Friends

French Quarter – New Orleans!

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My week in New Orleans was definitely one that I needed. Trips with amazing friends are always good for the soul. On our free day, we hit the streets of the French Quarter. Our first stop was Cafe Du Monde. Even though I have been to NOLA a couple of times, I have never been to this historic place. As always, there was a line to get in when we got there, but the line moved quickly and we got to kick our morning off with some amazing Beignets. As I said, that diet went out the window!

Since not all of us had been through the French Quarter before, we decided to check out the sights. We made our way through looking at the shops and hearing music being played or sung as we made our way to Bourbon street. Nighttime Bourbon street and Daytime Bourbon street are two completely different things. If you are into the party life, check out the nighttime scene. The daytime scene was relaxing as not too many people were out and about.

If you take the time to stop and look at the buildings and the architectural work, you are going to see some incredible features. I think the best part about it, is that most of these buildings are old, from the 1800s. Every once in a while, you would look through the buildings and see a beautiful courtyard.

On our third day there, we all got to attend the New Orleans School of Cooking, Cooking Demonstration. While we did not get to cook, we were able to watch the Chef as he walked us through all the steps to make the recipes we were going to be trying. He was a great teacher and historian. One of my favorite parts of that cooking class was learning all the historical aspects of the food, where the names came from, how Creole and Cajun differ, and how those styles of cooking got to New Orleans in the first place. If you love Seafood, I highly recommend taking a class here. We got to try Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Crawfish Etoufee, Bananas Foster, and Pralines. My favorite dish was the Bananas Foster dessert. Bananas in a mix that he lit on fire, and topped with ice cream! This girl was loving all these amazing foods.

However, I have to save the best dessert for last! Surprisingly enough, it was from the Hilton Hotel that we stayed at. It was cheesecake on top of Oreo crumbles drizzled in a Raspberry sauce. The cheesecake almost looked like ice cream when it came out. It was so soft and fluffy. Perfection.

I love traveling to conventions with my CattleWomen crew but this trip was one for the books and one of my favorites to date. Seriously, sometimes you just need a week away with good people and a good destination. Put your to-do list aside and enjoy life out there.

As always, share some love, we could all use a little more love.
XOXOXO
Casey

The Little Big Cup

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I love food but have not always been the biggest seafood fan. I spent a week in Louisiana, and I decided that I wanted to venture out and expand my tastebuds. I kicked off my trip with the perfect place to do it.

The Little Big Cup – Arnaudville, Louisiana

One of my friends from Facebook always shares this restaurant’s posts. While we were driving down, we looked up the restaurant, saw that it was only a slight detour, and decided to go for it, and man! There are no words for how amazing this food is. The restaurant was booked but we were able to get a seat at the bar. I ordered the Cajun Kevin Po Boy – a French Bread hollowed out, stuffed with sautéed Gulf Shrimp, Lump Blue Point Crab Meat, Louisiana Crawfish Tails, and Andouille Sausage simmered in their mixed Pepper, Parmesan, Butter, and Cream reduction. One taste of this sauce, and I swear I was in Heaven.

My friend Linda ordered the Crab Stack – Two Louisiana, Blue Point Crab Cakes over fried Eggplant Medallions topped with Crawfish Etouffe garnished with Fried Gulf Shrimp. The Etoufee sauce was a little spicy, so if you like spicy, you are in for a treat!

My friend Debbie came in clutch and ordered the Bread Pudding for dessert. Being a newbie to Bread Pudding, I had to try it. Needless to say, one bite of this dessert and I knew that my diet was going out of the window for the rest of the week! Simply perfection.

This is the cutest little restaurant backed up to the Bayou. It is in a little downtown area and the atmosphere makes you feel right at home. The place was packed! If you are trying to dine here on a Friday or Saturday, you have to make reservations beforehand. On Saturdays, they normally serve around 700 people. They have a Sunday brunch and are only open for 4-5 hours. During that time, the bartender told us they normally serve around 400 people. This restaurant is the place to be!

For more information and pictures to make you stop scrolling and start booking your trip, be sure to check out their Website and Facebook page.

Great food brings joy, laughter, good times, and soothes the soul! This is one place I will definitely go back, it is worth every mile traveled to it no matter how far the detour is!

As always, share some love, we could all use a little more love
XOXOXO
Casey

Find Your People

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This weekend, I spent time with some of my favorite ladies. Do you have ladies or people in your corner, that are just as passionate about something as you are? The people who are like minded and have a lot of the same views on things that you do. The people who no matter against what odds keep showing up day in and day out to fight for what they truly believe in. If you don’t have people like that in your life, you need to get some.

I believe whole heartedly in getting to know people outside your circle. Learning about differences between cultures and truly educating yourself. There is so much out there to learn. The way you view the world is through the lens that you saw when you were raised. Every single person sees the world differently. It is important that we understand that, we listen to each other, and we actually try to get to know each other before assuming that we won’t like someone. Now, I know that people and personalities clash and sometimes there is not room for certain people in your life and that is okay.

That being said though, there is something powerful that happens when you get like minded people together. There is something magical in the room when everyone together is working towards the same cause. For me, it fills my cup, it renews my spirit, it likes a fire in my passion. You need your people. There is only so much one person can do alone.

I am super fortunate to have a couple groups of people that are my go to’s. That light a fire inside me. That motivate me to keep doing more, pushing harder to become the best version of myself. This weekend it was all about the Beef Industry. It was discussing events and ideas on how to educate more people about the Industry. It was a day filled with passionate women who inspire me regularly on all the amazing things that they are doing for the Beef Industry.

Is there something that you are passionate about? Find some people who are passionate about the same thing. Grow together. Learn together. Educate others so that they to may have the same passion. This past weekend was just a taste of what is coming in the next few weeks and I am super pumped to get the New Year started this way.

Find your people, I promise you, they are out there.

As always share some love, we could all use a little more love
XOXOXOXO
Casey