Mardi Gras 2005 Day 2

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Kiki Maraschino

I woke up around 2 pm. We looked out the window and the parades were going right past us, plus we were kitty-corner from Mother’s Po Boys. We went over and got in line at Mother’s. They had a cop working the line to make sure everyone followed protocol.

We ordered a Ferdi (roast beef, ham, and pan drippings known as “debris”), a roast beef sandwich, grits, red beans and bread pudding. We could only manage to eat one sandwich and some bread pudding. One tip I learned…take the sandwich and turn it upside down. That way the meat doesnt fall out the soggy bottom. We were stuffed. That sandwich was a revelation for Kristina.

And we made some new friends

A parade started going by and I ran out for a quick sec to watch. I was almost immediately beaned right between the eyes with a full dozen bag of beads. OUCH!!! There is an art to parade watching.

Kristina came out and we got caught up in the fun. The mood was festive, everyone was cool, it was the exact opposite of Bourbon Street. We spent around two hours out there, and caught a bunch of stuff. But then as I was going long for a doubloon, I fell on my ass in the gutter and broke the lens right off my new digital camera! But at least the pics are still accessible. And Kristina got a great shot of me falling down. Then Kristina got beaned in the head with a full bag of beads, so we returned to the hotel and relaxed in the jacuzzi.

Sunday evening we walked down to the Bacchus parade. We had been led to believe it was a somewhat risque parade, but there were kids on the floats and it was your standard parade. It had a football theme this year, so we weren’t that into it.

The crowd was not as cool as the day crowd. One guy in particular managed to pull off a triple-header of spilling my own beer on me, screaming at ME for it, and copping a feel off Kristina. Here is what happened: a float rider had tossed some beads to me, even though I was standing away from the crowd with my beer. This guy leapt in front of me to intercept the beads as if he were taking a bullet for the president. Then he screamed at me when my beer spilled. As I yelled back at him, an incredibly smooth local woman took my by the elbow and led me away, saying, “Look! Look at that! You have to get a picture of that!” (Look at the birdie, look at the birdie…) I took the obligatory picture, accepting her intervention. Then I got hit right in the eye with a huge bag of beads.

After a fresh beer and bag of ice, we continued walking along the parade route. Someone yelled in my face, “Peristyle!!!” I stared at him stupidly, dumbfounded that he knew my favorite restaurant, before recognizing him as the maitre d’. We asked him where we should eat, and he yelled over the marching band,

“Eat Elvis Presley!!!!

“What????”
“Go Eat Elvis Presley!!!”
“What????”
“LeKit Brossree!!!!”
“Oh, Le Cote Brasserie!!!”
“Kristina asked, “What’s a brossree??” Then she took a bag of beads in the side of the head.

At Le Cote Brasserie, we took seats at the bar and ordered appetizers (tempura shrimp and crab cakes). When I returned from a restroom break, I found a Phish-type guy cozying up to Kristina. He was in the middle of a hard-luck tale about how he had no place to stay. I told him to go to Le Richeleau and ask them to call him a cab.

Posted in New Orleans | Leave a comment

Mardi Gras 2005 Day 1

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Kiki Maraschino

Since I can’t be in New Orleans this year, I might as well relive the magic.

Day 1 Saturday

We flew in and made it to Peristyle for our 10pm reservations. I knew their scallops were amazing, so I ordered them as an appetizer. The menu options were exotic, and I knew it would all be good, so I let the server choose. I had duck, with duck bacon and foi gras. Normally I would not order fois gras, but it something to try once in your life. Remember SQUIRT gum? Your entire mouth is flooded with pure fat. It is like meat custard, the richest fattiest thing in the world. The duck was not at all gamey, but cooked medium rare, the flavor was just too “ducky”. Although most people probably prefer that their duck taste like duck, I need it cooked longer and to have some type of fruit sauce to make it palatable.

