The Things We’ve Baked
When Ruby left to spend the summer with her dad five weeks ago, Georgia and I spent about an hour moping around the house. Then, to cheer ourselves up, we got drive-thru Taco Bell and took a walk at…
Recipes
A Summer's Reward
Usually the trek to arrive at a New Orleans’ July is not so manic, not so distressing. This year we have all paid a dear price for the journey and we have arrived at a season not usually associated with…
Mellowing with Melon
On a hot summer day of my childhood, there was nothing like an ice-cold watermelon to pick up your spirits. If nothing else, it cooled you down a notch and entertained you long enough to make scary teeth out of…
Literary Sustenance: When Reading About Medieval Honey Cake Creates a Craving
Since sometime in 2019, I’ve been living in the middle ages. Well, that is, literarily speaking. I’ve been reading every book I can get my hands on by Elizabeth Chadwick, foremost author of medieval tales, so thankfully I’m living…
It's All About The Hot Sauce
Our neighbors and friends returned from a brief trip out of town today, and the first thing my friend Joe said to me was – paraphrasing – that the hot sauce I’d given him was quite nice. I have…
The Joys of Rum, Part 2
Our previous column, The Joys of Rum, Part 1, seems to have hit a responsive chord among readers and so we are pleased to continue the thread. Besides, rum is such a broad topic and close to our lives…
The Joys of Rum, Part 1
Rum needs better publicity representation. How can a spirit so outstanding and enjoyable not be a part of every drinking person’s daily program? If nothing else, on historic value alone, rum certainly makes for a better story than vodka.…
De la cuisine: Classic Elegance
Since childhood, summer has been my favorite time of year. What better time to enjoy lolling in a hammock staring at the clouds, and maybe a having a quick dip in a cool swimming pool. In my adult life, a…
Italian Inspiration
Even in a place with a strong Italian and Sicilian heritage, such as New Orleans, the Garibaldi cocktail, like its namesake, is relatively unknown. Which is a shame because the cocktail is easy to make and has a valid background…
Page Turners
My first invitation to lunch In New Orleans after moving here was to meet under the clock at D.H. Holmes and then it was on to Galatoire's. I'll never forget that meal - oysters Rockefeller and shrimp-and crab-stuffed eggplant. It…
Margarita Monday: Melanie’s Honey Key Lime Margarita
A few weeks back, Cinco de Mayo and its joyous convergence with Taco Tuesday inspired most of us to mix up a batch of margaritas at home. It reminded me how much I love a good margarita and since…
Caterer's Choice Rewind: Wedding Charcuterie Board
In the midst of the global pandemic, many couples are socially distancing and staying at home together. For anyone, this time is trying and can cause stress. For the past few weeks, we have brought back a series we…
A Recipe That May Help
Here are the things I know if you are reading this: 1) You have a device capable of accessing the internet. 2) You are a human of discerning taste. The latter makes me think you will appreciate a recipe…
Become Your Own Bartender
As the global pandemic strikes us all, it leaves bars with closed doors and quiet registers. Owners, servers and bartenders are forced to find alternative ways to survive. And bars don’t even have the option to adopt the now…
Caterer's Choice Rewind: Backyard Fry Party
The weather has been gorgeous the past couple of days in New Orleans, which only makes social distancing – especially for social New Orleanians – even more difficult. Many families and groups of friends have gotten crafty when it…
Bread Wars
The entire internet has seemingly been baking homemade bread for weeks, with the exception of those of us who weren’t prescient enough to buy yeast before the COVID-19 hoarding began in earnest. My husband Mark and I bake bread…
Kitchen Gourmet: Fresh Catch
Before Hurricane Rita washed me out of it, I lived on a small bayou that emptied into Vermilion Bay. I knew shrimp season was about to open when I heard my neighbor tuning up the engine on his boat, the…
DIVERTICUWHAT?
