Thanksgiving: Florida vs Maryland.

Charlene and I come from two very different cultural backgrounds. Mine with a Greek/ Scottish/Swedish thing going on, and Charlene's from a Taiwanese/East Asia heritage.

My arrival in Florida heralded mostly my mom cooking and complaining we never help her. (A montage, I feel, that happens every year--- thanks Mom!). With a full menu planned, the preparation for Thanksgiving Day commenced!

Thanksgiving in the Sunshine State:



Thanksgiving in Maryland:A few days before Thanksgiving, my mom calls and the following conversation ensues: mom: "do you want duck or turkey for Thanksgiving?"me: "Oooh, duck sounds good and interesting." mom: "somebody* wants turkey, but your aunts and cousins**don't really care for it" me: "well then, let's have both"And that is how my family makes a holiday full of excess and gluttony even more fattening. Because we can't agree on what to eat, we just bring everything we like. Here's a sample:

*my brother is a staunch traditionalist when it comes to the holidays

**some of my family members didn't grow up celebrating Thanksgiving

On the Joy of Meyer's Lemons

Katie has a lemon tree back in Florida. After winter break, she came back with a bounty of Meyer Lemons. A note from Katie: "Over the Christmas holidays (2009) I picked a ton of Meyer's Lemons from my mother's yard in Florida. Upon my return to the Big Easy I had accumulated TOO many lemons. What was I going to do with them all?! All my friends were still home for the holidays, and these lemons were taking up far too much space in my humble kitchen/ dining area. Something had to be done."

Adventures with the Meyer Lemon:

Our Evening with Betty Fussell

Way back in November, Katie and I had an opportunity to attend a salon with Betty Fussell. You know, those salons where you talk about stuff but don't get your hair done. The salon took place at Cafe Amelie and here's what we got to eat:

Des Allemands Crab Cakes

Mini Wild Catfish and Cochon de Lait Sandwiches

Amelie Oysters

Bordelon Sweet Potato and Andouille Soup

Delacroix Shrimp and Grits with Corn and Andouille Sausage Macque Choux

Cherry Almond Bread Pudding with Brandied Cherry Sauce

also a delightful Satsuma cocktail named after Betty herself!

Everything was absolutely delicious.We're definitely going back for brunch when the Cherry Almond Bread Pudding is being served.

Katie got to meet the chef and sample the soup early. It was very awkward when I tried to get some soup and found out that they weren't serving it yet. But the wait staff were very kind to make sure I got some soup when it was being served.

The salon took place in the courtyard of Cafe Amelie and was illuminated by candles which was absolutely beautiful but made food photography difficult. You'll just have to trust us that the food was beautiful.

At the salon, there was a lot of talk about food in America and it was a delight to be in the presence of Betty. When the host mentioned that Betty writes about corn and beef, I thought back to my American Food class where we read articles about corn and beef and wondered if I had read some of Betty's work in class. When we got a chance to talk to Betty, we found out that she knows Dr. Belasco who taught my food class. It was exciting. Here's a picture of me and Betty on her chaise.

*it turned out that Betty was one of those people who wrote nice things about Dr. Belasco's book that went on the back of the book.