I had a mission to get a photo of me flashing at “Girls Gone Wild” for the comedic effect. We walked over to their party. They didn’t have banners for me to pose in front of, but I put on one of their hats while Kristina got a photo…mission accomplished. We went over to where their back rooms were and saw a giant, burly guy “escort”, no…, “lead”, no, “strong arm” a young, totally wasted girl into the back room. It made the hair on our necks stand up. We were skeeved out, and left immediately. We walked a few blocks down Bourbon street and soon hated everybody. It was a bad vibe. Withing 10 minutes, I was splashed with beer, Pimm’s cup (mine) and vomit (not mine). I cleaned up at the Napoleon House. I scrubbed up with water hot enough to burn me. I noticed Kristina hadn’t given away any of her beads and she said, “Those people don’t deserve my beads.”

We went to Coop’s, quite a walk away, but by now we needed crab claws and sanity. We sunk into a cozy wooden bench. We feasted on their unbelievable crab claws, and Pasta Opelousas. I bought their cookbook, since that Pasta Opelousas is Bob’s favorite.

Now we were ready to go home, but there were no taxis. NO TAXIS. So we walked over to Hotel Le Richeleau where I knew they have a taxi stand. But there were NO TAXIS. We went into Le Richeleau and the lady called for one. She wouldn’t let us wait outside because she said the driver would get mad if she called them and then we were gone when they arrived. She insisted that we wait in the lobby. We passed through the bar on the way to use the ladies room and there were only two people in the bar, one at a table, and one on a stool, both sound asleep. We went back into the lobby and each took a seat on their two Queen Anne sofas. We slowly slid down in the couches, and Kristina immediately fell asleep. I gave up after trying to wake her up twice. The next thing I knew, I was waking up myself and asked the lady how much time had passed. She said, “Only twenty minutes…I called twice…they’ll come.” So I let myself drift off again. Soon I awoke in a panic. We were in the poppy fields of The Wizard of Oz! As we left, Kristina said, “I don’t think that lady really called a taxi”. We luckily caught one a block away (well, I stood in front of it and it either had to stop or run me over….desperate times…desperate measures).

Posted in New Orleans | Leave a comment

The Taste 2013

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

I had a blast at The Taste this year! First off was “Field to Fork” which offered a lot of fresh dishes to whet the palate. Then came Jonathan Gold and Song Yoon’s “Tastes of LA”. Not only did I have some exotic tastes, but they had uni! And tequila! This is antelope, and I ate it! It was good, too.

John from Social Domain and I started with the cocktails and moved on to the shots.


Then I babbled at Jonathan Gold

Then I got risque with Nguyen of Starry Kitchen

ate some uni

Then this happened


Posted in Festivals | Leave a comment

Carlsbad Wednesday

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

Wednesday we walked around town and shopped. We were again sucked into the vortex that is the corner of Carlsbad Blvd and Carlsbad Village Drive. We found a gastropub called Compass, with all the current hip food, like sweet potato fries and beet salad with fried goat cheese. Which was good, because I was in the mood for some beets. Did I mention it was all organic?

They also had the de rigeur chalkboard of brews, whichwas good, because Bob was in the mood for a Sculpin IPA. His chicken sandwich was so-so and they sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on the sweet potato fries, which annoyed me, but it was worth it just for that beet salad.

We watched movies and read for the rest of the day and ate takeout Italian subs. The next day we headed home. Not my usual action-packed and misadventure-fraught holiday, which makes for a dull blog but was really nice for a change.

Posted in Carlsbad, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Carlsbad Tuesday

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

We decided instead of going to San Diego for Sea World we would continue with our mellow beach holiday. We went to the well-reviewed Naked Cafe, which surprise, surprise was on the corner of Carlsbad and Carlsbad Village in an outdoor mall next to the old Victorian. I got a half order of the coconut French toast that is their claim to fame, and it earned its reputation. It was not too sweet, but very coconutty. They have a huge selection of coffees and teas, and a cool mix of reggae and calypso playing over the sound system. I also tried the carrot-ginger soup. The carrot tasted like it had just been pulled out of the ground, with a definite bite of ginger. Bob and his mom were very happy with their sandwich and salad.

We had a hard time finding the Museum of Making Music. Hint: approach it from Armada, not from Fleet. It is sponsored by or a part of NAMM, which puts on a huge convention in San Diego every year. It’s a nice little museum, small enough that you don’t get tired or bored. The interactive musical instruments were fun for everyone.

