Memorial Day
Weekend Cat Blogging #103 is up at House of the (Mostly) Black Cats
Their slogan is "Gourmet cuisine at fast food prices"
We found out that the Tabasco products which are made by McIlhenny Company was founded in 1868 and it is still family owned and operated. It seems that Edmund McIlhenny created the Tabasco brand Pepper Sauce sometime in the mid-to-late 1860's. He was a food lover and a gardener and when he received some pepper seeds that had come from either Mexico or Central America, he planted them on Avery Island. He wanted to create a pepper sauce to liven up his food.
He started by crushing some of the reddest of the peppers. Then he mixed them with the Avery Island salt and he aged this mixture for 30 days in crockery jars and barrels. After the 30 days he blended the mash with French white vinegar and aged it for at least another 30 days. When he then strained it, he transferred the sauce into small cologne-type bottles with sprinkler fitments, which he then corked and sealed in green wax. 
The sprinkler fitment was necessary because the pepper sauce was highly concentrated and it was better to sprinkle it instead of pouring it. 
McIlhenny's sauce was so popular with his friends and family he decided to start a new business venture by marketing his sauce. His first commercial crop was grown in 1868. The next year, he had 658 bottles of sauce. He marketed them at one dollar a piece and sent them out to wholesalers around the Gulf Coast, particularly in New Orleans. McIlhenny decided to name his sauce "Tabasco" which is from Mexican Indian origin and means "place where the soil is humid" or "place of the coral or oyster shell." The Tabasco brand was patented in 1870 and by the late 1870's McIlhenny's sauce was being sold throughout the United States and all the way over to England. 
All of the Tabasco information is from our tour and tabasco.com
This WCB is being hosted this weekend by Astrid, Kashim and Othello
Anyway, the story goes that before the building was the cafe, it was being used as office space. There was a local Lafayette woman who drove by there every morning between 4:00 and 5:00 AM every morning. One afternoon she stopped by the building to see what it was used for. She had frequently seen a little girl in a yellow dress standing on the upper front balcony on her way to work. She was told that no little girls lived there. Then after the office space became Cafe Vermilionville a diner was taking a picture and through the view finder of the camera saw a little girl in a yellow dress with shoulder length brown hair.
It was a beautiful kitty.
The 100th Weekend Cat Blogging is being held over at A Byootaful Life
Here are our tour guide and driver. 
And this is Suzie, the tour guide's dog who also rides on the tours
We rode under the Atchafalaya Swamp Bridge, which is I-10. 
It heads east-northeast from Lafayette toward Baton Rouge.
signs
that said "Private Canal - Property of Texaco. Use by unauthorized individuals vessels and other marine equipment prohibited." The tour guide said they didn't appear to be doing anything with their canals.
Well, it worked. Cindy swam right over and after he called some more, 
Big Boy slid into the water and came over to the boat too. I guess that's why they say alligator tastes like chicken because they sure did like eating it!
~~~~~
China II and Willow II only came back out after we started back
The large stained glass windows in the church depict events in the life of St. John the Evangelist,
patron of the church. He is usually identifiable wearing a red cloak. In 1979 the church was placed on the National Register of Historic Properties. In 1989 the church was renovated with new marble floors, new pews and a new organ. The organ has 3,038 pipes ranging in size from 16 feet down to an eighth of an inch. 
The organ case contains the 16 foot montre and trompette de fete (trumpets) which can be seen from downstairs. 
~~~~~
The Cathedral Oak is said to be one of the oldest in the United States and it is estimated to be almost 500 years old. The tree is approximately 125 high and has a spread of 210 feet. 
The large horizontal limb was computed by engineering consultants to weigh 72 tons.
ll but luckily both flights were uneventf
ul,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She suggested the Seafood Wontons for our appetizer and they were delicious! It is their signature appetizer and even won Best of Show Dish in the International Crawfish Trade Show. They describe it as "An array of seafood, surrounded by pepperjack and parmesan cheeses, wrapped in a wonton skin and fried." It was served with a plum ginger sauce.
roasted potatoes and vegetable du jour."
Posts
All Comments