It has been an interesting quarantine chez Peyton. There’s Chef’s Brigade, which has taken up a good bit of time and then my father-in-law was hospitalized with double pneumonia. He was released a couple of weeks ago and for…
Luxury Cooking for 1
Eggs Hussarde Brennan’s New Orleans Cookbook (1961) Ingredients: 2 large thin slices ham, grilled 2 Holland Rusks (a light, crisp toast available at most grocery stores) 1/4 cup Marchand de Vin Sauce 2 slices tomato, grilled 2 eggs, soft poached 3/4…
Self-Care in the Time of a Pandemic: One Editor’s Story, Part 5
While sitting at your favorite bar and partaking of a carefully crafted, perfectly balanced cocktail remains a dream, you can still pick up a pre-mixed version without booze. Or, better yet, mix up a batch of your own specialty!…
The Best Place to Find Chef Frank Brigtsen and Soft-Shell Crabs This Weekend
This particularly glorious Spring continues to roll along while we continue to be required to avoid those places where we might best enjoy it, places like the Botanical Garden at City Park. Last year the Botanical Garden became ever…
Sourdough Chronicles
Much like hand-washing, I was into sourdough bread before it got trendy. In grad school, I had a sourdough starter that I used to make a garlic-cheese bread that was always a hit at potlucks and dinner parties, but…
Recipes from the Past
Now and then my mother will come across some documents from my grandparents’ house in Amite and share them with me. They’re always fascinating, but this weekend she gave me a bunch of recipes, most of which were handwritten by…
Bowl of Comfort
Comfort food is high on my list these days. But, I’m also keen to eat economically, nutritiously and — to paraphrase food journalist Michael Pollan’s advice in the 2009 PBS documentary "In Defense of Food," which was based on…
Caterer’s Choice Rewind: Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
We've been indoors for weeks now due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Though the weather has been nice, it's difficult to keep spirits equally as sunny. In today's "Let Them Eat Cake" we wanted to flashback to a "Caterer's…
Variety, not Quantity
The phrase, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation” has never rang so true for so many. We are all pretty much on the same path, the same schedule. This town, like most towns in America, is shut down.…
Great Locales Inspire Great Cocktails
(This article was composed before the full implementation of the effects and governmental restraints as applied to the Corona Virus outbreak. This article was penned on Friday March 13, which now seems eons ago. But the hope is that…
How I Learned to Love the Corona Virus
I have been working remotely for several years. By “working remotely,” I mean “working from home and often in casual clothing/dainty unmentionables.” I am used to being alone and dealing with other humans via cell phone, Skype and my…
Gatherings: Green with Envy
Seafood Salad with Green Goddess Dressing Seafood Salad 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/8 cup crab boil seasoning ¼ cup salt 4 lemons, squeezed 2 bay leaves 1/8 cup Creole spices ½ gallon water 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat,…
Bon Vivant: Spring Fling
Springtime is high time for seasonal veggies and, my favorite, fruits. Thankfully, New Orleans is home to several farmers markets throughout the week, local and national grocery stores committed to carrying fresh, local food and services which bring the goods…
Joie d'Eve
Living, loving, laughing, and learning in the new New Orleans
about
Eve is further proof, if any is needed, that New Orleans girls can never escape the city. After living here since the age of 3 and graduating from Ben Franklin High School, Eve moved to Columbia, Mo., where she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Missouri School of Journalism and became truly, unhealthily obsessed with grammar.She had originally intended to strike out to New York City and work in the cutthroat magazine industry there, but after Katrina, Eve felt a strong pull to return home, to her roots, her family, her waterlogged and struggling city – and a much more forgiving work atmosphere that would allow her to skip a routine of everyday makeup and size 0 designer label business suits and enjoy the occasional cocktail or three with an absurdly fattening lunch. She moved back home in January 2008 and lives in Mid-City with her two daughters, Ruby and Georgia; her stepson, Elliot; and her husband, Robert Peyton.Eve blogs about the joys and struggles of living in post-Katrina New Orleans, the unique problems and delights of raising a child in such a diverse and challenging city – including her experiences with the public education system – and her always entertaining and extremely colorful family.Eve has won numerous writing awards, including the Pirates Alley Faulkner Society Gold Medal, the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award for column-writing and Press Club of New Orleans awards for her Editor’s Note in New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles and for this blog, most recently winning the award for "Best Feature Affiliated Blog."She welcomes comments, advice, empty flattery, recipes, drink invitations and – most especially – grammatical or linguistic debates.
