Buggy Town Auction

After weeks of trying to find Starbuck and Sparrow new homes through Craigslist and Facebook I gave up and looked for other options. More than one person suggested eating them; I considered it but decided it wasn't what I wanted to do. Then a friend mentioned a poultry auction in Barnesville, Georgia (90 minutes south of our home). It was the only option left. The boys had to go. So Friday at noon we packed the two Splash Silkie Roosters into a make shift cage and headed to the country.

 We arrived a little before 2pm and joined the line of pick-up trucks waiting to register barnyard animals for that evening's auction. At some point a goat escaped; this sent half a dozen people in denim and camouflage running around a field in half hearted attempts to catch it. A teenager in muck boots, with a noticeable ring of dip in his back pocket, finally got close enough to pin the goat to the ground with his knee. I was impressed.

 After our chickens were checked in and dropped off we headed into Barnesville for lunch. There were two pizza places, two BBQ places and a Chinese Buffet to chose from. After eating we wandered around the three antique shops/flea markets. At dusk we headed back to the auction. All the poultry had been lined up in rows. The make-shift cages were as interesting as their contents. I found Starbuck and Sparrow between a peacock and turkey. I couldn't help but wonder how they were feeling about all this.

 The auction started with what they call "farm miscellaneous" but could more accurately described as "garage sale crap". Tiki torches, old buckets of house paint, a cat bed, a bag of nails. The auctioneer was genuinely entertaining but as far as I could tell everything eventually sold for "one dollar bill". The poultry bidding was still two hours away. I decided if I didn't know who took Starbuck and Sparrow then I could go on pretending they ended up on a big beautiful farm somewhere out in the country. With that in mind we left the auction and headed home to Atlanta. Maybe we'll be back in a month or two to pick out a few more hens.  

 Flock update:
• 2 Gold Laced Wyandotte hens 
• 2 Ameraucana hens
• 1 Black Silkie Rooster - we're going to try and keep him quiet (so we can keep him) but if it doesn't work he'll need to find a new home too. 





The chicks last night at home

Everyday for the last week the chicks have spent a few hours outside in their soon-to-be pirateship-coop home. Tonight is officially their last night in the dining-room-brooder. I'm going to miss having them indoors... so much so that I'm debating keeping two inside (don't tell Oliver). Six weeks into our urban chicken project the Muppets are even more muppety (the Silkies) and the Ameraucanas are unexpectedly intelligent and sweet (well two of the four at least). So far, so good; the chickens are exceeding my expectations!

 (To see them live in their coop check out the COOP CAM click here and then click BROWSER.)

10 days til the Peachtree Road Race!


Memphis has Bealle Street. Chicago: the Magnificent Mile. New Orleans: St. Charles (or Bourbon, depending on who you ask). And my hometown, Atlanta, has Peachtree Street. Home to the world's largest 10K! With 60,000 registered participants and 150,000 spectators lining the street, Peachtree Street is the place to be the morning of Independence Day. Oliver and I always do the race as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty. It's one of my very favorite family traditions (so much so that I just bought us adorable Christmas ornaments to commemorate the event)! Only ten more days - I can't wait!

Click to read: a Timeline of the Peachtree Road Race's history

These ornaments are the cutest!! I'm so happy to have found them online. Shout out to #Annalee and Sue Coffee. #LadyLiberty #UncleSam

Louisiana Maque Choux

Being married to a man from Southern Louisiana is an ongoing lesson in food and history. Tonight's dinner, Maque Choux, reminds me of the very first things I learned about the lives of Acadian descendants in Louisiana: 1. An "x" on the end of a last name is silent (Boudreaux, Malveaux, Thibodaux, etc). 2. The difference between Cajun and Creole cooking (Cajun = one pot/bayou, Creole = lots of pots/NOLA). 

The story of the Acadians in South Louisiana is a fascinating one. One that I'm quite proud to have married into. If you want read more about it click here.

Maque Choux, takes the Acadian's traditional food base (the "holy trinity" of onion, celery, bell pepper) and combines it with the Native American influence of corn. It is often topped with a local protein: chicken, shrimp or crawfish. It's a perfect midsummer dinner!

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Memorial Day: the unofficial start of summer! For me, nothing says summer more then a fresh tomato sandwich.  So what better way to celebrate the season then with a fried green tomato sandwich from the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, Georgia! 

