So my sister Sheila made national television in the US yesterday with a (brief) appearance on the Ellen Show...
Three Christchurch kids from New Zealand had made it their mission to try and meet Ellen Degeneres - and had started a campaign on Twitter - she picked it up, called them and together with Air New Zealand (who Sheila works for) paid for them to come to LA. They thought they were visiting her studio - watch the rest:
(Sheila is the one at the airport with the bob and wearing the suit - as they arrive at LAX!)
Christmas morning in Jackson Square, French Quarter, New Orleans
9am mass...
Christmas Day - for which I sadly don't have any pictures - was spent north of the lake at Robbie's sister Christine's house where we cooked lunch for their family - deep fried turkey of course!
The view from (our) room
Lunch on Boxing Day was the legendary (yes, another one!) Po-Boy (sandwich) shop called Domilises in Uptown NO...the kids were a bit late getting up so it was close to 12 by the time we got there - which meant, as usual, the lines had started to take form.
So you walk in, take a little numbered card and wait for them to call your number before you can order. I didn't know any of this til later, and stood at the counter like a stupid idiot for all of 2-3 minutes while the ancient black bakelite phone on the counter rang non-stop and went unanswered, and while the women serving totally ignored me, while I waited to be served.
There are a grand total of about 6 tables in the restaurant - that hasn't changed in the past 50 years - including the staff who now include one of the original sisters who set it up, and what looks like her husband working the bar, and daughter and grandson and daughter making sandwiches non stop.
There are no fries, no salads - not even any tomatoes (apparently because they were off the menu a few years back during a particularly pricey tomato season - and never got around to putting them back in the sandwiches!)...they're just sliced meats, cheese, and their speciality - the crispy, salty fried oysters or shrimp - or preferably half and half (like we had) onLeidenheimer french bread with hot sauce, mayo, and lettuce.
So you wait while your number gets closer to the top of the pile, and pray that a table comes free when your orders comes up - which is just about always on cue - except for this time when a woman baggsed a table before her number was up "because I have a nun coming to join me"...I thought "yeah right - Tui" - but in she walked!Ray the bartender...Barq's local New Orleans root beer or creaming soda is a must...Behind the bar...complete with Peyton and Eli Manning shots (local football heros who grew up nearby and who ate there all the time when growing up) - and Ray's till that he still presses the amount for every transaction, but I can't imagine any reconciliation gets done at the end of the day!The Leidenheimer bread truck even pulled up for a lunchtime delivery while we were there - the second delivery of the day... Later that afternoon we took the kids on a Katrina tour to show them some of the devastation from the storm. Incredibly whole neighborhoods still only have a smattering of houses rebuilt - but incredibly one of the badly destroyed restaurants that stood at the West End Marina - Lawrys Seafood - is back up in and in business.
shots from 2005 - 2 months after Katrina (double click to enlarge them)
Friday night we had dinner with Robbie's uncle David and wife Kathleen at Arnaud's - one of a handful of longstanding family-run restaurants that form the backbone of much of the restaurant tradition in New Orleans (including the likes of Broussard's, and Galatoires).
The Christmas lights were very pretty in the formal dining room and while it was expensive and rather old school - complete with the table side theater of desserts and flaming coffees - it was rather special.
David and Kathleen had just been to the opening day of Brad Pitt's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which was mostly filmed in New Orleans and told us that a scene was filmed with Cate Blanchett in Arnaud's - and according to the Maitre d' who overhead him - we were sitting at the actual table...mmm, we'll see when we go to the movie...!
Shots from the wintery midwest as we continued our roadtrip south for the holidays...Wintered corn fields through southern IllinoisAnd we finally left the snow behind us... Our second morning on the road we were up early after a night spent roadside at one of those hotel chains that you never remember which one you were at (Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express....), but have the complimentary breakfast and free wifi - and every hotel rooms always looks the same...
It was cold enough for freezing rain and we ended up stuck on the freeway at a dead stop for over an hour as they cleared a wreck from the icy conditions. As we sat the road started to freeze and so we were reduced to speeds of less than 40mph...adding another 3 hours to our day as we planned to get to New Orleans that night...
After some more searching on Chowhound I was salivating at the reviews of Taylor Grocery in Mississipi - in the backwaters near Ole Miss - the University of Mississipi, legendary for it's fried catfish and uber-atmosphere...but we weren't going to have time this trip because of the delay to detour all the way into the countryside for lunch...
(Photo: Fieldandstream.com)
So it was to be lunch in Memphis..."lunch in Memphis?" - well that would have to mean BBQ!
Memphis is the home of Graceland, the blues and BBQ - but oh, which type?...dry rub vs BBQ sauce, and ribs or a pulled pork sandwich...?
I finally found us a BBQ joint called Interstate Barbeque - an outpost of their downtown location, that was just off the freeway, and known for their ribs...and they were deeee...lishousness personified...melt in the mouth tender - and so good I didn't even get a shot of them!
But we did also try the barbeque spaghetti - something of a local Memphis tradition. Strange, but kind of familiar at the same time...probably because it more resemble the sweet tomato based sauce we have with canned spaghetti from NZ (but with chunks of pulled pork)...
Later that night we arrived, finally in the French Quarter of New Orleans. We checked into the hotel that Robbie's aunt manages, just off Bourbon Street - then took the kids for a wander and a sensory overload (especially for the 14 year old who probably was a little too close to his Dad as he walked by the Hustler Club, and the full frontal posters promoting the all-girl review shows!).
