Beignets, if you are lucky enough to know anyone who can make them. And I guess put chicory in the coffee. I also think of "po' boy" sandwiches, shrimp or crawfish etouffee, trout Marguery, grillades, Bananas Foster, and bread pudding with whiskey sauce. If you care about being super authentic, a lot of the stuff you mentioned I think is really more Cajun than New Orleans cuisine. But I doubt your guests will be picky about that when it tastes so good!

Well I wish I was down home celebrating, but I will have to do it from Houston. I have a king cake, and my Mardi Gras beads are decorating my mantle. We were down in South Louisiana weekend before last and there were parades happening all over so we did get to see and hear several! They were all having a ball! I think I will make some Jambalaya tonight. HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!! Watch it live! Here is a link that might be useful: live Mardi Gras web cams

Katherine, isn't it cool how something so simple can brighten up your day? I'm glad the box arrived and did just that for you! So, how is our little robin doing? Does it have far to go before arriving back here in Michigan? Robins are a sign of Spring, and it would indeed be great to see one right about now! Let's take a look and see where our robin has been, and has yet to go, shall we? So, here's our current list... dan/dan_the_mailman..... SENT/ melissa/hazelnutbunny .....SENT/RECEIVED deb/debbya...................SENT/RECEIVED cindy/quiltpartner ...........SENT/RECEIVED linda/linda ruzicka ...........SENT/RECEIVED melinda/ilovefarac michelle/micyrey ...........SENT/RECEIVED katherine/justamomofsix .........../RECEIVED Where will our robin land next? Hmmm, it looks to me like it's going to go to Melinda next! Yayyyyy for Melinda! Kath, how's the box holding up? -Dan

Well, it was dikon. I had jicama, but I thought dikon was more compatible taste-wise. There is a reason for using white for Valentine hearts . I don't understand the whole business about the red heart’s connection to Love and passion. When you are near someone you love, true, smoke gets in your eyes and your heart starts to pound faster and heavier --- OK, is that love? But in fact the heart has nothing to do with the situation. It is really the brain telling the heart what to do. Any sexologist will tell you that the most erotic organ in your body is up there, not down there. So, since the brain is white, and the shape of the brain is kind of heart shaped with a split in the middle, why not white brain for Valentine? :-) http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/brain/133/3/941/F2.large.jpg dcarch