Louisiana Life March/April 2022

JUST DESSERTS

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recipes that will make you want to skip dinner

MARCH/APRIL 2022

P. 34

PLUS

Travel the Gulf Coast P. 46

FEATURES

Louisiana Life (ISSN 1042-9980) is published bimonthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380. Subscription rate: One year $10; no foreign subscriptions Periodicals postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Louisiana Life, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright © 2022 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.

Best Coast

Hot spots on the Gulf for your summer of fun

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8 recipes that will make you want to skip dinner

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Just Desserts

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MARCH/APRIL VOLUME 42 NUMBER 2

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR’S DESK

Pecan Pieces 14

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News and updates around the state

Kiki and Rick Frayard built a Mission Revival house at home in its South Louisiana setting

HOME

PELICAN BRIEFS

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KITCHEN GOURMET

Take advantage of blueberry and strawberry season with these fresh takes on healthy and delicious fruits of spring 56

NATURAL STATE

Louisiana’s state fruit thrives despite countless challenges faced by the farmers who grow, cultivate and cherish this important crop

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LITERARY LOUISIANA

In honor of Women’s History Month, here’s a roundup of books by some of Louisiana’s many female authors 20

MADE IN LOUISIANA

New Orleans designer Basqo Bim conjures the carnival spirit with character-filled custom masks 24

ART

New Orleans artist Phil Sandusky’s paintings are inspired by the beauty of destruction

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TRAVELER

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Dirty South Cup puts ceramics front and center in Alexandria

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FARTHER FLUNG

Flat Rock, North Carolina and the surrounding area attracts Louisianians fleeing the heat 64

PHOTO CONTEST

A serene scene at Fontainebleau State Park

LOUISIANALIFE.COM 5

EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Errol Laborde MANAGING EDITOR Melanie Warner Spencer ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ashley McLellan COPY EDITOR Liz Clearman WEB EDITOR Kelly Massicot FOOD EDITOR Stanley Dry HOME EDITOR Lee Cutrone ART DIRECTOR Sarah George LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Danley Romero SALES SALES MANAGER Rebecca Taylor (337) 298-4424 / (337) 235-7919 Ext. 7230 Rebecca@LouisianaLife.com

RENAISSANCE PUBLISHING MARKETING COORDINATOR Abbie Whatley PRODUCTION PRODUCTION MANAGER Rosa Balaguer Arostegui SENIOR DESIGNER Meghan Rooney CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTIONS Jessica Armand DISTRIBUTION John Holzer ADMINISTRATION OFFICE MANAGER Mallary Wolfe CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Todd Matherne For subscriptions call 877-221-3512

110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123 Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 128 Demanade, Suite 104 Lafayette, LA 70503 (337) 235-7919 xt 7230 LouisianaLife.com

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FRO M TH E E X E CUTIVE E D ITOR ’ S D ES K

P O D C A ST

Louisiana Insider

Pecan Pieces

Catch up on the latest podcast episodes

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ust for fun I began this column by looking up the official Louisiana state nut. It turns out there isn’t one. This in a state that makes the lesser known, but nevertheless worthy, mayhaw, its state jelly and gives rightful praise to its bounty of strawberries. Somehow the pecan had been overlooked for official praise.

This crisis comes to mind because of our cover being about desserts. It occurred to me that the overlooked pecan has a story to tell — if pecans could tell stories.

Pecans are native to the South. Those of us in Louisiana live in pecan country and should take advantage of it. Early vendors did. Pralines sold mostly from the streets and grocery counters in New Orleans were a definitive local item. They utilized two Louisiana-grown products; the pecan and sugar cane. The cane was cooked down into a syrup and then pecan pieces were added.

Gradually butter, sugar, milk and maybe a little vanilla were mixed in before baking. If done right the result was a slightly delicate and soothingly sweet confection. Dietetically, pralines are like cracklins — we wouldn’t want to have one every day, but from time to time they’re good to remind us where we are.

Pecan pies are popular most everywhere but, in this state, nature has benefitted us with two key ingredients: native-grown pecans and Steen’s syrup. Made in Abbeville, Steen’s is best known for its bright yellow cans. Sugar cane fields are nearby from which the juice is boiled down to create a syrup with an overwhelming molasses flavor. Done right, the ingredients produce a fragrance of what old fashioned pecan pies tasted like.

At Christmas, among my favorite snacks are pecans that have been lightly salted and baked. There are also pecan specialty shops throughout the state selling the nuts with multiple flavors, including candied.

One very seasonal use for the pecan is made by the Elmer’s company of Ponchatoula.

Among the company’s longtime Easter products inventory is the pecan egg for which the inside creamy nougat is topped by caramel and then a sprinkling of pecan pieces. The result is one of the company’s classics.

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EPISODE 72

Pointe-Au-Chien – The People and The Place There is a place in Terrebonne Parish near the Gulf of Mexico known for its beautiful scenery, bountiful seafood and a population of indigenous people. It is also known for its fragile existence so near the water, as tested by Hurricane Ida. Guest: Ben Johnson, a senior producer for Louisiana Public Broadcasting, discusses his documentary “The Plight of Pointe-AuChien,” a study of both the land and the native people who survive there.

(I pause here for an editorial observation: I just noticed that Elmer’s being in Ponchatoula is in the same town that has the annual strawberry festival and claims to be the Strawberry Capital of the World. The people of Elmers could probably claim that the town is also the Pecan Egg Capital of the World. It seems to me that there is a strawberry and pecan egg dessert needing to be created.)

Finally, one more application for the pecan — raw, off the tree. Take two pecans in the palm of your hand — squeeze tight until they crack. Pick out the “meat” in the innards. They should be slightly sweet and crunchy.

If you like them send a bag to your state representative along with a note that, in the culinary sense, Louisiana needs an official nut.

EPISODE 71

Storyville – A Neighborhood Of Its Own You may not have noticed it, but this year is the 125th anniversary of the legalization of the Storyville red-light district in New Orleans. Storyville was an effort to make prostitution more respectable by allowing it only in a designated neighborhood. Guest: Historian Sally Asher of Red Sash Tours

EPISODE 70

Some of the State’s Best

ERROL LABORDE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

In trying to pick a Louisianian of the Year, there are 4.6 million people to choose from. Louisiana Life magazine makes the task a bit easier by talking to experts in various fields to whittle the size to five worthy people. Guest: Managing Editor Melanie Warner Spencer

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CO N T RIB UTORS

Ashley McLellan

Jeffrey Roedel

WRITER

WRITER

Ashley McLellan is the editor of New Orleans Magazine, associate editor of Louisiana Life and a contributor to Biz New Orleans Magazine.

McLellan has won multiple awards during her more than 20-year career. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pontypridd in Wales and also holds a Diplôme de Sabreur from the Confrerie du Sabre d’Or, and will saber a bottle of Champagne in exchange for a glass of bubbly.

Jeffrey Roedel is a producer, director and journalist focused on Southern makers, artists and creative thought. A graduate of LSU and the University of Southern California’s Production Workshop, he’s the former editor of 225 in Baton Rouge. In 2020, he released a collection of mantras for creativity called “Life Is Gonna Try to Put a Lot of Polo Shirts on You.” His album of pandemic poetry and music called “Distance” was released in 2021.

Eugenia Uhl

Danley Romero

FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Eugenia Uhl is a photographer and a native New Orleanian. Her photographs have been featured in New Orleans Magazine, New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles, Southern Accents, Metropolitan Home, GQ Magazine, Essence, Travel & Leisure and Vegetarian Times. Her clients include Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, International House Hotel, Volunteers of America, Galatoire’s and Tulane University. She has completed multiple cookbooks, including "Commander’s Kitchen" for Commander’s Palace and "New Orleans Home Cooking" by Dale Curry, Pelican Publishing.

A native of Lafayette currently residing in the Lake Charles area, Danley Romero specializes in portrait photography. Romero considers it an honor to contribute to his state’s flagship magazine, Louisiana Life, and takes a particular sense of pride in his association with its sister publication Acadiana Profile. Most gratifying are the experiences that collaborating with the two magazines afford: meeting and photographing many of Louisiana’s most talented, accomplished and interesting citizens — the people who help to make our state the wonder it is.

FOOD WRITER

Stanley Dry Stanley Dry writes the “Kitchen Gourmet” column for Louisiana Life magazine and is author of “The Essential Louisiana Cookbook” and “The Essential Louisiana Seafood Cookbook” and co-author of “Gulf South.” Formerly senior editor of Food & Wine and founding editor of Louisiana Cookin’ magazine, his articles have appeared in Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Boston Magazine and Acadiana Profile, among others.

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SALES

REBECCA TAYLOR Sales Manager (337) 298-4424 (337) 235-7919 Ext. 7230 Rebecca@LouisianaLife.com

Coming up!

MAY/JUNE 2022

Travel the State: Road Trips

AD SECTION

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LOUISIANALIFE.COM 13

PEL I C AN B RIE FS

Here Come the Fests The Return of Jazz Fest and Festivals Acadiens et Créoles

BY LISA LEBLANC-BERRY

LAFAYETTE

VIVE LE FESTIVAL! Returning this year after a COVID hiatus, Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is held March 18-20, themed “Le Grand Retour.” The spring fest kicks off with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys and Chris Ardoin and NuStep Zydeko (sic) Friday night.

