New Orleans Folklore, Tradition, Style

Just a quick note about St. Joseph's Day in New Orleans...Sicilian Tradition in New Orleans:

Every March in  New Orleans, classified ads begin to appear in local papers from devout Catholics inviting the public at large to view their St. Joseph's Day altars.

 Altars can be anything from humble affairs, to elaborate arrays worthy of a top-flight caterer. Food from these altars is traditionally given away to the needy. 

Every year on March 19, thousands of locals and out-of-towners come to homes in New Orleans to enjoy the St. Joseph’s Day altars. 

Altars are displays constructed by Catholics to honor St. Joseph, whom they credit for sending rain to save the starving people of Sicily from a severe drought during the Middle Ages.

According to tradition, Sicily once experienced a failure of all crops other than  beans; the beans kept the population from starvation, and thanks were given to Saint Joseph. Broad beans subsequently became traditional on Saint Joseph's Day altars in many Italian communities. 

Some people carry a broad bean for good luck; some believe that if one carries a broad bean, one will never be without the essentials of life.

Thankful Sicilians offered their finest crops to feed the poor, a display of food and faith that continues today. Candles, religious figures, cakes, cookies, tarts, breads, memorials...

This delicious and beautiful custom, La Tavola di San Giuseppe, came to New Orleans in the 1800s as immigrants formed what is still the largest Sicilian population in the United States.

                                                                     

Elaborate displays, simple displays...our designs hold on to so much history for us!

Have a great day!

xo

Valerie

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Mardi Gras Style, New Orleans Design

~ Inside New Orleans at Mardi Gras~

  

Ena! Ena!

Akout, Akout an deye

Chaque amoor fi

 nou wa na né

Chaque amoor fi na né

A Mardi Gras Indian costume and chant, spoken in

" Mobilian Jargon", an extinct Native American language consisting mostly of Choctaw and Chickasaw words and once used by Southeastern Indians, African Americans, and European settlers and their descendants in the Gulf Coast Region.

It's  Mardi Gras!  Party in New Orleans today, y'all !

 In honor of the day, and because I'm not there this year, 

I have  New Orleans design photos  and

New Orleans Interiors, Food, Facts, and Fashions:

New Orleans is a place where Africans (both slave and free) and American Indians shared their cultures and intermingled with European  ( mainly French and Spanish -- and Catholic) settlers. The result: a unique culture of music, food, architecture, and  Catholic Church-based celebrations 

Inside Nicholas Cage's New Orleans home:

     

Typical New Orleans courtyard:

Bars have no closing hour.

The food can be spicy.

Music is pulsating almost everywhere. 

The locals talk funny but seldom have southern accents.

They have a Saint Patrick's Day parade, Mardi Gras parades, Italian and French bakeries, people selling delicious sweet potato pies out of the baskets on their bikes...

    Delicious Beignets at Cafe du Monde~

        King Cake (yum) + King Cake Parties 

        given by the one who found "the baby":

In a gorgeous New Orleans home:

Come for a visit, but get your itinerary from the locals. Bourbon Street is NOT what the city is all about.
You will meet Italian fresh produce dealers,  you will see century-old Catholic, Lutheran, Greek Orthodox  churches and Jewish temples. 

You will pass near African American store-front churches.

You can try some of the soul food restaurants. 

You will hear the unique NewOlreans accent, and the lilt of Spanish spoken in the streets. 

Colonnaded houses, a whiff of jasmine blossoms, grits and cornbread on fine dinner menus...

New Orleans is a foreign place, more a European than an American city.

It is a very different place with a very peculiar history.

Try to catch his band, The New Orleans Suspects, among many others. 
The band  performs to packed houses all over the country, but their home is

 New Orleans,and you can hear  that in the music.  Their schedule is here.

The Mardi Gras Balls range from Funky to Fabulous

LESSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULEZ, Y'ALL!

(Let the Good Times Roll!)

xo

Valerie

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Super Bowl Last Minute Party Ideas

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!! 

                     ~ Have an EASY last-minute party~

 Kick- Off is  at  6:29 p.m. ET

                    it's on NBC

And if you're into this , the Betting Line: Patriots -3, according to Bet Online.

                       Giants                                                                   Patriots

• You can ask people to bring something, or you can hit the Grocery Store. 
•  You need: Cookies, sodas, water, beer, liquor and mixers if you wish (and if you're allowed Sunday purchases of alcohol where you live ), veggie tray, chili (in my house, anyway), chips, dip, maybe a SuperBowl theme cake...
• Set up bar, ice drinks
• Do a quickie clean-up of the house, clean up yourself
• Have a drink, turn on some music, turn on the TV low-volume for pre-game shows
• When guests arrive, some will be offering to help --  they can help you put out the food.

                          

                                Style: Relaxed attire, preferably football shirts and jeans.

Party or not, I hope you have fun with the game, the commercials, half-time ( Madonna!) or just a relaxing evening with a good book...

Go Giants!

xo Valerie

The New Olde Kitchen Design

17th Century Palace kitchen, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England via

Country homes and kitchens of past centuries,from the great Aristocratic Mansions to the humble Common Cottages, evoke feelings of Comfort, Security, and, of course, Nurture.

Many of the best features of those food-storage, prep, and cooking areas are incorporated into the 21st century's "Modern Country" look:

>Open shelves  

> Larder cupboard 

>Dresser on which to display crockery 

>Hanging Racks and hooks for pots, pans and utensils

>Trestle or "Refectory" table

>Deep Ceramic Sink

> Traditional Range "Cooker"

> Rustic Beams across the ceiling

1700s kitchen, Illinois  via

And the MODERNIZED. A tribute to the past:

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Modern Country Style via

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Beams, Lanterns (mercury glass!) and Manor-ly windows Via

Below, the ultimate Modern Country interpretation,

 in a Manhattan high-rise. Gorgeous.

Keith Scott Morton Photography via

Docwra's Manor, village of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire, England

~vbk~