Still the quality of the music was just as we remembered it - even by the groups busking on the street corners...
Drinks flowed freely - as ever. Loved this shot of a bar - or kind of a bar...with beers for $1 being served out of a cooler (with taps) out of the back of another shop...and of course a Miller Lite sign above! Next morning we were up early for the obligatory breakfast visit to Cafe du Monde for a plate piled high with icing sugar doused beignets and chicory coffee...devoured so quickly they didn't even make it into the camera! ...then a walk back to the hotel through the Qwarta...well recovered from the devastation of Katrina and looking back at her best... This is a shot of Jean Lafitte's blacksmith shop - the oldest building in New Orleans that has undergone somewhat of a patch repair since the following photo I took of it during my first visit to NOLA in 2005...
Ok, so you're probably a bit sick of all the videos and all the other websites, and I know I owe you a little bit of snapshot into my Life in America....
...So here I am in New York, the weekend before last, for Wee P's 30th (nephew Patrick, son of Paddy, grandson of Pat, great grandson of Patrick, great great grandson of Sandy Mick). I was the "surprise guest" for the weekend - dropping in on Big P and Adele who had just flown in from Ireland (where, of course, all the Patrick Ryans in the world should live).
Here we are toasting the boy's head with some champagne in Paddy's cool LES (that's Lower East Side to all you non-New Yorkers) apartment on the Friday night of the said birthday, prior to dinner...
(Yes, Paula - I STILL have that tshirt...!)
We walked to dinner on Bowery via Russ & Daughters deli famous for their lox and bagels...(went back Sunday and bought some treats including some dried gooseberries!)
The "very famous" (according to Dellie) fortune cookie factory that opened into the street...
Dinner at the Bowery Hotel. EXCELLENT Italian trattoria. Dellie was determined to embarrass the lad with at least a couple of candles when he wasn't watching...
Group shot with Elizabeth Banks (cousie, and NZ envoy to the UN in NYC) and her husband Brian Happy shot, at some happy bar, post dinner...
Wee P was already pissed - no, not really! That was Saturday night..... :)
Nellie's got a new friend...or maybe Miles has a new friend...actually they've both got a new friend...
Miles has been hanging out at home all week during the day keeping Nellie company...or maybe that's, Nellie's been keeping Miles company...He's a great companion, although she told me tonight when I came home that she didn't wake up until 10.30 (!) so maybe he's not making that good of an alarm clock.
9am mass...
Christmas Day - for which I sadly don't have any pictures - was spent north of the lake at Robbie's sister Christine's house where we cooked lunch for their family - deep fried turkey of course!
There are no fries, no salads - not even any tomatoes (apparently because they were off the menu a few years back during a particularly pricey tomato season - and never got around to putting them back in the sandwiches!)...they're just sliced meats, cheese, and their speciality - the crispy, salty fried oysters or shrimp - or preferably half and half (like we had) onLeidenheimer french bread with hot sauce, mayo, and lettuce.
So you wait while your number gets closer to the top of the pile, and pray that a table comes free when your orders comes up - which is just about always on cue - except for this time when a woman baggsed a table before her number was up "because I have a nun coming to join me"...I thought "yeah right - Tui" - but in she walked!
Ray the bartender...Barq's local New Orleans root beer or creaming soda is a must...
Behind the bar...complete with Peyton and Eli Manning shots (local football heros who grew up nearby and who ate there all the time when growing up) - and Ray's till that he still presses the amount for every transaction, but I can't imagine any reconciliation gets done at the end of the day!
The Leidenheimer bread truck even pulled up for a lunchtime delivery while we were there - the second delivery of the day...
Later that afternoon we took the kids on a Katrina tour to show them some of the devastation from the storm. Incredibly whole neighborhoods still only have a smattering of houses rebuilt - but incredibly one of the badly destroyed restaurants that stood at the West End Marina - Lawrys Seafood - is back up in and in business.
shots from 2005 - 2 months after Katrina (double click to enlarge them)
Friday night we had dinner with Robbie's uncle David and wife Kathleen at Arnaud's - one of a handful of longstanding family-run restaurants that form the backbone of much of the restaurant tradition in New Orleans (including the likes of Broussard's, and Galatoires).
Wintered corn fields through southern Illinois
And we finally left the snow behind us...
Our second morning on the road we were up early after a night spent roadside at one of those hotel chains that you never remember which one you were at (Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express....), but have the complimentary breakfast and free wifi - and every hotel rooms always looks the same...
So it was to be lunch in Memphis..."lunch in Memphis?" - well that would have to mean BBQ!
Next morning we were up early for the obligatory breakfast visit to Cafe du Monde for a plate piled high with icing sugar doused beignets and chicory coffee...devoured so quickly they didn't even make it into the camera!
...then a walk back to the hotel through the Qwarta...well recovered from the devastation of Katrina and looking back at her best...
This is a shot of Jean Lafitte's blacksmith shop - the oldest building in New Orleans that has undergone somewhat of a patch repair since the following photo I took of it during my first visit to NOLA in 2005...
(Yes, Paula - I STILL have that tshirt...!)
The "very famous" (according to Dellie) fortune cookie factory that opened into the street...
Group shot with Elizabeth Banks (cousie, and NZ envoy to the UN in NYC) and her husband Brian
Happy shot, at some happy bar, post dinner...
Nellie's got a new friend...or maybe Miles has a new friend...actually they've both got a new friend...
