Boiled Crawfish Pasta Salad + Festival Preview

Tis the season for crawfish and here is a great recipe for those leftover crawfish from your crawfish boil. Spicy crawfish and pasta with a rich, creamy dressing that will melt in your mouth! Perfect for those backyard cook outs or anytime you want a delicious dish.

Bon appetit!

16  ounces bowtie or other pasta, cooked according to package directions and drained
1 lb. peeled, boiled crawfish
1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup each, bell pepper and onions, chopped
2 tbs.'s butter

Saute onions and bell pepper in butter until soft. Add crawfish, green onions, parsley, and Cajun seasoning, and saute and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Make sauce. (recipe below)

1 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 tbs. Creole mustard
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs. lemon juice
Few shakes of Tabasco
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and mix well. Place pasta and veggie mixture in a large bowl and stir until combined. Add sauce and toss until well coated. Chill until ready to serve.

Serve with a good loaf of French bread and a glass of wine. Bon Appetit!

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Festival Preview

It's that  time again for our biggest and best festival of the year. The 28th annual Festival International de Louisiane kicked off last night with a Fais Do Do in downtown Lafayette. Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie  were rockin' the huge crowd and there was a whole lotta nitty-gritty dancin' going on. The free 5 day festival will continue on until Sunday evening with 6 music stages and over 100 performances. Here's a little clip that I took of the crowd dancing to a favorite Cajun waltz. For a complete schedule, click here.

Happy Festival, Ya'll!  Merci beaucoup for stopping by!

Southern Eclair Cake + A Cajun Birthday Blast + Festival Time

Here's a sinful, decadent cake that is just heavenly and is sure to be a hit with your family and friends. It's a perfect dessert for warmer weather and when I tell you that it is fab, then you know that I mean it, cher! I like to make this cake from scratch, but if I'm pressed for time I make the shortcut, easy version. I am including both versions and they are both out of this world! Enjoy!

Southern Eclair Cake ( from scratch)

1 box  graham crackers

3 egg yolks
2 tbs.'s butter
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract 


1 pint whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar

Butter a 13"x9" pan.  Line the bottom with graham crackers, reserving the rest for layers. Next, make the pudding.

Place the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and gradually stir in 2 cups milk, mixing well. Cook and stir over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute longer and remove from heat.

Stir small amount of hot pudding into 3 slightly beaten egg yolks.  Immediately return to hot mixture and cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Let cool.

 Meanwhile, whip 1 pint whipping cream, with 1 /3 cup sugar added, till stiff.  Fold into cooled pudding.

Spread half of this mixture onto the graham crackers.  Top with another layer of crackers and repeat. Top with the final layer of graham crackers.

Frosting

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons butter, softened

5 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine and mix with an electric mixer till fluffy.

Spread on top of the final layer of graham crackers.  Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 2 hours or till crackers are softened.

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And for those of you who are pressed for time, here's a shortcut recipe for this cake. Equally as delicious!

 Shortcut Eclair Cake

1 box  graham crackers

2 small boxes of instant French vanilla pudding

3 1/2 cups  milk

1 8 oz. container whipped topping

1 can chocolate frosting

Butter or spray a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Line the bottom with graham crackers.

Combine milk with the 2 packages of pudding with electric mixer in large bowl  When it is thick, fold in the container of whipped topping.

Spread half of this mixture on the graham crackers. Top with another layer of crackers and then spread the remaining pudding mixture.

Top with the last layer of crackers. Spread the frosting over the graham crackers. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.

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A Cajun Birthday Blast

Here's a little clip that a friend of mine took at a recent Cajun birthday party at Fred's Lounge in Mamou, Louisiana, where it's Mardi Gras, all year long. Fred's is a local landmark and is noted for it's Saturday morning dances. And all of this starts at 8:30 a.m.! The lady in pink leading the birthday train is Taunte Sue, the owner. Oh the life of a Cajun is oh, so fun! Crank it up and and let the good times roll, cher!

I will be away from my blogging desk for a few days to attend the 26th annual Festival International de Louisiane in downtown Lafayette. Five straight days of fantastic Cajun and International music, food, and fun! This fabulous festival has been chosen as "Best World Music Festival" by About.com's, World Music Reader's Choice Awards. The fun begins tonight with a fais do do, with Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys taking the stage at 6:30 p.m., with Brian Jack and the Zydeco Ramblers to follow, and runs through through Sunday. For a complete schedule, click here. Hope that everyone is having a wonderful week! Merci beaucoup for stopping by!

