Author: Emily Gautreaux

Nicholls Culinary Institute Unveils new Art Installation

The Chef John Folse Culinary Institute recently installed and unveiled a $70,000 cuisine-inspired sculpture on Nicholls’s campus, according to a press release  from the school.

The “Herb Garden” sculpture stands proudly along Louisiana Highway 1 near Bowie Road, both welcoming students and faculty to the Culinary Institute and catching the eye of any La 1 drivers. The sculpture itself depicts Louisiana spices and herbs that are unquestionably essential to any home-cooked meal. Depicted in the sculpture are the culinary staples dill, okra, chili, sassafras, and parsley.

Arizona artist, Dr. Stephen Fairfield was inspired to create the art installation after seeing the increased use of a small, humble herb garden near the school’s Ledet Culinary Building. Nicholls’ Culinary students often tend to the garden, selecting fresh herbs to use in their recipes. Needless to say, this natural and genuine fusion of education, culinary intuition, and nature was certainly enough for the Arizona-based artist to be inspired by.

For a better part of the last decade, Dr. Fairfield has been focusing on creating steel public art sculptures, similar to the piece installed for the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, as well as new media projects. When speaking to Nicholls’ press about how he hopes the piece would be perceived, Dr. Fairfield said, “I hope the public experiences a sense of awe, wonder and appreciative pleasure when seeing the beautiful colors, forms and lighting effects as color waves move over the various parts of the sculpture. This sculpture represents an homage to Louisiana cuisine and to those who care so much about it that they have created a process to perpetuate this culinary cultural expression.”

The “Herb Garden” sculpture was paid for by Louisiana’s “Percent for Art” program. Enacted in 1999, the program sets out to provide Louisiana citizens with an improved public environment by stipulating that whenever more than $2 million in state funds are used by a state agency for the construction or renovation of a state building, 1 percent of the state money should be expended for the acquisition, conservation, restoration, or installation of public art displays on the grounds of that building.

The “Percent for Art” program has been long-standing in Louisiana, as it serves as a dedicated reminder to preserve both the cultural heritage and artistic expression of the state and its people through the installation of public art projects.

The Culinary Director for the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute, Chef John Kozar said of the installation, “We are excited to show off this centerpiece for our Bistro Ruth patrons, and for anyone who makes their way down La. 1. This artistic representation fits in with our farm-to-table emphasis for our students. These herbs are frequently used in classical Louisiana cuisine, and their placement within this piece of art is incredible.”

It was always in the initial conception of the project for the piece to be attention-grabbing, seeing that the work was on such prominent display along Louisiana Highway 1 and positioned in the front of campus. Fairfield had collaborated on the project with his colleagues from his New Media Public Art Collective, an internationally-accomplished group of artists that specializes in the merging of art and technology to create memorable displays of public art. The collective’s goal was to create a piece that not only grabs the attention of their audience but abstractly reminds them of the integral components of Louisiana cuisine.

Whenever you next find yourself entering the campus of Nicholls State University via La 1, be sure to keep a keen eye out for the impressively-sized, and emotionally-resonant “Herb Garden” sculpture that now makes a proud companion to the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute’s landscape.

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Top Staycation Spots to Consider this Spring

Though many places are starting to see restrictions lifted and travel picking back up, many are looking to book a spectacular “staycation” this upcoming spring break, and with TravelPulse’s curated list of the best spots for staying in, it’s never been more tempting.

Though the full list pairs each of America’s states with the ideal “hunker down” destination, it’s always a recommended practice to check with local advisories, rules, and restrictions, as things are constantly changing throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Homer, Alaska

While it may be far from home, the quaint, charming town of Homer has both cultural attractions and cafés to rival the hippest, modern cities of the continental United States. If you’re planning to venture out for Spring Break, then you would be in luck, as the cozy town is actually known for having a very pleasant climate, making it an ideal spring destination.

Red Wing, Minnesota

Located on the “Mighty Mississippi,” the location, legacy, and aesthetic of the historic river town of Red Wing makes it perfect for a spring break staycation. Whether you’re walking river-side, taking a ferry ride, or exploring the nearby dramatic hills and bluffs around Red Wing, there’s plenty to love. Minnesota’s larger cities get the acclaim and the tourists, but only Red Wing has the niche wealth of interest-specific museums awaiting your patronage.

