The Little Foodie Becomes A Chef: New Orleans Buffet

My least favorite part of the entire year has to be those desolate, frigid winter months after the holidays and before spring. What are you even supposed to do with yourself? After Christmas and New Years is over I pretty much lay in my bed, thrash and whine all day about how awful winter is and how humans are not built to survive such arctic tundra conditions. That has been the pattern for most of my life...until a little something called Mardi Gras graced me with her presence. I'm fairly certain that some GENIUS back in the day probably felt the same way I did in those miserable months and decided to throw the biggest, longest, most fun party known to man to ease the icy pain (Ash Wednesday, Lent, Easter...eh unrelated.) And now, thanks to that guy, I actually look forward to this time of year.

My first trip to New Orleans was three years ago, and it was pretty much the greatest weekend of my life. I won't get into the specifics/antics, but I truly believe that New Orleans is the greatest city in the country. So much personality, charm, liveliness and THE BEST FOOD. I admit, my friends got a little annoyed at me when I insisted on going 20 minutes outside the city to THOROUGHLY researched hole-in-the-wall restos in the middle of bead wars and parades, but the food was definitely worth it.

Luckily I was able to channel my NOLA passion when my Level 4 group decided on the theme of New Orleans for our buffet. We made different types of sausages, breads, and all the classic and traditional robust Louisiana dishes. Aside from eating wonderfully all week, it was also great practice learning how to scale recipes for many people, cost the food, order ingredients, and plan out the timeline of nearly 15 dishes.

FYI: Po' Boys > Frigid February.