Festival Weekend Finale'! - Day 5 !

On Sunday, my guests and I started off our day with a good Cajun breakfast! I made eggs benedict, French toast, jalapeno hash browns, and cornmeal biscuits, and served it all up with lots of strong Community coffee! After all, we had another whole day of walking and dancing ahead of us, plus, I always love to spoil my guests and make them feel at home. It is the Cajun way, cher!

When we arrived at Scene Chevron, the place was filling up fast, for a true Cajun legend, D.L. Menard, who has been entertaining Cajun country with his unique style of traditional, Cajun music, for over 40 years and is still going strong! A surprise included a few special guests, including Sonny Landreth, and members of the Jambalaya Cajun Band. The results were amazing and the crowd was super charged and raring to go!

Allons danser, cher!

After all of this dancing, we decided to catch a little AC and refresh with a cold drink. We headed over to Agave' Mexican Cantina and ordered a round of Coronas, and a few Margaritas. We also had some of their delicious homemade tortilla chips and salsa.

Our next stop at the festival, was at Scene Popeyes , for the fantastic, La Excelencia show. This fabulous salsa orchestra, from Puerto Rico, reaches through all the barriers, with it's "salsa dura" sounds and fresh, original music.. The enormous crowd was lovin' this band!



By then, it was time to head back over to Scene' Chevron, for the next band. It was a was a show that I had been looking forward to all week and Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas were about to take the stage. The mood was estatic and the crowd was ready for some action! Nathan and his "hotter than chipotle sauce" band did not disappoint, and the crowd just couldn't sit still for this one!

Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas

After this great show and dancing, we headed over to the Fais Do Do food court, where I couldn't resist having one of my favorites, a Shrimp Poboy from the Lagneaux's Restaurant booth. Plus, I downed two bottles of water!

It was around this time that my camera started having some issues. It told me that the batteries were dead and that the memory card was full, and I had already maxed out my other camera, too. So, I just danced for the rest of the evening! Cie la vie, cher! Sometimes you just have to go with the flow!

It was one for the books! A blast, cher!
A bon ton! A veritable marathon of food, music, and fun!

Oh, the life of a Cajun is oh, so fun!!!

And, last but not least, here's a little clip of the the Krewe de Canaille, who were out in full force, for this waltz on the patio, at Scene Chevron! This one's for you, Eddie!

Hope that ya'll are resting up this week, mon amis, because we have the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival coming up, this weekend, (April 30-May 2), and don't forget about Part II of Jazz Fest, in New Orleans! See ya'll there! Merci beaucoup for stopping by!

Festival Weekend Blow-Out ! - Day 4

On Saturday, after a wonderful breakfast of crawfish omelettes, fresh fruit, beignets, and bloody mary's, we headed downtown to the festival for Day 4! After four days, you become ONE with this glorious festival, and being there feels normal and whatever your previous life was, LBTF, (life before the festival), seems a distant memory. My dear bloggie friend, Joanne @ Whole Latte Life said it best, in a comment on my last post, "You have a veritable marathon of food, music, and fun going on"! And cher, believe me when I tell you that she's right! We started off at the Marche de Arts and Crafts Market and did a little shopping. I just couldn't resist this wonderful Fleur de Lis lamp (on right) for a hallway in my home. And a "WHO-DAT" t-shirt from the Alexander Art Studio booth.

We made the trek over to Scene Bacardi, just in time to catch "The Bluerunners Band" reunion show and they were really getting down, cher! Their fabulous Cajun-Zydeco-Punk-Rock- Gutbucket Blues style is off the charts! The crowd really enjoyed this rare performance. We sure miss you guys! This one's for you, Robert!

The Bluerunners

After all that dancing , I was ready for a nice frozen drink. I spotted the Fat Tuesday booth, (New Orleans Daiquiris) and had to make a decision about what to order. I made a new friend, while waiting in line. She was from Florida and ordered a Pina Colada and I got the Strawberry Daiquiri ! This was just heavenly, along with a beautiful breeze blowing in. We had such beautiful weather, for this year's festival, and it was really a pleasure be outdoors, so much. Especially to dance to live music, outdoors! So much FUN!!!




Then, it was time for a little Cajun cuisine, before the next show that I was really excited about seeing. The Pavilion de Cuisine was mobbed and there were long lines to wait in. But I knew what I wanted and that was a plus, and it gave me a chance to make a few phone calls, so I didn't mind waiting. This little guy, (on left) was handling the serving for his family's booth, at the Antler's Restaurant food booth. From left to right, that's crawfish etouffee, rice, and corn mache choux! Oh divine, cher! And a crawfish poboy from Bon Creole booth was excellent, too!