Wayne Toups and ZydeCajun will close the event Sunday night. Don’t miss Saturday’s “A Tribute to Courtney Granger” in memory of the late Pine Leaf Boys fiddler.

Normally held the second week of October, a second Festivals Acadiens et Creole is scheduled for October 14-16 (festivalsacadiens.com).

BATON ROUGE

Holy Cow! LSU students reported seeing a cow freely roaming around campus, according to social media posts.

Strolling down streets at a fast clip, the sprightly bovine appeared to be rushing to class alongside students and vehicles. The cow had escaped from a 4H livestock show in Parker Coliseum. It was safely returned to its owner following an afternoon of campus glory.

NEW IBERIA

Literary Leanings Experience a Cajun literary adventure under the oaks during Books Along the Teche Literary Festival, April 1-3. This year’s Great Southern Writer is Osha Gray Davidson (author of “The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South,” which became a 2019 movie of the same name). Food and demos by acclaimed Chefs Cody and Samantha Carroll of Hot Tails in New Roads (they’re opening a second location in Prairieville).

Enjoy walking tours, workshops, Cajun cuisine and music by the Bunk Johnson Brass Band (booksalongthetecheliteraryfestival.com).

SHREVEPORT

Meet Blaze

T

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ADDITIONAL NEWS BRIEFS ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

AP PHOTO/ALEX BRANDON

he New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (nojazzfest.com) makes a triumphant return April 29-May 8 after two COVID-cancellation years.

Returning headliners previously slated for 2020 and 2021 are The Who, Stevie Nicks and Foo Fighters, appearing on the heels of their new horror film, “STUDIO 666.” Even though New Orleans’ Oscar-winning composer Jon Batiste (nominated for 11 Grammys) is the subject of Terrance Osborne’s 2022 Jazz Fest poster (art4now.com), Batiste is unable to perform this year due to the May 7 Carnegie Hall world premiere of his “American Symphony” (carnegiehall.org).

After spending several months acclimating, Blaze (the enthusiastic new shark at the Shreveport Aquarium) is now swimming in the main ocean tank with the other sharks. You can easily spot Blaze because she is the smallest of the two whitetip reef sharks. She loves her seafood and can usually be seen enthusiastically participating in public shark feedings (shreveportaquarium.com).

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PEL I C AN B RIE FS

In Residence Amanda Shaw kicks off five weeks of live shows at Four Seasons New Orleans eatery Chemin à la Mer

BY LISA LEBLANC-BERRY

ALEXANDRIA

EMPOWERING WOMEN Join industry leaders for an empowering Louisiana Women in Agriculture Conference Expo 2022 held April 6-8 at Alexandria’s Randolph Riverfront Center. Tour two farms, visit a goat dairy, hear organic farming tips, learn from top equestrian trainers and meet featured speakers Gaye Sandoz (director of the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator) who helps budding entrepreneurs develop emerging food ventures; “The Farm Babe” Michelle Miller who reveals the myths and merits of grocery labels; and Dr. Marissa Hake navigating bovine health with humor (facebook.com/ louisianawomeninag).

NEW ORLEANS

On Their Toes New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) launches Ballet Hispanico’s national tour when it returns to New Orleans March 12 to mark its 50th anniversary with a debut performance of “Dona Peron.”

American Ballet Theatre, accompanied by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, closes out NOBA’s spring season with performances of “Don Quixote” May 14-15 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater (nobadance.com).

SHREVEPORT

Animation Creation Troubled Muse is bringing a full-service visual effect (VFX ) and animation creation studio to Shreveport. The company’s launch is supported by Louisiana’s Entertainment Job Creation Program.

Troubled Muse will create original digital content for TV and feature films, specializing in motion capture, visual effects and animation, bringing 53 new permanent jobs (average salary of $74,000) and 40 new indirect jobs to Shreveport (louisianaentertainment.gov).

WEST MONROE

On the Riverfront

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ADDITIONAL NEWS BRIEFS ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

PHOTO BY AMY HARRIS/INVISION/AP; COURTESY NOBA

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ward-winning Cajun fiddler, Amanda Shaw, has launched a new live music program every Wednesday in Chemin à la Mer’s lounge and every Saturday in Chemin’s dining room. Chef Donald Link’s chic new eatery is located on the fifth floor of Four Seasons Hotel. Following Shaw’s five-week gig, the restaurant is hosting a rotating line-up of musicians to entertain diners (reservations available on Open Table; by phone: 504-434-5898).

Downtown West Monroe is one step closer to getting a new look, thanks to a development that will give citizens recreational access to the Ouachita River. Private contributions totaling $125,000 (to date) have been raised for an ambitious riverfront plan that includes a new recreational marina featuring walkways and boat slips, slated for completion this summer in Phase One. Phase Two will include a small amphitheater, stage and fishing pier (downtownwestmonroe.org).

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L IT ERARY LOUISIANA

Literary Ladies In honor of Women’s History Month, here’s a roundup of books by some of Louisiana’s many female authors

BY ASHLEY MCLELLAN

HISTORY AND SURVIVAL

Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast Writer Joan DeJean tells the tale of French female convicts falsely convicted of sex crimes.

The 132 women, imprisoned aboard the La Mutine (the mutinous woman), were brought to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Only 62 survived the journey, forging a path that afforded them victories they never would have known at home, including owning property and arranging their own marriages. DeJean documents their triumphant transformations and details their place in history in the development of the city of New Orleans. Hardcover, 448 pages, $32.

COMMUNITY BONDS

The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories New Orleans writer Ladee Hubbard follows her critically acclaimed novel “The Rib King” with a colorful, gripping and moving collection of short stories. “The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories” follows a series of interlocking tales involving family, friends and neighbors in a Black neighborhood over the course of 15 years.

Hubbard examines issues of Black middle class, false media portrayal of the community, resilience and strength of family and spirit in this striking collection. Hubbard received the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, and has had her work published in the “Times Literary Supplement” and “Guernica.” Hardcover, 224 pages, $24.99.

KITCHEN STORIES NATURE MADE

Louisiana Herb Journal: Healing on Home Ground Clinical herbalist Corinne Martin invites readers to venture outside and explore all of the healing treasures that Louisiana flora has to offer.

“Louisiana Herb Journal: Healing on Home Ground,” details wild Louisiana herbs and plants, information on the history, traditions from Cajun healers and native tribes and the healing properties and uses of each. This is a great starter guide for anyone looking to get into nature and explore the unique landscape of Louisiana.

Paperback, 304 pages, $34.95.

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Nana’s Creole Italian Table: Recipes and Stories from Sicilian New Orleans You can’t talk about New Orleans cuisine without including Creole Italian creations.

From po-boys to olive salad, meatballs to red gravy, Italian immigrants have influenced some of the most iconic New Orleans staples. In “Nana’s Creole Italian Table: Recipes and Stories from Sicilian New Orleans,” food writer and founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, Elizabeth Williams explores the food she grew up on recipes and stories that delve into the traditions of her own family, surrounding neighborhoods, New Orleans Italian culture and more. Warning: this book will make you hungry. Hardcover, 208 pages, $29.95.

ADDITIONAL BOOK REVIEWS ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

LO UIS IANA MADE

About Face New Orleans designer Basqo Bim conjures the carnival spirit with character-filled custom masks

BY JEFFREY ROEDEL PHOTOS BY ROMERO & ROMERO

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t’s an epic, bejeweled beast of folkloric proportions. Or else it’s a mischievous, spinning sun prop escaped from the set of a children’s TV show and loose on the sidewalks of New Orleans.

Whatever it may be, it’s certainly 10 feet of electric skin, all patchworked fabric and ornamental trappings and foraged flora like clever detours of design ambling through the artsy Bywater neighborhood.

At the controls is bespoke mask-maker Basqo Bim, tucked inside of this wild assembly, but joking and gesturing with all the charisma of a carnival, cutting it up with every local and tourist passing by and those stopping to gawk and squawk.

“I would hope it’s not unapproachable, and that they would get a kick out of it,” Bim says of the daydream of an idea hibernating in his brain until the time is right to sew this seed. When the coffee is on and the dogs are walked, when he’s fully immersed in thought, when Mingus is blasting, when Russian Orthodox artists and medieval jesters and Sandinista revolutionaries come out to play, and he can swim deep in his river of influences once again.

“The goal always is to bend reality, to make what I see in my head and put it out in the world,” Bim says.

And, really, is that too much to ask?

Now 36, Bim didn’t become an artist until he hit 30, while he was toiling in an office job and received a strong challenge from his younger brother, Fernando, an artist who died in 2021.

“He was my younger brother and my best friend, and one day he said, ‘But what do you do? This is it?’” Bim recalls. “He put me in a tailspin, I realized I didn’t have much to show for the last decade.”

