Tom the Botnist
This is Tom… He likes plants… We like Tom…
Going Home
Bonding over music.
Hey Good Lookin’ Whatcha got Cookin’
Today we headed to the French Quarter of New Orleans, and we had the pleasure of meeting Michael Devidts- the instructor of New Orleans School of Cooking. Established 39 years ago, the school specializes in New Orleans cuisine. First, Michael took us to the Farmer’s Market to get some ingredients for our meals.
Crescent City Farmer’s Market. Credits: Matt Hershberger
We were divided into groups and assigned to cook a portion of a five-course meal (appetizer, soup, salad, main course, and dessert). With guidance from Michael and his assistant Josh, my group cooked gumbo for the soup portion of the meal.
Our gumbo recipe:
First, you make the roux (equal parts oil and flour). Wisk until dark brown.
Add onions, celery, garlic, and peppers in the roux.
In a vegetable stock, we boiled carrots and potatoes. Add vegetable stock (with potatoes and carrots) to the roux. Joe’s Stuff Seasoning. Michael is adamant that no salt is needed. “We don’t use salt- only Joe’s Stuff!” Simmer for 30+ minutes until the potatoes are soft.
Adulting is Hard
Instead of going to a concert…homework. #UghWhy
AAAAAquarius in NOLA
After trudging through a thorough plant tour through the Woodlands Trail and Park, we rendezvoused at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. We were extremely privileged to see THE Deacon John and the Ivory’s. Although the music was electric and the spirit of jazz was in the air, there was no denying that our exhaustion was palpable. But alas, as the night dwindled into twilight, the music took a turn. What started as a jazz concerto developed into a rock and roll extravaganza! Oh what a night!
A Botanists’ Struggle
This is Dr. Tom Huggins. He had been giving us a tour of the Woodland Trail and Park’s plants. We had been walking around the park both on and off the trails looking at plants such as the Sambucus canadensis or the Elderberry 
found in the Adoxaceae family. It had been during the half-way point when our tour-guide/botanist had gotten stuck in deceptively deep wet soil, which was par for the course as it had been raining. The whole point of the tour was to get us more familiar the plants, whether that be invasive or native ones, in order to prepare for transect surveying for the Woodland Conservancy.
New Orleans
I’m super excited for my week in New Orleans! One thing I am super interested in learning about this week is the music of the New Orleans culture! Looking forward to going to Jazz clubs and meeting the people of New Orleans!!
Going to NOLA
I’m excited to go to NOLA because I know it’s going to be so different from what I’ve experienced in California. I want to experience the people, the food, culture, music. Things that aren’t overly expressed here in CA. I am expecting this to be fun although I’ve checked the weather there for this week a few times and it’s changed a lot. I’ve been to the south before so I know the weathers bipolar but since it’s the winter time and,like climate change, I’m just expecting some very hot rainy days. It makes it hard to chose what clothes I want to bring I have NO IDEA how to dress for 80 degree lighting storms????? But i can’t wait to meet the people there that deal with this on the regular. My goal on this trip is to embrace all that we do and possibly take something away I wasn’t expecting.
-Keitreice
Going to NOLA
I’m excited to go to NOLA because I know it’s going to be so different from what I’ve experienced in California. I want to experience the people, the food, culture, music. Things that aren’t overly expressed here in CA. I am expecting this to be fun although I’ve checked the weather there for this week a few times and it’s changed a lot. I’ve been to the south before so I know the weathers bipolar but since it’s the winter time and,like climate change, I’m just expecting some very hot rainy days. It makes it hard to chose what clothes I want to bring I have NO IDEA how to dress for 80 degree lighting storms????? But i can’t wait to meet the people there that deal with this on the regular. My goal on this trip is to embrace all that we do and possibly take something away I wasn’t expecting.
-Keitreice