Then, we were ready to head back to Scene Bacardi, to see the legendary, Grammy nominated, "Henry Gray and the Cats". This band is one of the best New Orleans Blues bands in history, and they were really rockin' and rollin' the crowd!! Henry is 84 years young and has performed all over the country and the world for the last 30 years, and has been instrumental in "keeping the blues alive! Crank it up, cher!

Henry Gray and The Cats

After this great show, I left my friends , to walk over to the TV5 Monde Stage, where one of my dear daughter's, favorite bands were scheduled to play. I figured that I would find her there and sure enough , I did. A large part of this area was shady and many were taking a little siesta, before the band came on.

A short while later, Radio Radio, a half/ electro and half/ hip-hop group, from Quebec, took the stage and had the 20 somethings really dancing and wanting to tymer, all night long! My phone rang and it was mon cher amis calling to let me know that they were at the old Stan's Downtown, chillin' on the patio, and listening to a fantastic Cajun-Rock band.

So, I high-tailed it over there, and joined them! This fine group was playing on Stan's Downtown's patio and they were really kickin'! We had a round of cold drinks while we absorbed their eclectic style. Didn't get their name, but they sure were good! Let the good times roll, cher!

To be continued..........

Lots more to come! Stayed tuned for Day 5!
Merci for coming by, cher amis! Hope ya'll have a wonderful week!

LOTS MORE Festival Fun ! - Day 3

The show went on at Festival International on Friday evening, despite a cloudy sky and threats of stormy weather. Luckily, it didn't rain and the inclement weather stayed well to the north of us. The mood was esctatic and Scene Chevron was bursting at the seams with exuberant fans of the fabulous Cajun band, Feufollet. They started playing together when they were mere teenagers and now as "twenty somethings", have grown and expanded into, not only one of Acadiana's premier acts, but into a popular group in the world arena, as well! It was so crowded in this "Boomer Tent", that many took to the patio to dance, where they could really let loose. Sorry if the video is a little shaky, but I was dancing when I took it! The crowd LOVED this band!

Feufollet

After all of this dancing, we were in need of some refreshment and we were starving, so we decided to walk over to the Pavilion de Cuisine and get some Red Beans and Rice w/ Sausage and I just had to have one of these divine Crawfish-Spinach Bread Bowls. Cest bon, cher!

After devouring these Cajun delicacies, we returned to the "Boomer Tent", where Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie had just taken the stage, and were really jammin' and rockin' the crowd. One of Cajun country's favorite dance bands, Geno was hotter than hot, tonight! A whole lot of Zydeco-ing going on, cher! So much FUN!!!

Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie

Just as Geno finished playing, friends called and wanted us to meet them at Scene Bacardi, where another fabulous band was playing. Los de Abajo out of Mexico City, really got the huge crowd excited and they went absolutely wild over this band! Their unique sound, called tropipunk, really got the crowd jumping for joy! They really put on a fantastic show!
Los de Abajo

After all of the jumping and shouting, we were in dire need of a nice cold drink, so we headed over to the nearby, Filling Station Bar & Grille, which is one of my favorite downtown patios. A nice glass of wine and a Spring water with lemon please! There was a wonderful band, called The Roebucks, playing on the patio, and it felt good to relax and listen to their fun, Retro Rockabilly sounds! Another great festival evening! Lassiez les bon temps rouler, cher!

Hope that ya'll are having a fun and wonderful weekend, too! Stay tuned, there's so much more to come! Merci for stopping by, mon amis!

MORE Festival Fun ! - Day 2

It was another fabulous evening at Festival International de Louisiane! A gorgeous Spring evening with a lovely breeze and lots of great music and food. We started out at the Pavilion de Cuisine with some delicious Crawfish Nachos and Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. Cest bon and out of this world, cher! After enjoying this delicious treat, my companions and I headed over to Scene Popeyes to catch the opening ceremonies. The French Immersion students were carrying flags, (see top photo), representing all of the countries that have participated in Festival International. (click to enlarge to view cuisine and drink menu)

The French Immersion program serves to preserve the Cajun French language and culture. The National Anthem was sung by a former student, and the more than 1500 volunteers who made this year's festival possible were recognized. For a complete schedule click here.

