Hola, bonjourno, howdy, & hi.

**UPDATED 2016**
1) Who is Feaux?
Feaux is Bobbi.  Or Bobbi is Feaux…I’m not sure which is proper.  C’est moi:

I'm a thirty-something new [working] mom who loves food, family, and writing about both.  

 

2) What do you do?

I’m a geologist/environmental scientist.  When I lived in Louisiana, I dealt mainly in wetlands, and oil & gas exploration. 

Now I deal primarily with leaking petroleum sites, and karst (aka caves). 

(The Hubs & I doing some extracurricular caving.  Missouri is home to over 6,000 caves, and there are 383 known caves in my county alone.)

3) Why do you blog?
This blog originally started in 2008, when I was still living in Louisiana, as a way to chronicle my journeys of trying to learn to cook Cajun food.  Then, when I moved back to Missouri, it was a way for me to hold on to that life & culture that I missed so dearly.  Now, it’s just a mish-mash of ME.  I cook all the time, but not necessarily just Cajun food.  I'm a new mom and use this as an outlet to chronicle that new journey.  And I enjoy a good cocktail now & then, and I enjoy sharing those as well. :D

4) What do you LOVE?

My husband (we married in 2011):

My Son (who joined our family in 2015):

Our dog (who loves us back, even though we harass him):

Photography: I shoot with Canon, exclusively.  SD750 Elph, PowerShot SX130 IS, or Rebel EOS XS, depending on the situation.

(Weddings call for the Elph.)

Star Wars (particularly Yoda):

Science-y stuff: I collect rocks & books, I have water quality testing kits in my garage (for the caves), and an endless supply of nerdy t-shirts:

(Par exemple: 2010’s halloween costume—the Mad Scientist)

Scuba Diving: Now that I’m landlocked, I don’t get to go as often, but I still make at least one trip per year.

Cuz you just don’t get to see these guys above ground.

And of course, FOOD.  Cooking it, eating it, talking about it, dreaming about it.

So there you go.  Me, in a blog-sized nutshell.  Now, I’d love to hear more about you!  Feel free to either tell me something in the comments section, or leave me a link to your own “all about me” post!  It’s great to meet you!!!

Wine Charm Winner, and Louisiana Wineries!

Okay…so our little giveaway last week was a bit of dud…but that’s all the better for my dear friend, Miss JoJo of Poop On A Hot Tin Slide, who was the ONLY entrant!  Congrats Jo!  A CHARMing set of charms will be headed your way.  And I’m totes picking up a bottle o’ your favorite wine… for me, of course.  That would be hard to mail. :D

Also, if you haven’t checked out Jo’s blog before, you NEED to go do it.  NOW.  Okay, well, not RIGHT now—read this post first, and THEN do it.  ‘Cuz she’s awesome & hilarious & is probably the sole reason I use as much hand sani as I do.

With the topic of wine charms on the brain, I thought it only appropriate to have a wee deliberation on Lousiana libations of the Vitus varietal…

…that’s wine, of course.

Louisiana isn’t exactly widely known for their wines, but that doesn’t stop them from trying!

The three largest wineries in the state are Feliciana Cellars in Jackson, LA; Landry Vineyards in West Monroe; and Pontchartrain Vineyards  near Covington, LA. 

We sold the Pontchartrain brand when I worked at Martin’s in Metairie.  They have 5 wines: two whites, two reds, and one rose.  If you manage to come across a bottle or tour their facility, I’d recommend picking up a bottle of their Rouge Militaire, which is a dry red made with Cynthiana/Norton grapes (Vitis aestivalis).  I’m quite partial to Nortons, partially because they’re the state grape of Missouri, but mainly because they just have SO much flavor. 

Nortons are one of the few American indigenous grapes that are frequently used in American winemaking—even some European vineyards have imported them into their fields.  Dry & peppery & robust, Nortons are great with foods that can stand up to its big flavor, like smoked meats/cheeses, BBQ, or wild game.

The Feliciana winery is housed on an old Spanish-style estate, translating into their bottles with names like “Esperanza” and “Galvez”.  I have not yet had a chance to visit or taste any of their wines yet (YET), but their Dry Carlos, Galvez, and Evangeline varietals are heavily decorated by the “Wines of the South” annual competition.

And Louisiana is of course known for the muscadine grape (Vitus rotundafolia):

…a huge, sweet-tart of a fruit that Louisianans love for making jelly, juice, and of course, wine.  Both Landry and Feliciana carry muscadine wines in their repertoire.  Muscadine wines tend to be quite sweet and are typically considered a dessert wine, although there are some dry versions out there. (Note: clicking on that hyperlink there will take you to a fabulous recipe for muscadine pepper jelly.)

A few other smaller wineries to consider, if you’re in the area:

- Amato’s Winery, located between Hammond & Amite, LA

- Casa De Sue, in Sorrento, LA (a bit south of Baton Rouge)

- St. Amant, near Gonzales, LA

 

Missouri Botanical Gardens (and other such funstuffs).

Hi y’all!

I actually have a backlog of recipes that need to get posted; however, it’s been pretty busy here in the Real World and thus, Cyber-World gets put on the back burner. 

This past weekend, The Hubs & I took a mini-vaycay up to St. Louis.  A city of much antiquity & French influence, one could call it the “New Orleans of the North”… but that just sounds so Yankee. ;)

We live about 3 hours from STL (yay, airport code abbreviations!) but don’t get to visit very often.  So we decided to make the most of our trip.  So we went to:

The St. Louis Science Center:

(ANIMATRONIC DINOSAURS!  I WANT ONE!)

 

A St. Louis Blues game:

(We did not win.  But saw some GREAT fights.)

 

The Schlafly Brewery & Bottleworks:

(I actually didn’t take any photos here.  Above photo nicked from here.  Schlafly makes my favorite pumpkin ale.)

 

And the piece de resistance, Missouri Botanical Gardens: 79 acres of “WOW”.  We walked about 2.5 miles of it & STILL didn’t see everything.  It was an amazingly gorgeous, sunny-although-slightly-too-warm day.  Perfect camera weather.

A few choice snippets:

Prettiest Cactus ever…

 

Tulips!!!

 

When Iris eyes are smiling…

Fringed Tulip (I LOVE these!)

(Bishop’s Hat)

Hedge Maze! (I beat The Hubs in our “race” to find our way through.)

 

My ever-so-silly Hubs:

 

Japanese Garden:

 

That’s it for now!  This is the FeauxCajun & Hubs, from outside the FeauxKitchen, signing off!

(PS—don’t forget to go leave me a comment over here so you can try to win a set of wine charms!!!)