The coronavirus pandemic feels exactly like a hurricane about to make landfall. I can’t claim to know anything about the effects of a pandemic. I don’t know if corona will knock down power-lines or sweep the tiles off a roof, or cause street flooding. I can’t say if it’s a Category 2 or a Category 4. But I’ve lived in New Orleans long enough that I think I’ve learned some lessons about hurricanes that apply just as well to a pandemic.
Read moreMy Favorite New Orleans Ghost Stories
New Orleans is pretty famous for being a spooky town to visit. Our trees are draped with Spanish moss, our cemeteries rise above the ground like miniature cities of the dead, fortune tellers set up tables in front of our cathedral, and we have a not-negligible population of voodoo practitioners. Of course we also have about a thousand ghost stories. And as today is not only Friday the 13th, but the hundred-and-first anniversary of a certain letter proclaiming that all of the citizens of the city must play jazz or die, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite ghost stories.
Read moreA Harry Potter Inspired Room
One of the most delightful moments of my life—besides discovering you could eat lavender, throwing a birthday party for my cat, or finishing my first book—was discovering that I had the exact same silverware set as Hogwarts. That discovery made me feel like my house was just a little bit magical. I hadn’t even done it on purpose, like the time I tried to turn my parents’ house into Hogwarts for a party*. It felt like real world magic. The other night, inspired by a Harry Potter-themed AirBnB so unmagical that I won’t even share the link here, I decided to fill a Pinterest board with my ideas for a fully-Harry Potter themed house. Here are some of my favorites:
Read moreLemon Poppyseed Cake with Lavender Buttercream Frosting
I was asked to make a lemon poppy seed cake for work. I knew I wanted to make it a cake I would be excited about, so I decided to do a lavender buttercream frosting: lavender goes super well with lemon, it’s a unique flavor, and I personally enjoy florals. However, I also knew that I didn’t have the time or energy to make a cake from scratch on a Monday night, so I took a couple of shortcuts.
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