Food From Home

This evening, Celeste got her first taste of what will be a regular meal throughout her life — red beans and rice. I don't make red beans too often, a few times a year, in part because it's an all day process and also because they only really taste right when I have Camellia red kidney beans, which I have to get either my mom to send up from Louisiana or I have to order from somewhere like CajunGrocer.

It wasn't the best pot of beans I've ever made; I should have brought them to a boil before leaving them to soak overnight. Some of the beans turned out nice and creamy, but others were a little on the hard side. However, Celeste liked them, eating a little bowl sans rice. I only cooked a pound, so there're leftovers for her to enjoy tomorrow, too.

Naturally, while cooking the beans, I got to wondering about Camellia and how it fared Katrina. According to The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Camellia survived the storm, but, like many businesses in New Orleans, was suffering from a lack of staff.

I've also been wondering about the other food from back home that I have to find ways to get every now and then. We can find Zatarain's creole mustard in small jars up here, but those run empty in no time at all, so I have to get the big jars. On the McCormick website, there are some letters to employees, saying that they were hoping to get back to manufacturing in early October.

While it's good to see these businesses bouncing back, it is worrying how Congress and the Administration are moving so slowly in getting plans together to rebuild New Orleans. Bush is pledging $1.5 billion to rebuild levees and flood walls, but Bush has pledged plenty of money before and not come through, such as with his promises of aid to fight HIV/AIDS and malaria in Africa.

And, while thinking about Katrina and New Orleans, check out Steve Conn's song "New Orleans, New Orleans (Katrina Christmas)" [ MP3 lyrics ]. The song's a bit blunt in places — "All I want for Christmas is to see Michael Brown / Hanging by his thumbs from a tree Uptown" — but Conn is right that "In Washington they wag their heads and say it's such a pity / But do you think they'd ask if we should rebuild New York City?" (via Street Knowledge)

Another Food Story

In a totally unrelated food story, Celeste has started feeding her Rockin' Pony. She'll take a bowl and hold it up to the hobby horse's mouth; sometimes she brings over Cheerios and other things to it, too. If you ask if she thinks her pony might be hungry, she'll pause and then nod and go get the bowl to feed the pony. It's really cute.

Technoarti tags: New Orleans food Hurricane Katrina