So he began sketching, then making detailed illustrations, then embroidering his own designs. While living in Portland, the brothers produced a massive grim reaper puppet requiring three operators to tower over the crowds at rowdy anti-Trump demonstrations. “That was all about bringing our own energy and creativity to that moment,” Bim says.

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AT A GL ANCE HOMETOWN

Greenwood, South Carolina AGE

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INSTAGRAM

@basqo_

It wasn’t until he relocated to New Orleans four years ago to live with his partner and work in the film industry that Bim’s art evolved into intricate mask work. The opulent energy of the Mardi Gras Indians made an instant impression. “I felt that in my bones,” he recalls.

This is a city of mask lovers. In a time of mask wearing.

Bim’s art is somehow both stratospherically tethered to that and yet far more elusive.

Last fall, contemporary art gallery The Front hosted a collection of his work, alternate reality masks and headpieces that caught the attention of well-heeled revelers and ribald denizens of the Crescent City alike.

It was Bim’s first experience with being recognized “from Instagram.” A weird feeling, he admits.

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LO UIS IANA MADE

When you’re not creating, what do you enjoy doing in Louisiana? For me, it is extremely important that an outsider learn the history of a place if they decide to visit or live there. I love spending time at the libraries. I watch a lot of New Orleans-centric documentaries and films.

I love exploring new

“If you come into this town even briefly, and you don’t walk away a changed person, I don’t know what happened, you know?” Bim says. “For me, the influence has been very direct.”

The designer also draws inspiration from his parents’ birthplace in Colombia. That country’s rich boldness of color and decoration is felt in every mask. Similarly, past psychedelic experiences taking mushrooms and DMT have helped him push his art beyond the ordinary.

“Hallucinating made me realize that every object has an outline,” he recalls. “And that you can always go further and further with the details of things, and that’s something I like to take with me to creating.”

Pena is at work on a new batch of masks, each with its own history and legend and power — world-

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building, he calls it — but Bim has his eye on full creature creation and animatronics, too, perhaps for films.

Like the costume lineage of the tricksters that kept both kings and kindred commoners in good spirits for centuries, Bim’s masks encourage a closer embrace of playfulness and giving chase to whimsy, a collective time for dreaming while awake, and for celebrating the colors of the world in brand new ways — whether there is an official Mardi Gras or not.

The creative’s work is more fundamental to that pursuit than any city proclamation.

“My hope is that putting on my masks will initiate with their childlike hearts,” Bim says. “That it’ll pull something out of them that’s already there and has just been buried.” n

areas on foot. Sometimes we will grab a six pack and our dogs and go down to the bayou to watch the sun set, or take them to the river or the lakefront. Going to my favorite spot to get red beans on Monday, even though I make my own every week.

Talking with the folks at my corner store every day or two, chatting with the neighbors.

If you could design a custom mask for anyone, who would it be and why? I think Bjork, Hayao Miyazaki, and Tootie Montana are my folks. The common underlying theme is that I would feel a tremendous need to push myself in a way that I’ve never done before to make something for them. Bjork is like a real-life bolt of lightning in terms of her energy and spirit.

She pushes her art direction and theatrics in a way that no one else does. Miyazaki’s animation and films have brought me so much inspiration, and in some ways I’m sure that I can’t even tell. Finally, Big Chief Tootie Montana, rest in peace. He was the chief who pushed the masking culture to be more about pageantry and aesthetics — lookin’ pretty — in order to shift away from violence and conflict.

What would your brother think of your new work, if he was alive today? He would be excited to know I’ve learned to pick this up and run with it, and he would encourage me to go harder, to do what I’m doing, but more so. Way more so. He always pushed me in that direction. I think his influence and guidance are very apparent in my art.

LouisianaLife.com Get the magazine’s award-winning articles and photography, plus digital exclusives including videos, recipes and more.

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ART

Forces of Nature New Orleans artist Phil Sandusky’s paintings are inspired by the beauty of destruction

BY JOHN R. KEMP

W

ith dark memories of Hurricane Katrina still fresh in his mind, New Orleans artist Phil Sandusky packed up his brushes, paints and easel and headed out late last August into his Uptown New Orleans neighborhood to capture the visual drama and destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ida. Walking the streets after Ida struck south Louisiana on Aug. 29, Sandusky found centuries-old trees down and homes badly damaged, yet the city was spared the heartbreaking devastation that Ida had wreaked upon the state’s coastal and river parishes. The first three days, Sandusky acclimated himself to the heat, humidity and lack of electricity. His wife Michele, an artist and social worker, drove to Gonzales in Ascension Parish to stay with friends who hadn’t lost power. Sandusky decided to stay home. Soon his drowsiness gave way to a sense of urgency to get out into his U ptown Black Pearl neighborhood near the Mississippi River levee to document the destruction.

In discussing Ida’s damage in the city, he couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Hurricane Katrina when he spent months moving dangerously alone among the ruins, painting flood-ravaged areas such as the Lower Ninth Ward.

“This wasn’t Katrina,” Sandusky says, trying not to minimize the damage Ida caused in areas outside New Orleans. “This was wind damage instead of flooding.

Everywhere you turned the hair stood up on the back of your neck. You would see a house that slithered over a pickup truck that was upside down and crushed on a footing of another house. Katrina was 19th-century naturalism on steroids. Ida was more subtle than that.

When I said Ida was not as bad as Katrina, I meant here inside the New Orleans levee system. Outside of it, Ida was a nightmare.”

Though New Orleans dodged the worst of Hurricane Ida, Sandusky felt compelled to paint.

“First and foremost, it’s beautiful,” he says, referring to the visual interplay of twisted and broken trees juxtaposed against man-made elements of New Orleans architecture. “You see the forces of nature everywhere.

It’s human beings against nature and nature always wins.

There’s a sense of urgency that lights up in me to go out and capture it. It was a race against time.”

Unlike his Katrina paintings that covered large sections of New Orleans, this time Sandusky concentrated on what he found in his neighborhood. To capture that “urgency,”

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(Top) “Wrecked Awning and Sawed Up Tree” (Right) “Fallen Tree and Pods Unit”

Sandusky painted on location, as he does with all his landscapes. Working “plein air” enables him to get a full sense of light, shadows and textures. And he works quickly, usually completing an oil painting in a threehour sitting.

“You get what’s really important about the scene,” says Sandusky, who identifies himself with 19th-century French Barbizon impressionist painters. “My paintings are a lot more simple than you think they are. The mind fills in a lot. Nothing beats the firsthand experience. It’s infinitely richer than reliving the scene through the cheesecloth of sitting in the studio looking at photographs.”

ADDITIONAL ARTWORK ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

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ART

EXHIBITS CAJUN

Eugene James Martin: Heterochronic Collages Work by African American modernist Eugene James Martin, through May 14. Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette. acadianacenterforthearts.org CENTRAL

Smith & Wisznia Collection Features work by 30 Louisiana artists, March 5 through June 18. Alexandria Museum of Art. themuseum.org PLANTATION

Iridescence: Juried Competition International juried art show, exploring theme of iridescence, through July 31.

Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Baton Rouge. lasm.org NOLA

Sandusky’s Hurricane Ida paintings are the latest in his three-decade fascination with the New Orleans landscape and what he describes as the city’s “eclectic old architecture, its lush tropical foliage, its dense atmosphere, and not least of all, its rich culture, which reveals itself here and there with subtle visual cues.”

Sometimes outsiders like Sandusky, who has painted since childhood, are keen to “subtle visual cues” in places like New Orleans. Born in Florida, he studied physics in college and took art to improve his skills. Later came painting classes at the Art Students League in New York.

In 1980 Sandusky began his career not as an artist but as an engineer on oil drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Four years later, the company transferred him to New Orleans where he moved between two worlds — art and oil. Finally in 1992, he quit his job and dedicated himself full-time to painting and teaching.

Since then, Sandusky has gained national acclaim for his work, which can be found in public and private

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collections across the country.

He also has written four books about his art, he is a regular at New Orleans outdoor art markets, and every other year, he organizes his own art shows at selected galleries in the city.

In addition, Sandusky taught painting for several years at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts but now conducts private workshops. It’s not uncommon to see him with a gaggle of students set up along a sidewalk in the Bywater or uptown neighborhoods, painting “eclectic old architecture” while attracting curious neighbors and passersby.

“Over the years,” he says while gazing around his cramped studio, “I have become a fixture in New Orleans neighborhoods with my palette and easel.”

All cities should have such fixtures — without hurricanes like Katrina and Ida, of course. n

(Top) “House on Lowerline with Fallen Water Oak” (Left) Phil Sandusky (Right) “House on Lowerline with Sections of Tree”

The Matrix of Creativity: Where the River Meets the Sea Work by contemporary Black artists, through July 30. New Orleans African American Museum. noaam.org NORTH

59th Annual Juried Competition Through May 7, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe. masurmuseum.org

In Louisiana, we love to eat and celebrate, and no matter the season or time of year there’s always a special occasion to mark with food, family and friends. This 15-month calendar of Louisiana’s finest cooking highlights a recipe for each month, plus two bonus recipes to keep you cooking all year.

