Some days you just need to punch someone in their teeth. Sadly, this isn't always the best idea (if, for instance, you actually kind of like the person you sometimes want to slug) so let's pretend I am not giving that as "good advice for relieving stress." Forgotten? Good. Since I was having one of those days last week, I decided a quick getaway was in order. So I went to my first choice, mom and dad's. Which would be great, except their idea of good food is chicken strips 3 ways, and they have spiders. Huge spiders. No thank you sir. After a day, I'd had enough of the wilderness of my childhood home, and decided to head further south to visit my bff, whom I call Dinnah, even though she prefers Anna. She accepts she will forever be Dinnah, and this is part of why I keep her around.
If you have never been to Lafayette, La, you should drop what you're doing and make plans to go. Now. Sure, everyone knows about New Orleans, and N.O. is just fine, sure, but Lafayette is like that, but without the sewage smell. (this will piss people off, but to me, New Orleans has always smelled like toilet. Sorry...that New Orleans smells...) Ok, and there is no French Quarter, no Bourbon Street, no crazy, touristy attractions that I know of. Really, if you want good food and entertainment and not to feel like a total fish out of water, you want Laffy. I <3 Lafayette. I could come here just for the grocery stores and still consider my trip a smashing, riotous good time. I found Maggi seasoning here! That was a big, huge deal to me, but I'm a bit nerdy. And I really need that bottle of Maggi seasoning. If they had a Penzey's here, I'd make plans to relocate, pdq.
Most of this trip has found me alone at Dinnah's while she's at work, which is fine as I'm awesome at self-entertaining (and have been since long before smart phones came along, so ha.) I have ventured out into traffic alone, which could be terrifying (the drivers here are my only complaint. They're awful. Slow the hell down and remove your phone from your head and your head from your ass, you're no more important than anyone else on this road, I'd like to get my groceries and back home in one piece please and thanks.) However, I braved it alone/with gps, and made it back. Success. I made it there and back and with macarons. Triple success. Sucre macarons. Move over, space explorers, I just discovered shit that will blow you out of orbit. So, maybe the current macaron craze is overrated. You could probably spread cold fudge frosting on the flat side of a meringue kiss and voila, trailer park macaron. Problem is, those are not fancy, Marie Antoinette did not have access to the Pilsbury Doughboy's hydrogenated, chocolately wares, and I don't live in a damn trailer park. You go for the real ones when you want to feel fancy; you eat the knockoffs when you're willing to debase yourself for the nine dollars it takes just to get six of those bad boys.
How do I know you get six for $9? I'm really, really good at math. Really.
This trip hasn't been all "Who the bleep Did I Marry?!" marathons and fancy French cookies; no. There has also been jalapeno kettle chips, cheese pizza, cheese pizza rolls, raspberry danish, lots of yogurt, Amy's macaroni and cheese, and these two bits of awesome-
Athena's lentil soup. I had not had lentil soup before I had this lentil soup, and the ones since are not as good. Our tradition is lunch or dinner at Athena's soon after arrival. I get a chicken shawerma wrap. We split a plate of halloumi, we laugh, have extremely loud conversations, talk about who would be most put off by getting a hookah for Christmas/birthday/just because, and generally catch up on everything, because we don't see each other often enough. P.s., if you ever hear someone complain they wasted money on halloumi cheese because "it doesn't melt like it's supposed to," laugh your ass off at them, and don't feel bad. Then break out some food snob knowledge and be like "you raging buffoon, you grill it, not melt it. Melting ain't what it's made for." They might not thank you for dropping that wisdom bomb, but do you really wanna hang out with someone who spends ten dollars on a block of perfectly good cheese that they had no idea wasn't for melting, then bitched about it? No? Me neither. Anyway, Athena's- yes please. They also have fruit and nut Toblerone, and for that, my firstborn may well be named Athena.
Shrimp fajitas! These were actually supposed to be quesadillas, but some random act of miscommunication (and not the language barrier, tyvm) sent this massive pile of fajitas our way. So, so good, but Dinnah and I agree, no more shrimp for 85 years, at least. I had a similar experience this past Easter with seafood enchiladas. A recipe I should really post, as they were so tasty, but also so rich that I could only eat one. Normally, I'm a 2-3 enchilada gal. But normal enchiladas aren't full of crab and shrimp and chiles verde and Cacique crema and tons of cheese. I just gained 3 pounds typing that.
So my time here has almost come to an end, I can't be mad, or sleep on Dinnah's couch forever, and I miss Sophie. And I have some fruit back home that is begging to be made into something yummy. If you have a bff in a faraway place, you should make plans to see them. Bonus points if you don't visit/text/call often. Go now, they probably have really good Greek food waiting for you!
