The New Orleans custom began in the late 1800′s and celebrates Epiphany with cakes that are baked to honor the three kings. To oval or round shape signifies their circular journey to confuse King Herod. The plastic baby represents Jesus. And the search for the bay is represented by the mystery of who will get the slice with the plastic baby in it. However, with legalities the way they are many do not place the baby in the cake, but will leave it out for the customer to place it, removing any liability from the shop for supposed folks who may swallow the plastic baby. For more history about Mardi Gras and King Cakes, check out the links at the end of this post.

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A New Orleans themed tailgate can consist of many sub-themes and varied menu items depending on your approach.

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Both the brown rice and the sausage replacements make this dish higher in fiber and lower in saturated fat, and these two factors that do not compromise flavor, but enhance a well balanced meal. Served with fresh cornbread muffins and some creamed spinach on the side, this meal was a hit with our guests on Saturday evening dinner this past weekend.

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On a recent trip back to New Orleans last month I decided it was time to capture and document some of the ole family recipes which were a part of the traditional fare during holiday reunions. My late grandmother Sadie Boudreaux, more affectionately known as Momom made a great potato salad and was always a [...]

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The other night Monique and I were just surfing the channels and I ran across the show Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network, and there were two shows back to back, the first one covered Puff Pastry Dough and the second installment was all about Pâte à choux. Both shows were very informative and refresher courses if you will, reminding me of the ole culinary arts pastry classes I had taken during my culinary apprenticeship back in 1984.

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