A Frolic of My Own

Jazz, Books, Food, and the Writing Life

Blogging from New Orleans, La

12 November 2008

The Chicago Tribute speculates further on who will take up the toque in Mr. Obama’s Whitehouse. Bayless, not surprisingly, is not interested.

Running the Whitehouse kitchen seems like a job best suited for an anonymous hotel chef. But in this era of culinary celebrities, could the Whitehouse job be a launching pad for a young, ambitious cook? And would the First Family permit a member of its staff to play the celebrity chef game?

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11 November 2008

My friend Sara Roahen worries that Mr. Obama’s rail thin form might indicate a lack of interest in food (That seems like an odd worry from a svelte lady with a voracious appetite.). The Daily News, though, reports that the Obama family prefers fresh vegetables and often dines out at Rick Bayless’ Topolobampo. That’s a good sign. The offers three suggestions on who will take over the Whitehouse kitchen: Bayless, Daniel Young and Oprah’s personal chef Art Smith

I do hope Obama passes on Smith. Oprah clearly loves her food, and stealing Smith might anger her. That’s like offending the gods. And anyone who’s read a Greek epic knows what happens when you piss off the gods at the start of your adventure.

Posted by Todd at 10:09 am | Comments (3)

5 November 2008

The sun is shining bright in New Orleans. I assume it’s the same across American.

Yes, we can. Yes, we did. Yes, he did. Yes, we will.

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2 November 2008

“Adequate,” you say? Let’s hope we never find out if Sara Palin is up to job of leading America. In case you need a visual, here’s a look into a future Palin administration.

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I flipped on the radio this morning and heard Jacques Brel singing on NPR. Who knew that our local station plays a Radio France show at 5 a.m. each Sunday? Not me before today. This discovery is thanks to James and his complete lack of awareness that the clocks moved back last night.

To be fair, James isn’t good in general with telling time. He’s only 11 months old, after all.

Posted by Todd at 5:29 am | No Comments

1 November 2008

Halloween continued well past sunrise in New Orleans. On the way to the farmers market this morning, I saw a few girls in disheveled costumes squinting on a bench outside Ms. Mae’s, the dirt-cheap 24-hour bar at the corner of Magazine and Napoleon. On St. Charles Avenue, a whole crowd was stumbling across the road. I couldn’t tell what they were supposed to be, because only a few pieces of their costume survived the night. Farther down the street, a pirate in a puffy shirt was passed out in a flower bed. He roused himself as we drove past.

At the market, it was all sunshine and fresh produce. James became the second member of the Marketeers Club (our friend Armor claimed the first slot). Not sure what the benefits are, but I told him it was good to get in on the ground floor of such organizations. Who knows, some day he might be king of the Marketeers (or perhaps president–we live in a democracy, after all). Many months ago, James’ first trip out of the house was a brief run to the farmers market. That ought to earn him an extra gold star among the ranks of Marketeers.

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