Category: Cajun life

  • When tragedy strikes your hometown

    When tragedy strikes your hometown

    Last night, tragedy struck the place where my heart lives – Lafayette, LA. When something like this happens in a place that you don’t know well, it’s easy to send prayers, support and keep moving on with your life. When it happens in a place where the majority of your family lives, where you have…

  • What being Cajun means to me: Friendliness

    What being Cajun means to me: Friendliness

    As I outlined in a previous post, I’m writing a series of blog posts about what being Cajun means to me – the traits typically found people who identify with the Cajun culture. In previous posts, I blogged about resourcefulness and our joie de vivre, the importance we place on family and our resilience. This…

  • 12 Tips on what to expect at a Cajun wedding

    12 Tips on what to expect at a Cajun wedding

    Since moving away from Lafayette so many years ago, I’ve attended a number of weddings and it quickly became obvious to me that Cajun weddings are not “typical” – we have some traditions that other cultures don’t necessarily follow. To inform those not in the “know”, I thought I’d put together this handy guide about…

  • Bubba: An unexpected encounter with a gator

    Bubba: An unexpected encounter with a gator

    Last fall, when I was camping with my husband in Destin – we had the opportunity to pet an alligator. Now, don’t run off just yet – I was a total skeptic as well. Who in the HELL has a pet alligator? Let me give you the backstory, first. We were camping in Destin at…

  • My favorite Cajun spots in Atlanta

    My favorite Cajun spots in Atlanta

    I’m always suspect of Cajun food served at restaurants outside of Cajun country. People have this warped sense that Cajun food should be doused with cayenne, cooked until it’s burnt and/or will contain things totally foreign to a Cajun dish. For instance, we took a family member out to dinner one evening at a really nice restaurant…

  • Ruby Red

    Ruby Red

    As I’ve covered in a previous blog post, my father collected and restored antique cars. Yellow Bird (1922 Chevrolet) was always the constant in our family, but we also had various other cars that he owned throughout our youth. Another family tradition was that we gave the cars names. My mom’s brown station wagon was…

  • Cajun French Soul food in the heart of San Francisco

    Cajun French Soul food in the heart of San Francisco

    A few years ago, I was in San Francisco for a work-related conference and my husband and I were looking for some new restaurants to try while we were in town. I love using Trip Advisor and Yelp when I travel to find new restaurants and attractions. On a whim, I thought “Let me see…

  • Pizza with a Cajun twist

    Pizza with a Cajun twist

    If you’re in Lafayette and you haven’t been to Dean-O’s pizza, what in the hell are you waiting for? You’ve never had pizza like this before. Ever. Let me try to explain Dean-O’s to the uninitiated: Take pizza baked in a wood fired oven with a thin, crispy crust, give it a Cajun spin and…

  • What being Cajun means to me: Resilience

    What being Cajun means to me: Resilience

    As I outlined in a previous post, I’m writing a series of blog posts about what being Cajun means to me – the traits typically found people who identify with the Cajun culture. In previous posts, I blogged about resourcefulness , our joie de vivre and the incredible value we place on our family. In this week’s post,…

  • Keeping your Cajun culture alive even if you live out of state

    Keeping your Cajun culture alive even if you live out of state

    Many native Cajuns have left South Louisiana – some for greater job opportunities, others due to a devastating hurricane or because other members of their family moved. Whatever the reason you’re no longer in Louisiana, you can still celebrate the Cajun culture through our unique culinary traditions and customs. 1. Learn to cook authentic, Cajun food…