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From Brett Anderson in today's Times-Picayune:

Phil's Grill

3020 Severn Ave., Metairie, 504.324.9080

610 Palace Drive, Hammond, 985.340.5225

1640 Hickory Ave., Harahan, 504.305.1705

The expanding local hamburger chain put sliders on its menu six months ago after founder Phil de Gruy noticed how well they went over at charity events. The three that come to an order more or less equal in girth what you'd get if you ordered a regular hamburger. The attraction is variety: One is made with Angus, one with alligator, one a hot sausage blend.

Tracy, Mom and I boarded the plane for New Orleans 3/7/10 looking forward to seeing all the cousins, Aunt Ginnie and sights of the city. None of us were disappointed! What an amazing trip it was. My mom (Aunt Catherine aka Cathy) thoroughly enjoyed her special birthday trip thanks to everyone who put their lives on hold to make time for us. My mom got to see her sister, her nieces, nephews, their children and various sites of New Orleans that she had wanted to see. Tracy and I were privy to an excellent tour guide (Katie & Kevin) to show us the French Quarter and 9th ward. Sue and her family made the trek from Atlanta to see us and that was an added treat, ‘specially for my mom. All in all it was a fantastic trip and your hospitality meant the world to us! Carol

Family

I admit it. I have a fickle relationship with onions. I want them on some things but not others. I want them on some things some days but not others. I like them cooked sometimes and raw other times. I do have rules about them, though. Here are a few:

• First and foremost, I have a very low threshold for them. You can easily put too many of them on or in anything I eat.
• On a burger, they can be raw or grilled but they have to be chopped. Sliced into rings won't do.
• Onion rings, lightly-battered and freshly-cooked, are excellent. Once they cool down and the batter starts sliding off of the onion, I'm done.
• Cooked in most dishes, they're fine and hard to overdo. Hamburger steak with onions gives me fierce heartburn but just try to keep me from eating it. Dishes like red beans and rice, beef or chicken stew, or crawfish pie can't be done without them.
• Potato salad, on the other hand, is just fine without onions, thankyouverymuch. I have grown into the ability to take or leave potato salad with onions but I still prefer mine without. There were with and without factions in the Ferrara house. "You won't even know they're in there" was always responded to with "Then why put them in there?" It was hopeless. Mom and Dad started making two batches.

Got any rules of your own about onions? Do others in your household share them?

Bogue Falaya Wayside Park - October 17, 2008

Patsy and I eat lunch here in the park weekdays now that the weather is nice. She didn't work yesterday so I went by myself with a McDonald's drive-through lunch ... and the camera. Maybe some of the nearby family members could join us one day. During the week, you almost have the place to yourself. Quite lovely. I love rye grass.

Are almost ready ...

CrabAppleLane Tomato/Eggplant Garden - May 11, 2008

CrabAppleLane Tomatoes - May 11, 2008

Come Back Inn

Patsy and I picked up some sandwiches and stopped by Mom's for lunch. Patsy had an oyster po-boy, I had the Joe Don (Ham, roast beef, and swiss) po-boy, and Mom had a shrimp po-boy. We split a stuffed artichoke. We had a nice visit and the food was excellent. Come Back Inn has been one of my faves since I was a kid. They have the best roast beef in town. The place is looking pretty spiffy these days. The dining room still has picnic tables but they're covered with tablecloths now and the other tables are all new. Still a great place to eat.

Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant in New Orleans is an institution. Doesn't look like much, does it? I had eaten take-out food from there a few times but had never eaten inside and had never been to it. My boss had our whole department and a few others over there last night for his annual Christmas dinner. Sad to say, I still haven’t eaten there. I put the broiled stuffed flounder and baked macaroni and cheese in a box immediately. I’m still fighting the flu and I’m still prone to violent coughing fits that ... let’s just say it’s best not to have fresh food in my stomach. Patsy and I shared it when I got home and my instincts were correct. I was able to keep it down but it was touch and go. This is no reflection on the food. The food was great. The baked macaroni is fabulous. It’s my kind. There are two kinds of baked macaroni fans. People, like me, who like it hot and a little bit creamy and others, like Patsy, who like it slightly burnt and crusty on top. You have to settle that part of the macaroni and cheese equation BEFORE you go on to whether to add brown gravy or not.

It’s been nostalgia week for me in New Orleans. Yesterday, it was a muffuletta from Central Grocery. Today, it was a shrimp po-boy from Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing and a bubble gum sno-ball from Sal’s. I must have passed Mark Twain’s 100 times before I finally took a chance on it. It has a paper mache Mark Twain in the store window. The shrimp is sautéed, not fried, and that’s all I had time for today but it’s the pizza that makes the place. I eat pizza. Any kind of pizza placed in front of me is in danger but I never thought there was much difference between the big chains and the smaller specialty pizza places. I was wrong. Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing was the first gourmet pizza joint I started frequenting. I used to live AND work nearby. I do neither, now, and I miss them.

So I stopped at the Pearl River Shell station to fill up tonight. There was a welcome sight on one of their shelves that has been empty for several months: Hubig’s Pies. These are a New Orleans institution and I’ve been missing them since Hurricane Katrina damaged their bakery. They’re back in production now although the first place I tried earlier this week was sold out. I grew up on these. They’re sold everywhere in the Greater New Orleans area. I’ve even seen them at hardware stores. They’re delicious and they really knock the edge off if you’re hungry. I started on their apple pies as a kid but in my search for one at some store, I came across the last pie on their shelf. It was a pineapple pie just like the ones you see pictured above. The buying public really did save the best for last. That pie converted me to pineapple and that is all I buy now. I was so astounded to find five of them on that shelf at the Shell station tonight that I bought all of them. I’m not sure what happened to those other two. They disappeared somewhere between Pearl River and Bush.

Have to give Galatoire's another try. I thought it was nothing special and extraordinarily expensive the one time I went there about 20 years ago. Best restaurant in America? Maybe they've improved.

We had Cream of Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches last night. It is still my all time favorite comfort food combo. How did that ever get started? I've seen it on a Campbell's commercial but Mom was serving it to us long before I ever saw that commercial.

First King cake. This was breakfast this morning for me. These came from Marguerite’s Cakes. They were fairly traditional cinnamon King cakes. A little too dry for my tastes but still very good. They also make them with various fillings. Raspberry and cream cheese is the version I like. In fact, I want one now that I’ve typed it.

Traditionally, bakers start making King cakes on Twelfth Night or Epiphany (January 6) and stop making them after Mardi Gras. There is a another tradition with King cakes. The baker puts a plastic doll/baby somewhere in the cake. Tradition holds that the person who gets the piece with the baby is to provide the next King cake. Some of us dive right in not thinking for a moment about the baby. There are about 5 of us left on this planet. We are a dying breed. These things are sold for $5-$25 and you would not believe what people will do to avoid getting the baby. Some I’ve noticed:

Slice very thin slices and then pick up 3 or 4 of said thin slices.

Swallow it whole and don’t tell anyone.

Spit it out and don’t tell anyone.

Don’t get any until someone gets the baby.

Ask if anyone got the baby yet or the more subtle “Who got the baby?”