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Showing posts with label alligator. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alligator. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
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| The Mardi Gras Gumbo Cook-off occurs Feb. 14, 2015. Photo by Buzzy Gordon |
Thanks to the popularity of Cajun
cuisine, Louisiana cooking has become world famous. And as a big fan myself, I
thought I knew most of what there is to know about the food. Until I went to
Southwest Louisiana for Mardi Gras, and attended the annual Gumbo Cook-Off in
Lake Charles, that is.
This is nothing like any other BBQ
or chili cook-off you may have ever attended. More than 50 krewes and other
competing teams filled a hall of the Lake Charles Civic Center, spilling over outside
adjacent to the lakefront promenade. The noise level is astounding: krewes are
also competing to win the “spirit stick,” by engaging in raucous revelry.
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| Mardi Gras krewes vie for the coveted Spirit Stick! Photo by Buzzy Gordon |
As the smells of simmering roux
start to activate the salivary glands, you begin to wish the tasting would
commence. But the teams have been admonished not to serve until the judges have
collected their samples. Finally, lines begin to form; and one by one, krewes
begin ladling out their savory offerings. These are no measly samples:
styrofoam bowls are filled to the brim with the steaming samples.
I did my best to try them all, but
after 20 or so half-bowls, I had to call it quits. But I managed to taste a bit from each
category: traditional chicken and andouille sausage; seafood; and wild game.
Some of the latter were quite exotic -- like pheasant and elk sausage.
Alligator featured prominently, along with rabbit, and even the occasional
squirrel.
While most of these mouth-watering recipes may be available to the public to eat only once a year, you'll be glad to know that the best in the professional competition -- as awarded in two of the three categories in 2014 -- comes from the kitchen of the Jack Daniel's Bar & Grill restaurant at L'Auberge Casino Resort. Professional seafood honors went to the Krewe de Sauvage, while Krewe de Mischief danced away with the coveted Spirit Stick.
For the aspiring chefs who want to make their own gumbo, check out this "How to Make a Gumbo" video by Chef Scott Landry.
For the aspiring chefs who want to make their own gumbo, check out this "How to Make a Gumbo" video by Chef Scott Landry.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
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| Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
Calling all sportsmen (and women and children, too)! On
January 9-10, 2015, the coastal town of Cameron will host its annual Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival.
This popular event has been entertaining festival-goers
since 1955 and highlights duck and goose calling, retrieval dog trials, nutria
and muskrat skinning, trap setting, skeet shooting, and oyster shucking
competitions.
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| Duck Calling Contest. Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
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| Oyster Shucking Contest. Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
In addition to the usual fair fare, food vendors also sell alligator sausage, jambalaya, boudin, gumbo,
smoked sausage, and crawfish.
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| Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
A gumbo cook-off is also a part of
the yearly festivities. Thrilling carnival rides will entertain people of all
ages. The Pageant Queen, King, and attendants of the Fur and Wildlife Festival
will be crowned on Friday evening.
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| Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
The fun continues on all day Saturday. Sign yourself up for a
morning 5K run. Stroll through the antique car show. Watch the festival parade at 1:30 p.m. Observe an alligator skinning demonstration at 4:30 p.m.
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| Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
The exciting musical
entertainment lineup includes Bag of Donuts, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp
Band, John Dale Hebert, Water’s Edge, and Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Road
Runners.
For a complete schedule of events, see the festival website, http://lafurandwildlifefestival.com.
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| Photo by www.parkerbrandcreative.com |
All
events will take place on the fairgrounds located at the former Pat’s of
Cameron (513 Marshall St.) in Downtown Cameron unless otherwise noted.
To read more of Angie's adventures, check out her blog, angiekaydilmore.blogspot.com.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
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| Stop by the Welcome Center for Louisiana souvenirs, 1205 N. Lakeshore Drive, Lake Charles |
Summer is a hot travel season here in Southwest
Louisiana. It’s the time of year for
leisure travelers and weekend warriors to explore the beaches on the Gulf of
Mexico, see the alligators along the Creole Nature Trail and hit up the casinos
and live concerts.
When visitors are
looking for something authentic from Lake Charles to bring home with them,
there are a few spots around the area they can shop for souvenirs.
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| Cottage Shops located on Alamo St. |
- The
Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau gift shop has
Louisiana art, Mardi Gras regalia, Lake Charles t-shirts, post cards, Cajun Ben’s
Alligator Heads and Necklaces, magnets, cookbooks, Tabasco Jelly Beans, home decor
and more.
- LeBleu’s Landing in Sulphur sells hot sauces,
Louisiana culinary gift items, children’s toys, books, aprons and other
authentic Southwest Louisiana items.
