Author: Emily Gautreaux

Visit Enid, Oklahoma to see the Largest Fresh-cut Christmas Tree

For decades, New York City has been known as the one of the world’s Christmas Capital Cities due to it having the country’s largest Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, but according to this article from Southern Living, the honor of being the town in the United States with the largest Christmas tree now goes to Enid, Oklahoma. So, if you’re looking to really get into the Christmas spirit with a town that goes all out in terms of sizeable holiday spirit, then consider traveling to Enid, Oklahoma this year and marvel at the country’s (and world’s) tallest fresh-cut Christmas Tree.

At 140 majestic feet of length, Enid’s Christmas Tree stands about 75% taller than the world-famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree, which due to its location typically trends about 68 to 100 feet in length from year to year with a recent average of about 76 feet in height. The tree is located in Downtown Enid, which is a city that is only 90 minutes outside of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The Downtown area of Enid is already an area bound with the celebration of the arts with its many community events such as First Fridays, History Makers, and more. During the holiday season there’s also a particularly active ice skating rink, Christmas tree lighting ceremony, and Holiday Window Display contest available to the public.

Enid, Oklahoma’s Christmas tree is a gigantic fir that stands profoundly about 2,000 miles away from its home just outside the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Big Bar, California. This year, Enid’s tree has been decorated with approximately 20,000 multi-colored LED lights, 10,000 ornaments, and it’s ringed by a forest of 12 smaller trees. Colloquially known as the “Christ Tree,” this Christmas tree is being heralded not only as the country’s tallest Christmas tree but also the world’s as well.

In Enid, it’s also serving as the centerpiece of The one, the city’s 42-day celebratory event featuring a bevy of concerts, plays, and seasoning activities celebrating Christmas. Per The One’s website, it’s stated that “The One is a multi-event experience spanning through the holidays. The keystone of our event is the world’s tallest fresh-cut Christmas tree, measuring at an astonishing one hundred and forty feet tall. With the intention of building community, strengthening bonds and reinvigorating the meaning of Christmas, we hope you’ll join us for an unforgettable holiday season.”

The One is being attributed as the “brainchild” of Enid, Oklahoma entrepreneur Kyle Williams who was instrumental in hauling the tree from California this past October.  In detailing the tree’s harrowing journey to The Oklahoman, Williams stated, “Getting the tree here was probably one of the more difficult tasks, so I confess I was nervous. The thing could sag, it could break, it went through a snowstorm, it went through a thunderstorm, but it finally arrived here on time. I just believe the Lord had a hand in that, in bringing that tree here safely.”

Williams, along with his wife Carol and their four grown children came up with the idea for The One, which intends to highlight the true meaning of Christmas. He stated, “We are excited to offer families an incredible experience, one that will create memories to last a lifetime. Our main goal is to highlight the true meaning of Christmas: our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This tree is a reminder of his greatness and that it’s time we bring faith, hope and joy back into the holiday season! We are also looking forward to embracing visitors to Enid and are confident that they will have an inviting experience.”

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Maple Compound Butter Seared Steak Recipe

Welcome winter the right way with this meticulous and delicious recipe for Seared Steak with Maple Compound Butter from Food52 the next time you need a hearty meal that blends savory and sweet flavor notes in the best way imaginable.

Many agree that the perfect steak should have a juicy, pink interior (though the “pinkness” is often debated) and a gorgeous, textured outer crust. This particular recipe relies on the convenience of sous vide cooking so that the steak is cooked for just the right amount of time before it gets a quick sear on an electric cooktop. This particular recipe’s steak cooking times can be altered depending on your exact heating element, as this specific recipe makes use of theLG Studio Electric Cooktop.

What really sets this recipe apart from the pack is the blend of autumn and winter that rests in the delicious maple compound butter. It has just the right touch of sweetness, making it ideal to complement the savory meat. In order to achieve the best results in this savory and sweet flavor pairing, you’ll want to use the best-quality maple syrup that you’re able to find. It’s traditionally accepted that the darker the syrup, the better in terms of pronounced flavors.

As for the steaks themselves, this recipe doesn’t intend to reinvent the wheel. Salt and pepper always go a long way for seasoning, as proper steak preparation relies more on focus, patience, and finesse than anything else.