VISIT LOUSIANALIFE.COM TO ORDER

LOUISIANALIFE.COM 27

HO ME

Mission Accomplished Kiki and Rick Frayard built a Mission Revival house at home in its South Louisiana setting

BY LEE CUTRONE PHOTOS BY HAYLEI SMITH

W

hile an Acadian cottage might not be the typical choice of architecture for a California residence, the classic Mission Revival architecture (common to many places in California including Napa, one of the owners favorite destinations) of Kiki and Rick Frayard’s house is very at home in its Acadiana setting. Conceived to work with the surrounding attributes of its corner lot, the house is such a pleasing marriage of building and place that locals often

28 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

use it as a background for special occasion photos — including weddings, proms and Christmas.

The Frayards had previously built a French-farmhousemeets-Paris abode filled with French Country antiques.

Though they still loved it, even as empty nesters, they had tired of the maintenance it required — especially the upkeep of the formal garden.

When Rick, a financial advisor, found a lot in the River Ranch community that faced a pond in front and connected to a second pond in back, they decided to build again. Inspired by a trip to the South of France, they hired architect Kevin Gossen, whose father founded Lafayette’s eponymous Gossen Architects, and brought to the table a list of wants that included a Mediterranean look and tile roof; a bit smaller size and cleaner, more modern interior than their last home; a bigger laundry room, and a large closet for Kiki who owns and runs Kiki, a jewelry and clothing store with locations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge. She will soon

(Left) The kitchen’s limestone floors and rustic exposed beams are modernized with white cabinets and walls, stainless steel and leathered marble countertops.

(Above)A tumbled stone archway, wrought iron stair railing and antique chandelier from Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights convey a sense of age. (Right) A salmon velvet sofa complements the deep teal walls of the library. Andy Warhol lithograph.

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HO ME

(Right) Layered rugs, custom window treatments from Entre Nous Design in Lafayette and a custom bolster pillow add color and texture to the soothing linen white of the master bedroom. Rugs, Samir Oriental Rugs; bed, Patti Dupree Furniture & Interiors; painted cabinet, Renaissance Market, Lafayette.

(Far right top) Kiki Frayard with her cat Maxine.

(Far right bottom) Brown velvet sofas anchor the living room. Mixed media figural by Demond Matsuo from Ann Connelly, Matisse lithograph and trumeau from LeMarche Antiques, Baton Rouge. Rugs, Samir.

AT A GL ANCE ARCHITECT

Kevin Gossen, Gossen Architects INTERIOR DESIGN

Kiki Frayard BUILDER

Mark LaBorde TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE

6,224

OUTSTANDING FEATURES

Stone archways, metal windows, enclosed courtyards, patterned walnut floor in bar area

hand the reigns over to her daughter Katie Culbert, owner of Wild Child Wines with husband Denny Culbert (formerly a freelance photographer for this magazine).

The Frayards also wanted a spacious master suite and butler’s pantry, both of which they’d had before. Gossen began with the site.

“When you build, you need to let the lot influence the design, be conscious of the good and the bad and take advantage of its assets and disadvantages,” says Gossen.

“Those things shape the plan and it evolves.”

Working with the clients’ requirements, their desire to edit down their collection of antiques to the best pieces and the colorful array of contemporary art they’d amassed over the years (much of it by Louisiana artists),

30 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

Gossen put together a plan for a house with both timeless and current details. The exterior of the house is mainly the product of Mission precedents with its tile and stucco, while the bright turquoise front door also brings to mind architecture of the Greek isles. Inside, tumbled stone archways, limestone floors, a wrought iron stair rail, a wet bar with a rubbed-paint finish and rustic exposed beams convey the patina of age. But metal windows and doors, leathered marble counters and white walls are drawn from a lighter, more contemporary playbook.

“We wanted wall space for the art and a lot of light,” says Kiki.

Private outdoor areas are a natural extension of the Mediterranean influences and the use of glass. Interior

ADDITIONAL HOME IMAGES ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

touches, such as the use of natural wood to frame the metal windows, are carried outside, blurring where one space ends and the other begins.

“I love that California feel that there’s not a definite line between inside and outside,” says Kiki.

The couple combined their existing antiques and art with new upholstered pieces from Dixon Smith Interiors of Baton Rouge. They also added an elegant assortment of chandeliers, mostly sourced in New Orleans, as well as fine rugs, custom window treatments and a few contemporary accent pieces.

“I wanted a house that I was happy to come home to every day,” says Kiki, who clearly accomplished the goal with her team of professionals. “I always tell Kevin [Gossen] and our builder Mark LaBorde, ‘I love my house.’” ■

K ITC HE N G OURME T

TIP Vodka is included in the recipe to keep the sorbet from becoming icy. Other types of liquor, such as a strawberry eau de vie, would serve the same purpose while adding flavor.

STR AWBERRY SORBET ¾ cup sugar 1½ cups water 1 pound strawberries 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tablespoons vodka TO M A K E S IMPLE S Y RUP, combine sugar

and water in a small pan and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let syrup cool before proceeding with recipe.

WA S H, HULL A ND S LICE strawberries.

Berry Blast Take advantage of blueberry and strawberry season with these fresh takes on healthy and delicious fruits of spring

BY STANLEY DRY PHOTOS AND STYLING BY EUGENIA UHL

32 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

L

ouisiana has an abundance of official symbols (the state doughnut is the beignet, the state crustacean is the crawfish and the state vegetable is the sweet potato, for example), but I only recently learned that we even have an official state fruit. It’s the strawberry, which makes sense on a number of levels. Strawberries are our leading fruit crop in value (about $8.4 million in 2019), and strawberries are almost universally loved and eagerly anticipated. In most parts of the country, strawberries are a summer treat, but we get ours much earlier. In some years, local strawberries start showing up in January, they reach their peak in the

Place strawberries, simple syrup, orange juice and lemon juice in blender and process until liquefied. Press through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds. Add vodka and chill thoroughly, then process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Scoop into container and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 5 or 10 minutes before serving so sorbet will soften slightly.

Makes about 1 quart.

MORE RECIPE ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

spring and if you want strawberries for your Fourth of July shortcake, you’ll have to import them from California.

The strawberry industry in Louisiana dates from the late 1800s, when Sicilian immigrants started farming strawberries in the area north of Lake Pontchartrain. By 1924, 14,000 acres were planted in strawberries that were shipped to northern markets. Today, the industry is a fraction of that and most of the strawberries stay in Louisiana. Seventy-five percent of the state’s strawberry acreage is in Tangipahoa Parish, where the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival is held in April. Strawberries are a healthful food, providing vitamins C and A, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium and folate.

Commercial blueberry cultivation in Louisiana goes back about 50 years, and today there are over 300 acres under cultivation that yield a $6.5 million crop.

Blueberries, which ripen a little later than strawberries, are extremely high in antioxidants and provide fiber, vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc and folate.

In addition to grocery stores and farmers markets, Louisiana strawberries and blueberries are available at pick-your-own farms. It’s worth checking to see if there is one in your area.

This month’s recipe for individual strawberry tarts doesn’t require a special tart pan, which many of us don’t have. It’s made with simple rounds of a buttery crust that are baked and then covered with strawberries and heavy cream that has been amended with sour cream for additional flavor, then whipped until thickened.

Be sure to try the strawberry sorbet, blueberry pound cake and blueberry buttermilk pancake recipes, too. n

INDIVIDUAL STR AWBERRY TARTS 1 pint strawberries 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, or to taste 2 tablespoons orange liqueur, such as Cointreau WA S H, HULL A ND S LICE

strawberries. Place ½ cup of the sliced berries in a blender along with powdered sugar and Cointreau and puree. Add puree to sliced strawberries, adjust sweetness to your taste, and set aside to macerate while you make the pastry.

1 cup all-purpose flour 1½ tablespoons sugar ¼ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter ¼ cup heavy cream PR EHE AT oven to 400 F. In a

mixing bowl, whisk flour, sugar and salt to combine. Cut butter into small pieces and add to bowl. Using fingertips, work butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add heavy cream and mix quickly with a fork until dough begins to come together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Cut dough into 4 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the pieces out to a diameter of 4-5 inches.

(Don’t obsess over trying to achieve a perfect circle. Free form has its charms!) Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces. Prick each crust all over with a fork. Bake in center of oven until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

1 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons sour cream 1 tablespoon powdered sugar COMB INE creams and sugar in

a mixing bowl and beat until thickened.

IF YOU’R E N OT S ER V ING right

away, refrigerate strawberries and cream. Just before serving, place a crust on each plate, cover with strawberries and top with a dollop of cream. Makes 4 servings.

BLUEBERRY POUND C AKE ½ cup butter, softened 1½ cups sugar 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¹/8 teaspoon nutmeg ¹/8 teaspoon baking soda ¹/8 teaspoon salt ¼ cup plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style 1¹/³ cups all-purpose flour 1½ cups blueberries PR EHE AT oven to 325 F. Butter

and flour a standard loaf pan (approximately 9-by-5-by-3 inches).

CR E A M butter and sugar until

fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add vanilla, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and yogurt and mix well.

Fold in flour until combined.