Overland Park, Kansas

The KC Metro area is known for many things, but during spring break, it’s typically a hotspot of tourists, so why not stop into the nearby Kansas City suburbs known as Overland Park? This gives you the perfect home base from which you’re in a prime location to explore the attractions of both the Kansas and Missouri side of the KC Metro area. Explore unforgettable attractions like the architecturally-stunning Museum at Prairiefire Entertainment District, such as the Overland Park Museum of Natural History. Afterwards, be sure to stop downtown and visit the stunning National World War I Museum and Memorial, the American Jazz Museum, and (of course) stop to feast on some of the finest barbecue the country has to offer.

Ocean City, Maryland

To many, there’s nothing more ideal or serene than a beach that’s practically all to yourself, and with the Maryland climate, you might just be that lucky when visiting Ocean City. The beaches typically run chilly, so you and your group might need a sweater for those early evening walks, but that just means that there will likely be more space to enjoy. After spending your time at the coast, stop by the nearby small town of Berlin to partake in its attractions ranging from the unforgettable landscapes of Assateague State Park to the Calvin B Taylor House Museum.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Stop in and stay awhile once inside the city limits of one of the most historic cities in America. When visiting or having a staycation, you’ll be surrounded by the spectacular Southwestern scenery that has given comfort to generations of travelers before you. Stop by the classic Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to acquire a new appreciation for the legendary artist before you trek on a local hike and blaze your own path forward. Before heading out of town, be sure to treat yourself to a tried-and-true New Mexican meal at one of the southwest’s most distinctive and authentic cuisines around.

Letchworth Falls State Park, New York

Start manifesting it now, you don’t need to busy yourself with the city that never sleeps just because you find yourself in New York, so leave the bustling Big Apple behind and truly reunite with nature and the fantastic spectacle of Letchworth State Park’s tranquil woods and rushing waters. Watch closely as the Genesee River traverses jagged rocks and ultimately cascades over three majestic waterfalls. Live in a postcard for a little while during this staycation, once you book at Letchworth.

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Honey Sriracha Fried Chicken Recipe

From its sheer mouth-watering look to its unforgettable texture, the art of making the perfect piece of expertly-crusted fried chicken is a skill that is worth its weight in gold, and along with this honey sriracha-glazed fried chicken recipe from Food52, your dinner table will believe it’s restaurant-grade.

This recipe gets the crispy texture down to a science while giving you the agency and freedom to customize your preferred spice level and method of serving. Once followed, the recipe results in glazed fried chicken pieces that are best served as is or as a sandwich, depending on your particular mood or patience level.

Ingredients:

Fried Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (approximately 1 pound)

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (divided)

⅔ cup and ½ cup of all-purpose flour, divided

½ cup milk of your choice

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of white vinegar or freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1 cup panko

½ cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

4 cups neutral oil, such as sunflower seed or peanut

Honey sriracha glaze

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons sriracha, plus more to taste

¼ teaspoon cayenne, plus more to taste

1 pinch of salt

Recipe:

  1. Begin the process by placing your chicken thighs in a large bowl, spreading them out, and seasoning them with a hefty pinch each of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper. Be sure to rub the seasoning into the thighs afterwards, flipping the chicken over, ensuring an even coating.
  2. Add ⅔ cup of flour to a separate, medium bowl or plate. Whisk together your milk, eggs, vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and the remaining ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper in a medium bowl. In a third, separate bowl, stir your panko, cornstarch, ½ cup of flour, a pinch of salt, the baking powder, and baking soda together with a cooking spoon.
  3. Add ¼ cup of the egg mixture into the panko mixture, and roughly stir it together with a fork, or your gloved hands. The end result should be tiny clumps of dough that will get extra crispy once fried. Search the bowl for any large chunks, and break them apart, if found.
  4. Working slowly with only one piece at a time, dip a chicken thigh into the ⅔ cup of flour, making sure that it’s completely, evenly coated, then shake off the excess flour. Dip the chicken into the egg mixture, then completely dredge it into the panko mixture, pressing the thigh pieces firmly to fully coat them. Repeat this process for all remaining chicken breasts.
  5. Heat your neutral oil of choice in a deep pan over medium heat, until it reaches 350°F or until it sizzles appropriately when you drop a tiny crumb of panko in. Gently (and carefully) place 1 to 2 chicken thighs into the oil, depending on the size of your particular pan. Fry each thigh for 5 to 7 minutes, keeping an eye on the pieces until they are golden brown all over. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low after frying the first batch. Place the now fried chicken on a cooling rack and repeat the process with the remaining thighs.
  6. Once all chicken is fried, combine your honey, sriracha, cayenne, and salt in a bowl. Taste the mixture, and adjust the levels of sriracha and cayenne to your preferred spice-preference, and then lightly brush each piece of fried chicken with the honey glaze.
  7. Serve the fried chicken as is or turn it into a sandwich by placing a fried thigh piece between toasted hamburger buns with some sriracha, mayonnaise, lettuce, and sliced mango for an unforgettable flavor combination.

