Visiting New Orleans- Xavier University Chapel and the Height of Tourist Season
Attending the dedication of New Orleans’ Xavier University’s (my mother and father’s alma mater) newly built Katharine Drexel Chapel, at the height of tourist season
read morePorches and Lemonade
Sitting on the porch and sipping a glass of lemonade while visiting with her neighbors, was a regular treat at the end of the day for my Aunt Leticia.
read moreThree Farmers- a Tour of Central California
I had the opportunity to meet 3 very different farmers on a recent farm tour of Central California, and gain a new appreciation for those who grow the fruit I consume.
read moreMom’s and My Vegetarian Vegetable Soup
Adding a Parmesan rind to my mother’s vegetable soup gave it a richness and depth that I often find missing in vegetarian soups.
read moreBananas Foster Pain Perdu
In honor of Mardi Gras and venerable New Orleans restaurants, I’ve combined two traditional New Orleans desserts, Bread Pudding and Bananas Foster, for one decadent treat.
read moreLooking Back at 2011 in Gratitude
In spite of the many difficult things this year brought, there was still so much to be grateful for.
read moreA Grateful Remembrance
This year was filled with many rivers to cross for my family and me. My mother crossed her final river a couple of weeks ago. We were deeply saddened to see her go, but she was in tremendous physical pain her last few days, and as my Aunt Gloria said so simply and eloquently to me earlier this week, “that’s what makes us let ‘em go.” My mother was a young child during the Great Depression. Her family could not afford to have a portrait shot taken of her, as they did of her two older siblings. In fact, there are no pictures at all of her as a child. There was, however, a drawing of a little brown skinned angel in the house, so whenever she would ask her mother where her picture was, my grandmother, Mama Dear, would tell her “Look at that angel, that’s you.” And my mother was an angel to so many throughout her life. Several generations of children, of all ages, and whether they were related to her or not, called her Nanny. My Uncle Reiss has said, she took on the role of being his angel as an adolescent and young woman. When she married, she took on the job of loving and caring for us, her children, as a mother. She took on caring for Mama Dear, and her sister, Adele, through long illnesses and the end of their lives. When my Aunt Adele’s youngest child, Illona, was born only 10 days after my youngest brother, Eric, she took on caring for her, carting them around like twins. When we were grown, she finally took the opportunity to begin the task of caring excellently for herself. And when my Aunt Adele’s children had children of their own, she became their de facto grandmother. She taught me to read at a very early age, and instilled a love of words in me that remains to this day. It was her life’s calling. Not only did she teach countless other children to read throughout her career as an early childhood teacher, she continued her mission as a volunteer, taking books into schools in underprivileged areas with Reading is Fundamental, well into her retirement. She was still reading books that I, or others, brought to her in the last three months whenever she could manage. It didn’t stop with early childhood reading. She believed in education. She was ever grateful for the opportunity to receive a college education (she was the recipient of a music scholarship to Xavier University), and worked tirelessly on behalf of Xavier, her and my father’s alma mater. By the way, in gratitude to Xavier for providing her with her education, she made a decision to now give back with the establishment of the Phenella Perez Educational Scholarship Fund. My mother and I have very different personalities, and different ways of dealing with things. There were times I could become very frustrated because of that, but the older I got, the wiser my mother became to me. One of the greatest lessons she quietly taught me in her later life, was that just because someone else did something wrong, didn’t mean I shouldn’t do the right thing. It’s a lesson I’m still working on. I was still learning from her...
read more
Keeping Cool on St. Anthony Street, New Orleans Sno’ Balls and Pineapple Sherbet
Childhood summer memories in New Orleans and recreating my Aunt Leticia’s Pineapple Sherbet.
read moreImpressions on August 29th Six Years Later- and Quinoa Salad
Reflections and meeting with friends on the 6th anniversary of hurricane Katrina
read more