Fold in blueberries. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 65 to 70 minutes.

Makes about 8 to 10 servings.

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK PANC AKES 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons granulated sugar ½ teaspoon salt 1¼ cups buttermilk 4 eggs, lightly beaten 4 tablespoons melted butter 1 cup blueberries COMB INE dry ingredients in

a mixing bowl and whisk to mix well. Add buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter and stir to combine. Gently fold in blueberries. Spoon batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle and cook until bubbles form on surface of pancake, then turn and cook briefly on the other side.

Repeat with remaining batter.

Makes 4 servings.

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8

recipes that will make you want to skip dinner

BY STANLEY DRY PHOTOS BY EUGENIA UHL

JUST DESSERTS

GINGER CANTALOUPE SORBET

O Open almost any Louisiana cookbook and you’ll find a big section of dessert recipes, a testament to our love of sweets.

The recipes often include both traditional and modern desserts. As tastes change and as recipes evolve over time, it is sometimes difficult to determine where tradition ends and innovation begins.

It is both interesting and instructive, in this regard, to look at early Louisiana cookbooks. “Creole Cookery,” published in 1885, contains recipes for ice creams, sherbets, puddings (including bread pudding), pies, cheesecakes and cakes.

“La Cuisine Creole,” published in the same year, covers pretty much the same ground and includes a recipe for bread pudding.

In 1900, the “Picayune’s Creole Cook Book” made an appearance. It was a major survey of New Orleans cookery that sold-out quickly. A second and enlarged edition was published in 1901.

It included an extensive section devoted to desserts. “The Creoles are famous for their dainty and delightful desserts,” the book noted, before giving recipes for beignets, crepes, compotes, pastries and pies, puddings (including bread pudding), custards, creams, sauces, cakes, souffles, cream puffs, eclairs, cookies, meringues, ice creams and sherbets.

Also in 1900, the Southern Pacific Sunset Route published a small volume entitled “Mme Begué and Her Recipes: Old Creole Cookery.” It included recipes, written in both English and French, for dishes served at Begue’s, a restaurant famous for its elaborate breakfasts. Even

LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

here, there are recipes for two desserts — Floating Islands With Chocolate Cream and Cream Cheese Pie. Bread pudding is of special interest to me.

I love it and am fascinated by how it differs from one cook to another. It is a dessert that often appears on restaurant menus and can be considered a classic Louisiana dessert whose lineage dates at least to the 19th century. At its most basic, it is a practical recipe, a way to use up stale bread by transforming it into something delicious.

Pecan pie is another dessert for which Louisiana is famous, but the state’s early cookbooks don’t mention it, and for good reason. I’ve read that some pecan pie recipes were published in the late 19th century, but they differed from most contemporary recipes that are made with corn syrup. Karo corn syrup, which is inextricably linked with pecan pie, first came out in 1902, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that a recipe for pecan pie made with corn syrup appeared. Supposedly, the wife of a company executive created the recipe which was widely advertised to promote the sale of Karo.

Before the age of corn syrup, pecan pies might have been made with molasses, cane syrup or brown sugar, which were all Louisiana products. My favorite pecan pie, which is made with brown sugar, doesn’t have the tooth-aching sweetness of most versions made with corn syrup. So, which is the traditional recipe for pecan pie, the one made with corn syrup or the one made with brown sugar?

PEACH COBBLER

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SOUR CHERRY & ALMOND BREAD PUDDING WITH CRÈME ANGLAISE

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LEMON SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

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PECAN PRALINES

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GINGER CANTALOUPE SORBET

pat out to a diameter that will fit baking dish. Place biscuit dough on top of fruit mixture. Bake in preheated oven until fruit is bubbling and biscuit topping is nicely browned, about 25 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

1 cup water ¾ cup sugar 1 inch fresh ginger 1 large or 2 small cantaloupes ¼ cup lime juice ¼ cup vodka

SOUR CHERRY AND ALMOND BREAD PUDDING WITH CRÈME ANGLAISE

MAKES ABOUT 1 QUART

Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Peel and slice ginger and add to pan. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and macerate for an hour or two. Strain and discard ginger.

Halve cantaloupe(s), discard seeds, and remove flesh from rind. Cut cantaloupe flesh into chunks, add to blender and puree enough to yield 3 cups. Add ginger syrup, lime juice and vodka to blender and pulse to combine. Refrigerate mixture until thoroughly chilled.

Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to a container and store in freezer.

PEACH COBBLER

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

4 cups French bread, torn into small pieces ¼ cup melted butter 2 eggs ½ cup granulated sugar 1½ cups milk ½ cup heavy cream 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 1/3 cup dried sour cherries ½ cup sliced almonds CRÈME ANGLAISE

2 cups whole milk 6 egg yolks ¼ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

3 tablespoons butter, divided 5 large peaches (about 2 pounds) ¾ cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon nutmeg FOR BISCUIT TOPPING

1 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons sugar 1½ cups low-gluten self-rising flour, such as White Lily TO SERVE

Vanilla ice cream Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter.

Slice peaches into a mixing bowl; add sugar, flour and nutmeg and toss to coat.

Add peach mixture to baking dish. Top with pats of remaining butter.

Whip cream with sugar until stiff. Fold in flour with a rubber spatula to make a dough. Turn onto a floured surface and

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place bread in a 2-quart baking dish and drizzle with the melted butter. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with the sugar, then add milk and cream.

Add vanilla and nutmeg and mix. Pour over the bread in the baking dish. Add cherries. Using a large spoon, press bread down so it is completely submerged in the custard. When the bread is saturated, sprinkle almonds over the surface. Bake in preheated oven until set in the middle, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with cold crème anglaise.

CRÈME ANGLAISE

In a heavy saucepan, bring milk to a boil. In a mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until creamy and slowly add hot milk while whisking. Return mixture to saucepan. Cook over low heat, while stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Strain into a bowl. Add vanilla and place the bowl in a larger

bowl filled with ice and water. Stir until sauce cools. Cover and refrigerate.

Makes a little more than 2 cups.

LEMON SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE MAKES 1 CAKE

½ pound butter, softened 3 cups sugar 6 large eggs ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda 2¾ cups all-purpose flour ½ cup sour cream 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract juice and finely grated zest of 2 lemons Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a large bundt or tube pan.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add salt, baking powder and baking soda and mix to combine. Fold in flour by cupfuls until just combined.

Fold in sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, being careful not to over mix.

Turn batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place pan on a rack for about 20 minutes.

Turn out and place cake upright on rack to cool.

PECAN PRALINES

MAKES ABOUT 30 SMALL PRALINES

1 cup pecan halves 1 cup pecan pieces 1 cup heavy cream 1½ cups granulated sugar 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast in a 325 F oven for 10 minutes. In a saucepan, bring cream, sugar and pecans to a boil and cook until the mixture reaches 234 degrees. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla. Beat until candy thickens. Drop by teaspoonfuls on buttered wax paper.

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MASCARPONE CHEESECAKE WITH CHOCOLATE CRUST AND RASPBERRIES

LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

BLUEBERRY PIE

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PECAN PIE

LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

MASCARPONE BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE PIE WITH CHOCOLATE CRUST AND RASPBERRIES MAKES 8 SERVINGS

CRUST

MAKES 12 OR MORE SERVINGS

CRUST

1½ cups chocolate wafer crumbs 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon powdered instant espresso ¼ pound unsalted butter, melted FILLING

16 ounces mascarpone, at room temperature 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 4 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten ½ cup sugar 2 tablespoons brandy 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract GARNISH

12 ounces fresh raspberries Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Process chocolate wafers in blender or food processor to yield 1½ cups. Combine with sugar, instant espresso and melted butter in a small mixing bowl. Press mixture in the bottom of springform pan and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cool.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), mix mascarpone and cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, sugar, brandy and vanilla and mix until smooth. Pour filling into cooled pan, smooth top and bake in center of oven until cake is lightly browned and pulls away slightly from the pan, about 55 to 60 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. When completely cooled, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving. Garnish each slice with raspberries.

2 cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons cold butter 3 tablespoons cold lard or shortening About 7-8 tablespoons ice-cold water FILLING

4 cups blueberries ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup all-purpose flour Pinch of salt Finely grated zest of one lemon GLAZE

1 egg 1 tablespoon water

PECAN PIE

Adapted from Bill Neal, “Biscuits, Spoonbread, and Sweet Potato Pie” MAKES 8 SERVINGS

CRUST

1¼ cups all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter 4 tablespoons cold lard or shortening 3 tablespoons ice-cold water FILLING

5 tablespoons butter, softened 1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar ½ cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2/3 teaspoon salt 4 eggs 1¼ cups pecan halves 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract TO SERVE

CRUST

In a mixing bowl, whisk flour and salt to combine. Cut butter into small pieces and add to bowl. Add lard or shortening and toss to coat both fats with flour.

Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix butter and lard or shortening into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal studded with tiny peas. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork, until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Divide dough into 2 portions, one slightly larger than the other, form each into a disc and cover with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for an hour or more.