Next up was the amazing group, Grupo Fantasia , out of Austin, Texas, whose goal is to advance the Latin music sound. Well , they sure reached their goal in Lafayette, and they were fantastic! This exciting, funky, 10 member band "really had it going on" and they totally mesmerized the crowd with their hypnotic beats and cohesive style.! One of the best things about this festival is getting to experience all different kinds of music from all over the world. Here's a little clip that I took. Enjoy !

Grupo Fantasia

After a 15 minute, cold beverage break, the next band up was the fabulous, Sonny Landreth Band! Sonny is one of the most gifted slide guitar players in the world, as well as an old friend of mine from the college days. Back then, I dated one of his best friends, a "then" jazz drummer, who is "now" a priest! (that's another post, entirely) Anyway, he just blew the crowd away with his spectacular guitar moves and "hotter than hot" band! Here's a little snippet of this talented Louisiana artist in action! Geaux Sonny!

Sonny Landreth Band

The crowd was much larger, last night, and with several hundred thousand festival goers expected for the weekend, it's all going to be a blast, cher!! Starting tonight, all six stages will be up and running. Imagine six stages of incredible international and local music, within a six block radius, and all of this wonderful music is free! But, be sure to buy a festival pin, to keep the festival free! (a $10. donation) See ya'll there! Oh, the life of a Cajun, is oh so good!! Have a wonderful, fun weekend, mon cher amis! Merci beaucoup for stopping by!

MORE Cajun Fun !

Another incredible day at the festival. It was one of the largest crowds on record for Festival International, yet everyone seemed to be happy and having a great time. There was a beautiful breeze blowing all day . My friends and I like to hang out at the heritage stage because it's mainly a boomer crowd and mostly Cajun/Zydeco. A bon ton, cher!

My favorites were "A Tribute to Walter Mouton" with special guests, Wayne Toups and Roddie Romero, followed by Balfa Toujour. The mood was exuberant and the dance mode was nitty- gritty waltzing and two-stepping. The music, the dancing, the cuisine, were fabulous and I wanted to share one of today's artists with ya'll.

What a blast ! Let the bon temps roll, cher !

Cajun Jam w/ Roddie Romero and Friends

The Cajun Fun Continues

The Cajun good times continued this evening at Festival International 2009'! With 6 stages of vastly different international music going on, simultaneously within a 6 block radius, it was a blow out of tremendous proportions. The crowds were huge and since the perfect weather is expected to last all weekend, they are likely to largely increase as the weekend unfolds. The mood was wonderfully excited, mixed with jubilance, and at times electric !

We started off at Scene Lafayette where Sherman Robertson and his hot blues band were playing. There was a fais do do there and a whole lot of street dancing going on.
We were in need of some refreshment so we dined at The Filling Station Pub and Grille, where there was an awesome rockabilly band, the Roebucks, playing on the patio.

Next was the fabulous Alpha YaYa Diallo, from Guinea-West Africa at Scene Fais Do Do, with his wildly sought after band. Very inspirational African guitar, percussion and dance.
Then it was on to hear Miss Divine Jones at Scene Heritage with her sassy Texas swing and talented band. The crowd loved this group and dancing was nitty-gritty, jitterbug-swing.

Then for some foot-stomping Zydeco with Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band. And imagine we get to do it all over again starting tomorrow morning. Twelve straight hours of fantastic music, food, dancing , and fun! See ya'll there. Let the good times roll, cher!

Divine Jones and Friends and
Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band

Festival International de Louisiane, 09'

Over 500 Artists- 15 Countries- Six Stages ! Dubbed "one of the best festivals in the world" by Global Rhythm Magazine, the 23rd Annual Festival International de Louisiane kicked off tonight in downtown Lafayette.

The Scene Fais Do Do was the setting for two of Acadiana's best and most popular bands, one Cajun and one Zydeco. The crowd was huge and I cannot even imagine how large it will be over the weekend.

The Pine Leaf Boys were getting the crowd excited and the dancers were in a nitty gritty two-step mode. Then, Keith Frank and the Soileau Family Band took the stage and the crowd really went wild, dancing to their unique style of funky zydeco music.

The food was fabulous! I had the Crawfish Bisque and the Grilled Shrimp Kabobs from the Broussard's Cajun Cooking booth. Oh, cest' bon! And the "after parties" are everywhere. Great live music, tonight at the Blue Moon, featuring The Lost Bayou Ramblers, and Grant Street Dancehall will host the hot new band, The Cell.

Come on down and enjoy the wonderful music, the fabulous food, and the beautiful weather! It's an absolute blast! Lassiez les Bon Temps Rouler !

The Pine Leaf Boys