Visiting ShyKatz Café on Galveston Island, Historical Architecture, James Waters House

ShyKatz French toast with Bacon

“…ShyKatz Café is a laid-back place, with old-timey mismatched furniture and a paper towel roll in the center of each table to serve as napkins…” (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com - checks out food and historical architecture in Galveston. Learn about ShyKatz Café.)

Interviewed John and Lillie Mae Norbert about Norbert’s Restaurant - and Broussard Louisiana

John and Lillie Mae Norbert at Norbert's Restaurant

"...Which days do you serve home-made rice dressing? Sometimes on Wednesday, sometimes on Thursday..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com talks to John and Lillie Mae Norbert about their lives, the history of Norbert's Restaurant, and the history of Broussard Louisiana.)

Morvant’s Bar & Grill - Formerly Bero's Youngsville Louisiana - Interview - 97 Year History

Morvant's Bar and Grill - Youngsville Louisiana

"...a cold beer and eat a hamburger or a fried shrimp po-boy or a tray of boiled crawfish and hit the dance floor while the Cajun band “Alligator Blue” performs “Tee Na Na” at Morvant’s Bar and Grill in Youngsville Louisiana.." (Interviewed Chip Hebert about the history of Morvant's Bar and Grill, formerly Bero's, established in 1924 in Youngsville Louisiana.  Cajun food, cold beer, dancing.)

Martha Stewart Visits Lucullus Antiques - Patrick Dunne - New Orleans

     Martha Stewart and Patrick Dunne at Lucullus Antiques

"Aware of the publicity value of such a visit, Lucullus’ staff posted Martha’s picture as fast as a drunk tourist can eat a Lucky Dog..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson tells readers about Lucullus Antiques' new location in the Bywater section of New Orleans, where Martha Stewart recently visited owner Patrick Dunne and staff.)

Rejiggering Blue Dog Café, George Rodrigue, Approachable Annie Café & Bar

Blue Dog's Burger Special on Burger Night

"...Reading between the lines, Blue Dog is placing bets on a younger hipper crowd..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson highlights changes at Blue Dog Café where specialty cocktails, imported beer and live music will appeal to a younger hipper crowd. George Rodrigue's art remains. Similar changes made Annie Café and Bar in Houston more "approachable.")

Interviewed Mark Morales of Shutter Source Houston about Custom Made Shutters

Custom made bedroom shutters manufactured and 

installed by Mark Morales - Shutter Source Houston

"...Caesar would have looked through shutters to scrutinize torch lights below, while augurs read a sheep's liver for indications of trouble..." (BoudinandBourbon.com - Virginia Billeaud Anderson interviews Mark Morales about his custom made shutters. Article includes fun history of shutters used by ancient Persians, Greeks and Romans.)

Dr. John’s Second Line Jazz Funeral - New Orleans - A Closer Look

"Dr. John’s second line funeral ... with horse-drawn hearse to carry the coffin, jazz musicians, enormous New Orleans crowd.." (Image: by Brett Duke NOLA.com/The Times Picayune (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com writes a few words of tribute to Dr. John.)

Notes on Irises, Van Gogh, Walter Annenberg, Louisiana Politics - Essay

Pam Zuschlag, "Irises," Photograph taken la Louvre
Garden, Bonnieux, Provence, facebook 5-13-19

"...In 1987 Annenberg had a hankering to own van Gogh’s Irises (1889)..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson - BoudinandBourbon.com tells readers about Van Gogh's irises, Walter Annenberg's  painting of irises, and how the iris became the official Louisiana state wildflower.)

St. Patrick’s Day Devilry - A Closer Look at “da Channel” Irish Channel New Orleans

Halfway to St. Patricks Day March

"In honor of the Saint, I’m hell-bent on Jameson Irish whiskey.  That’s the drink for me..."

Krewe of Rex - Hail Rex - St. Charles Avenue New Orleans Mardi Gras - Essay

Photograph Rex Ball Sheraton Hotel, year unknown,
photo by Mike Posey. Image from Krewe of Rex website.

"It wouldn’t do for King Rex to toast at some inelegant venue..."

Thoughts about Crawfish and Slot Machines - Louisiana Food, Politics, Gambling - Essay

Crawfish Etouffée - Billeaud's No. 3

"...my instinct tells me that only a dumb-ass would boil a sack of crawfish inside..." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson discusses Crawfish Etouffee, Louisiana politics & gambling. Mentions Don's Seafood, Ella Brennan, Paul Prudhomme, Floyd Landry, Marcelle Bienvenu and Edwin Edwards.)

A Closer Look - Château de Bussy-Rabutin - de Sévigné - Essay

Château de Bussy-Rabutin, Burgundy France

"...a vain and flattery-obsessed woman who sucked up outrageously to the King..."

Unexpected Romanesque - Cormac’s Chapel Ireland 1127 AD - Essay

Cormac's Chapel Door Arch Carvings at
the Rock of Cashel Ireland 

"...Saint Patrick, to whom we owe gratitude for banishing the Devil..."

Aesthetic Truth: Notes on Empress Eugénie - Previewed Franz Winterhalter Portrait Exhibition - Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Franz X. Winterhalter, Empress Eugénie,
(Wedding Portrait,) (Copy) oil on canvas

"...Eugénie produced the required male heir, with the Pope as god-father, then nagged her cheating husband into expanding the Empire..." (Inspired by Franz Winterhalter's portrait of Empress Eugénie, Virginia Billeaud Anderson discusses Eugénie's aesthetically elevated taste in fashion, jewels and decor, as well as her ambition.)

My Visit to See the Hittite Lions - Essay

Archaeological site of Hattusa. Lion Gate at the ruins of the Bronze
Age Citadel of the Ancient Hittites. Image from antikcag.tarihi

"...I toured the ancient Hittite archaeological site of Hattusa, near the city of Bogazkale in central Turkey...." (Virginia Billeaud Anderson traveled to the ancient Hittite archaeological site of Hattusa, a Bronze Age citadel and temple complex near the city of Bogazkale in central Turkey, to see the Lion Gate. Read about Hittite imperial rule, chariot design and diplomatic treatises.)