Happy Birthday to Us!

It was "Birthday Week" for us this week (Caryn - Feb. 23rd, Matt - Feb. 27th) but with Mardi Gras gearing up and causing overtime at work, we decided to treat ourselves to a birthday dinner a little early last week.  Thanks to a gift card from Matt's sister and brother-in-law, Elaina and Eric, we had the chance to visit Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse, a very popular and delicious steakhouse in the French Quarter.

The service was amazing and the food was just as good.  We decided to splurge since it was a birthday dinner for both of us, and I'd say we weren't hungry for a good long while after this meal.

Thanks to Matt's knowledge of wine, we got a really great bottle of red.

An appetizer that Caryn was a bit wary of - but loved it!  Escargot!  Apparently when you put a snail and a cooked mushroom in your mouth, they taste the same. 

Caryn's 14 oz. Ribeye - quite impressed that the whole thing was gone by the end of the meal.

Matt's Bone-In Ribeye. 24 oz. and topped with creole butter. Amazing!

The 1 lb. lobster that came alongside Matt's steak.  Because what's steak without a side of lobster???

The two sides - Asparagus and Pontalba Potatoes: Diced, roasted potatoes sauteed with garlic, caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, ham and scallions. 

Our server overheard we were celebrating our birthdays, and we were offered a complimentary dessert each and these extremely fashionable chef hats.

Matt's dessert - Creole Cheesecake with fruit reduction

Caryn's dessert - Creme Brulee.  Matt let it slip that this is an easy dessert to make, just needs a torch.  Perhaps he shouldn't have admitted that...

Of course there were leftovers for us to take home.  This was a great dinner and we would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a good steakhouse in New Orleans.  Service, food, and atmosphere were all top notch.

I know, I know,We aren't great at this...

So, given our work schedule, and lets be honest, our need to play, we have been very bad at updating.  

Caryn and I just got back from staying at my hotel for the last few days because of how cold it was...no ice, just cold.  I've never been the most experienced winter weather driver in the room...it's kind of sad.  This is my first day off in 10 days, of which I logged close to 120 hours, and Caryn isn't far behind me, so you can see why the time we have off, we try very hard to stay away from computer.

Either way, here is a TON of photos, and a little insight to the NOLA life style.  Love you all and miss you!!

The Butcher by Cochon

We grabbed some lunch at a place called the Butcher by Cochon.  Cochon is a highly talked about restaurant, and this is a functioning butcher shop next door that makes amazing sandwiches.

The Backyard Bacon Melt

The Porkbelly Sandwich

Grilled Pimento Cheese

The Cubano

The Cochon Muffaleta

Roasted Turnips...amazing

Finally, we went to Mardi Gras World.  This place was really cool.  This is where the make a bunch of floats for the Mardi Gras parades.

I feel like we look like the Beatles

This was making fun of the Mardi Gras experiance.

A little bit of Dallas in New Orleans

I couldn't resist...MOTORBOAT!

A visit from the fam

So just after New Years, Matt's parents and brother came to visit.  we had a ton of fun and it was great to spend a little time with family.  We ate a ton, and spent some great time together.  The first night we went to The Rum House.  Now we have mentioned this place before, but here are some more great food items.

Probably my favorite thing that we did was visit the National WWII Museum.  I can't stress enough how much you have to visit this place.  They did an amazing job, and parts of it can get a little emotional.  If you do one thing in New Orleans, do this.

This may have been Matt's favorite thing.  This is the front of a B-24 bomber.  Matt's Grandfather flew 25 missions as a co-pilot in one just like it.  He is a true American Hero and we were all glad to see this in the museum.

Guy's Poboys

We found yet another great Poorboy joint.  Gut's is located on Magazine, close to Tulane.  It was pretty damn good.

Even though we went to a poorboy place, they offered hamburgers, and Cayrn was in the mood for one.  She  ordered a mushroom Swiss burger, and got this.  I guess it all comes on french bread.  Either way, it was amazing!

Matt got a fried pork chop poorboy...soooo good!

