Friends, food, history and cupcakes

Grilled oysters

Last night we had our friends Lezza and Chris over for dinner.  I’m delighted to say that Lezza is now a convert to grilled oysters, so that makes two for me.  I think I should win a prize.  In a way, I already did, because they brought us a cookbook that is a revised edition of what may be one of the first U.S. cook books written in the 20^th century.   The Picayune Creole Cook Book, originally published in 1901, is a “glimpse into old Creole hospitality, customs and traditions,” with some of the original Creole recipes on which the popular and ubiquitous cuisine is based.  It’s full of quaint old-fashioned comments such as “…has been animated by the laudable desire to teach the great mass of the public how to live cheaply and well.”  That sounds like my motto!  I wish people still valued vocabulary.

For dinner we had grilled oysters, green salad with garlicky red wine vinaigrette and Shrimp Etouffee with Wild Pecan Rice.  This particular type of rice, which is partially hulled, is grown in the area around New Iberia, Louisiana, where my maternal grandmother was born and raised.  The rice contains no pecans, but it has a very appealing nutty fragrance that fills the house.  I like to serve it with shrimp or crawfish etouffee, partially for reasons of nostalgia and authenticity, but mostly just because I really love the smell, taste and texture of it. 

One and a Half Cupcakes

Lezza and Chris also brought us some cupcakes from a place down the street: Red Velvet (my absolute favorite of all time) and Maple Bacon (my new favorite).  My niece Remy, who is currently a resident of Paris, France, has been proclaiming the deliciousness of bacon combined with sweet things for ages.  Now I see what she’s been raving about. 

The night before, Derek had made some absolutely sinful chocolate ice cream for dessert; I think it had two pounds of dark chocolate in it!  That left the cupcakes for breakfast today. J