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup of unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup of pure maple syrup
  • 2 12 oz. sirloin, strip, or ribeye steaks
  • Kosher Salt
  • Freshly-ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Directions:

  1. Because it’s unwise and rarely a good idea to juggle too many tasks while properly cooking a steak, you’ll want to first prepare the maple compound butter for this recipe before touching your favorite cut of steak. To begin, you’ll blend your softened butter with your maple syrup in a bowl.
  2. Once the butter is fully mixed, transfer it all to a piece of parchment paper and roll it up, shaping it into a log shape. Place it in the refrigerator and chill it for at least a few hours until it’s firm.
  3. This recipe suggests preheating your sous vide appliance to your desired steak temperature, which will depend on the level of doneness you prefer. As you do this, you’ll want to season your steaks generously with salt and pepper on both sides of the cut. After they’re properly seasoned, transfer them into plastic sous vide bags and seal them tightly.
  4. Next, you will cook them according to your sous vide appliance’s directions for their necessary time in order to reach the right temperature. Once cooked, remove them from the bags, setting them aside.
  5. Take a cast-iron skillet and rub its interior with your vegetable oil. Afterward, place your skillet on the stovetop and heat it as high as your burner will allow until the oil just begins to smoke.
  6. Place your steaks carefully in the pan and cook them for 30 seconds. Then, flip them over and cook for an additional half of a minute. Flip the steaks again, cook one side for 15 seconds and then flip one last time, cooking them for an additional 15 seconds. With this method, you should have a nice sear on both sides of the steak, but if not then you can continue cooking and flipping the steak 15 seconds at a time until your desired sear appears.
  7. After you’ve flipped your steak for the final time, add about 1 tablespoon of maple butter on top of each piece of steak. Remove them from the pan and allow them to rest for a few minutes before serving. Once plated, be sure to add some extra compound butter on the side.

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2021 Christmas Events Across Acadiana

The Holiday and Christmas season in Louisiana is always such a magical time. From festive parades and extravagant light shows to concerts and performances, there’s always plenty going on in the state, particularly in the Acadiana region. So, if you’re looking for a holiday experience in the region, then this curated list from KATC will lead you in the right direction.

Christmas in the Park | Lafayette, Louisiana

At long last, one of the most-anticipated locations in Lafayette Parish, Moncus Park, is set to officially open to the public at the turn of the new year on January 1, 2022. Residents of Lafayette have been awaiting this massive, innovative public park for years, but locals can secure a chance to enter the park before it’s “officially open” by purchasing a ticket to Christmas in the Park, a 12-night seasonal event kicking off its opening session by way of a festive holiday celebration.

The event will feature a wide variety of family-friendly activities “including six separate kid’s activities per night, a visit from Santa, a Christmas Market and General Store, selfie stations, a live art installation, local food vendors,” and so much more.” Additionally, Moncus Park will host live music each night of the event with performances ranging from local school and church choirs to regional performers.

The Christmas in the Park event at Lafayette’s Moncus Park is presented by Iberia Bank, a division of First Horizonand Laborde Earls Injury Lawyers. It will take place from December 16 to December 29 (excluding Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), tickets can be purchased here, and the event lineup is below:

  • Thurs, 12/16, 7:00 PM Comeaux High School Choir, 8:00 PM Walter Wolfman Washington
  • Fri, 12/17, 7:00 PM North Vermilion High School Choir, 8:00 PM Souled Out
  • Sat, 12/18, 7:00 PM Choir, 8:00 PM Wayne Toups
  • Sun, 12/19, 7:00 PM ELF (movie night)
  • Mon, 12/20, 7:00 PM Corale Des Amis, 8:00 PM Blue Monday Allstars w/ Roddie Romero & Michael Juan Nunez
  • Tues, 12/21, 7:00 PM Local Choir, 8:00 PM Dyer Country
  • Wed, 12/22, 7:00 PM Local Choir, 8:00 PM Josh Leblanc + Nicki Needham
  • Thurs, 12/23, 7:00 PM Caroling w/Dave Trainer, 8:00 PM The Good Dudes
  • Sun, 12/26, 7:30 PM Chubby Carrier
  • Mon, 12/27, 7:30 PM Kelli Jones + The Lindas
  • Tue, 12/28, 7:30 PM Ray Boudreaux
  • Wed, 12/29, 7:30 PM Rebirth Brass Band

Christmas at West Village | Scott, Louisiana

The new 143-acre mixed-use development off of Apollo Road Extension in Scott, Louisiana is welcoming residents to its first Christmas event on Saturday, December 18th from 6 pm to 9 pm. Christmas at West Village presented by Robbie Breaux & Team is set to be a free, family-friendly event with live music by Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band, a photo opportunity with Santa Claus, local pop-up shops, and the official Coca-Cola Christmas Truck available on site. The event is open to the public.

Evangeline Parish Events | Turkey Creek and Vidrine, Louisiana

  • The 19th Annual Turkey Creek Christmas Parade will be held on December 18th and start at 11 am.
  • The Vidrine Fire Department will be holding a Santa Run on December 24, Christmas Eve. They’ll start at the Vidrine Fire Station at 1:30 pm and arrive at Vidrine Elementary around 3:30 pm where participants can take photos with Santa.

