A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....10-17-03...Louisiana - "Come as you are, leave different."

Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine, FreeTheHostages ~

It's FRiday and we hope you will join us as we take a cyber-tour of another great state in this Union of ours. As we discover and spotlight each of our 50 states we also salute the proud FReepers who call their state 'home'.

Over the past few months the "Finest" hostesses have each profiled their home states (Dutchess will be spotlighting Michigan soon), and I will be presenting the other states in random order. Please FReepMail me if you would like to participate in spotlighting your state. I would love to have your input on what you would like to see highlighted.

These are the states we have presented to date:

05-23-03 Alabama 06-27-03 Maryland 07-11-03 Vermont 07-25-03 Utah 08-05-03 Texas 08-22-03 Nevada

08-26-03 Washington DC 09-05-03 Tennessee 09-17-03 Florida 09-19-03 Minnesota 10-03-03 New Mexico 10-14-03 Georgia

Come along with us today as we head down south and tour the "Pelican State".

Jambalaya
Possum Rag
LeDance De Mardi Gras
House of the Rising Sun

How Louisiana came to be...

The Louisiana region was settled by Indians in prehistoric times, at least as early as 6,000 years ago. At the time of European exploration in the 16th century, there were more than 10,000 Indians in Louisiana. However, authentic recorded history of this area doesn't actually begin until 1682. It was then that Sierra de La Salle, the French explorer, reached the mouth of the Mississippi, claimed all its drainage basin for France, and named the area Louisiana to honor Louis XIV.

Many flags have flown over what
is now the state of Louisiana....

No other state has a more varied or colorful past than Louisiana. The state has been governed under 10 different flags beginning with Hernando de Soto's claim of the region for Spain. La Salle later claimed it for Bourbon France and over the years Louisiana was at one time or another subject to the Union Jack of Great Britain, the Tricolor of Napoleon, the Lone Star flag of the Republic of West Florida and the fifteen stars and stripes of the United States. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Louisiana became an independent republic for six weeks before joining the Confederacy.

Earlier, in 1803, Louisiana had become a part of the United States because of the region's importance to the trade and security of the American mid-west. New Orleans and the surrounding territory controlled the mouth of the Mississippi River down which much of the produce of the mid-west traveled to reach market. To get the vital region in American hands, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon.

With the acquisition of Louisiana, Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the fledgling U.S. and made it a world power. Later, 13 states or parts of states were carved out of the Louisiana Purchase territory.

The state flag of Louisiana... The design consists of the pelican group from the state seal, in white and gold, and a white ribbon bearing the state motto, "Union, Justice, and Confidence", on a field of a solid blue. This flag was adopted in 1912.

Baton Rouge became the capitol of Louisiana in 1846 and remained so until 1862 and the onset of the Civil War. The capitol changed locations several times and Baton Rouge was designated the permanent capitol in 1879. A bit of trivia.....the capitol building is the tallest of any state capitol - it is 450 feet tall with 34 floors.

What comes to mind when you think of Louisiana? Southern Belles and beautiful plantations? Bayous, alligators and crawfish? Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street? Mint juleps, shrimp boats and Jambalaya? Because I love food, especially spicy hot food, when I think of Louisiana, my thoughts turn to Cajun cookin'- or, is it Creole cookin'? And, what's the difference anyway?

Well, according to this website, "ABOUT LOUISIANA CUISINE"......"Most Louisiana chroniclers claim the answer is simple. Many Creoles were rich planters and their kitchens aspired to grande cuisine. Their recipes came from France or Spain as did their chefs. By using classic French techniques with local foodstuffs, they created a whole new cuisine, Creole cooking."


"On the other hand, the Acadians, pronounced (uh-CADE-ee-uns), later contracted to "Cajun", were a tough people used to living under strenuous conditions. They tended to serve strong country food prepared from locally available ingredients. It was pungent, peppery and practical since it was all cooked in a single pot. Thus Cajun cuisine was born.

