Monthly Archives: November 2013

ursula lecoeur

Turkey-Andouille Gumbo

About the third or fourth day of turkey sandwiches, it’s time to take a break from holiday shopping, stay home and make a delicious gumbo. As Louisiana gumbos go, this is a simple one—turkey, andouille sausage and plenty of spices served over rice. My grandmothers boiled the turkey carcass for hours and made their own […]

Continue reading…

ursula lecoeur

Charlotte Russe

Mary Reporting. I think Charlotte Russe holds the top position in the pantheon of Southern desserts because my grandmothers made it only twice a year—Thanksgiving and Christmas. For months, I’d look forward to this traditional confection of whipping cream, eggs and sugar that’s lighter than ice cream, but richer in taste. Charlotte Russe on the […]

Continue reading…

ursula lecoeur

Fear of Fears: Neurasthenia, a Victorian Malady

Mary and Helen Reporting. In Love Lessons, our work in progress, we needed a secondary character in great distress to pull Carine Botoloph and Vespasian Colville apart. We created Evelina Levert, a young lady who has lost both parents and lives with her older brother, who is her guardian. The problem is, Evelina thinks he […]

Continue reading…

ursulalecoeur

Leek and Potato Soup

Ready to try a soup that’s not made with a roux? Leek and potato soup is delicious and easy to make in under an hour. According to Mobilian Eugene Walter—novelist, cookbook author and family friend—in his book Hints and Pinches, leeks were grown in Gulf Coast regions prior to World War II, but then fell […]

Continue reading…

Ursula LeCoeur

A Lap Desk Held a Victorian Lady’s Treasures

Mary and Helen reporting. Today, our personal laptops are never far out of reach. A lady in the 18th and 19th centuries owned something very similar—but far more elegant—a lap desk. A fancy lap desk is an authentic accouterment of a fashionable Regency or Victorian lady. Made of mahogany, Brazilian rosewood—or of pine veneered with […]

Continue reading…