They had session musician Hal Blaine’s drum set, which was used on Good Vibrations, Be my Baby, Galveston and Mr Tambourine Man by the Byrds.

I also discovered the Mellotron, the sound of which I immediately recognized as the beginning strains of Strawberry Fields.

We took a friend’s advice and checked out the Crate and Barrel outlet. Bob got a pair of shoes at the Rockport outlet and I bought a few birthday presents for family.

By now it was time for dinner. We escaped the Carlsbads corner and checked out Village Kitchen and Pie on Tamarack just east of the 5 freeway. It is kind of like a Spires, but family-run. My chicken pot pie had a thick, flavorful gravy and lots of fresh vegetables in a thick housemade crust.

The salads were enormous. I’m not usually jealous of the person who ordered salad. The cornbread was sweet and cakelike.

But the big draw was the fruit pie. My blueberry pie was so good I ate more of it than I intended, and Bob’s raspberry sour cream pie was flavorful and not a bit tart. It’s such a treat to find raspberry pie and at the height of the season.

I fell into a food coma at 7pm and slept.

Posted in Carlsbad, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Carlsbad Monday

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

Everything is happening at the corner of Carlsbad Blvd. and Carlsbad Village Drive. There is Pig Liquor, which is where locals gather to catch up on the news. All they need is a checkerbord on a barrel. They have a huge selection of rare and microwbrew beers. Next door is Cessy’s, a small Mexican joint that always has a crowd.

They are known for their carne asada, so I ordered  burrito which comes with only guacamole and pico de gallo salsa. There was a tiny bit of gristle, but that is common for carne asada. Where they really excelled was with their traditional fish tacos – deep fried fresh fish with cabbage and a mayonnaise sauce. One of the best fish tacos I have ever had.

Onthe other side of Pig Liquor stands a rare bookshop called Farenheit 451 – a nice place to while away a few hours. They had around 12 of the Oz books. I could have spent a fortune. As it was, I got a linguistics book, an Edward T Hall book about how different cultures understand the concept of time, and an autobiography by Gary Gilmore’s brother, who we strangely just discovered is one of Bob’s FaceBook friends.

After a rest at the hotel, we headed back to the corner of Carlsbad and Carlsbad Village to Jay’s Seafood and Pizza. We ordered a pesto pizza with ricotta and spinach, and added artichoke hearts. We took it back to the hotel and had a pizza party while watching Silver Linings Playbook. The pizza was so rich, it almost seemed like the base was butter instead of pesto. The crust was thin, but like most California pizzas slightly sweet.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Carlsbad, CA (No, not the caverns) – Sunday

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

This weekend Bob’s mom, Bridin, took us to Carlsbad for a 4-day beach vacation. Best known as the home of Legoland, Carlsbad also features 7 miles of beach, a cute little village with some great eateries and great surfing.

We arrived at the Hilton Garden Hotel around 4pm. It’s kind of a cross between a hotel, a residence inn and a motel. The room is large and clean and the hotel is quiet. It’s directly across the highway from the beach. It is raining, wouldn’t you know it. Boo. After settling in, Bob, my mother-in-law Bridin and I went to look for Vigilucci’s Italian. We came across Vigilucci’s Steakhouse first and everyone was ready to eat. I tried to stop it, because she’s a vegetarian, it looked pricey, and because I was wearing the only warm thing I had – a Harley Davidson sweatshirt. But it is ruder to argue than to be treated to a fancy dinner, so in we marched to the white tablecloth restaurant.

We started with a fantastic caprese salad – 3 towers on heirloom tomatoes, basil and big balls of fresh mozzarella. Bridin found a lovely butternut squash and walnut tortellini and Bob ordered vodka penne with shrimp. Although the tortellini were first rate, the vodka sauce was slightly bland. My papardelle was a mixed bag. The cream sauce was delicious with just a hint of brandy. The serving of papardelle was too generous, so the delicate pasta clumped together, and the scallops were bland. Still, the sauce made for a semi-successful  plate. I know am being much tougher on them than usual because the food was so expensive.

Sometime in the night it stopped raining and the next day we were ready to do some exploring.