There is one rule that both the Creoles and Cajuns agree upon and that is that there is no one rule and no one recipe when it comes to matters of food. There are hundreds of different recipes for gumbo, jambalaya, turtle soup and they are all right because no one is wrong. Privately, they know that everything they cook is original, because their kitchens are kitchens of "ad lib". They are experimenting, creating, changing, always trying to make it taste better."

"When the taste
changes with every
bite and the last
bite tastes as good
as the first,
....that's Cajun."
- Paul Prudhomme




So, there you have it, that's the difference between Cajun and Creole cuisine. :-)

Famous Louisianians
Louis Armstrong musician, New Orleans
Geoffrey Beene fashion designer, Haynesville
Truman Capote writer, New Orleans
Kitty Carlisle singer, actress, New Orleans
Van Cliburn concert pianist, Shreveport
Fats Domino musician, New Orleans
Bryant Gumbel TV newscaster, New Orleans
Lillian Hellman playwright, New Orleans
Al Hirt trumpeter, New Orleans
Mahalia Jackson gospel singer, New Orleans
Dorothy Lamour actress, New Orleans
Jerry Lee Lewis singer, Ferriday
Huey P. Long politician, Winnfield
Wynton Marsalis musician, New Orleans
Jelly Roll Morton jazz musician, composer, New Orleans
Huey Newton black activist, New Orleans
Paul Prudhomme chef, Opelousas
Cokie Roberts journalist, New Orleans
Kordell Stewart football player, Marrero

"Laissez les bons temps rouler"
(lay-say lay bawn tawn roulay)
"Let the good times roll,"
(the motto of many Louisianians)

Finally, this profile on Louisiana
would not be complete without at
least a brief mention of Mardi Gras.
Click here for the history of "Carnival".

See you there!

The following websites provided
historical information and graphics....

"The 50 States - Louisiana"
"The History of Louisiana"






Have a nice FRiday
and a relaxing weekend!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 10-13-03...Military Monday 10-14-03...Relax - You're in Georgia Now 10-15-03...Junk Mail Blues 10-16-03...John's Two Cents

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

Click on the photo to view the album. To
submit your photo, please contact dansangel or .45MAN danbh59@yahoo.com
and include Freeper Photo Album in subject line.

[Mama_Bear]

I don't know how many people are interested in this, but I know you are so I will post this.....this answers a lot of your questions, I think.

Discover the Great Taste of Beef Tri-Tip   

This flavorful beef cut has been one of the beef industry's best kept secrets.   Tri-tip was seldom marketed when carcass beef or beef quarters were delivered to retail markets because there are only two tri-tips per carcass.  This meant that there was not enough for a case display.  Consequently, the butcher would grind or cube it.  Today, most stores receive boneless boxed beef.  If you don't see tri-tip in the meat case, ASK FOR IT.  It may be temporarily out of stock.   Tri-tip roasts can be ordered separately if your butcher knows there is a demand.

A beef tri-tip roast is a boneless cut of meat from the bottom sirloin.  It also is called "triangular" roast because of its shape.

(Sheesh!....I can't imagine someone grinding up a perfectly good tri-tip! LOL)

More info and recipes : Discover Beef Tri-Tip

[Mama_Bear]

Boy you are good Lori!

All the credit goes to Google. :-)

[dansangel]

"Pulled at the request of the poster"

What a dork.

[dansangel]

Beautiful ((((((Mama_Bear))))))

The color is stunning - so warm and quiet. I would love to go to LA someday. .45MAN has been there and just raves about the cuisine. I know I'd enjoy shrimp by the bucketful - just hold the crawdaddies! LOL!! Tried *one* once - it's definitely not for me.

You always do such a wonderful job on the state threads. Happy FRiday!

[Calpernia]

Want a chuckle? Look at what Pan did in post two, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1003151/posts

Read the opening paragraph, then see who she pinged :))

I'm off to take Amanda to cheerleading. Post you later :)

[dansangel]

That's priceless....I responded and told her she ***ROCKS***!

