My hubby and I are in a ukulele group that opens a fat Tuesday parade in Petaluma CA! We get the crowd jazzed up, then a jazz band shows up to lead us through the downtown. It's quite festive for California! Nancy

Lars, you made me look up Cajun/Creole restaurants in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I came up with Popeye's Chicken, The Cajun Cafe which is actually an Asian food court restaurant at a local mall and Buffalo Wild Wings! I guess there aren't any here in Northern Michigan. There is a bar/restaurants that served alligator as an appetizer, but it closed December 3 and it was definitely not cajun, it specialized in macaroni and cheese.

Elery would love the okra and I'd like the oyster po'boy. Elery does like etouffee but it's pretty spicy for me, I'm such a wimp.

I'm sorry Kevin wouldn't get his picture taken with the banner, I'd have liked to see that!. Here the most Mardi Gras celebration goes on in the local American Legion and VFW halls, they have fund raising nights that are Mardi Gras themed.

Annie

I'm so okra deprived, living in Wisconsin. So I would have ordered the okra with a side of okra and then I would have had okra for dessert. And a to-go order of red beans & rice for later.

I prefer okra coated w/ a bit of flour, S&P and pan fried. Kinda' dehydrates it and concentrates the flavor. But, there's no such thing as bad okra so I would have been content with the deep-fried option.

Trader Joe's now sells dried okra, as snack food, and it is pretty good, especially since it is so portable and non-perishable.

I tasted Kevin's étoffée, and it tasted like it had okra in it and was very good. He forgot to stir it before eating it at first, and so most of the rice was at the bottom, and he complained that it was too spicy, but once he stirred it completely, it was fine. I do not make it as spicy as the restaurant did.

I like Popeye's Fried Chicken, and I guess they are everywhere now, but I remember when they were only in Louisiana. Some of the best fried chicken I've ever had was at the bus station in Lake Charles - food is good always everywhere (except chains) in southern Louisiana.

I used to work at a furniture company in Watts (or Compton), and I would sometimes go for lunch to a restaurant in Compton that was called "Louisiana Fried Chicken" (huge sign on top of the restaurant), but when I got inside, I found that it was really a Chinese buffet - heavily protected by thick acrylic panels, as if it were a bank.

Lars, I've eaten that dried (freeze-dried, I think) okra. Aldi had it a year or so ago but haven't seen it in the store since. It was delicious, IMO. Really had a nice, concentrated okra flavor. The only problem is that I could easily eat $20 worth of it in one sitting. I've seen it in some online stores, too, but haven't ordered any. Yet.

Making out a seed order and going to try to grow okra again. My son grew it successfully in grow bags on his patio but he didn't share with me (even though I gave him the seeds!) But he gets lot more sun than I do and I think the retained heat in the patio probably was a big help, too. I'm going to try some in the full sun flower bed that I have in the front yard and in some grow bags. Hoping we get some 'summer' this summer. Some years we don't.

"-----I'm going to try some in the full sun flower bed that I have in the front yard and in some grow bags.---"

Okra is quite ornamental. Beautiful flowers. BTW, young okra leaves are eatable.

My okra seeds have germinated, red okra and green okra.

dcarch

ci_lantro, do you have a Woodman's grocery anywhere near you? They should have it.

Here in Chicago, with its diverse ethnic populations, most stores have it in the produce aisle and in the freezer cases.

Woodmans

No, I wish. Closest Woodman's is about 50 miles away in Appleton. I get there once every two of three years. Could spend hours in there but am always with DH whose idea of fun isn't browsing thru grocery stores. It is a great store and I'm glad you mentioned it. I probably would not have thought about looking for okra there. Happens that we'll be going to Appleton in a couple of weeks to take DS to the airport. I really need to start a list of things to pick up there.

Once or twice a year I drive the 50 miles to the Kenosha store and stock up there and then hit the outlet mall. Woodman's has everything! I have never seen so many brands of brats.

. I'm going to try some in the full sun flower bed that I have in the front yard and in some grow bags.

Just be sure your local police know what okra looks like:

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/okra-mistaken-pot-mans-garden/137208087

And that was in Georgia!

As for Mardi Gras, I'm totally confused at this point. I always thought Mardi Gras was the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday ("gras" because you ate up all the fat in preparation for the Lenten fast), which then expanded earlier a bit because of the scope of the celebrations leading up to it. It ended at midnight sharp when Wednesday rolled around.