- The Cottage Shops Cultural District offers
assorted boutiques offering Louisiana art, jewelry, coffee and local souvenirs,
as well.
- The Southwest Louisiana Boudin Trail brochure features several locations who ship frozen boudin across the country.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Oohs Aahs and Ooh La
La Along The Creole Nature Trail
By the end of February, halfway into the six weeks of remaining winter the groundhog forecasted for northerners, the winds begin to shift from north to southerly along coastal Louisiana. And with the winds come weary travelers from Mexico, Central and South America.
Spring is the perfect time, as birds that winter in this paradise are leaving for their summer homes to the north and others are coming in like cosmopolitans from foreign lands. The skilled birder can see over 100 different species in a day when conditions are right. But, for my wife and I, it’s not about the numbers, but about the spectacle.
The Creole Nature Trail does include terrestrial creatures like the ubiquitous alligator Louisiana is known for. But visitors to the region may also see deer, raccoons, and otters.
Their
destination isn’t Houston or New Orleans International, nor are they carried
inside the bellies of jet-propelled steel machines. No, they lift off from
places like the tropical forests of the Yucatan, the hills of Chiapas, and
beaches of the Antigua crossing the Gulf of Mexico under the power of their own
wings. With a make or break passage their terminals are the safe harbor of the
marshes, prairie and few remaining oak cheniers of Southwest Louisiana.
We enjoy the “ooh la la” regalia of neotropic songbirds and roseate spoonbills, the odd looking caracara, and the clown-like ibis. Always a surprise is a cinnamon teal or vermilion flycatcher too far east. And when a flock of blue-winged teal rises from a roadside pond with a group of males marked with moon shape crescents on their cheeks, no one can hold back an ooh and aah.
By John K. Flores www.gowiththeflooutdoors.com
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Roseate Spoonbills are abundant in Southwest Louisiana.
This picture was taken during a Grosse Savanne Eco-tour.
Photo by John K. Flores
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By the end of February, halfway into the six weeks of remaining winter the groundhog forecasted for northerners, the winds begin to shift from north to southerly along coastal Louisiana. And with the winds come weary travelers from Mexico, Central and South America.
Spring is the perfect time, as birds that winter in this paradise are leaving for their summer homes to the north and others are coming in like cosmopolitans from foreign lands. The skilled birder can see over 100 different species in a day when conditions are right. But, for my wife and I, it’s not about the numbers, but about the spectacle.
The Creole Nature Trail does include terrestrial creatures like the ubiquitous alligator Louisiana is known for. But visitors to the region may also see deer, raccoons, and otters.
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Cameron Jetty Pier is a good place to see brown
pelicans. Photo by Christine Flores
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Each
year on my birthday, which happens to coincide with the peak of the spring
migration, my spouse and I travel the Creole Nature Trail All-American Road.
Starting in Sulphur, we travel LA-27 to Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, to
Johnson Bayou and Peveto Woods Bird Sanctuary on LA-82. And from there it’s
again on LA-27 to Cameron Prairie NWR, LA-14 to Lacassine NWR and as many back
roads of agricultural fields in the region we can fit into our two-day trip.
Perhaps
nowhere else in the country is the communication between spouses limited
to, “Ooh-ooh-ooh,” or “Aah – did you see
that? Stop the car! Look, look, look! You’re blocking traffic!” Indeed the
Creole Nature Trail is full of excitement for birdwatchers and nature
lovers.
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The prothonotary warbler is a neotropic songbird that arrives
each spring across the Gulf of Mexico and can be seen at Sam
Houston Jones State Park. Photo by John K. Flores
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The hospitality of
Southwest Louisiana awaits those from around the world and Lake Charles offers
cuisine and comfort with numerous places to stay overnight. It’s up to you to
find the oohs, aahs and ooh la la of Southwest Louisiana. And, you don’t have
to go far down the Creole Nature Trail, All-American Road to find them.
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The northern parula is a friendly neotropic
songbird that spends summers in coastal
Louisiana. This picture was taken in swamp area
teeming with willow trees. Photo by John K. Flores
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Snowy egrets feeding their chicks are a special
treat in Southwest Louisiana when you stumble
upon a rookery. Grosse Savanne Eco-tours offers day
trips where nature lovers can enjoy these birds.
Photo by Christine Flores
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This hooded warbler was caught feeding at Peveto Woods
Bird & Butterfly Sanctuary off of LA-82. Photo by John K. Flores
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The rose-breasted gros beak only stops
long enough in coastal Louisiana to eat and
get its strength back to head north. Picture
taken at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.
Photo by John K. Flores
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