Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links

       Photo: Cynthia Campbell

                                                              
Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links: From Denny:  Louisiana is fond of food competitions and New Orleans attracts the top chefs who are willing to compete for charity events and industry competition too.  This tasty recipe competed in a New Orleans Wine and Food Experience competition, developed by Pastry Chef Erin Swanson, Restaurant R’evolution, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the 2014 desserts category silver medal winner.  All those lucky tasters were found returning for seconds of this delicious simple cake!...

... To satisfy your foodie curiosity here's what the other medal winners were cooking and the New Orleans restaurants from which they hail are linked so you can go visit and check out their stellar menus: ...
                                                              
Romancing The Chocolate: New Orleans Chef Competition Winner: Macadamia Nut Pineapple Up-Side Down Cake, New Orleans Restaurant Links

Sleep Majesty King Duvet

Sleep Majesty: Restful, blissful, restorative sleep reigns supreme to pump up our attitude to take on a new day!  Easy to coordinate with other patterns!

Check out what other products besides bedding are available in this design.

Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Also note that I leave up all my designs from year to year so you have the security knowing that you can purchase as your budget permits to coordinate a room.

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd: From Denny:  Need an easy recipe for a crowd during Mardi Gras season?  Chef John Besh of New Orleans paired with Zatarain's to create this faster version of jambalaya using Zatarain's Dirty Rice mix.  In fact, the famous chef has a lot of great recipes on their site.

What makes jambalaya so tasty is the browning of the chicken and andouille sausage, mixing in the veggies like celery and onion, some liquid (some people like to use chicken stock in place of water) and then the rice to cook in all those tasty seasonings and juices.

It's a fabulous one-pot meal that is easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.

Funny Friday Weekend iPhone 5 Case

Tell the world how you really feel about coming back to work

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new! 

Groundhog Day Louisiana Style: New Orleans T-Boy, Baton Rouge Boudreaux

The Swamp House at New Orleans Audubon Zoo that houses T-Boy Nutria, the Groundhog Day prognosticator - Image via Wikipedia

From Denny:  Groundhog Day contenders are popping up all over America.  Groundhogs are not native to Louisiana (because it's too hot) but we didn't allow a little factoid like that to stop us.  Louisiana likes its holidays so what effort was it to rustle up another creative idea than to draft the swamp rat nutria into the Groundhog Day?

Up in the northern part of America it's considered really bad news when a groundhog sees its shadow, foretelling another miserable six weeks of winter.  But here in Louisiana it means a spring that is shorter than usual.

A short spring means summer's grueling heat and drippy humidity will return sooner than desired.  So, you see, burrow-loving animals can come in handy to predict the weather both in the chilly North and the hottie Deep South.

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Sclafani Silver Medal Winner: Seared Scallops, Truffled Corn Pudding

Another scallop recipe by ulterior epicure via Flickr

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Sclafani Silver Medal Winner: Seared Scallops, Truffled Corn Pudding: "From Denny: President Obama is a huge fan of scallops, often ordering them when he dines out. Yeah, me too, as long as they are those huge honking ocean scallops! The beauty of scallops is they cook up quickly and are a light food for the summer heat.

This is one of the winning recipes from last week's New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE), one of the top food and wine shows in America. The five-day event entertained a hungry and discriminating crowd in the Crescent City."