BEFORE the storm

Porter and I visited New Orleans the spring before Katrina.. The scenery was verdant and the people were in full bloom. We met so many different characters once we decided to walk the city instead of rely on the public trolley car system which always had someone half-mast with a beer dribbling over ..We stayed in the garden district at an ancient B&B.. After the first night we slept there we asked to be moved to a different room as both of us had very vivid dreams about the same woman who had been mis-trialed and hung in the 1700's..The story retold to us by the owner..Once we moved into a converted sun porch that overlooked a small garden the dreams ceased..However the adventures multiplied..We visited museums,walked though crocodile

sunning spots,past the uneven architecture and economically challenged shanties..thru swamp areas, downtown New Orleans with its long term perfume of whiskey and vomit laced with its beauty and soulful music woven into the damp air.. We talked to shop owners learning stories about the Neville brothers , the movies that had been filmed there over the past 10 years after

the governor had made a tax deal with Hollywood..and ate fusion food which is still on my memory bank..Asians,Latins,Germans,French,Russians, had all made their mark and interpretations on the long term corner of Louisiana Cuisine producing amazing cross breeding of flavors and integration..My favorite site was a group of cranes nesting at the Museum on their own designated island..they collectively looked like snow.

I feel fortunate we were able to see New Orleans like this : in its glory.. Like Haiti it will have a layer of its devastation for a long time..Wealth measured in the depth of its culture..That collapsed delta was the feeding mouth for 110's years of commerce and pockets lined by others toil..Toil and soil and now silt.

Hot pimento bar olives:

this recipe I talked off of a friendly bartender in the French Quarter..

they are fun to play with both in drinks and cuisine

Empty and rinse 2 jars of pimento olives...place in a large bowl..cover with Tabasco sauce or any type of red hot sauce of your liking...recant into jars and refrigerate..These are fun in Martinis, salads... in sandwiches...chopped into Spaghetti Arribata...sliced over grilled halibut, chicken...mixed into scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese....you'll know what to do....................Get on that van and Gogh...........keep scrolling down.....so green