Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Blow-Out on the Bayou + Crawfish Quesadillas !

It was another fun weekend in Cajun country, packed with great food, great music, and great times! We headed over to the Blue Moon Saloon, on Sunday, for a fundraiser event and benefit dance to help out a worthy cause. NuNu's Nitelife and Cafe', in Arnaudville, La., recently suffered extensive damage from a fire and this event was held to help them rebuild. Everything was donated and all proceeds went to the cause. The place was packed and the event was a huge success.


There were 6 local bands playing, including one of my favorites, Ryan Brunet and Les Malfecteurs. They were hotter than Tabasco and the crowd was doing some nitty- gritty dancing.



There was a lot of great Cajun food, for sale, and the smell was heavenly! These pork steaks, rice dressing, and red beans were fabulous and I had a little bit of each! Ca cest bon, cher!


There was a silent auction, with work donated from local artists, and there were T-shirts and cd's for sale. I loved this painting done on a piece of cypress, but someone else had already bought it.


Here's a little clip that I took, in between dances, of Ryan Brunet and Les Malfecteurs. The crowd loved this band and were really cutting the rug! The wooden dance floor was vibrating and the fans, (no air conditioning) were working overtime. Really sweated off a few pounds!


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We ran into some friends that told us about another fun event going on at Artmosphere, which is a restaurant, art gallery, and live music venue, and is just one block away from the Blue Moon. The Green Monkeys Foundation of Louisiana, was holding the first in a series of "Deep South Sundays", with Cajun dance lessons, a booray card game, and live music, all in an effort to preserve our Cajun culture. We couldn't resist checking it out!


Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band were just taking the stage, but I needed a little break.

These Cajun gals were having a blast!


I ordered a Lemon Basil Martini and sat back and listened to the music for a while. The aroma coming from the kitchen was wonderful and I asked to see a menu.


After all that dancing, I was starting to get hungry again. I decided to order one of my favorite items on the menu, the Crawfish Quesadillas. Cest bon! Divine, cher! For my recipe on how to make this succulent creation at home, click here.
Great with shrimp, too! Oh the life of a Cajun is so much fun!

Hope ya'll are having a great week! Merci beaucoup for stopping by!

22 comments:

Irish Gumbo said...

Sigh...I want to be there. I'm hungry :) and I find myself wanting to dance...

Maggie May said...

That painting on cypress wood was really lovely. Not surprised that someone snapped it up.
You seem to be in a frenzied circle of music, festivals and eating :-)
Sounds ideal!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Drick said...

I have a feeling where ever you go, there's gonna be a blowout of fun, music and dancing ... great that you share these times with us...

John said...

You guys never stop; gorgeous Indian Summer weather here in the UK at the moment.

Rosaria Williams said...

What a great blow-out! Adding music videos always pep-up the mood.

Kathryn Magendie said...

Lemon Basil Martini????!?!??!!? I've never heard of that.

Ohhhhh I AM HUNGRY -why do you always do that to me *laughing*

No food like Louisiana food - NOWHERE have I had food as consistently good from so many different restaurants and so many different ways....


hankering -hankering for some So La food! (north la doesn't count *laugh*)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

As always looks like fun... Jackie and I were just pondering a quick weekend run to New Orleans... will keep you informed, maybe we can meet up

nanny said...

Like I've said before.....Cajuns know how to have Fun and Eat!!!!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Roullez, sha, roullez!

Had a taste of the festival life myself this past weekend at St. Francisville's White Linen Night. Food, music, arts, antiques. Ca c'est bon!

Kittie Howard said...

It really, really warmed my heart that so many got together to help out Nu Nu's. (If someone suggested doing such in Northern Virginia folks would have him/her committed.) I love it that South Louisiana's still got spirit.

Well, cher, we dined out on your shrimp cakes last night. Oh, dear God, but they were delicious. And sooooo easy to make!!!

Just returned from before-Earl errands, the usual foods in case the power goes out. Which it probably will. The state's broke, not trimming trees, so, well, a sneeze turns into pneumonia. Thanks for your good wishes!!

And, yep, I can be a feistly little thing, heh heh!!