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Baton Rouge’s Cortana Mall Sells to Amazon Developer

A deal has recently been finalized to sell Baton Rouge’s Cortana Mall to an Amazon developer, according to an article from The Advocate.

The deal, which has been in the works for several years, was finalized in early March 2020, and it’s already drawing attention for being one of the largest transactions in Baton Rouge since the 2013 sale of the former downtown Advocate location which became an IBM software development center and apartment tower.

The former shopping center has been purchased by Seefried Industrial Properties, a developer that has a history of working closely with Amazon. Seefried has filed documents with the city-parish Planning Commission that call for the demolishing of the Cortana Mall and replacing it with a single five-level warehouse and office.

If approved, it’s thought that this will likely become an Amazon Fulfillment center, as the warehouse would have 2.9 million square feet of space. A vice president of CSRS, the engineering firm representing Seefried, Walter Monsour, calls the turning of Cortana into an Amazon fulfillment center a “seminal project” for the city of Baton Rouge. And with the building’s plans detailing that the new warehouse and office would be accompanied by 1,251 parking spaces, minds are already contemplating how many new jobs will be created in the city as a result of the monumental development.

Before the Mall of Louisiana was built, Cortana Mall was Baton Rouge’s primary shopping center, but it’s largely been shut down since September of 2019. In fact, the only tenant remaining in the space is a Dillard’s clearance center, which is set to close its doors in April 2021. Many are welcoming the potential of this transaction with said Amazon developer.

The next step for the city lies with the Metro Council, which is set to vote on the rezoning of the Cortana site at a special meeting. The Director of Business Development for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Donnie Miller, told the Council that the project was still very much alive, despite recent delays on the closing transaction.

This deal from Amazon is indicative of the large company setting their sights on the fruitfulness that is the South Louisiana region, as evidenced by the several moves made in the past few months to open two fulfillment centers and one delivery station in both metro Baton Rouge and Lafayette. While this will double Amazon’s area operations, it doesn’t seem like the online retailer will stop there from building out its total South Louisiana distribution network.

When reached out to by The Advocate, Marc Wulfraat, a logistics expert who tracks Amazon, estimated that the combined populations of metro New Orleans, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge indicate that as many as six additional local delivery stations could be added to the three existing stations already operating in the South Louisiana area. Additionally, the combined populations could also support an indication that a regional sortation center could also be developed nearby.

Currently, Amazon has two delivery stations in the New Orleans Elmwood area and one in Baton Rouge that was recently built off Rieger Road, and these handle what is known as “last mile delivery” for the company. The main “feeders” are the company’s fulfillment centers, which are designed to pick, pack, and ship bulky items such as rugs, patio furniture, and outdoor equipment. Currently a fulfillment center is under construction in Carencro at the former Evangeline Downs site, which is set to open in about a year where it will employ 500 people.

Wulfraat is the president and founder of MWPVL, a Montreal-based supply chain, distribution, and logistics consulting firm, and he envisions the Cortana site as a fulfillment center that would be set to handle small, sortable products, based on the facility’s size, proving to be a substantial step forward for the city of Baton Rouge and its citizens.

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LDOE Releases Data from Teacher Preparation Quality Rating System

Programs designed for teacher preparation in the Educational workforce will now have a new data-driven tool in their ever-growing arsenal, according to a news release from the Louisiana Department of Education.

When the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, also known as BESE, established the Teacher Preparation Quality Rating System in 2017, the 27 teacher preparation programs across the state had to tweak their programs, curriculums, and methods to account for the new rating system. The system, which is required by federal regulations, is designed to provide teacher preparation providers with meaningful information that they can use to identify programs of excellence, improve their program, and to reward specific providers for meeting the needs of Louisiana’s educator workforce.

As of the first week of March 2021, the first round of information results received from the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years has been released by LDOE, and the initial data proves to be promising for the future of Louisiana educators. The data highlighted numerous positive trends in a majority of Louisiana ‘s teacher preparation programs, such as:

  • Within just the past 18 months, 43 percent of teacher preparation programs sought approval from the Board to train teachers in high-need certification areas.
  • More than 50 percent of aspiring educators who had completed a residency in a high-need school were retained in a high-need school for the following year, creating a much-needed pipeline of talent for the state’s highest-need schools.