Jefferson Davis Parish | Jennings, Louisiana

The Jennings Christmas Festival will be held on December 17th from 5 pm to 8 pm in Founder’s Park and offer such experiences as Hot Chocolate with Santa, a Hayride, the Jennings Hall of Trees, a Christmas Fireworks presentation, and much more.

For more Louisiana-related articles, click here.

LUNA Fête 2021 Lights up the Night in NOLA

With so many events filing up the holiday calendar during the New Orleans holiday season, one event seems to quite literally outshine the others, LUNA Fête. According to this detailed profile from Nola.com, the annual light-art experience will be lighting-up the new Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Pedestrian Park in 2021 from December 16-19 from 6 pm to 10 pm.

LUNA Fête was initially founded by the Arts Council of New Orleans in 2013, and it was first set in Lafayette Squarenear Gallier Hall before it was held in various socially distanced locations scattered across town in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. LUNA Fête 2021 makes its extravagant return by relocating to the Convention Center Pedestrian Park, which is located along Convention Center Boulevard and is free to the public.

Those unfamiliar with the annual light-show may be surprised by the sheer scale of the event which has previously been described as an all-out “extravaganza” that is also a vibrant “mashup of Celebration in the Oaks and The Matrix.”  LUNA Fête credits its electrical and architectural inspiration to various European light-art festivals, as it features the traditionally decadent holiday lights along with large, radiant sculptures and massive projections.

The end result is described as having a “certain digitized, science fiction vibe,” which is quite appropriate for anyone who has attended the public outdoor event. In fact, LUNA Fête will be taking place at the same time as the annual convention for the American Geophysicists Union, making the intergalactic architecture and settings an appropriate backdrop for convention attendees.

This year, the Arts Council of New Orleans had commissioned the renowned architecture “mapper” Bart Kresa to produce a massive projection on the wall of the Convention Center’s Hall D for LUNA Fête. In electrical architectural circuits, Kresa is likely most known for his work at the 2017 Los Angeles premier for Game of Thrones, where he projected jaw-dropping settings and Westeros-inspired iconography across Frank Gehry’s Disney Concert Hall.

An additional must-see of the event that’s been gaining buzz around the Crescent City is a particular art installation from the New Orleans-based art team known as the Virtual Krewe of Vaporwave. Taking inspiration from psychedelic and cyber-space-adjacent iconography, the krewe is often heralded for its unique interpretation of Carnivale. For instance, the krewe created a “memorably frenetic and fractured rock opera in the Piazza d’Italia” for 2019’s LUNA Fête. This year, the Virtual Krewe of Vapor Wave’s projected production will take place during the December 19th New Orleans Saints game and thus will serve as a tribute to the team.

Not only is attending LUNA Fête free, but festival access to the exhibits is currently unlimited though this is subject to change. Lindsay Glatz, an Arts Council spokesperson told Nola.com that if it’s decided that reinstating social distancing measures is necessary, then access to the events may be scaled back, but the event won’t be scattered across the city as in 2020. This is due to the fact that social distancing is made much more possible at the Convention Center Pedestrian Park rather than Lafayette Square.

Due to the fact that many LUNA Fête exhibits have specifically timed electrical components as a part of their theatrical art installations, many of the art installations are temporary. However, this year’s light festival will debut several sculpture exhibits that will be permanent installations at the Convention Center Pedestrian Park. One of the installations is a tribute to Louis Armstrong created by New Orleans sculptor Rontherin Ratliff, and another is an LED-lit, crescent-shaped bench by internationally acclaimed artist Erwin Redl.

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Spicy Stir Fry Udon Recipe

Hearty and healthy, a good stir fry dish can be just the thing to impress your dinner guests for a quick and memorable meal, and thanks to this recipe from Pinch of Yum, you’ll be perfectly situated to do just that.

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. You’ll begin the sauce portion of this recipe by combining all of the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar) into a small bowl or mason jar. Stir softly with a spoon to ensure that the ingredients are well-combined.
  2. For the noodles, you’ll want to place a small “swish” of oil in a nonstick skillet pan, and heat it over medium-high heat. After it’s heated, you can add in your noodles and enough of your combined sauce to coat them. Stir-fry the noodles until they are of the consistency, texture, and look that you prefer. Be aware that these udon noodles will get a bit caramelized if you leave them undisturbed in the pan for a minute or two, so make this happen to your heart’s content.
  3. For your vegetable medley, add either your bag of stir fry vegetables or your freshly-chopped vegetable pieces into the skillet with your udon noodles. Pour a small amount of your sauce over everything and try to keep some in the bowl for later if possible. If you’re able to keep some sauce, you can place it in the refrigerator for a second batch that you’ll stir fry at a later time. With tongs, toss around your noodles and vegetables for approximately 2-3 minutes until your vegetables are fork-tender and everything is properly browned, sticky, and pan-fried to perfection.
  4. After you complete the above steps, you can remove the skillet from the heat and freshly grate your garlic. Stir in the garlic and then add in the freshly-ground clack pepper. The recipe calls for a “ton” of black pepper, as the name of the recipe is “Black Pepper Stir Fried Udon,” after all. The author advises you to remove a portion of the noodles and vegetables from the skillet prior to adding a bulk of your pepper for anyone not partial to spice.
  5. Serve the recipe & enjoy!

