails in Kisatchie National Forest—the Wild Azalea Trail or the Kincaid Lake Loop—or bring or rent a kayak and paddle out on Valentine or Cotile Lake.

No matter the getaway you desire, the Alexandria/Pineville area is waiting to be discovered. Begin planning your trip today at AlexandriaPinevilleLA.com.

Webster Parish, in the piney hills of Northwest Louisiana, is a beautiful destination for a safe, fun, and family-friendly outing. Just 30 miles east of Shreveport, off I-20 (exit 47), the natural beauty and historic charms of the region draw visitors, festival-goers, and even professional filmmakers.

This spring, Webster Parish warms up with cultural celebrations and other springtime events. Celebrate spring in April with the Scottish Tartan Festival and “Chickenstock” Spring Arts Festival, both in Minden. On April 2nd, the Scottish Tartan Festival returns for its 15th year and highlights Louisiana’s Scottish heritage with Celtic music, dancing, food, and sporting demonstrations. On April 15th, enjoy art in all of its forms at the “Chickenstock” Spring Arts Festival presented by Cultural Crossroads at the Farm located at the 417 East Union in Minden.

Other springtime events in Webster Parish include the Trails & Trellises Garden Tour and Seminars in Minden (May 14), and the 14th Annual Burn Run at Lake Bistineau State Park (April 15-16), a benefit for the Ark-La-Tex Children’s Burn Camp.

For more information on Webster Parish festivals and fun, call 1-800-2MINDEN or visit visitwebster.net.

Just off I-10 and west of Lafayette lies the “Cajun Prairie,” Acadia Parish, an area known for its unique attractions, numerous year-round festivals and rich history and folklore. In Crowley, home of the International Rice Festival, tour the Rice Interpretive Center, the Historic Crowley Ford Motor Company, built in 1920, as well as the J.D. Miller Recording Studio. Travel the Zydeco Cajun Prairie Byway and visit Kelly’s Landing Agricultural Museum to take an informative walk through the past while viewing the farming equipment of yesteryear and learning the importance of crawfish and rice to the region.

See why Rayne, LA, home of the annual Frog Festival, is both “The Frog Capital of the World” and the “Louisiana City of Murals.” Check out and visit the Le Vieux Presbytere Museum with bousillage, mud walls. Roberts Cove, LA, is home to the German Heritage Museum and the popular Germanfest. For more information, events, destinations and festival dates check out AcadiaTourism.org or call 877-783-2109.

Accommodations Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter is located in the heart of the French Quarter on world-famous Bourbon Street. They offer 186 comfortable guest rooms, more than 4,000 square feet of market-leading meeting facilities, a tropical courtyard with an outdoor pool, 24-hour fitness center and more.

Café Opera, the Four Point’s full-service restaurant features a classic New Orleans menu of Creole and continental cuisine. Guests can also enjoy a wide section of specialty drinks at the Puccini Bar. Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter is located on the site of the French Opera House (1859-1919), a legendary New Orleans cultural venue. Their performance series, “Opera Returns to Bourbon Street” features local operatic talent from the New Orleans Opera Association and local classical vocalist group Bon Operatit!

Four Points by Sheraton French Quarter is located at 541 Bourbon Street. For reservations and more, call 866-716-8133 or visit FourPoints.com/frenchquarter.

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calendar

March/April Festival season in full swing

BY JUDI RUSSELL photo by david simpson

FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE LOUISIANE April 20-24 This year, Lafayette’s biggest festival, Festival International, celebrates 30 years.

The fest, which is free and open to the public, is a celebration of Louisiana and Francophone music, food, arts and crafts, education and life in the heart of Cajun country.

CAJUN COUNTRY March1-April 30. New Iberia Azalia Trail. Iberia Parish, New Iberia. (337) 365-1540.

March 3-6. Black Heritage Festival. Civic Center, Lake Charles. (337) 436-9588.

March 6. 31st Annual Here’s the Beef Cookoff. Yambilee Fair Grounds, Opelousas. (337) 945-0364.

March 6. 31st Annual Here’s the Beef Cookoff. Opelousas Yambilee Ag Arena. (337) 945-0364.

March 9. Krewe of Coteau Mardi Gras Parade. Francis Romero Memorial Park, Coteau. (337) 577-5099.

March 11-12. Choctaw Volunteer Fireman’s Fair. Choctaw Fairgrounds, Thibodaux. (985) 859-0079.

