Southern Comfort

Happy Father's Day!

Mom and Dad (aka Gretchen & Chuck) were down in Louisiana last week for the wedding celebrations of our family friend Sam and his wife Olivia. The festivities took place in New Iberia, which is in the southwestern part of the state. Above is the gorgeous B&B my parents stayed at in New Iberia.
And being my parents, they of course went to the weekly New Iberia farmers market. I love this woman's farmstand! My parents said she was selling homemade pickled foods (eggs, beans, okra, etc...) as well as jams, jellies and preserves. Given my recent jam obsession (see the bowl of cherries currently macerating in my kitchen), this is giving me ideas for future second career opportunities.
This is the cool main street area of New Iberia. I love the old school theater!
And some of the beautiful local architecture.
Here is the entire Cal crew (Sam's family is among the half dozen or so family's that we've been going to Cal football games with since 1984) enjoying a tasty luncheon at the Lafayette Cajun Restaurant.
Some Cajun shrimp. And check out that coffee mug - "Simply Cajun". Sweet!
A seafood etouffee - a great excuse to not worry so much about calorie counting when visiting the area and taking in their fantastic food traditions. Isn't it a travesty that I've never been to Louisiana?! There's talk of a family trip there for Jazz Fest to rectify said appalling truth.

Mom and Dad will try and put up their own post, detailing all the eats and sights of New Orleans, where they spent several days with Aunt Lise and Uncle Kevin after the wedding party. If I can't talk them through it, I'll put it all up myself. Can't wait for those photos.