Barry and I met Tricia and Ed Iannone last evening while waiting for the shuttle to take us back to Pontchartrain RV park. The four of us hit it off and talked the entire ride! They told us that tomorrow they were going to the opening day for horse racing at the Fair Grounds Race Track, and invited us to go with them. It is a big Thanksgiving tradition for New Orleans. So when in Rome… LOL We went and had a great time! The outfits alone that people wore were worth going to see. I tried not to be too obvious as I clicked pictures of some. Tricia’s daughter, Ronnie, who lives and works in NOLA has been going to this event for about 4 years. We met several of Tricia and Ed’s family members. Terrific people! It was of course fun to win on a couple of the races, but also quite exciting to “almost” win a few more times! I was amazed that entrance to the event AND parking were both FREE!! You sure don’t see that much anywhere these days!!
We also accepted the generous invite to Ed and Tricia’s family Thanksgiving dinner afterwards. Ronnie, Shane, Matt and Sydney rented an airBnB. That’s where we went for dinner. Shane made rice paper wraps with salmon, sautéed mushroom and chives, while Travis took care of the roasted Brussels sprouts, and getting the crawfish dressing and mirliton dressing ready. Even though I knew neither of those dressings would be gluten free, I had to taste each one since they are unique for this area. They were amazing. Ironically, I had bought a mirliton a few days ago to try. I’ve never had one before. I guess it is also know as chayote. Dinner was great, but the company was even better. How special it was to be included in this family dinner, especially when you figure we just met Tricia and Ed last night! They ALL made us feel like family! So glad we went. We will definitely be seeing Tricia and Ed again!
Mirilitos are so good a specialty of my late father’s stuffed with crab or shrimp or both, thanks for the memory reboot. Glad you are having such a good time.if you get back to the Quarter, catty corner from Cafe Du Monde which is across from St Louis cathedral is the Continental Grocery. Worth a visit to see, Still operating but so old school European, great specialty items. Snug Harbor great jazz and blues.
Thank you for the recommendations! Not sure when we will make it back. We won’t make it again on this trip. Appreciate your comments!!