Place a heavy baking sheet in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450 F. FILLING

Place blueberries in large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest to combine. Add to blueberries and toss to coat.

Roll out the larger disc of dough to a circle about 10 inches in diameter and transfer to a 9-inch pie pan. Add blueberry mixture, then roll out the other disc of dough to fit pan. Pinch top and bottom crusts together and shape as desired.

GLAZE

Beat egg with water, then apply to crust with pastry brush. Cut several slits in top crust. Place pie on baking sheet in preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 F and bake until filling is bubbling and crust is browned, about 30-40 minutes. Cool pie on a rack.

Vanilla ice cream CRUST

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine flour and salt. Pulse 3 times to mix. Cut butter into small pieces. Add to bowl of food processor, along with lard or shortening.

Pulse 2 or 3 times until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add water and pulse just to combine. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Press dough into a disc about 5 inches in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or more. Roll out dough, position in pie plate, trim and crimp edges as desired.

Place a heavy baking sheet in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450 F. FILLING

Beat the butter until light and add the sugars slowly. Beat in flour and salt.

Beat the eggs separately, just enough to make them smooth. Stir into the butter mixture, add pecan halves and vanilla.

Pour filling into prepared pie crust and place pie on baking sheet in preheated oven. Reduce heat to 325 F and bake until set in the middle, about 40 minutes. Cool pie on a rack. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

LOUISIANALIFE.COM MARCH/APRIL 2022

Hot spots on the Gulf for your summer of fun BEST COAST

BY CHERÉ COEN

In the Deep South, March comes in like many things, not restricted to being a lion as in other regions of the country. When the sun warms our faces and winter seems to have left us for good, it’s time to think of the beach!

We’ve compiled a list of our favorites along the Gulf Coast, everything from places to rest our weary winter heads to spots to enjoy the great outdoors. We think you’ll agree.

48 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

ATTRACTIONS

MISSISSIPPI AQUARIUM Gulfport, Mississippi Travel through 12 indoor and outdoor habitats and view 200-plus species at the Mississippi Aquarium, an aquatic campus on six acres in downtown Gulfport. There are both freshwater and saltwater exhibits, a 30-foot-long tunnel through water where visitors can view fish and other aquatic species at 360 degrees and special events throughout the year. msaquarium.org

BLUE ANGELS Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida The U.S. Navy Blue Angels, those gods of the skies, return to a full schedule of air shows this year — Pensacola on July 9, for one. But you can watch the flight demonstration squadron practice most Tuesdays and Wednesdays, March through November, at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, which is a destination unto itself. Also, don’t miss the Blue Angels’ Naval Air Station Pensacola Homecoming Air Show Nov. 11-12.

OWA Foley, Alabama Visit OWA for the wide variety of amusement rides and the restaurants and shops in Downtown OWA, but don’t miss their special events, including Legends in Concert, “Menopause the Musical” and annual festivals. Coming this spring is a massive indoor and outdoor water park with lazy river, wave pool and surf simulator. visitowa.com

HOTELS DESTIN, FLORIDA

Henderson Beach Resort & The Henderson Park Inn These two Destin beach properties are owned by the same company but operate separately — and that’s as it should be for they each exude unique personalities.

The Henderson Beach Resort with its massive lobby resembles an Old Florida hotel and comes complete with an elegant spa, several restaurant options and pools. The hotel has added a rooftop bar with a spectacular view of the Gulf, plus condo options.

The Henderson Park Inn caters strictly to adults with its quaint romantic getaway situated on the beach. There’s beachfront dining, beach service and happy hour, plus visitors may travel next door to the larger resort’s pools and spa.

Best of all, both properties are adjacent to Henderson Beach State Park and its miles of undisturbed beach. hendersonbeachresort.com, hendersonparkinn.com

GULF SHORES, ALABAMA

The Lodge at Gulf State Park The state of Alabama replaced The Lodge at Gulf State Park after Hurricane Ivan did its damage and what emerged is a sustainable 350-room lodge fronting restored sand dunes and Gulf waters on one side and Gulf State Park, with its 28 miles of hiking and biking trails, on the other. The lodge features waterfront restaurants, eco-friendly amenities and bicycles for rent to enjoy the park. lodgeatgulfstatepark.com

ART

COASTAL ARTS CENTER OF ORANGE BEACH Whether creating fused or blown glass in The Hot Shop, pottery in The Clay Studio or enjoying a scavenger hunt, the Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach offers fun for the creative. The 10,000-square-foot fine art gallery overlooks Wolf Bay and features works from both local and regional artists in its exhibit space and gift shop. Adult art classes are routinely offered and summer art camps are available for children. orangebeachal.gov/facilities/ art-center

RESTAURANT

White Pillars

PHOTO COURTESY: HENDERSON BEACH RESORT; WHITE PILLARS

Biloxi, Mississippi

Chef Austin Sumrall was halfway to graduating with a mechanical engineering degree from Ole Miss when he decided restaurant management was where his heart lie.

He took a job at John Currence’s Bouré restaurant in Oxford until graduation, then attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York. He worked with Chef Chris Hastings at the acclaimed Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham but decided the Gulf Coast was where he would wear his chef’s hat after marrying his Ole Miss sweetheart, a native of Gulfport.

Sumrall opened White Pillars in Biloxi in 2017 and serves up fresh seafood and locally produced products.

He was crowned King of American Seafood at 2021’s Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans. biloxiwhitepillars.com

MOBILE

(TOP) POOL AND PATIO AT HENDERSON BEACH RESORT (BOTTOM) PAN-SEARED HUDSON VALLEY FOIE GRAS WITH LOUISIANA CITRUS, RED WINE GASTRIQUE, BRIOCHE AND PEA TENDRILS AT WHITE PILLARS

There are many places to enjoy art in Mobile, from the downtown galleries to the 95,000 square-foot Mobile Museum of Art and the Alabama Contemporary Art Center. The city also hosts LoDa ArtWalk every second Friday night, spotlighting artists in participating galleries and public spaces, live music and opportunities to sample Mobile’s burgeoning food scene. mobile.org/ things-to-do/arts/

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OUTDOORS GU LF PO R T , M I S S I S S I P P I

G U L F SH O RE S, A L A B A MA

Ship Island

The Coastal Alabama Back Bay Blueway

It’s a good hour boat ride to Ship Island off the coast of Gulfport but it feels like a world away with its glistening white sand dunes, crystal blue waters, and historic fort dating back to the 1800s. The ride there is half the fun. Visitors usually spot dolphins and exotic sea birds.

Service to Ship Island, along with the dolphin and sunset cruises, resumes March 5 through Ship Island Excursions. This year, because the “Camille Gap” created by Hurricane Camille in 1969 has been filled, along with the lack of visitors over the winter, has produced tons of shells, said Ronnie Wentzell, who runs the business with family.

“The place is loaded,” he said. “We picked up 15 pounds of shells one day.” msshipisland.com

PA N A M A C I T Y , F L O R I D A

St. Andrews State Park The story goes that a hurricane shipwrecked Theodore Tollefson on this peninsula and he never left. We’re sure he fell in love with the sparkling quartz sand dunes, the migratory songbirds and deer and the sparkling waters of the Gulf on one side and St. Andrews Bay on the other.

Visitors today may enjoy the 1,260-acre park and 1.5 miles of beaches but also can catch a shuttle to Shell Island in spring and summer. The park remains opens daily during daylight hours and offers two campgrounds with 176 sites. floridastateparks. org/parks-and-trails/ st-andrews-state-park

50 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

Folks flock to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach for the vast beaches lining the emerald Gulf waters, but there’s plenty of aqua action behind the scenes for those who love to paddle.

The Coastal Alabama Back Bay Blueway gets paddlers on bayous and waterways with four “trails,” from Fort Morgan to Orange Beach, each with numerous launch sites for canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. gulfshores.com/ things-to-do/outdoor-activities/ back-bay-blueway

MO SS P O IN T, MISSISSIP PI

Pascagoula River Audubon Center The Pascagoula River Audubon Center graces Rhodes Bayou, which drains into the Escatawpa and Pascagoula rivers, the latter the longest unimpeded river in the lower 48 states. The attraction focuses on the area’s unique ecosystems with walking trails and a children’s nature discovery garden, and an interpretive center that contains exhibit space and a gift shop. While guided boat tours of the Pascagoula River are presently on hold, the Center offers other ways of getting on the water. “We have 10 single kayaks and four tandem kayaks for rent, but new to our fleet is a pedal boat,” said Susan May Stachowski, center manager. pascagoula.audubon.org

FESTIVALS

HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL Foley, Alabama

The annual Gulf Coast Hot Air Balloon Festival, named a 2021 Event of the Year by the Alabama Tourism Department, returns May 12-14 to OWA in Foley. This family-friendly event includes arts and crafts, entertainment and, of course, balloon flights, glows and tethered rides if weather permits. gulfcoastballoonfestival. com, visitowa.com.