Have fun!

[GailA]

LA sounds like a great state to visit. LOVE those southern belles.

[Mama_Bear]

Mama_Bear, a really beautiful thread today.

Thank you. You are always so complimentary. :-)

(((((((((((jw))))))))))))))

[Mama_Bear]

LA sounds like a great state to visit. LOVE those southern belles.

I know, I do too. I know I will love New Orleans, if I ever get to visit. It's on my list.

Hugs to you!

[Mama_Bear]

Beautiful ((((((Mama_Bear)))))). The color is stunning - so warm and quiet.

Awwww........thank you. I needed to hear that, since I just found out from Billie that, once again, I am not seeing things on my monitor as others do on theirs. Grrrrrrr!!! There is a problem with the list of states that have been profiled....line breaks in two areas. The columns are messed up. It looks fine to me. :-(

This has happened several times and it is SO frustrating! So, now I have to fix it and see if I can get Jim to repost it. Billie sent me a screen shot of how it looks to her, and I can't leave it looking like that. It looks awful. *sigh*

[deadhead]

Great tour of Louisiana, Mama_Bear. I have always wanted to visit there, but have not thus far. One of these days :-)

[dansangel]

The columns look fine to me, too. Are you talking about the lists in the topper? Unless you've already fixed them, I don't see a problem.

Hi ((((((((Billie-Blue))))))))

:-)

[dansangel]

.45MAN just changed the size of his web font because the list was messed up on his computer as well. He made the font bigger and that threw the columns even further out of whack. He made the font smaller, and the columns lined up.

Changing it on FR is not going to fix anything. It all depends on the size of people's web fonts.

[WVNan]

Mama_Bear, it looks fine to me. I love Louisiana. Been there several times. Spent a couple of days at a hotel on Bourbon Street. My youngest son was 5 years old at the time and was already playing his little fiddle. He entertained hotel guests on the second floor balcony and they took up a collection for him. He was shocked to get money for playing. Someone in the crowd asked him what he was going to do with the money. He said, "I'll save it until I'm 18 and then I'm coming back here and see one of those girly shows." LOL. He and I had spent the afternoon walking around the French Quarter and you know what Bourbon Street is like. Picture this: a frazzled mom DRAGGING a 5 year old boy away from doorways where nekkid ladies danced in plain sight, and the 5 year old digging his heels into the sidewalk. We got not a few bemused looks. p.s. I don't think he's ever gone back to see those girly shows.

[Mama_Bear]

The columns look fine to me, too. Are you talking about the lists in the topper? Unless you've already fixed them, I don't see a problem.

Well, isn't this weird? On Billie's computer, and on my husband's at the studio, the Washington DC line is messed up. Because of the width of the (invisible) table, the DC line and the Maryland line (on Billie's computer) is wrapping around and causing a line break.

It makes it so difficult to do these posts when everyone isn't seeing things the same way.

But, thanks for letting me know that I am not the only one who doesn't see a problem. I am still going to need to fix it by extending the width on that table, but I just hate to bother Jim with this AGAIN. :-(

[WVNan]

Mr. Mayor, thank you for relating what happened to Russ. Gee that sounds awful. He's not going to be paralyzed is he? Our daughter is paraplegic, but she doesn't know it. I will continue prayers.

[Mama_Bear]

Changing it on FR is not going to fix anything. It all depends on the size of people's web fonts.

But, the strange thing is, Billie and I have our font sizes set exactly the same.

Oh well, some things are just beyond my comprehension. LOL

[Billie]

Mine, too, and we've discussed this very thing before. You are getting more characters per inch than I am with our web font settings set the same. Think pica and elite (I think) on TYPEWRITERS (Heaven forbid - what are those?!) LOL!

[WVNan]

Hi Billie. How about a blue hug? Thank you for nurturing this wonderful thread through thick and Thin Man.

[dansangel]

TYPEWRITERS

Huh?

:-)