Booze, Bugs, Chores and Music

We had another wild and crazy week at Betty's.  We did a bourbon whiskey tasting, checked out another local brewery, did some chores for Betty, went to the Crawfish Festival and ended the week cooking up a pot of mudbugs at the park.

The first chore was helping to carry and assemble this huge exercise machine that Betty purchased.  It is a Plexis passive exerciser.  As you can see, some assembly required.  It took a while but it is all set up for Betty to start working out. 

We often stop at wineries, breweries and distilleries during our travels for a tasting and Dan and Merlene and Nanc and I had a couple bottles we had purchased along the way.  We decided to have a bourbon tasting from four different distilleries and the winner was Headframe from Butte, Montana that we had visited with Dan and Merlene last May.  As you can see there were several different bottles of booze for everyone to choose from.  Enough that we asked, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, as you can see, what could go wrong is someone needing Betty's taxi to get back to their rig.  We are all about safety so we made sure Wendy had a life vest and helmet before being wheeled home.  Nothing like a bunch of seniors acting like they are at a frat party.

The first time we met Ray and Wendy was here at Betty's and, coincidentally, a clock in her Louisiana Room somehow was broken.  Since that time Dan and I have been getting the blame.  Well it turns out someone else may have been responsible.  Who knew?  Here we are all trying to pass the blame on to someone else. 

Another day another booze run.  We started at Don's Boat Landing in Erath where Dan, Merlene, Nanc, Ron and I met Betty's niece Monica and here husband Cordell for Bloody Marys.  Now Cajun Bloody Marys can almost be considered health food with all the veggies they put in them and Don's is among the best.   The next stop was lunch at Morvant's in Youngsville for great po-boys and burgers.

Then it was on to Parish Brewing in Broussard for a tasting.  I liked the beer much better than what we had at Bayou Teche.  That said, I struck out when I tried to make a purchase.  They did not have the ones I liked in bottles and they would only fill 64 ounce growlers and mine is a 32 ouncer.  Oh well, their loss.  

More chores at Betty's.  There was a dead tree that needed to be removed so lumberjack Dan took it down with a chainsaw and we gathered and carried the debris to the curb.  Notice the wheelbarrow is used for work in addition to providing rides home for those experiencing difficulty walking:)  

It's a spring weekend in Acadiana so you can be sure there is a festival celebrating some kind of food. This week it was the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge.  Three days of food, contests, music and dancing.  It was the last event for Ray and Wendy who had already extended their stay by two days so they could check it out. 

Nanc with a Bloody Mary.  As you can see, it is almost like a salad with an olive, okra, onion, tomato, green bean and, of course, all that healthy tomato juice.  There was all kinds of food to choose from with  many different crawfish offerings including po-boys, etouffee, jambalaya and more for festival goers to enjoy.

A couple who were all decked out in crawfish attire for the dance contest.  They also had dance lessons and a mudbug eating contest.

A couple of our favorite groups were playing on Saturday afternoon.  We had seen Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys before and we were not disappointed.  Here is a link to a short video of the crowd dancing to their music. 

We saw Geno Delafose & French Rockin Boogie the first year we came to Betty's and try to see them every time we are here.  The band was joined by a couple members of the festival court playing the rubboard.  Here is a link to a short video of Geno's music.

It is impossible to sit still when you hear this great Zydeco and Cajun music.  Here are Dan and Merlene doing the two step.  The people of Acadiana sure know how to have a fun time so don't miss the Crawfish Festival if you are in the area. 

Sunday morning we gathered to say good-bye and safe travels to Ray and Wendy who are heading across tornado alley on their way to South Dakota.  I wonder if Ray found that Steeler sticker I hid on his truck in retaliation for him desecrating the Steeler gnome that Tim and Diane gave to Betty.  Good luck Ray :-)

We have been getting crawfish from a couple of local places every week since we arrived but this week we did something different.  Betty bought a sack of mudbugs from a local farmer and we cooked them at the park.  We have watched people boil them before but this time it was Dan and I who did the cooking with Betty's guidance.  Here are the sack of bugs, Nanc and Merlene cutting up the onions and potatoes, as I fill the pot that we borrowed from Betty's son with water.   

The crawfish first need to be purged by soaking them in a tub of water with salt and crawfish boil for a half hour to clean them out.  We did have a couple that attempted to escape from the sack while the  first half was being purged.

While the purge was going on we boiled the onions, potatoes and corn.  We removed the veggies then added the crawfish and brought the water back to a boil to cook them for about five minutes.  After that they rest in the water for 10 to 15 minutes before they are ready to eat. 

Dan then served Ron, Merlene, Linda, Betty and Nanc.  There were only a few people in the park and one sack was plenty to send everyone away stuffed with mudbugs.

Top are John (who doesn't eat crawfish), Kathy, Linda and Dave.

Bottom are Ron, Betty, Sue and Jerry.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the boil so I guess Dan and I did OK for first timers.  Dave told us we earned the title of honorary Cajuns.  Not bad for guys from California and Pennsylvania.