SANDESTIN WINE FESTIVAL Sandestin, Florida The 35th annual festival named the “Best Annual Event” by Destin Magazine will be April 7-10 at Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin. The festival includes wine and culinary tastings, live music, wine dinners with celebrity chefs and more. sandestinwinefestival.com

SONGWRITERS FESTIVALS Ocean Springs, Florida The Mississippi Songwriters Festival takes over Ocean Springs every fall with live music from both famous and up-and-coming songwriters in local venues and in rocking chair “guitar pulls” outside the Gulf Hills Hotel.

The 30A Songwriters Festival is in January and attracts dozens of artists who perform at numerous venues along the Highway 30A corridor in Northwest Florida. Past performers have included Lucinda Williams, Indigo Girls and Jackson Browne, to name a few. mssongwritersfestival.com, 30asongwritersfestival.com

PHOTO COURTESY: BUD AND ALLEY’S WATERFRONT RESTAURANT; SANDESTIN WINE FESTIVAL

RESTAURANT

Bud & Alley’s Waterfront Restaurant Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

(TOP) LUNCH SPREAD AT BUD & ALLEY’S WATERFRONT RESTAURANT (BOTTOM) SANDESTIN WINE FESTIVAL

There are so many excellent restaurants along Highway 30A in the Florida Panhandle, but Bud & Alley’s remains a favorite for its fish tacos, cool drinks and the expansive rooftop bar overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Sunsets attract the crowds, and for good reason; the world turns golden.

The establishment opened in 1986, located across from the early incarnation of Seaside. To date, Bud & Alley’s has received numerous awards, including Florida Trend Magazine’s Golden Spoon Hall of Fame Award, designating the eatery as one of the Top 20 Restaurants in Florida. And, of course, it nabbed the Best Sunset View by Visit South Walton. budandalleys.com LOUISIANALIFE.COM 51

SPONSORED

Traveling Around Louisiana

C

The calendar and its days are both heating up with spring’s arrival, and Louisiana is an exciting state to experience during this time of rebirth and renewal.

As festivals and events return to the region, the opportunities for fun with family and friends are plentiful across the coming months.

52 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

Celebrating music, culture, arts, and dance, Louisiana towns and parishes play host to a variety of sights, sounds, and flavors sure to get your heart pumping, your feet moving, and your stomach growling.

Gather your crew this spring and head off the beaten path to one of the many hidden—or not so hidden—gems that delight visitors; Louisiana’s unique festivals, museums, restaurants, outdoor recreation, and educational points of interest will expand the mind and inspire smiles and laughs as you create lasting memories with your loved ones.

Kites will fill the skies of West Baton Rouge Parish on April 30 and May 1, when the 18th Annual Kite Fest Louisiane takes over the West Baton Rouge Soccer Complex in Port Allen, Louisiana, located just off I-10.

“We encourage the whole family to come out to this award-winning festival,” says Kathy Gautreau, Executive Director for the West Baton Rouge CVB. “Bring a blanket or lawn chair, relax in the sun, and have fun flying kites, watching kite performances, taking part in the kite design contest or making a free kite and learning to fly it. There will be great food and music.”

The Go Big or Go Home kite team will display huge kites while the Austin End of the Line flying teams will perform ballets in the sky using two-line kites. The Northeast Rev Riders will amaze crowds with four-line kites. Kite Fest Louisiane is free and open to the public, and Saturday’s festivities will conclude with a special firework display at dusk.

For more information, sponsorship levels, or volunteer opportunities call 225-344-2920 or visit westbatonrouge.net.

Lafayette is at the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun & Creole Country, an area that’s worth a visit any time of year. 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 US, Festival International highlights the connections between Acadiana and the Francophone world. Held Wednesday - Sunday, April 27 - May 1 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 six stages with Lafayette’s artists, residents and visitors.

Visit LafayetteTravel.com/FestivalInternational for performance schedule, lodging and travel information.

Discover your hidden treasure in Tangipahoa Parish. This Northshore oasis is located just 45 minutes north of New Orleans and 30 minutes east of Baton Rouge.

Get your hands dirty while learning about the farming industry at Miss Heather’s Pumpkin Patch. Turn back the hands of time at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival.

Wiggle a camel’s hump at Global Wildlife Refuge. Test your skills and nerves at the Escape Warehouse. Wet your whistle on the Tangipahoa Brewery Trail. Get up close and personal with monster-sized alligators at Kliebert’s. Seek out spirits at the Rise Haunted House. Or spend a leisurely day strolling down the sidewalks of Tangipahoa’s quaint downtowns.

Plan your trip accordingly to enjoy festival fun at the Strawberry, Oyster, Sicilian Heritage, Pirate, or Italian Festivals. Whether you are looking for family fun, girlfriend getaways, outdoor adventure, or cultural experiences, let Tangipahoa Parish show you why “off the beaten path” is often where the greatest adventures begin. For more information, call 800-617-4501 or visit tangitourism.com.

Your next outdoor adventure is closer than you think—in Alexandria/Pineville, a robust sportsman’s culture is nurtured by outdoor opportunities in the area including two beautiful and challenging golf courses and scenic Lake Buhlow in Pineville.

Explore the forested piney hills and hardwood bottoms of Kisatchie National Forest, one of the largest pieces of natural landscape in Louisiana and the only national forest in the state, filled with vital longleaf pine and flatwoods vegetation supporting

rare plant and animal species. Located within Kisatchie National Forest are scenic areas ideal for bird watching, photography, backpacking, canoeing, all-terrain vehicle trails, boating, camping, cycling, fishing, picnicking and swimming. The forest has more than 40 developed recreation sites such as Kincaid Lake Campground, a modern, forested paradise, complete with a fishing pier, swimming area, and boat launch.

Plan your outdoor adventure today at alexandriapinevillela.com. T

(Facing page, left) Strawberry Festival Parade (Facing page, right) Strawberry Festival Treat (Below) West Baton Rouge 18th Annual Kite Festival (Bottom) Global Wildlife Refuge in Tangipahoa Parish

LOUISIANALIFE.COM 53

N AT URAL STATE

Strawberry Fields Louisiana’s state fruit thrives despite countless challenges faced by the farmers who grow, cultivate and cherish this important crop STORY AND PHOTOS BY KEVIN RABALAIS

F

ive years after the 2016 Tangipahoa River flood, William Fletcher’s tractor has stalled in the middle of his five-and-a-halfacre strawberry farm in Ponchatoula. The flood washed away several inches of topsoil, exposing stumps, and now Fletcher steps back to consider the problem.

“If I don’t find what I need in the barn, I’ll find something that works,” he says. Moments later, he stands beside the ridger blade, cautious as he uses his weight to tighten a new bolt. “Like I tell my kids, everything out here is hard, heavy and sharp, and it will not apologize when it hurts you.”

Fletcher moves with the calm of someone on his second week of vacation rather than a farmer facing the zero hour. In a few days, a truck loaded with strawberry plants will arrive from California, an annual delivery to local farmers. He will buy 90,000 Festival plants — the most consistent, in his experience, and the ones that (Top) These produce berries that taste, many immature say, like they’ve been dipped in strawberries sugar. After the delivery, two will turn red migrant laborers who have and be ready to worked for him for the past pick in ten days. decade will return to the farm.

(Right) Louisiana Twenty-two miles west of consistently ranks Fletcher Farm, Rhonda Landryin the top ten U.S. Poché recalls the six feet of states in strawberry water that flooded her farm production. in102016. Landry-Poché lost her home and all of her equipment.

The stress caused her mother to have a stroke. While recovering, her mother gazed onto the property where strawberries had grown for 90 years. “Where’s my berries?” she asked. Landry-Poché said, “Momma, I’ll do everything in my power to continue this.”

In 2017, for the first time since 1916, no strawberries grew on the farm, but Landry-Poché kept her promise

56 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

the following year. Now, the farm covers more than six acres planted with San Andreas and Camino Real strawberries. As at Fletcher Farm, all of the berries here are hand-planted, hand-picked, and hand-packed in the field where Landry-Poché’s granddaughter Daisy now plays with her dolls.

The idyllic moment seems out of another time.

Contrast it with a handful of the worries that lurk in a strawberry farmer’s psyche. Hurricane season precedes planting, and one danger, says Landry-Poché, is that a storm will collect salt from the Gulf and release it onto the fields, killing the plants. Heat and rain — two steady topics of Louisiana conversation — are also factors. In intense heat, the berries will melt, and there’s always a risk of losing the bulk of the crop in a season of heavy rain. In a mild winter, plants will bloom early, creating concerns of a late freeze like the one in February 2021, when plants at both farms were loaded.

AT A GL ANCE

LOCATION

Tangipahoa Parish FLORA

Birdbill spike grass, scarlet oak, little floating heart FAUNA+INSECTS

Southeastern blue sucker, Hodges’ clubtail, gopher tortoise

LOUISIANALIFE.COM 57

N AT URAL STATE

(Bottom left) William Fletcher oversees planting at Fletcher Farm.

(Right) The sandy loam and silt loam soils of Tangipahoa make it Louisiana’s premier parish for growing strawberries.

DID YOU KNOW?

Facts and Figures • Commercial growing of strawberries in Louisiana began in 1876 and peaked in 1931, reports the LSU Ag Center.