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March 13. Zydeco Marathon & a Half. Cajundome Convention Center, Lafayette. zydecomarathon.com

March 23. Grillin in the Park.

New Iberia City Park. (337) 365-5651.

March 18-19. Iowa Rabbit Festival. Burton Complex, Lake Charles. (337) 436-9566.

March 24-26. Laotian New Years Celebration. Lanexang Village, Broussard. (337) 364-3403.

March 19. Festival of Live Oaks.

New Iberia City Park. (337) 369-2337.

March 26. Acadiana Dragon Boat Festival. Bouligny Plaza, New Iberia. (337) 352-2180.

March 20. 31st Annual World Championship Crawfish Etouffee Cookoff. North West Community Center Pavilion, Eunice. (337) 457-2565.

April 1-3. Monster Jam. Cajundome, Lafayette. (866) 248-8740, Ext. 31427.

March 20. Easter Cantata.

Pharr Chapel, Morgan City. (985) 384-7984.

March 22. 31st Annual Etouffee Festival. St. John Francis Regis Church, Arnaudville. (337) 754-5912.

April 8-10. Cajun Hot Sauce Festival. SugArena, New Iberia.

(337) 365-7539.

April 20-24. Festival International de Louisiane.

Downtown Lafayette. 222.

LafayetteTravel.com

NEW ORLEANS AREA March 4-6. Ponchatoula Antique Trades Days & Arts & Crafts Fair. Downtown Ponchatoula.

(985) 386-0026.

March 4-12. New Orleans Spring Fiesta. Various locations, New Orleans. (504) 581-1367.

March 5-6. Los Islenos Festival.

Islenos Museum & Village, St. Bernard. (504) 615-9322.

March 11-April 16. St. Patrick’s Day Parades. Various locations. stpatrick’sdayneworleans.com March 18-20. Amite Oyster Festival. Downtown Amite.

(985) 969-5340.

March 25-26. Hammond Smokin’ Blues & BBQ Challenge. Downtown Hammond. hammondbbq.com

March 30-April 3. Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival. Various locations, New Orleans tennesseewilliams.net/festival March 31-April 3. Louisiana Crawfish Festival. Sigur Cultural Center, Chalmette. louisianacrawfishfestival.com April 5. Jammin on Julia. Julia & Camp Streets, New Orleans. jamminonjulia.com April 7-10. French Quarter Festival.

Various locations, French Quarter. fqfi. org April 8-10. Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival. Ponchatoula Memorial Park.

(800) 917-7045.

April 22-24, April 28-May 1. New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. New Orleans Fair Grounds. nojazzfest.com April 23-4. Slidell Spring Antique Street Fair. Old Towne Slidell. (985) 641-6316.

north March 6. Winter Jam. Century Link Center, Bossier City. 2016.jamtour.com March 19. Louisiana Redbud Festival.

Vivian Town Square, Vivian. Laredbud. com March 19. Battle of the Gumbo Gladiators. Shreveport Festival Plaza.

(318) 425-4413.

March 26. ASEANA Spring Festival.

ASEANA Asian Gardens, Shreveport.

(318) 401-8078.

April 2. Annual Scottish Tartan Festival.

Scotland Farms, Minden. (318) 393-2693.

April 8-9. Annual Hot Rod Reunion.

Bossier City Boomtown Casino. (318) 655-5838.

April 9. Spring Bloom Celebration.

American Rose Center, Shreveport. (318) 938-5402.

April 15-24. Holiday in Dixie. Festival Plaza, Shreveport. (318) 865-5555.

baton rouge area March 12. St. Patrick’s Day Parade. S. Acadian Thrwy. & Hundred Oaks Ave., Baton Rouge. (866) 920-4668 April 1-3. 51st Jackson Assembly Antiques & Art Show. Downtown Jackson. (225) 634-7155.

central March 19. Bloomin’ on the Bricks.

Riverfront, Cane River Lake, Natchitoches. (866) 941-6246.

April 15-16. Natchitoches Jazz/Rhythm & Blues Festival. Riverbank of Cane River, Natchitoches. (318) 332-1059.

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A britney spears shrine The Kentwood Museum is full of the pop star’s trinkets and treasures. By Megan Hill photo by southern charm photography

T

hough it’s technically named The Kentwood Museum, it’s generally known – by those who know it – as the Britney Spears Museum. Sure, there is an exhibit dedicated to local participation in World War II, but after that, it’s pretty much all Britney.

