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.  

Christmas Eve Reveillon Dinner

Since we both had Christmas Eve off, we had a decision to make:  Make a nice dinner, or go out to eat?  The decision was easy - let's make reservations.  Christmas Eve managed to sneak up on us and the day before, we found ourselves searching for a menu we would love at a place that had a reservation at a decent time.

One of the traditions in New Orleans is what is called a Reveillon Dinner.  It is defined as a long dinner with several courses the nights before Christmas Day and New Years.  Since this was the most of what we found available, we jumped at the chance to experience another New Orleans tradition.  We found reservations early in the evening at the Columns Hotel, previously mentioned in a post.

The dinner was amazing!  Four courses: your choice of soup, salad, entree and dessert - all topped off with a champagne toast.  We each made sure to get something different, and loved every bite.  We will definitely consider this for next year.

Caryn standing in front of the Columns hotel - just a short walk away from the house!

Matt's choice - the Oyster Stew. Caryn even tried it - and liked it!

Caryn's choice - the Duck Gumbo. 

Enjoying a nice evening together.

Matt's choice - Beets, frisee, and bleu cheese salad. Bed of crisp garden frisee with diced beets, bleu cheese, and molasses vinaigrette.

Caryn's choice - Columns House Special. Fresh organic mixed greens, with shaved red onion, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.  If it says "goat cheese", there's a strong chance Caryn is ordering it.

Matt's choice - Filet Oscar. 6oz grill filet with celery root, sweet potato and Yukon gold potato pave, topped with crabmeat and béarnaise sauce.

Caryn's choice - Veal Osso buco. Served with roasted garlic mashed potato.

Matt's choice - Chocolate ganache tart. Topped with a raspberry reduction.  (We clearly couldn't wait once the desserts got to the table.  We dove right in and completely forgot about pictures!)

Ginger Crème Brulee 

Merry Christmas y'all!

After dinner, we decided to let each other open one gift, including Amos.  There's no picture, but he opened up a squeak toy that he immediately took into the back of the house, where all we could hear for the next 30 minutes were constant squeaks.  Somebody was excited!

Matt got a couple of books - Amazing Athletes and Cowboys Essential.  Perfect for him!

Nothing like a pair of crazy comfy socks on a cold night.

We can finally throw away the Saints welcome mat that was at our door upon move-in. Thank you, Powells.. err.. umm.. I mean Santa.

Thanksgiving 2013

We decided that since we couldn't be with our families for the holidays, we were going to start a new tradition and host our own Thanksgiving.  Luis and Ashley, and their friend Ben joined us and we had a true feast.  Luis brought a great bottle of wine, and Ben brought a nice port that his friend had made, and a squash dish.  Over all, we all got full and had a great time starting our own traditions.

Matt catching the turkey!!

Matt Freeing the turkey...it didn't get far.

We each added a little piece of home.  Caryn made sure that we had some veggies and dip, just her mom does for her family.

Matt made his Granny's Homemade Banana Pudding

The beautiful Turkey fresh out of the oven.  Matt found a great recipe from Gordon Ramsey that involves bacon.  Caryn is still thanking him.

The whole spread...like I said, we truly had a feast!

Italian Pie

Italian Pie, is about a block from the house, and is a great little Pizza/Pasta Joint.  We went there with our neighbors Mary Anne and JD.  They just moved in about two weeks ago, and we had a great time.  I have a feeling this place will be a great place for weekend fun...They have 3 for 1 drink specials...

The Spinach or Artichoke Pizza.  Your choice of Spinach or Artichoke with Mushroom, Onions, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella.

Matt got the Shrimp Florentine Calzone.  It has a Spinach and Artichoke sauce with Fresh Shrimp.

The Columns Hotel

This place is a really cool place, and it's right done the street from our house.  It's a very old, still fully functional hotel.  They have a great little bar, and we first heard about it when we came for a friend's wedding.  This was the location for the after, after party.  Who would have thought that we would be living a block away from it six months later?

Oak Street Po-Boy Fest 2013

OK, so this was a real festival, and we had a blast.  We met up with Luis and Ashley, and their friend Ben who came in town for Thanksgiving.  It was packed, and we had an absolute blast.

The Main Stage.  Great Music!

Now we didn't have any from this place, but it gives you a great example of what we had to choose from.

This was a Sweet Potato Waffle Po-Boy With a Fried Chicken Strip and a Maple Cole Slaw.  It was Matt's least favorite, but still good.

Caryn's killing a Pulled Pork Po-Boy

This was a Smothered Rabbit Po-Boy that Matt enjoyed so much he almost forgot to take a picture.

Great little New Orleans Street band.

Fries smothered in Shredded Beef, Melted Cheese and Cheese Curds...Amazing!

Caryn got to snap a picture with the leader of this little parade band as they marched down the street.

The Happy Couple

This was almost our favorite.  It is a Roast Duck Po-Nini.  Roasted Duck and Po-Boy Bread done on a Panini Grill...So good.

Char-grilled Oysters.  You can't leave NOLA without having some of these.

Our official favorite...The Oysters Rockefeller Po-Boy.  Char-Grilled Oysters, and a Cheese and Spinach Sauce.  They say you measure a Po-Boy by how many napkins it takes to eat it.  This was a solid 15 napkin Po-Boy.

Not sure who's having more fun, but we got a video of em' both.

Oh, The Festivals

New Orleans is famous for all the festivals that they have.  We were lucky enough to catch a couple the weekend before Thanksgiving.  This is the Magazine St. Blues Festival.  It was really more of a block party since it wasn't very big, but it was perfect to go to before we had to go to work.

We caught the first band, The Disco Amigo's, which were more of a cover band, but they were very lively and sounded great.

This is the Bacon Dog from Diva Dawg.  All their hot dogs are cooked in bacon grease, so you know that combining two of Caryn's things is going to put a smile on her face.  It came topped with Bacon and we added the onion.  Damn good dog!

This came from the Fry Bar tent.  It's fresh cut fries topped with Garlic, Rosemary and Freshly Grated Parmesan...and Yes, Matt is participating in Mo-Shave Movember.  Caryn's not on board...Matt is loving every minute of it!

The District

Located right next door to Stein's Market and Deli is The District, which is a brand new place that specializes in sliders coffee, and doughnuts.  We haven't been for the sliders yet, but the doughnuts are just out of this world.  They are made fresh all day, and trust me when I say, you won't find anything like this at your local doughnut joint.  There is no set menu with the exception of chocolate, glaze, and cinnamon sugar, anything after that is all you can dream of.

This is the Elvis.  Peanut Butter Glaze, Bacon, Bananas, and a Honey Drizzle...outstanding!

This is the Rozelle, and it pops up a few times a week due to its popularity.  Raspberry Glaze and a Candied Tangerine Peal.  Notice they served the Espresso in the traditional style with a side of club soda.

The Mexican Hot Chocolate.  A doughnut rolled in cinnamon sugar and then covered in Mexican chocolate and drizzled with caramel.  Amazing!

This is the Boston Cream and a Kolache.  It's an Eclair with Homemade Filling, and a Chocolate Glaze.