More Snow!

Here are some more photos from our bizarre weather day. Just for some background, the last time New Orleans saw snow was on Christmas day 2004, and before that, it was 1989. This is the earliest major recorded snowfall in New Orleans ever. People were going pretty crazy here, calling family and friends and standing outside in the snow looking as confused as if the four horsemen of the apocalypse had arrived.

I also heartily recommend looking at the amazing footage assembled by the Times Picayune here, WDSU here, and the BBC (we're international, baby!) here.

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, it is currently 64 degrees at 10:03 pm.

A neighbors palm tree, covered in snow.

Our house and front yard that morning.

Streetcar!

More streetcar!

A shotgun house in the snow.

Friday Cat Blogging: Finals Edition

Because of finals, we almost forgot about Friday cat blogging. This week I present a new spin on a relatively regular occurance. I often make tuna noodle casserole. Both cats, it turns out, love to drink the tuna water. It's just like Calvin and Hobbes: they hear me opening the tuna can, and come trotting in expecting a treat.

Annie is usually more strategically located when this happens, so she gets the tuna water first. This time, however, Hodag was lucky, clever, and bold. I was collecting all the tuna water together in a bowl, and then was going to set it on the ground for the cats, but Hodag jumped up onto the counter to start drinking his fill:


Annie was stuck on the ground, to frail to jump that high. She looked very indignant, seeming to say, "Meep! Why must I be so frail? Hodag, you cheated."


But not to worry; Annie did get her tuna water in the end.

SNOW!!!

Let me say that again: SNOW!!! Yes, it snowed this morning. In New Orleans.

Nora had to fetch the van from the shop in Jefferson (DON'T ASK -- it is a long tale of woe). The folks at the shop were about to close for the day when Nora showed up. They were so impressed with her for showing up that they gave her a free t-shirt.

The shop is on a road called Shrewsbury. This is the bar at the corner where Shrewsbury runs into the river. You can even see the river levee covered in a thin layer of snow.


Meanwhile, back at home, Trucky says, "This is not what I signed up for. I thought I was getting a nice retirement in a warm climate. I thought you people were done torturing me with the snow. Sigh."


After returning home safely, Nora braved the snow again to get some photos from the neighborhood. This is a Sno Ball shop somewhere near us (Plum St Snowball maybe? That's pretty near us).


Nora also got a nice photo of the streetcar on Carrollton.


I biked to campus through the worst of the storm, which was fantastic. Would you believe that in six years in Chicago, not once did I bicycle in the snow? Well I got to this morning. But before I left, I took a photo of our newly planted cypress tree, Tirza, and the rest of the front yard.


When I got to campus, this was the view outside my office window. I'm on the fifth floor, so I get to see the tops of all the trees.

Tornado warning!

Auntie Em, Auntie Em!

Just in case you were curious, the weather here has been amazing, at least in comparison to Chicago weather this year. However, tonight and tomorrow, most of Louisiana is under a tornado watch. Sadly, Orleans parish is not threatened, which means that I do not get to ride my bike around in a grey dress and black pill box hat, singing "Doot da doot da do do, doot da doot da do do do!"

Thanksgiving menu

Once again, Colin and I tried to create a thanksgiving menu that reflected both New Orleans and Southern flavors. We think we did pretty well, as everyone ate a lot and seemed to have a good time.

This was our thanksgiving menu this year:

Oysters Rockefeller
Shrimp with Remoulade sauce

Mama Kims Biscuits, similar recipe to this one
Mashed Sweet potatoes with Satusma juice and slices
Caribbean Roasted Vegetables
Turkey with Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing
Corn and Jalapeno relish, similar recipe to this one
Cabernet Cranberry Sauce

Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

In addition, our guests brought a blue cheese salad and a pecan pie. (Now you all know how I gained five pounds this holiday season. )