Sunday, July 25, 2010. Sunny Hurricane? Tamales At La Carreta. What was left of Bonnie passed through the New Orleans area in the morning. There was a pretty good storm in the wee hours, raining hard and blowing the trees around. But by the time we were up and moving around, the sun was out. The only real effect of the storm was to bring the temperature down almost to Pacific Coast levels. So it was a lovely day. Even the BP ships and drilling platforms--which evacuated the broken well in fear of the storm--are already back at work.
The decree of the Marys was that we'd have lunch at La Carreta. I believe the main reason was so Mary Leigh could gorge on the chips and salsa. She has determined that the world's best salsa comes from a chain known both as Rio Grande and Uncle Julio's. The Marys go hundreds of miles out of their way on their cross-country trips to pick up bags of chips and gallons of salsa.
The girls ate the usual array: queso with chorizo, beef tacos, a salad. I couldn't remember having had the tamales here. I will remember now, and not get them again. The chile relleno with which the tamales shared the plate (below) was good, though.
That finished the eating for today. I spent the afternoon as if we were leaving for Texas tomorrow, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, although Mary Ann's plans for this trip either a) have not come through or 2) haven't been made at all. If we don't leave tomorrow, all we'll be able to do is drive to Dallas, do a television show there to promote Hungry Town, then drive to Houston and do it again. But neither of these stations, she told me, confirmed our appearance. Must everything be up in the air?
La Carreta. Mandeville: 1200 W. Causeway Approach. 985-624-2990. Mexican.