By the mid-1920s, Louisiana farmers planted more than 14,000 acres of strawberries.

“This is weather-related from front to back. Ultimately, it’s out of our control,” says Fletcher, whose great-grandfather farmed the adjacent land in the 1930s and ‘40s.

Fletcher’s grandfather was drafted late in World War II and served with the occupying force in Japan before returning home to work on the farm. Like his great-grandfather, grandfather and father, Fletcher grew up on the property, observing farm work and absorbing the history of his homeplace. His father warned him of the difficult life

58 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

outside his bedroom window, but Fletcher smiles as he says, “All I remembered was the good stuff.”

On his shed, a two-foot line in red paint documents the 2016 flood waterline. “I didn’t want to mark the entire length because I didn’t want to be reminded of the flood every time I looked at it, but this is history,” he says. Everything on his farm, in fact, signals a memory or a glimpse into future crops.

There are, for instance, the magnetic signs on the doors of his truck that identify him as Strawberry King of the annual Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival. After his reign in 2003, Fletcher kept the signs on a refrigerator in his barn. A flood — he can’t remember which — washed away the refrigerator. He searched for the signs and eventually found them in the woods, several hundred yards from the barn. Then he carried them home and got back to work. n

• Rather than a fruit, strawberries are part of the genus Fragraria, making them a close relative to the rose. A single serving of about eight mediumsized strawberries contains more vitamin C than an orange.

• Several possibilities exist for the name strawberry. Early pickers placed them on grass straws and sold them as straws of berries. Straw was placed around the berries to protect them. Because the berries grow strewn around the plants, the name may be a mutation of strewn berry.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES ONLINE AT LOUISIANALIFE.COM

LOUISIANALIFE.COM 59

T RAVELE R

Art Runneth Over Dirty South Cup puts ceramics front and center in Alexandria

BY CHERÉ COEN

E

ight years ago, River Oaks Square Arts Center, a multipurpose contemporary visual and fine arts hub in Alexandria, wanted to put on a national art show to both elevate the Center on a national level and to discover a wide variety of American artists they could pull from for future exhibits.

River Oaks received a grant to create what became the Dirty South Cup Call & Competition, a national juried exhibition of traditional and non-traditional ceramic vessels.

More than 250 artists submitted works — everything from whimsical cups to artistic non-drinkable clay vessels — that first year, with a guest juror choosing winners and leading a two-day workshop.

The Dirty South Cup show has now become an annual event and one of River Oaks’ most popular exhibits.

Plus, the show delivered on organizers’ original intent.

“It’s really placed us on the national scale with some really nationally renowned artists,” said Rachael L. Dauzat, River Oaks executive director.

“So much talent has come through here, simply because it’s on a national level.”

This year’s show is April 8 through May 28 at the Center located in downtown Alexandria. The 2022 guest juror is Renee LoPresti of Texas, who will conduct a ceramic workshop April 6-7.

“These are typically hands-on workshops,” Dauzat said. “They are discounted for students at very reduced rates because of the grants.”

The idea for the Dirty South Cup show came about when two professors were visiting Alexandria from the University of Monticello and they related a similar exhibit by students.

Dauzat thought, “Everybody has room for a cup,” and started the ball rolling. The first guest juror was Tom Coleman, the “king of pottery,” Dauzat said. “He had his own following and that helped tremendously.”

The only requirement for Dirty South is that the ceramic vessel must have the similarities of a cup.

“It can be anything that encompasses a vessel,” Dauzat said.

Most entries are available for sale, so visitors to the exhibit may bring a Dirty South Cup home.

Now in its eighth year, the show includes a digital component, put into place in 2020 because of COVID lockdown happening at the same time. It’s become an ongoing feature.

“The artists get to show their work to a wider audience,” Dauzat said of the digital complement. “We love it. Everyone gets to see the work." n (Top) River Oaks Arts Center (Middle) 2021 Dirty South Cup entry by Suzanne Cleese-Stamps (Left) Upcoming Exhibit to March 19: Robin Whitfield, Laura Gates and Hope House with Carla Guillory

60 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

IF YOU GO S TAY A stay at the Hotel

Bentley not only places visitors in the heart of downtown Alexandria and its Cultural District, but offers a trip back in time.

A mini museum explains Alexandria’s role in World War II, when Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton resided at the Hotel Bentley planning the Louisiana Maneuvers, training about a half a million troops for combat. Downstairs from the lobby is the Mirror Room Tapas Lounge, long a meeting place for Cenla residents and visitors.

E AT Within walking distance

from the hotel are several restaurants, from the fine dining Diamond Grill, once a high-end jewelry store, to the eclectic Tamp & Grind Coffee shop.

DO Downtown Alexandria’s

Cultural District also includes the Alexandria Museum of Art, the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center and the Hearn Stage at the Kress Theater. Other artistic events include Art Walks by the Arts Council of Central Louisiana, the Rapides Symphony Orchestra concerts.

PHOTOS COURTESY: RIVER OAKS ARTS CENTER

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FA RT HE R F LUNG

Head for the Hills Flat Rock, North Carolina and the surrounding area attracts Louisianians fleeing the heat

BY CHERÉ COEN

L

ouisiana residents don’t have to be told how hot and miserable the deep coastal South can become when the depths of summer take hold.

When temperatures climbed in Charleston, our South Carolina brethren headed to the mountains for relief, in particular to Flat Rock, a quaint town located on a unique plateau south of Asheville that boasted of an ideal summer climate.

“About 90 years ago, a few friends from Charleston, South Carolina, took the trip here to look for a suitable location for a summer resort,” wrote Alicia Middleton Trenholm in the 1908 “Flat Rock, North Carolina; a

62 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

(Above) The Flat Rock Playhouse, the state theatre of North Carolina, began in 1940

Sketch of the Past.” “They finally decided upon the plateau, upon which Flat Rock later materialized, as most desirable for many reasons. The scenery being beautiful; for the peaks of the Appalachian ranges could be seen in the far distance, melting into the horizon. The fine climate and delightful water were great inducements, also the fact that good roads were possible, the country being not too mountainous, which in the days of difficult transportation meant a great deal.”

Because of Flat Rock’s wonderful attributes, the folks from South Carolina eventually attracted Louisiana company. Many owned homes.

“A lot of New Orleanians have homes all over the area,” said Alex Treadway of New Orleans, whose family has property in both North Carolina and Louisiana. “My grandfather had an honest-to-God log cabin in Waynesville.”

“Historically there was a huge Louisiana and, in particular, New Orleans contingency that came up here,” said Starr Teel, owner of Flat Rock’s Hubba Hubba Smokehouse and the newly opened Campfire Grill. “Of course, Louisiana is hot in the summer and everybody wants to get up in the mountains.”

HISTORIC HOME AND THEATER

Even poet and author Carl Sandburg left the shores of Lake Michigan for Flat Rock to live on the former estate of Confederate leader Christopher G. Memminger. His wife, Paula, wanted to raise goats and be closer to her brother who lived in the Asheville area.

Next door to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site lies another piece of history. The Flat Rock Playhouse, the state theatre of North Carolina, began in 1940 when the Vagabond Players decided to make Western North Carolina their home. The combination of residents and tourists made their move successful and today it hosts a nine-month season of plays, which includes Broadway musicals.

south. New Orleanians and many from the Deep South have spent much of their youth at camps with names such as Camp Ton-A-Wandah, Camp Wayfarer and Camp Pinnacle. The list goes on and on.

Teel, who hails from Missouri, attended Falling Creek Camp as a counselor. He returned to Flat Rock, opening Hubba Hubba in a renovated building along the town’s “Rainbow Row,” a colorful collection of historic structures that’s a nod to Charleston history.

Teel has been serving up wood-fired barbecue for 15 years at his establishment, located along the state’s historic barbecue trail.

“This [Flat Rock] is the epicenter of summer camps,” he said of the region. “A lot of us here are also lawyers, doctors, teachers, politicians, but we’re all here because of the summer camp community.

We came, we had that experience, and we kept looping back. Now, we’ve settled here.”

His latest restaurant offers a nod to the numerous camps of the region. The rustic wood décor of Teel’s Campfire Grill reminds visitors of previous summers, with a variety of camp photos gracing the walls — kids scaling mountainsides, building campfires, swimming in lakes. It’s meant to feel like a community gathering space, he offered, much like those childhood experiences of summer.

And these are devoid of the hot and humid climate we know back in Louisiana. n

(Left) Hot wings from Hubba Hubba Smokehouse (Right) Hubba Hubba Smokehouse (Above) Scene from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” at Flat Rock Playhouse

DINING WITH HISTORY

But what many people associate with Flat Rock, as well as Brevard and Henderson today are the summer camps, still a welcomed respite from the brutal summers further

PHOTOS COURTESY: HUBBA HUBBA SMOKEHOUSE; FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE

LOUISIANALIFE.COM 63

PHOTO CONTE ST

Natural Wonder A serene scene at Fontainebleau State Park

BY CHRISTOPHER FIRMIN, COVINGTON

64 LOUISIANA LIFE MARCH/APRIL 2022

TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS, VISIT LOUISIANALIFE.COM