Donuts and Meat Sticks

Since moving to New Orleans Erik and I have developed a Saturday morning tradition of heading to the Crescent City Farmer's Market. Last week we decided to make a small detour before stocking up on the healthy treats like okra, peppers, and tomatoes.

I'm not sure where we first read about Blue Dot Donuts, but both of us became a bit obsessed with the idea of trying them. I'm not even that huge of a donut fan - I usually prefer a croissant or pastry - but the reviews and promise of 50 donut varieties convinced me that we NEEDED Blue Dot Donuts.

So on Saturday we stopped by to stuff our faces with sugary friend dough before going to buy local vegetables. Blue Dot Donuts is pretty cute on the outside, with a nice welcoming sign. (The Name Blue Dot comes from the fact that it is owned by 3 NOLA cops).

                          

The menu is so extensive we had a hard time choosing which ones to try. I wanted a red velvet donut but sadly they were sold out. We settled on 5 to try. (Yes, we ate 5 donuts between 2 people in a single sitting, WHAT OF IT?)

Behold!

I had the Dulce de Leche and the chocolate glazed with coconut. The donuts themselves were quite good. You could tell they were freshly baked, light, very fluffy. The toppings didn't do it for me however. They were both too sweet (I know, it's a freaking donut), and tasted too much like canned frosting. I was disappointed with myself for not going with my instincts and trying the basic glazed. Next time!

Erik loved his maple glazed with bacon. I think he ate it in 3 bites. I don't even remember him eating the blueberry cake but it got gobbled up at some point - probably when I was sneaking some bites of the peanut butter and jelly.

They also sell donut ice cream sandwiches (why have I not thought of this?!?) which I for sure want to try next time.

Post donuts and market we stopped by the New Orleans Seafood Festival so Erik could get some meat on a stick. I think it was some type of shrimp? I will leave you with the following pictorial representation of how that went.

Rain, wind, and chard...oh my!

I survived my first tropical storm this weekend. In all honestly it was pretty much a bust. Heavy rain and wind but not much else. The glorious consequence of Tropical Storm Lee is the lovely weather it left in its wake. Today's high was 80 degrees. 80 degrees. Without a doubt the best day I have experienced in New Orleans. I even went for a run in the afternoon. It felt like a nice spring day back in Boston.

My "garden" didn't much like the torrential downpours and lack of sun, but I think everything will survive. Last week I even had my first mini harvest. I planted the chard seeds too closely so I pulled some out in order to thin them a little.

Like I said, the harvest was very mini

As soon as I pulled them out my mind filled with ideas about what to do with my bounty. Make an amuse-bouche salad? Use them to garnish my tacos? Feed the world's smallest rabbit? Friends, when you have half an ounce of baby chard on hand the possibilities are endless. I elected to stay true to my roots (heh) and use them for a green smoothie!

Baby chard, beets, frozen bananas, frozen cherries, yogurt 

I have been exploring our new neighborhood and last week I tried out the local bakery. La Boulangerie is really cute from the outside and I was wowed by the delicious smells emanating from the interior. However the rest of the visit was a disappointment. My experience with the the staff seems typical of the complaints on yelp. Rude people who ignored me for 5 minutes so they could yak to one another (I was the only person in the store at the time.) I picked out an olive loaf and an almond croissant (my favorite pastry treat.) Sometimes you get olive bread and there are 3 tiny pieces in the whole loaf so I was pleased to see several whole large olives throughout the loaf.

Overall the loaf was just ok. A little too rustic for my tastes but not terrible. It made me miss being in Milwaukee and the lovely soft chewy olive bread at Breadsmith's.

The almond croissant was another story. I was MAD I wasted a pastry eating session on that abomination. It was like they took a regular croissant and dunked it it simple syrup. Then they threw a bunch of almonds and powdered sugar on top. Grr.

This will haunt me

But enough with the whining! I will leave you all with a simple recipe (an idea really) that I have been gobbling up lately.

Sweet Potato, Kale, Black Bean, and Goat Cheese Burritos

1. Cook a sweet potato (oven or microwave, boy's choice)
2. Steam some kale in veggie broth for 5 - 7 minutes (I used miso paste instead of broth)
3. Rinse and drain a can of black beans.
4. Mash up the black beans and sweet potato. This will warm the beans at the same time.
5. Add bean/sweet potato mixture to tortillas and top with drained kale and goat cheese.
6. Nom nom nom.