Notes

  • If you have a supply of extra udon noodles after cooking the above recipe and/or you’d like to cook this recipe more than once, you can simply create some more sauce and save it in the refrigerator for later.
  • Because of the black sugar that you’ve added into the stir fry sauce, it’ll be likely to burn in the skillet if you leave your noodles standing undisturbed in the pan for too long. You don’t want to burn your caramelizing noodles, so keep a watchful eye during the caramelization process.
  • If you’re unable to find dark soy sauce, you can substitute regular soy sauce in its place. Though, attempt to find darkened soy sauce if possible, as it’s more concentrated and flavorful.
  • It’s always a good idea to add in your favorite protein to this dish. This recipe, which is known as “yaki udon,”originating from the Japanese tradition, is known for the addition of some type of meat. So cook some beef, chicken, or shrimp, and have at it.
  • When selecting your udon noodles, be aware that refrigerated or fresh udon is as fine a selection as pre-packaged, shelf-stable udon noodles.

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Nicholls Geomatics Program Receives NCEES 2021 Surveying Education Award

Recently, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying recognized the Geomatics program at Nicholls State University with one of its prestigious 2021 Surveying Education Awards, according to this press release from the university.

The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, or NCEES, is a nonprofit organization set on developing, administering, and scoring the surveying licensure tests in the United States of America, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands.

Since 2016, the NCEES Surveying Education Award has stood as an honor recognizing university programs that work to advance surveyor licensure in order to safeguard the public’s health, safety, and general welfare. This is the third time that Nicholls has received the honor, which will give the program $15,000 in awarded funds.

Dr. Esra Tekdal Yilmaz, the department head of Applied Sciences at Nicholls, had said the following on receiving the prestigious honor, “Nicholls Geomatics is uniquely designed to provide a well-rounded education on collection, analysis, interpretation and management of spatial data using conventional methods and emerging technologies. The unique nature of the program is clearly evident in every aspect of the curriculum design, instructional research support, advisory board, industry support, the quality of our students, and our faculty expertise.”

The only honor higher than the $15,000 Surveying Education Award that was awarded by the NCEES was the $25,000 NCEES Surveying Education Award grand prize. This prize was awarded to the University of MaineSurveying Engineering Technology program.

In total, Nicholls was one of three total universities selected by the NCEES Surveying Education Award jury to win the $15,000 prize. The other two were the Surveying Engineering program at the Ferris State University’s School of Engineering and Computing Technology and the Geomatics/Surveying Engineering program at New Mexico State University’s Department of Engineering Technology and Surveying Engineering.

The funds will be utilized by Nicholls’ Geomatics program to host a 3-day workshop in which high school STEM teachers can be introduced to the basic concepts and impacts of geomatics, which, according to Oxford, is the “branch of science that deals with the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data relating to the earth’s surface.” Dr. Yilmaz noted that “these sessions will also create a continuous working relationship between our faculty and local high schools.”

The NCEES jury had met to evaluate and determine the 2021 award winners on June 24, 2021, and in total one university was selected to win the grand prize of $25,000, and three universities were selected to win the $15,000 prize and the $10,000 prizes, respectively. Schools awarded with the  $10,000 prize were Florida Atlantic University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and the Oregon Institute of Technology.

The NCEES Surveying Education Award, as per the nonprofit organization’s webpage, “recognizes surveying/geomatics programs that have a broad and robust curriculum and best reflect NCEES’ mission to advance licensure for surveyors in order to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public. The award is intended to encourage programs to engage their students with other professionals, introduce them to both historical and new technology, and promote licensure.”

Because the NCEES Surveying Education Award evaluates a university’s performance on national surveying metrics, graduates from the Nicholls Geomatics Program had passed the national exam for the Fundamentals of Surveying at a 95 percent performance rate. This is outstanding once juxtapositioned against the national average of a 54 percent performance rate. This resounding success undoubtedly proves the excellence evident in the Nicholls State University Geomatics Program.

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