Posted in Carlsbad, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sacramento: Wonder Weiners and Fairytale Town

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

The next day we went to check out Wonder Weiner for lunch. How can you resist a name like that? Unfortunately, the skin was too tough and the buns were too soft. A shame for a 14″ dog.

Then I took a taxi over to Fairytale Town. It’s an old playground with really cool retro statuary. There is a rule that every grownup has to be accompanied by a child. I approached a few people with kids, but they were all going to the zoo across the street.

So finally I walked right up to the window and set down my $5. The woman said, “I’m sorry, you need to be accompanied by a child.”

I said, “Oh I know, my friend and her daughter are meeting me inside.”

“Do you have her phone number?”

“I left my phone in the car.”

Now we were just staring at each other, waiting for the other one to break. Was my willingness to lie to her face greater than her reticence to call a customer a liar? Finally I wore her down.

I had fun tripping out on the old fairytale playground, and checking out the petting zoo animals. I even ended up taking pictures for a lot of families. I walked out with a family I had befriended and waved over at the ticket booth, “See…I found my friends!”

Posted in sacramento | Leave a comment

Sacramento: Biba’s

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

I flew into Sacto Thursday morning for a workshop. The hotel did not look promising from the outside, especially location-wise. But the room was beautiful and quiet.

The view was nothing to write home about.

After the workshop I couldn’t wait to have dinner at Biba’s with a few of my colleagues. I still have my cookbook from my last visit to Sacto 10 years ago.

I started out with a nice Brut and a beet salad. I had an unbelievable pasta with ragu

2 of my friends had ravioli, with pillowy cheese filling

 1 brave person had pasta with anchovies, which was a bit strong for me

We hadn’t planned on dessert, but everything else was soo good, we got a creme brulee and some chocolate bombe thing to share. Peer pressure!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hudson’s Canadian Tap House

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

Hudson’s in the West Ed Mall is kind of a Canadian theme restaurant. Better meals were probably waiting elsewhere, but I just couldn’t resist. The walls were adorned with snowshoes and the servers were dressed as various Indian maidens. Pierra and Olga were game for anything, so we ordered up some poutine and got all Canadian. The poutine and gravy were excellent, but a little salty. Good if you are drinking lots.

Pierre and Olga played it safe with steak sandwiches, served on dry bread instead of the garlic bread Olga expected, but the steaks were good and cooked as ordered. I tried the bison shepherds pie. Bison is to buffalo as venison is to deer. The bison was in chunks instead of ground and was very tender. Of course, most braised game tends to taste like beef.

We were stuffed so we didn’t order the maple-bacon doughnuts for dessert.

Posted in Canada, Edmonton | Leave a comment

Edmonton: Snow Cat

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

Although I hated to leave the fireplace in Maureen’s basement where I had been sleeping, we went to spend the rest of the week at Pierre and Olga’s. They have an outdoor cat that lives in the snow. Its name is Chisel, but I called it Snow Cat. We walked up to the stoop and Pierre remarked that the cat hadn’t eaten its food. He turned the dish upside-down and a perfectly bowl-shaped chunk of frozen cat food fell out and hit the deck with a thunk. I could not stop laughing. Poor Snow Cat.

Just then, Snow Cat made a showing, and Pierre asked, “Do you want to see what he REALLY likes? He got out a broom, and Snow Cat sidled up, and Pierre swept the cat! He swept like you would brush a cat. It was definitely one of the weirder things I’ve seen a cat put up with.

I started catching a cold, and it had been a tiring week for everyone, so Thursday we just watched the magpies out the window and read and napped. Olga made a nice barley soup for lunch.

Luckily,on my last day there my mom woke me up to see the moose that has been showing up in the backyard.

Posted in Canada, Edmonton | Leave a comment

Edmonton: Vicky’s Bistro and Wine Bar

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

Vicky and George, first generation Greeks Have moved locations several times. Vicky’s is elegant and clean, with a warm, homey vibe. Pierre and Olga’ grand-daughter also happens to work there as a server.

We started out with Saganaki, a baked cheese dish almost like queso fundido, and keftedes (meatballs).

