The Nifty Foodie

You are here: Home / Giveaways/Reviews / I Love New Orleans (GIVEAWAY)

I Love New Orleans (GIVEAWAY)

by 71 Comments

Ahh New Orleans. I used to not appreciate the city at all. All I would relate to New Orleans were the potholes, the murders, and the questionable people walking around everywhere. I saw all of the negatives and it made me thankful to live in the suburbs.

2005 came, and the unimaginable happened. Katrina hit. I used to want to be a meteorologist in school, and would WISH for a hurricane to come near us so I could experience it like the Weather Channel people do (and also, take off of school). Well, Katrina devastated New Orleans. A lot of my family and friends had to rebuild and lost priceless items. My immediate family lucked out, since they live slightly West of New Orleans. (If you’re just west of a hurricane, you seemingly get less of a punch than if you were dead center or just east of it.)

After Katrina hit, all I longed for was New Orleans. The happy New Orleans that I was so blind to originally see. I remember tearing up listening to the 12 Yats of Christmas that December. That February, I went to my first Mardi Gras parade in 2006 since the storm. The city had a mildew-y odor, but I didn’t care. It was New Orleans, and things were coming back. Things still aren’t completely back, 5 years later, but the spirit is stronger than ever!

When I first read about Disney making an animated movie, called The Princess and the Frog, set in New Orleans, I was excited. When the movie came out on DVD (I haven’t gone to a movie at a theater in ages…$10 for one ticket…hecks to the no!), I watched like a giddy 6 year old. ::disneyfreak::

I would smile when I saw St. Louis Cathedral, drool when I saw Tiana serving beignets, tear up when her family shared gumbo with the neighborhood, and giggle when Tiana helped the VooDoo lady make her gumbo “the bee’s knees” with a little Tabasco sauce. 🙂

So, to kind of give a shout-out to this movie, which I highly recommend, I’m doing a giveaway. I know most of these items aren’t nationally available in stores, so I want to share some of the featured foods from the movie (with a little bit of lagniappe/something extra) to one lucky reader!

NOLA Giveaway

Included in this package:

  • Cafe Du Monde’s beignet mix (heaven on a plate, basically)
  • Cajun Gumbo Mix
  • Tabasco Sauce
  • Tony Chachere’s Seasoning (good in just about EVERYTHING)
  • Jambalaya Mix
  • Dirty Rice Mix

Want to know how to win? Leave a comment about what your favorite NOLA dish is or what NOLA dish you’re interested in trying.

You have until Monday, May 17th to enter. This giveaway is only valid to readers in the continental U.S.

More ways to win (and please comment each time you do one of these)

That means you have 5 chances to win this Louisiana Feast!! Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

**Products from this giveaway are provided by The Nifty Foodie.**

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Neat giveaway! I’ve never been to New Orlean’s, but my sister lives in northern LA & I’ve visited her (the Shreveport area). I was nervous to try some of the foods down there becuase I’ve never experienced them! The thing I think I’d most like to try would be gumbo, because I’ve never had it! Same with jambalaya, actually! Great giveaway, fingers crossed:)

    Reply

  6. For YEARS I have been dying to take a trip to New Orleans and have beignets at Cafe Du Monde. It’s #1 on the list. Making my own beignets would be amazing and tide me over until I can book that vacation!

    Reply

  11. I am subscribed and I’ve always wanted to try Beignets…in the movie Princess & the Frog she makes them, too! It’s such a cute movie!

    Reply

  22. HEY!!! I would LOVE this. I really enjoyed my time in NOLA when I went in December. I think it is by far one of the most distinctive U.S. cities I have ever visited. It’s a beautiful place. I was trying to convince my husband to buy a house in the Garden District 🙂 I would love to be able to recreate some of the food I ate while there. By the way, if you are looking for a very, very special occasion restaurant I highly recommend John Besh’s August (if you haven’t been already). It was one of the best fine dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. LOVED IT!

    Reply

    • I’ve actually never been! We have an anniversary coming up though hehe! 🙂 Thanks for the rec!

      Reply

  23. I love lots of New Orleans foods- red beans & rice, jambalaya, gumbo, po’ boys, muffalettas, crawfish

    Reply

  27. I <3 Cafe Du Monde beignets and Cafe Ole!

    When I'm there, I eat breakfast every morning there.. there is nothing better than a fresh beignet and a hot cup of cafe ole.

    Reply

  32. Gaaaaahh! I went to nola for the first time last year, for a wedding, and absolutely loved it. It really is such a unique American city. I loved the people I met, the awesome wedding traditions (I’d never heard of a second line before) and, of course, the food. Cafe du Monde was a post-wedding hangover pit stop. So yeah, I love beignets and love New Orleans! Definitely want to go back.

    Reply

  33. I went to NOLA after Katrina to help with clean-up. It was an amazing experience and I was so glad that I could help. I learned a lot about myself on that trip.

    I love Cafe Du Monde’s beignets. OMG. So Yummy. I’ve tried to make my own gumbo which was absolutely delicious, but nowhere near as good as the gumbo I had there. Or the shrimp po’boy or jambalaya (I have a pretty decent jambalaya recipe – thank you, Paula Dean).

    I think it’s pretty clear that I heart food. 🙂

    Reply

  39. i follow you on twitter!

    and i love new orleans! i’ve been bringing volunteer groups of my students down for three years now and i just had my bachelorette party down there 🙂 I love me some beignets! (ok, so I’m a vegetarian…most nola food isn’t up my alley, but i love seeing everything!)

    Reply

  44. Yum!! I don’t think I can pick just one, but I grew up eating beignets every sunday and it was a great memory!

    Reply

  46. I absolutely LOVE New Orleans. It’s definitely one of my favorite cities we’ve visited. Every time we go, I make sure to get some jambalaya. I’d love to try to make it on my own!

    Reply

  48. I am DYING to try beignets for the first time. My sister’s new BF (a NOLA boy) made them for her from scratch! (I know… we think he’s a keeper haha) I make a pretty mean jambalaya myself.

    Reply

  51. Great giveaway! I love chicken gumbo (not much of a seafood person) and the beingets at Cafe Du Monde. We’re hoping to take a trip back to NO sometime soon!

    Reply

  56. My favorite dish to eat in NOLA is DEFINTIELY beignets! I bought some of the mix you’re giving away to make for my fiance, and he devoured them! However, now that I moved back to FL I can’t find the mix anymore! I am sooo sad!

    Reply

  62. This is an awesome giveaway! I am most excited about the famous Cafe du Monde beignet mix. Last year, two of our friends moved to NOLA and we gave them Cafe du Monde gift certificates, but I am dying to try them myself!

    Reply

  64. And subscribe via Google reader. P.S. I made the banana chocolate chip loaf bread you recommended and it was fantastic! It will definitely go into the regular circulation of recipes at my house!

    Reply

  67. Grew up going to NOLA at least 2x a year, it’s one of my vary favorite cities! I don’t think I can really pick a favorite Cajun dish. Although red beans and rice have long been one of my favorite comfort foods and my birthday dinner of choice for my entire childhood.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.