New Orleans

I spent the past week in New Orleans at the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Wendy and Erin (two librarians from Utah State University) and I did a panel presentation on information literacy instruction in the composition/writing classroom. The presentation went really well, but that wasn't the best part of the trip. My favorite part of New Orleans is the food.

I ate beignets at Cafe du Monde, fried catfish at a little diner, and had two outstanding and enormous dinners: one at Nola (one of Emeril's restaurants) and one at August (contemporary French). Nola and August are the two fanciest restaurants in which this small-town Idaho girl has ever eaten. At Nola we had an amazing four-course meal: an unreal cheese plate, rare tuna, steak, asparagus, (and more) with a banana pudding layer cake for dessert. I could barely walk back to the hotel. The cheese plate was, perhaps, the best part: french bread, goat cheese, apple slices, honey, grapes, and walnuts. Simple ingredients, but when put all together I had a moment like the one on Ratatouille where Remy (the rat) tastes different foods together, the background fades out, and swirls of color circle around his head. The combination of tastes was almost overwhelming. August was equally amazing, but I couldn't handle four whole courses two nights in a row. The highlight of the dining experience at August was an appetizer of gnocchi with blue crab and truffles. It was delicious.

Here are a few of the sights in warm and tropical New Orleans:


They have lilacs in New Orleans in the first week of April! It's a beautiful and exciting city. Things are still being rebuilt -- Erin and I walked all over the French Quarter and saw construction and repairs happening everywhere we looked. I'd love to go there again -- and this time I'd take Michael with me. :)