 It wasn't until 1990, in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, that the space took on it's current role as a southern style restaurant . Built in 1927 the building spent it's first 45 years as a General Store. When the doors closed in 1972 the store went through a series of a different reincarnations. I'm not quite sure when it became a real restaurant but I think it was at least ten years ago (as this is my third visit - and my last visit was in 2004). The menu is exactly what you'd expect from the movie/book: fried green tomatoes, pulled pork, southern sides and cobbler for dessert. Eating here isn't just lunch, it's a trip back in time. Love it!




Bicycling New Orleans, Louisiana


 


Thursday O&I each packed a small suitcase, locked our bikes into the pick-up and headed to New Orleans for a long weekend. Good Friday 2013 marked not only the annual family reunion but also my 35th birthday: two reasons to get away! During the four years we've been together we've visited NOLA at least half a dozen times but until last weekend it'd never been just the two of us following our own agenda. 

Friday day was spent with family at the St. James Boat Club. As usual, the food (crawfish, oysters and shrimp) was exceptional; if you want to read more about it be sure to check out last year's post. That night we drove 45 minutes into New Orleans and checked into our AirBnb. We picked this particular AirBnb because of it's location and price: Garden District, walking distance to both the St. Charles streetcar as well as the shops along Magazine Street. We were satisfied to find even one AirBnb that fit our criteria and since beggars can't be choosers we agreed to be happy there regardless of it's condition. Walking in with medium expectations we were blown away by how much this AirBnb over-delivered (since we booked it has posted all new photos that more accurately document the home). More about this amazing home at the bottom of this post. 

Saturday morning O&I were eager to hop on our bikes and get started on the 15 mile route I'd mapped out back home. The morning was spent visiting boutiques, antique shops and vintage clothing stores on Magazine Street (it was my birthday so he indulged my shopping kick). Just before lunch we picked up a sandwich at the French bakery, La Boulangerie, and continued towards Audubon Park. Outside of the zoo we climbed into an ancient Oak tree and shared our sandwich. 

From the park it was back the way we came and onward to Avenue Pub (a world class beer bar on par with Atlanta's Porter). From Avenue Pub we went weaving in and out of rick-shaws and streetcars on St. Charles to riding down the tracks on Canal Street. Canal Street to the French Quarter.  Near the French Market we darted between tourists and stopped traffic occasionally glancing back to make sure the other hadn't been lost in the thick crowds. Left on Esplanade. A few laps around Royal and Bourbon (with a stop for to-go beers at Verti Marte) and then back to Avenue Pub. It was here that I came face to face with a man on a motorcycle with an adorable pup in his sidecar (photo above). Avenue Pub back to the AirBnb. 

Back at home base we cleaned up and prepared to head back out for a night on the town. This time we walked to the St. Charles streetcar. The sun was setting and the breeze was warm; I was in heaven. We disembarked at Canal Street (the same spot we'd biked through earlier in the day) and walked to Galatoire's. (Galatoire's - there's so much to say about this historic restaurant - so much that I think I'll finish this thought at a later date.) Galatoire's to Arnaud's French 75 to Frenchmen street in search of live music. On Frenchmen we enjoyed a small art fair, bought a triptych of painted oysters, eggs and a bottle of hot sauce and then headed into the Blue Nile for fun. Very late in the night we rode the streetcar "home" again. Everything was wonderful.

More about the Parks Bowman Mansion
The "Parks Bowman Mansion" is everything an outsider hopes to find in an antebellum New Orleans home. Imagine a mash-up of Interview with a Vampire, Tim Burton and Dia Dos Muertos. The two nights we stayed there we had the entire third floor to ourselves; this included a library, private balcony and very comfortable bed. To top it off our hosts were far and away the most generous, warmest and most interesting AirBnb hosts we have ever encountered. (Thanks again to Adrienne, Bill and their lovely menagerie). If you go, be sure to visit at least one of the two timeless and romantic restaurants just blocks from their home (Commander's Palace and Coquettes) and tell them we sent you!




We're back!

It's been over a month since our last post. In that time my younger brother has gotten married and Oliver and I have backpacked across Europe. If you didn't follow along with our other blog while we were traveling you can still check it out at www.BoudreauxsBigAdventure.blogspot.com. Our travels took us from Belgium to Luxembourg through Germany and Slovenia down the Italian boot and finally to London. We were trekking on a tight budget which dictated a lot of what we could afford to eat and where we could afford to stay. Now that we're home I'll be going back and covering those specific experiences in a bit more detail. Food posts will remain on this blog; lodging posts will be on the new blog. 

For today I want to share a few photos from my brother's adorable wedding! His wife (my new sister-in-law!!) did an incredible job styling the entire thing. Kudos to the newest member of our family! The wedding was perfect and we're all excited that you and Emory have tied the knot!