picture by Robert S Donovan

I forgot to tell y’all about one of my favorite parts about New Orleans! Our last morning of the trip was spent at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Our teacher was New Orlean’s version of Paula Deen. Butter included. My parents had been there before and we actually had one of the dishes (Artichoke & Shrimp Soup) last year for Christmas! The soup is amazing by the way, chock full of butter and cream. I’ll try to make it for y’all real soon

Anyway, our teacher was discussing the uses of butter and lard and when to use it in which roux, etc. etc. and she happened to mention that lard has less saturated fat than butter. My Mom and I vowed to look it up as soon as we got to a computer. Wait, that is what iphones are for. No need to wait. Which is a good thing because I have zlitch patience. She was right. Can you believe it? The old pig wins again. Then I was browsing the October Bon Appetit and they were comparing fats:

So there you have it. Now everyone can make an educated decision on butter vs lard vs duck fat and in the words of Nina Elder “Go ahead and order those duck-fat fries- every once in a while.”

What do you guys think about this? Which fats do you use and prefer? My fats of choice are olive oil and butter for cooking – straight up consuming? Hemp and Avocado.

I’m a coffee drinker. (yes, I know some of you out there probably don’t agree with that) but I drink about 1-2 cups/day. And I’m fine with that. Oh, I use 1/2 & 1/2 too. (gasp!) Coffee has been part of my morning routine and for that I love it!

The other day I feel in love all over again. Pumpkin spice coffee, where have you been all of my life?  This was like a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte but with no sweetener or sugar added. Yet perfectly frothy. How you may ask?

The aerolatte (which is a frother), warm 1/2 & 1/2 and some Green Mountain pumpkin spice coffee. Simply froth and brew.

This has been the best coffee I’ve had in a while. I can’t wait for some more “Holiday” inspired coffee in the near future…I’ve heard Gingerbread is also delish…

Side Note: I generally use the re-usable filter and fill with my own coffee because the plastic “k-cups” are in no way, shape or form good for the environment but I did HAVE to try these out!