New Orleans

New Orleans is a city I've always wanted to visit but never had the opportunity to do so. Sadly, now that Lake Ponchartrain has flowed into the city, I'm not sure when, or even if, I'll have a chance to visit that city. Of course for me, one of the big attractions to that city is/was the food.

The first time I ever had Cajun and Creole food was years ago, when my dad found a recipe for jambalaya in a cookbook. Ever since the first time I helped my dad make that dish more more than 15 years ago, I've been tinkering with variations on that recipe and recipes for gumbo. Right now I have a version I like, and I'll be posting it later in the day.

For now, here's a topic that has long been of interest to me and definitely falls in the "other things" category on this blog: environmental and economic sustainability. There's a great site that I visit just about daily called WorldChanging.com. Today's article is a plan for rebuilding the city of New Orleans in a way that takes advantage of New Orleans history, arts scene and unique character and incorporates sustainable environmental and economic design principles. Here's the link. Take a read. You might find something interesting in there. There are also a million sites out there that you can donate something for hurricane and flood relief to. If you can spare the cash, make a donation. Network for Good features tons of charities that anyone interested in donating can choose from, from religion-based charities to organizations like the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.

Stay tuned for some Cajun and Creole recipes later today.