Fried pies and Mole Poblano

New Orleanians have temporarily lost some flavor today. Hubig's Pies will be out of action for a while due to a five-alarm fire that destroyed the Marigny factory.

I have to admit-- I'd been dragging my feet on trying the sweet tooth staple of my new home town. I'm still not on tasting terms with most food items that have any ingredient I can't pronounce. But I hear that Hubig's transcends all that hippie ass shit. It's just going to make that sodium metabisulfite that much tastier once the factory is back up and running. I have a sneaking suspicion that cherry and lemon are going to be my favorite flavors.

On the work front the retail bunnies of Funrock'n are pressing up shirts to represent Nolaites love for all things Hubig's with 100% of the profits going to the company to help the rebuild process. I think  I'm going to buy one that says, “Hubig Virgin. Rebuild that!”

In other news I'm barely coming to terms with the loss of my idea of comfort food. Half a year later I'm still not into red beans and rice, gumbo, or po boys. I want fresh corn tortillas, refried beans and rice the way my Nana makes them. It's slim pickin's for a Chicana girl from New Mexico to get what she wants in this town.

Comfort food, real-my-version-of-comfort-food, is what I need the most right now. I have a few nurses and doctors breathing down my neck about how quickly I've lost weight. It never ends, you know? Before I left home a doctor was telling me I was over-weight. Now I've lost too much too fast. I could really go for some bean and bacon fat burritos with extra cheese.

I did try Tanqueria Guerrero in Mid-City. Their rice was cooked which is more than I can say for Juan's Flying Burrito. The chips and salsa were weak. Why no salsa bar in New Orleans people? It's salsa! Really easy to make! I'll teach you.

I had the Mole Poblano which was like chocolately chile butter in my mouth. The chicken fell off the bones and a generous topping of sesame seeds helped the flavor pop. The beans were mashed up a little too much and a bit runny. They're going to be great on the reheat though.

Oh God. I can not wait to go home next week. I am going to devour all the salsa and green chile that I can find. I suggest New Mexico prepares itself.

I AM LIKE THE GREEN CHILE GODZILLA.

Crazy Catching up time

I have twenty minutes to speed write, drink my delish Goat Milk Latte from La Divina Gelateria on Magazine and summarize the last few weeks.

I got really sick, was out for the better part of a week. Still had to work every day of it... got better slowly. Learned to utterly hate my part time job.

Honestly, if you're a manager in the food service business and your employee complains of fever and tummy aches and they ask to go home... YOU SHOULD SEND THEM HOME! Not tell them to take ten so they can fall asleep at the office desk for half an hour and germ up the place.

Just sayin'.

I put my two weeks notice in.

Mainly because....

I got a place! WOO HAPPY DANCE OF... interruptions... I can't make the full happy dance of living alone again, because I'm not actually living in my studio yet. My totally fabulous studio apartment is in Treme. Slightly other side of town from where I am now. Not a big deal to catch a half hour bus (which has a stop a block from my complex) to get to work at Funrock'n. BIG problem trying to get to work at 5AM... so... I finally get to quit the job that has been making me miserable for the past two months.

My landlords are fabulous. Really sweet old couple who are excited to have me around. No extra pet deposits. I have a home to bring my furry friends to. All utilities except electric is included in rent. They've also thrown in free cable and internet.

So for the next two weeks I'm going to be half timing it at my place and Cher and Pablo's.

I don't even know how to begin to thank them for taking me in and putting up with me for so long. And then Cher got me a great job. And Pablo occasionally tries to help me abide by Meatless Monday. And I've officially been in their house in prime, “It is fucking hot. Let us run around in our Skivvies.” weather.

Two weeks from now Skivvie running for everybody!

I've made a few awesome new friends. D who stays positive even when things are turning to total rot. She's certainly a mentor in optimism. And we've both, in the past week, discovered that good things can and will happen to those who wait. Who knew? And S who is young, single and still slightly bruised over her last relationship. We are a regular club of “Boys Suck... Let us objectify the rear end of our bartender and talk about bitches, cunts, dicks and what we're going to do on our next day off.” Now that I'm going to be living closer to her neck of the woods we can properly delve into bartender objectifying and live music listening. Being single has it's perks.

That's what you're supposed to say, right?

The city is getting hot and sticky. I'm learning to live with it. Thankfully I've lost enough weight that I'm comfortable wearing less clothes. I finally weighed myself. I was a whopping 198 in December. Now? 160. I'll credit the first ten pounds of weight loss to a break up. The rest of the credit goes to New Orleans and myself. We've been making a great team. 

More to come once I get my head straight. Getting a place has certainly cleared up some of the frustration with... everything.