Diary 4|5, 6|2015: Solo. Odd Man. Panang Curry.

Written by Tom Fitzmorris April 13, 2015 12:01 in

DiningDiarySquare-150x150 [title type="h5"]Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015. Solo. Easter Buffet With Friends.[/title] I am not easily embarrassed, a trait that permits me to do and say things in public that most people wouldn't consider. In fourth grade, my teacher--the inaptly named Mrs. Clement--laughed at me when I asked to join the school choir. She could not stop me. From that moment on, I've been in choirs most of my life. But what I've never done until today is to sing an entire hymn solo. A couple of months ago, I asked the leader of my current choir if I could lay claim to the Easter Sequence. Nobody else had ever asked, and so the gig was mine. I rehearsed it it a couple dozen times, and I flubbed only one word in the performance. It's a good thing the Marys are in Prague today. They would have had a dilemma. They don't really like to listen to my singing, although they loyally do so now and then. But the price for them was hearing the Mass in Czech. That's quite a cathedral they found, though. Our friends the Billeauds and the Taylors have a big gang of family for their noon Easter buffet. Chuck found out I would be home alone, so he invited me. A lot of good food, with particularly fine boudin, a couple of hams, many cakes and cupcakes, lots of easter-bunny chocolates and the like. And three--perhaps four--generations of this long-established Mandeville family. Jude, out in Los Angeles, calls in late afternoon to congratulate me on my solo. Our family of four is certainly spread out on this family day. During the ten peak years of our childraising, Easter was the occasion of a terrific party. The Cool Water Ranch is a great place for an Easter egg hunt. (At the same time, it's also a fine classroom for learning what poison ivy looks like.) But we will not likely have that fun ever again, even if the kids have kids.[divider type=""] [title type="h5"]Monday, April 6, 2015. No Music. Thai Spice. [/title] The Marys move to Berlin. That is Mary Ann's prime destination in her trip to Germany, but it seemed for awhile that they wouldn't be able to pull it off. Now I hear that they will be there three days. NPAS has no rehearsal tonight. Instead, after the radio show I head out for dinner at the Thai Spice in Covington. My system is clamoring for a dinner made mostly of vegetables in a spicy sauce. Thai food fits that bill ideally. I get my favorite dish here: panang (Indonesian-Malaysian) curry with pork, three-stars spicy out of a possible four. It steams the top of my head, which is the way I like it. It is the perfect meal for the way I feel. [caption id="attachment_35242" align="alignnone" width="480"]Panang curry at Thai Spice. Panang curry at Thai Spice.[/caption] I have a lot of work to do of the kind that makes for very dull diary entries. Namely, pulling together my annual guide to the food at the French Quarter Festival in three days. This is a web page that needs no selling to my readers: they begin asking me for it weeks ahead of the festival. It takes a lot of typing and computer coding to make the star ratings come out right. I see more turnover this year than in a long time. About ten of the food vendors are new to the Festival, although they are otherwise very familiar. I check the data against last year's and note that some half-dozen non-returnees are completely out of business. Another sign that the restaurant community may be at the point beyond which any newcomer is balanced by a quitter.