As long as we were in a Greek place I ordered souvlaki, which was delicious, though Pierre’s lamb chops looked fantastic. Olga had a perfect salmon, and my mom ordered veal breaded and baked with ham and cheese. Even though it’s a common way to serve chicken, the cheese just didn’t seem to go with the veal.

Posted in Canada, Edmonton | Leave a comment

A Difficult Day all Around

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

Tuesday Maureen drove me, my mom, Loretta and Pat to St Paul for the funeral. It was 15 below (C) with biting winds. When I got up, everyone was throwing on sweaters and mittens and toques like they were preparing for armageddan, so I went back down and put on stockings, thermals, knee-highs, Levis, 2 shirts, and 2 sweaters.

We were late coming into St Paul, so instead of stopping at a diner we stopped into A&W. Do you know they don’t put ice in their root beer because they don’t want to water it down? Weird.

The funeral was held at a Catholic church. I usually don’t look in the coffin, but I looked down and saw Auntie Mary Louise, and so many memories came flooding back, the waterworks started. Then I had to pass in front of the church and greet the family. I looked around and I felt like I was the only one in the church crying. I hugged Marie Louise’s daughter, but could only blubber at her.

If there’s anything I can say about the Catholic Church, they certainly hold nice funerals. It was very comforting, and considering there was a complete mass it didn’t seem that long. Afterwards, we went to the burial. It was REALLY cold at the ceremony. It was so cold that when the priest finished his prayer, everyone literally ran from the grave back to their cars.

There was a nice reception, and I knew I was somehow related to at least half of the people there. But we were racing the sunlight back to Edmonton since most of the road didn’t have streetlights so we couldn’t stay long. I have to hand it to Maureen, she is one heck of a good driver.

Posted in Canada, Edmonton | Leave a comment

Snow!

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

We flew into Edmonton Sunday night and had a nice family dinner of comforting chili made by Maureen. I had sworn all the way there I would not complain about the cold. I walked out into the snow on my first day in expecting to be miserable, but thanks to temperate weather and careful layering, it wasn’t so bad.

I offered to take everyone out for brunch. I had been advised to try the Sugar Bowl near the University, but the line stretched down the block – in the snow. Hatfields, just a few doors down had an equally long line, but it was along an indoor hallway. We queued up at Hatfields. It was a quaint, if crowded, spot with little stained glass sculpures separating two rooms. The eggs benedict (or bennies as they are called here) were made with back bacon.

Even though the Sugar Bowl is famous for their cinnamon rolls, Hatfield’s boasted “Edmonton’s favorite” so we had to check them out. One was big enough for the table to share.

My cousin enjoyed her quiche and everyone else had some variation of eggs. Come time to pay, and my card was declined! In the rush I had forgotten to notify the bank I was leaving the country. So Mom paid, and I took a lot of ribbing.

That evening everyone gathered at Olga’s, who had made a ham and scalloped potatoes. They live in a more rural area. It was nice to see Alphonse and Angelle (Gelly). Sitting around the table late into the night, I learned a lot more about my family.

Posted in Canada, Edmonton | Leave a comment

Cliff’s Notes on the Breland Family

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Kiki Maraschino

My mother’s father, Alfred Breland, married twice, and brought 15 children into this world. I once extrapolated 72 first cousins from this, and goodness knows how many second cousins. For the sake of this visit, I am going to keep it short so that you at least know who I am talking about.

1st wife: Virginia Laboucane’s children: Irene, Mary-Louise, Rose-Ida and Edwin.

2nd wife: Ida Robinson’s children: Germain, Virgina, Alphonse, Jeannette, Bernard, Lucille, Loretta, Delia (My mom) Isidore, Emile, and John.

Today we will focus on those at Edmonton and St Paul this week. First, dearly departed Mary Louise, and her two children, Pierre and Angelle. Pierre married Olga and they are two of my favorite people to visit.

Alphonse lives in Ontario, and his daughter, Angelle (gelle-y) was kind enough to accompany him on this trip.

Loretta, married to Patrick Devlin, had 2 of her children there – Paddy and Maureen, who I have a special connection with and also lets us crash at her house.

Posted in Canada, Edmonton | Leave a comment