But I was in Publix yesterday and there was some kind of promotional banner about Mardi Gras specials until April 7. So I don't know what anything is anymore.

Thanks for posting those pics and your day! That fried oyster po'boy looks so good! Where I live, no one knows what a po' boy is, and I suppose someday I'll just have to make my own! Just can't decide if I should try a lobster or fried oyster... or perhaps both!

We eat fried okra often (too often? naw). I usually make enough to fit in a medium bowl after frying, and DH and I eat it like popcorn.

Sounds like you two had a great lunch and a great day!

Mardi Gras is "Fat Tuesday" but in New Orleans, the celebrations start at least two weeks before that, as there are a lot of parades to get in. I used to arrive in N.O. twelve days early so that I would have two week-ends there for the parties and parades. I've always loved the food in N.O. and Louisiana, and I had a lot of Cajun friends when I lived in Texas, especially in Houston. I also have three Justin Wilson cookbooks, and I've been making his recipes for decades.

Fried okra was one of my favorite foods growing up, and our cook/maid (when I was very small) used to grow okra for us, among other vegetables. I was sad when she moved away. I do not remember what the plants looked like, however, although I do remember picking the okra. Since it is legal to grow marijuana here now, people would not get bothered by police raids for growing okra the way that one man did in Georgia.

But I was in Publix yesterday and there was some kind of promotional banner about Mardi Gras specials until April 7.

Writersblock, that's marketers for you. Anything to make a buck.

Mardi Gras season officially kicks off on January 6 every year. This year the first parade rolled on January 5th and they continue through Mardi Gras day.

http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/mardigras/parades.html

Oh my, I grew Clemson Spineless on the recommendations of Nancy in NC, and they didn't look anything like that, the leaves were wider and shorter and kind of reminded me of maple leaves. Thank goodness!

Annie

Lent precedes Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras)

You’ve got that backwards. Today is Fat Tuesday and tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the kick-off to Lent.

My parents met at a Fastnacht party in Germany some 60-something years ago. I first hooked up with my now-wife during Mardi Gras season at a N.O. themed bar/restaurant in Hoboken, NJ 19 years ago. I never thought about that minor coincidence before just now. And now I wish I could figure out a way to swing a small celebration together tonight, but my daughter has two sports and my wife’s been working late, so that might not be feasible.

Public Service Announcement - Lent is a perfect time to try out some life changes. The 40-something days is long enough to break a habit and see results, short enough to where you don’t need to dwell on the anxiety of “forever.” You don’t need to be Christian or religious. If you are, great, you can look to it for strength, but it’s a good time slot for everyone.

As far as the okra, Clemson Spineless has leaves that always look to me more like a cucurbit. That's true of a lot of the hybrids, while most of the OG varieties tend to have the skinnier leaves.

Lent is a perfect time to try out some life changes. The 40-something days is long enough to break a habit and see results, short enough to where you don’t need to dwell on the anxiety of “forever.”

Excellent point, FOAS, but I believe it's exactly 40 days, no?

Depends if you count Sundays. From wiki:

One calculation has been that the season of Lentlasts from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. This calculation makes Lent last 46 days, if the 6 Sundays are included, but only 40, if they are excluded, because there is no obligation to fast on the six Sundays in Lent.

I tend to focus on self improvement rather than denial, so I don’t take the free pass on Sundays.

Great idea FOAS ...better than a New Year's resolution

Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification, FOAS.

Venice Beach Carnival celebration, which we missed last Sunday. This is a one-day event in Venice, although it used to be three days. I'll try to make a point of going there next year. It was easier when we lived in Venice and could easily walk to the boardwalk.

FOAS, Fastnacht Day is still a thing here in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

FOAS, I do like that way of thinking. My Pastor at church in White Cloud once told me to give up something bad for you, but he wasn't talking about food or Diet Coke or whatever. He urged people to give up a long held grudge, a bad habit or a prejudice, to open our hearts to new beginnings.

Because I, of course, do not hold grudges or have bad habits, I'm sure he was talking to everyone else. (ahem)

Annie

Your po'boy looks wonderful! My spouse loves them, but he loves gumbo even more so he's always getting sidetracked when ordering. Our appetites are diminishing as we age so he can't eat both at the same meal, LOL.

We love okra, too. A couple of the Nepalese restaurants use them in curries and they're excellent.