Magazin Pho

This is another great little place about 5 blocks from the house.  It was recommended to us by one of Matt's employees.  If you have never had Pho, find a place and get some.  It's a Vietnamese food that uses various broths and meats, and it is delicious!

A couple funny stories go along with this trip.  The first revolves around the fact that this place is BYOB.  Matt went a grabbed a bottle of wine while we were waiting on our food.  After Matt had poured a couple of glasses, he got distracted by who knows what, and was caught by Caryn and a staff member drinking out of the bottle.  It wasn't intentional, but I guess it goes to show that you can take the man out of the party, but you can't take the party out of the man...

The other stories almost put poor Caryn into the hospital.  If you notice, each of the plates came with fresh sliced jalapenos.  We each added them to our Pho, which gave it a nice spice, but not too bad.  Caryn happened to notice Matt eating one of his jalapenos, and asked if it was hot.  Now Matt had a chance to put Caryn through the ringer, but instead, he was honest, and let Caryn know that it was pretty hot.  Now here is where the communication broke down.  Caryn didn't know that there was a difference between pickled jalapenos and fresh jalapenos.  She decided that she would be fine, and casually ate one...I believe her exact quote was immediate and to the point..."I made a mistake, I regret that."  She followed that quote with the fast consumption of her water, then my water, then her wine, then she just soaked her lips in the ice left over from her water...  Matt couldn't stop laughing.  It happened before he could do anything to stop it.  Needless to say, Caryn will not be eating fresh jalapenos any more.

This is a Chicken spring roll, served with a hoisin peanut sauce. I have a recipe for the house, but have yet to try it...more to come!

Matt got the combination of steak, and meat balls.

Caryn go the filet tips.

Amos's New Friends

So, we aren't the only ones making new friends.  Amos has some new buddies too!

This is Hank.  He belongs to Luis and Ashley.  They have another dog, Murphy, but he's a little more shy.

Meet Peaches.  Our neighbors dog, who has more energy then any dog I've met.  This was after a looooong day of playing.

New Years Eve

Well, as per usual, we both worked on New Years Eve, but this year we had a pretty awesome night anyways.  We met at The Big House (Matt's hotel) and went to the 41st floor with some other staff members and watched the fireworks show that they do over the river...it was pretty amazing!

Merry Christmas from NOLA!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!  We are so grateful to everyone for all the love we received from friends and family this holiday. We had a great morning of Skype, gifts, and a delicious downtown breakfast.  Caryn had to work the PM shift that day but Matt went and spent some holiday time with our friends Luis, Ashley, and their family that was in town.

After both agreeing we would skip a Christmas tree due to funds this year, Matt surprised Caryn with one!  Fully decorated for America's team. 

Our stocking stuffers - I'd say we're set on Chapstick for awhile.

Amos loved his new bed.  He sat right next to us in it chewing his new bone while we opened up presents. 

It was definitely a Cowboys holiday! 

Goodies from Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville, TX - a few hot sauces, pickled green beans, and some jalapeno jerky. Yum!

What flavor ice cream should we make first??

Matt got Caryn an original painting from an artist down the street - Mina Zavala Lanzas.  We had walked into her gallery a few days prior and had absolutely fallen in love with this painting.  It's called "Dreaming of You" and includes the New Orleans Tree of Life. 

Part of our gift from Caryn's sister Carla - "Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."  A wonderful piece to remind us of home.  We love and miss all of you!

Opening gifts made us hungry so we drove downtown and ate at Desire, a restaurant connected to the Royal Sonesta hotel in the French Quarter that we had visited in March.

Jambalaya Breakfast Skillet Scrambled eggs, Chicken, Smoked Sausage, Shrimp, Potatoes, Tomato, Onion, Peppers, Cheddar Cheese

Eggs Sardou 
Poached Eggs, Artichoke, Creamed Spinach, Hollandaise Sauce, Asparagus, Roasted Tomato, Toast

Both meals were delicious, but the Eggs Sardou won the "Best Breakfast" award.  We ate every last bite!

Thanks to everyone who helped make our Christmas a great one.  It was hard to be away from family but from the cards to everything else we received, we felt like we were at home.