Mehmet Osman Çağlar said...

Hello from a new city near sea side
dear Marguerite.

I missed you very much and your wonderful energy full of life!

Cheers-Best Wishes

Nancy said...

We have been attending a few dinners with a Cajun family lately. Lucky us!

Eddie Bluelights said...

It all seems like one long ball and a wonderful enjoyment for all. In comparison we must be the most boring people on the planet! LOL. I say that in jest because I have a great sense of fun as well. You must have an enormous circle of friends - wonderful - and it is so nice for us to see you enjoying life to the full.
Eddie

Cloudia said...

Tres Jolie, Cher!

Marguerite said...

Irish- So good to hear from you, cher! Come on down and we'll fix that! Thanks for stopping by! Stay safe in the hurricane!

Maggie- Thanks, it was so beautiful. We have a lot of fundraisers to help people in our community. And we do have a lot of fun doing it!

Drick- With all of the great food and music in Cajun country, it would be hard not to share it. So much fun! Merci, cher, my pleasure!

John- You're right, but why would we want to? lol We're having beautiful weather, too. Enjoy!

lakeviewer- It was a blast and there are two more, this weekend! Glad you enjoyed it, cher!

Kathryn- It's one of the owner's concoctions. lol And you got dat right, we have the best food, on the planet! Just get GMR to cook a gumbo! And you're right about north La. lol

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a wonderful weekend. Sometimes sights and sounds and smells converge to make a truly special adventure. This sounds like one. Your quesillas looked other worldly. I hope you have a great evening. Blessings...Mary

Velva said...

Tallahassee needs a little Cajun spice! As always, a great time had like only Cajuns know how to do- Great food, great music, great friends and family. Could you ever ask for more? Awesome.

The Good Cook said...

You are so full of life and joy. You are an inspiration to me. I would love to hear your whole story - if only to draw strength from.

I may have to move to Cajun country in order to feel again. So much living!

Catherine said...

Hi - found your blog via Angie's blog and I love the music on the videoclip.Hope you follow my blog - I joined your followers list. Love Cajun music and don't know much about the food (other than a great Cajun/Creole restaurant in Dublin which served wonderful black fried fish - http://www.tantezoes.com/
Anyway - a musician from New Orleans (by way of Minnesota or somewhere totally non-Cajun) has toured Ireland and played our local World Music Club venue - Spencer Bohren - definitely the menopausal woman's crumpet!- He wowed the crowd every time, great slide guitarist and played that rattle that looks like a circular cheese grater and he said is a Cajun musical instrument. Some good Cajun tribute bands inIreland - Two Time Polka are very good. Look forward to seeing more of your posts.
All the best, Catherine.

Marguerite said...

Dave- It's always fun, cher! An impromptu trip to New Orleans sounds great! I was just there, but will be going to the swamp tomorrow, for the weekend. Let me know, asap, if you're serious!

nanny- You got that right, but not necessarily in that order! lol And don't forget, dance. Thanks for stopping by, cher!

Angie- Thanks, sha! I saw your post and it looked like a blast! I'll have to check it out! Have a great weekend!

Kittie- Helping each other is what it's all about, here. It's the Cajun way! Thanks so much for trying the Shrimp Cakes! So glad you enjoyed them. Looks like ya'll "dodged the bullet" on Earl. Yay! You're so welcome!

Jivago- Bonjour and welcome back, cher! So happy to hear from you, again! And merci beaucoup for your sweet comment! I missed you, too and will be over, later! Cheers!

Nancy- Great! Lucky is right, especially if they invite you over for dinner. lol If they are from this area, then I might even know them! That would be a good synchro. Have a nice holiday!

Eddie- It is! Thanks so much for your nice comment, cher! You certainly aren't boring, you just live in the wrong place! lol Life is meant to be enjoyed and we just make fun happen more often than most people. Lots of friends and a big family, too! So glad you enjoy it, too!

Jayne said...

Just watched your video - it looks like you all had a blast! So nice to see what life is like in your part of the world. :)

Keri said...

Wow, looks like you had a blast. And the crawfish quesadillas? To die for!

I haven't had fun like this in too long of a time. Yikes

Keri