Eating our way through New Orleans (part 1)

I got back from the RHHS Habitat for Humanity trip to New Orleans a few days ago and all I can think about is the food.  Almost every single thing we ate was delicious.  Let's take a look...

Tuesday 2/21
I hesitate to include the meals from our travel day because they were certainly the low point, but I decided everything must be included.  On this day, I had very bad luck at several fast food establishments.

Lunch was purchased from the Bradley Airport McDonalds.  You would think that Chicken McNuggets would not be a complicated order but you would be quite incorrect.  It took, no joke, 10 minutes for my nuggets.  And I paid something like $9 for that honor.  Southwest Airlines generously gave us one bag each of peanuts and some snack mix.  We all had to turn our peanuts over to Mario and Dave.  God forbid growing boys go hungry.  Dinner was Wendy's at a place near the airport since we arrived on the late side (and it was Mardi Gras, a whole 'nother problem to deal with).  All I ordered was a baked potato and drink.  After waiting in line for more than 20 minutes (only one person was working the register for the 19 of us) and then waiting for my potato for more than 5, I was informed that they only just put the potatoes in the oven and it would be at least 30 more minutes.  I was offered fries instead.  Great, I paid $4 for a small thing of fries.  I still want my baked potato.

Wednesday 2/22
We provided very low key breakfast and lunch to the kids on the work days, so breakfast was cereal, fruit, and mini bagels - nothing exciting but perfectly satisfactory.  Lunch was sandwiches (turkey or peanut butter and jelly) with chips and more fruits.  This doesn't sound exciting either, but after a long morning of constant work, those sandwiches really hit the spot.  We also went and got ice cream for the kids as a treat.

Dinner was fabulous, however.  Originally we had planned to go to the BBQ place but because it was Ash Wednesday and the place was closed, we needed to change our plans.  We ended up at Frankie & Johnny's, a place we went to last year.  The portions are huge and delicious.  All the other chaperones started with the 2 pound crawfish platter (ew), so I got some lovely pictures of them eating those.  Like last year, I ordered the fried chicken.  Last year, on a dare, I ate the enormous meal so I knew that I had to do the same this year.  Imagine my shock when the meal came and it was even more chicken than last year.  I really didn't think I'd be able to finish, especially after the breast piece I started on was kind of dry, but I persevered and the chicken got more moist as I moved to other pieces and I finished every last bite.  I was not able to eat all of the sweet potato fries, but that was more because I was one of the last to finish my meal and didn't want to keep everyone waiting.  I wasn't feeling nearly as full as I did last year.

crawfish

fried chicken!!

After dinner, we all headed over to Cafe du Monde for some hot chocolate and beignets.  Delicious!!!  There were 6 chaperones and 6 beignets but one chaperone was trying to be healthy (ha ha ha, that didn't last) so she just had a bite.  I finished hers, can't let it go to waste.  That was a perfect way to end our first full day in New Orleans.

Thursday 2/23
Breakfast and lunch were the same as yesterday, only this time we had real deli meat (the deli was closed when we arrived on Tuesday night, so we got that prepackaged stuff that wasn't as good).  We got popsicles for the kids again, as well.

worksite buffet lunch

Dinner was at Serio's, a place the NOLA group has been going every year.  It's across the street from the hotel and the owner opens up just for us for dinner (and doesn't charge us, how awesome is that?!).  The restaurant normally serves Po-boys, but we eat whatever he makes us.  Last year it was a pasta jambalaya.  This year it was rice and beans.  I'm not a huge rice and beans fan, but he also included some of the very best smoked sausage I've ever had.  It was absolutely delicious.  Fortunately, the kids weren't as crazy about the sausage and shared.  We are never ones to let food go to waste, so someone else got my rice and beans and I got some another serving of the sausage.  (No matter how I write that, it sounds dirty...)

Of course, we had to go back to Cafe du Monde again.  Who am I to complain?  It was Dave's birthday, so after we noticed the waitstaff singing to another table, our whole group broke out in song for Dave.  Another table then started to singing to one of their group.  It was entertaining.

Friday, 2/24
The last work day had the same breakfast and lunch (and popsicles).  It was a lot colder this day so we didn't eat all of them.

Dinner was at the Trolley Stop Cafe.  We walked in and were the only people in the place.  We've been previous years and it's the kind of place that serves 24 hour breakfest, so of course that's what we had to get.  Everyone else in the group actually started with a cup of gumbo.  They were all gushing over how good it was when a student who also ordered it discovered it had pork in it and thus he couldn't eat it (religious reasons).  I was happy to have it for him.  Wow, it was fantastic.  I wish the cup had been a bowl.  Really flavorful.  For dinner, I got the French Special - french toast, eggs, and bacon.  It was excellent. 

It should be no shock we returned to Cafe du Monde for the third night in a row...  After we returned to the hotel (for game night!), we gave Dave a belated birthday cake.  Yummy!

beignets at Cafe du Monde

I'll do another post in the next few days with the remaining meals from our trip...