Four rooms in the museum are a veritable shrine to the tiny town’s most famous resident. Spears, of course, was born in McComb in 1981 and lived in Kentwood as a child. The so-called “Princess of Pop” launched her career as a member of the Mickey Mouse Club in 1992 alongside other future stars Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling and Keri Russell.

Spears rocketed to fame with the release of her first single, “…

Baby One More Time.” She became the bestselling teenage artist of all time, has won numerous awards and has sold more than

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If you come, ring the doorbell to be admitted.

Entry is free, though donations are accepted.

The museum holds irregular hours, so call before you go if you’re traveling a long way: (985) 229-4656.

Posted hours are 9:30 a.m. to noon, Tuesday through Saturday, but random closures are not uncommon.

34 million albums worldwide.

Spears remains popular despite – or perhaps because of – her tarnished stardom. Over the years, the missteps have piled up: her 55-hour marriage to a childhood friend; erratic behavior; parenting skills that were scrutinized heavily by the media and more. But she has repeatedly picked up the pieces and remains a fascinating public figure who currently has a two-year residency performing in Las Vegas at Planet Hollywood.

The artifacts in the museum are as wondrous as they are numerous. The exhibits include fan photos; a case of awards; a detailed, light-up and to-scale replica of her “Dream Within a Dream” tour in 2001, which took a man in Salem, Oregon, six months to craft by hand; a massive set of feathered wings worn by the pop star on her “Femme Fatale” tour; Britney Spears calendars donated by a fan in Europe; a pageant trophy; a Jaguar headdress; framed albums; Britney Barbie dolls. For a $3 donation, fans can pose for a photograph with the wings.

The final room includes a reconstructed version of Spears’s childhood bedroom, frozen in the 1980s. Her family donated items like furniture, Teddy bears, dolls, decorations, and her actual bed and bedspread, all of which are arranged as if a child-aged Spears was just in the next room. It’s almost creepy. The museum isn’t a happening place; visitors are rare though they tend to be fervent, eager to get a dose of the singer’s life. There’s a guestbook showing how far people have traveled to see her hometown: Some have traveled from as far away as Italy and France. u

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a louisiana life

All that jazz New Orleans singer Linnzi Zaorski’s “accidental” career

BY Megan hill PHOTO BY romero & romero

In addition to singing and songwriting, she and her partner Nick Usner operate an organic farm called Grow. They sell heirloom and specialty produce along with culinary herbs to restaurants in New Orleans and at the Covington Farmers Market on Saturdays.

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J

azz singer Linnzi Zaorski was bartending at Molly’s At The Market on Decatur Street in New Orleans when she chanced upon a singing career. Though she never trained as a singer, Zaorski got her big break at the bar next door, The Abbey.

“My friend brought me to this little hole-in-the-wall place, and I just fell in love with this band that was playing,” she says. She chatted with the band members and requested the song “Dream a Little Dream.” Before she knew it, they were asking her to come up and sing it with them. “I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t really sing.’ But I had enough cocktails to be persuaded to get up there and do it.”

Zaorski admits she barely knew the words and was too scared to face the audience – even though she says hardly anyone was in the audience that night.

“But the feeling I got from playing with those guys and the response that I got from hearing the little bit that I knew of the song, I was just hooked,” Zaorski says. She went back to sing with the band night after night, and eventually they signed on to back Zaorski regularly, forming The New Orleans Jazz Vipers.

The group started performing at The Spotted Cat on Frenchmen

Street, and soon Zaorski had herself a new career. That was in 2001; today, Zaorski has released five albums, with a sixth in the works for release later this year. The forthcoming album features plenty of her original songwriting, and even back-up from the Pfister Sisters. “It was such a treat to have them there and get to see them do something and have them working on something that is my recording.

Really cool,” she says.

Zaorski also has a regular weekly gig at Three Muses, – impressive considering she never set out for a singing career.

“I’m definitely an accidental singer,” she says. No one in her family sings, and though she always enjoyed it, “I assumed I didn’t have a good voice.”

But Zaorski’s voice has a vintage quality to it, reminiscent of Judy Garland. It’s something that comes naturally rather than being affected, which works well for her jazz and swing leanings. u

So what’s next for Zaorski?

While she admits she’s exchanging performances for time with her daughter lately, she’ll probably ramp back up with more bookings later this year.

And there’s likely to be more songwriting in her future, too.

“It’s one of those times in my life that I’m more inspired than usual,” she says, hinting of Clementine. “I’m excited to move in a bit of a different direction now that my life has evolved, and there’s a lot more in the repertoire to put on a recording.”