Shopping is very nice along Front Street in Natchitoches. Several blocks make up quaint, little boutiques; specialty shops; and antiques stores. While this isn't a big hit for children, it is a family-friendly, clean, and safe environment. Walking along the beautiful Front Street, you can…Read More

Shopping is very nice along Front Street in Natchitoches. Several blocks make up quaint, little boutiques; specialty shops; and antiques stores. While this isn't a big hit for children, it is a family-friendly, clean, and safe environment. Walking along the beautiful Front Street, you can view the "river." Cane River is actually a lake, but was once part of Red River before it changed its course. In spring and summer, the street is done up with beautiful potted plants and flowers in hanging baskets. At Christmastime, you can view all of the gorgeous lights that make Natchitoches so well-known. One interesting feature about Front Street is the street itself; it's paved with bricks. Both the opening and ending scenes of "Steel Magnolias" was filmed here, along with some other shots from the movie. At the current time, below are the types of shops on Front Street. I can't remember all of there names, but I do know some of them.

My personal favorite is the bookshop on Front Street, the Book Merchant. This is a small shop where you can find a good selection of bestsellers and various items, such as journals and postcards. Also, they have a great selection of area-inspired works, such as Cane River cookbooks and Cane Rive Heritage history books. The gentleman who owns this shop is very friendly and has a very good sense of humor. To celebrate the 200-year-anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, he had a painting of himself and one of his in store cats with Napoleon. Yes, he does have cats, but they are very friendly!

There are several gift boutiques selling moderate to rather expensive gifts of the area, such as prints of the artist Clementine Hunter, who was an area native.

There is a very cute store on Front Street where they sell hip and cute monogrammed bags and purses. Also, there is an antique hardware store selling hardware and a selection of gifts and toys.

Another favorite of mine is the toy shop. Most toy shops today are more like Toys R Us and feature top-of-the-line technological toys and games, but this little shop sells more traditional stuff, such as puppets and wooden toys. It's very cute and worth a peek.

On Front Street are two restaurants, and it is just a block away from Lasyone's Restaurant. But you are just a few minutes (depending on traffic) from Burger King, Pizza Hut, and the like.

I will try to update this entry soon with the correct names of the stores and addresses if I can find them. Thanks for being patient.

Cajun and Creole cuisine, a food fusion in South Louisiana What’s Cajun food? What’s Creole food? When you are dining out in New Orleans, Lafayette, Alexandria or small towns in south Louisiana, it may be hard for a visitor to distinguish between the two cuisines.…Read More

Cajun and Creole cuisine, a food fusion in South Louisiana

What’s Cajun food? What’s Creole food? When you are dining out in New Orleans, Lafayette, Alexandria or small towns in south Louisiana, it may be hard for a visitor to distinguish between the two cuisines. "Creole and Cajun cuisines continue to evolve and even merge into what might be called South Louisiana cuisine," according to the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission.

When we dine in south Louisiana, we find this subtle fusion of Creole and Cajun flavors to be delightful—a real treat. There's a myth about south Louisiana food being loaded with too much pepper, but it's not true.

"Cajun cooking is not hot," explains Wylma Dusenbery, a gracious Cajun lady who serves authentic five-course Cajun meals in an old Acadian-style cottage. "Yes, I use cayenne and hot sauce, but only to season and enhance the flavor, but never to burn the mouth." We commented that her red beans and smoked sausage served on rice was not overly spicy and neither was the chicken file' gumbo soup. It was seasoned just to our liking.

Fresh seafood seems to dominant the menus, and it’s always prepared into dishes fit for royalty. It takes time to crack the many well-seasoned, boiled crawfish served on the popular seafood platters, but it is worth the work. Their Cajun and Creole gumbos , made from a roux paste, have a rich unique taste.

Chef Harold Traham at Don’s Seafood and Steakhouse in Lafayette tells how to make a roux for gumbos in the restaurant’s own cookbook. Use 1.5 cups of cooking oil and 1.5 cups of flour. Always pour excess oil off the top of the roux when making gumbo. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over low heat and stir constantly until it is a rich brown. Do not burn. Even a slight burn will ruin the best sauce or gravy. He notes that the roux may be cooked in the oven, but to add an extra half cup of cooking oil.

Creole cuisine:

Creole cuisine got its start in the early 1700s in New Orleans when blacks and Caribbean refugees arrived in Louisiana; eventually Creole cuisine spread throughout South Louisiana. Their foods contain distinctive Caribbean spice combinations and cooking techniques.

These Creole foods include greens cooked with fatback, Caribbean-style cowpeas and rice, gumbos with pork sausage, chicken giblets, seafood, and okra, plus a host of stews that use humble ingredients to create rich flavors. One of the most popular entrees is Shrimp Creole, which can be prepared many ways

Here’s a recipe for Shrimp Creole from the Cane River Cookbook published by the Service League of Natchitoches, which is in the heart of Creole country.

SHRIMP CREOLE
.5 c. flour
.5 c fat
4 cups chopped onions
2 c. chopped bell pepper
.5 c celery
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce plus .5 c water
2 t. salt
.5 t. red pepper
1 t. black pepper
3 T. parsley
3 T. chopped green onion
4 lbs. shrimp, peeled and deveined

Make a golden brown roux with flour and fat. Add onions, bell peppers, and celery to the roux and cook until tender. Add tomato sauce, salt, red, and black pepper. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Before serving, add parsley, green onions, and shrimp. Cook for 30 minutes. Serve with hot rice. Serves 6. May be prepared ahead and frozen before adding shrimp, parsley, and green onions.

Cajun cuisine

About the same time that the blacks and Caribbean refugees arrived in Louisiana, the French Acadians came to Louisiana after being expelled from present-day Nova Scotia in Canada. The Acadians were farmers so their early cuisine was based on corn, rice, root vegetables, chickens, and pigs. The south Louisiana bayous and wetlands provided an abundance of shellfish (especially crawfish) and game birds. They learned to use corn from the local Indians.

In recent years crawfish dishes have become the food most associated with the Acadian culture, according to the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. Cajuns also love their rice and gravy. Rice, of course, has become one of the major agriculture crops of southwest Louisiana. They use it in gumbo, boil it, steam it, and serve it with gravy.

Their gravy is always brown and made from drippings of meat cooked slowly over a low fire. Their gravy is really liquid meat with the flavorings included for seasoning the meat. The gravy also is thick, like hearty Cajun coffee.

It's one of the largest mud and moss structures in the U.S. It was built before 1800 and recently restored. We attended a reception in this gracious mansion. For more information, call 318 352 6723…Read More

It's one of the largest mud and moss structures in the U.S. It was built before 1800 and recently restored. We attended a reception in this gracious mansion.

For more information, call 318 352 6723