BESE President Sandy Holloway called the provided initial data “very encouraging,” saying, “We are seeing that educator training providers are working to strengthen their programs and more state-approved, quality providers are coming online. Going forward, Louisiana’s rating system and the valuable information it generates will help ensure that these positive trends in educator preparation, readiness and retention continue. A stronger teaching profession in Louisiana results in stronger outcomes for students.”

Not only is this data indicative of more prepared teachers exiting the state’s preparation programs, but it’s only the first wave of data from two years of school. While this data is publicly available now at LouisianaTeacherPrep.com, they will only be used for informational guidance and purposes for the time being. It won’t be until 2023 that the results from the Teacher Rating System will be used by BESE to inform continued program approval decisions.

When speaking on the efforts made recently, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley said, ““I commend the efforts over the last few years to build this informational system. This system will help inform the public, recognize success and provide a basis for continuous improvement.”

While the LDOE states that this preliminary data will be used in an informative capacity, that is also to say that this baseline data will be shared with the state’s teacher preparation programs. According to the Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed, the data provides “valuable feedback to our teacher preparation programs illuminating both best practices as well as areas in which students’ learning experiences can be improved.”

As of November of 2020, the LDOE launched LouisianaTeacherPrep.com, which has already begun to prove beneficial to not only the programs it’s directed towards but to the state’s future workforce. The site serves as a “one-stop-shop” where prospective educators can view data on all of Louisiana’s offered Teacher Preparation Programs, helping them find the right provider to suit their needs.

These programs designed to prepare teachers are post-secondary, state-approved courses of study, including both undergraduate and post-baccalaureate pathways. Completion of such a program signifies that an enrolled teacher candidate has met all training and state educational requirements to be recommended for initial certification.

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Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations to Continue in 2022

For the second year in a row, New Orleans’s Magazine Street will go without a spirited celebration from the Irish Channel St Patrick’s Day Club, but parade organizers say they’ll be ready to toss cabbages again in 2022, as per a NOLA.com article.

The announcement came as little surprise in February 2021, as the New Orleans City Hall’s website clearly states that no parades are to be permitted in the city under the current social distance guidelines.

The annual parade, in a normal year, typically takes place on the Saturday preceding March 17th, and it’s been an Uptown tradition for the past 70 years before the coronavirus-era restrictions were placed on events involving large gatherings last year. The popular, lively parade usually features 30 floats, approximately 1,000 riders and marchers, and large crowds to its procession along its Magazine Street route.

A board member of the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club, Sean Burke, told reporters that the club’s leadership began discussing the parade’s postponement in late 2020, and the entire club is anxiously preparing a 2022 celebration. Though, Burke wouldn’t be surprised if the eventual parade operates in a smaller capacity since many members of the club may remain wary of large crowds even after parade restrictions are lifted.

Such is the story of many Mardi Gras krewes also awaiting their next foray into the streets of New Orleans. The 2020 St. Patrick’s Day Parade was among the first major public events canceled after the Crescent City began to see coronavirus cases emerge last year. On March 10, 2020, Louisiana had but only six known cases of the illness, including five cases that were hospitalized in Orleans Parish. As of the writing of the NOLA.com article, the state had logged 368,902 cases with 26,767 cases being in New Orleans alone.

In the present light of day, the need for social distancing seems overtly obvious, but not everyone took the pandemic seriously last spring, despite City Hall’s pleas for self-quarantine measures. As a result, many shamrock-wearing citizens appeared around the New Orleans bars: Parasols and Tracey’s Original Irish Channel Bar before city police scattered those celebrating.

Both Parasols and Tracy’s have learned from the lesson of 2020. For instance, the Constance Street pub, Parasol’s is usually the ground zero-meeting spot for the block party that accompanies the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, but the owner, Mark Bruser will keep doors closed this year to avoid any semblance to a repetition of last year’s crowds.

Bruser reported on his decision to stay closed by saying, “If you don’t [close], people will come, and it’s hard to control capacity. We don’t want to be part of the problem, we want to be part of the solution.” Similarly, Jeff Carreras, the owner of Tracey’s, stated that he may close this year on March 13th because the “safety of our staff, patrons and neighbors will be [his] top priority.”

Though, both Carreras and Bruser hope that NOLA citizens will have learned from last year’s mistakes in an effort to stop the spread.

St. Patrick’s Day won’t be uneventful despite there not being a parade, however, as members of The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club still plan to attend Mass at St. Mary’s Assumption Church on St. Patrick’s Day. Additionally, as the club usually donates anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 to St. Michael Special School, members are hoping to find some type of alternative for their annual St. Patrick’s Day party that benefits the school. Members are considering a virtual or drive-by benefit to take place during the month of March.

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