5 types of places to eat in New Orleans for less than $20 (as recommended by New Orleans: City Guide

List by Tosca

"Great restaurants are, of course, nothing but mouth-brothels. There is no point in going to them if one intends to keep one's belt buckled."
- Frederic Raphael

This book right here? This book - New Orleans: City guide by Adam Karline and Lisa Dunford - is going to be my food bible over the next two weeks! Big words? Well, yeah, very possibly so. True words, though. On my first trip to New Orleans I did the usual tourist-y thing and visited all of the usual foodie places that came highly recommended (by, well, books, websites, tv shows, etc.). Over the weekend, though, I kinda thought I'd like to do the places that maybe tourists don't really know about, only I wasn't quite sure how to go about finding these places. Luckily (?) I'd requested a whole heapload of books about the city, and one in particular - THIS ONE! - got me thinking that maybe I turn this in to a challenge, instead. And so, being a complete dork about lists, obsessed over coming up with a process. Of sorts. What I ended up with, instead, was writing down everywhere people could eat a meal for up to $20 (lunch, breakfast or dinner). I'm not entirely sure how do-able this list is, but I'm darn sure going to have fun finding out. OH! I don't intend to try them all because, hey, impossible, but I figure I'll do as much as I can (one dish at each, even if it's just a coffee, or a beignet, MMM BEIGNET!) and, at the end of my trip, choose the 5 best. Bon appetit!

Warning: I'll be kinda/sorta posting while away (recommendations from the book, my impressions and photos), so I hope this'll be okay, otherwise you might want to avoid the blog for the next few days

Honourable mention:

Deli: Verti Marte, 1201 Royal Street - meals $3.50 - $8.50

Fried chicken: McHardy's, 1458 N Broad Street - chicken pieces per box $5

Grill: Clover Grill, 900 Bourbon Street - dishes $3-$8

Takeaway: Cajun Seafood, 1479 N Claiborne Ave - take-out meals $3-$5

West African: Bennachin, 1212 Royal Street - mains $8-$16

Italian: Central Grocery, 923 Decatur Street - sandwiches $7-$10

Italian: Fiorella's, 1136 Decatur Street - mains $7-$15

Italian: Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, 95 French Market Place - mains $8-$16

Italian: Mona Lisa, 1212 Royal Street - mains $9-$14

5 Mardi Gras laws I will have no problem obeying

Today's list is taken from New Orleans by Tom Downs (although the comments are my own)

"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once."
— Chris Rose, 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina

I love New Orleans. There isn't any one reason that I can point to and say, "I love New Orleans because of THIS!" (Although, yes, one of the reasons I adore the place is because I realised I was staying just down the road from a Banksy - the one attached to this post). It's not that kind of affection that I have. It's more that I see it for what it used to be, what it is, and what it's working to become. I have no illusions about her as a city. She is a mix of everything: dirty, rich in history, edgy, new, old, crazy, eclectic, cultural times a thousand, incredibly hopeful and ohsomuch more. She has all the quaint and faded beauty of a Southern belle, the kind who remains forever mysterious, full of secrets and eternal feminine guile. She keeps you coming back for more. It is the kind of place that can have you dancing in the street with hundreds of others one minute, and crying the next when you realise how hard they're trying to rebuild still. As a tourist, your own first world problems have no place here. I can't wait to get back there in *checks calendar* 11 days and counting and see how much has changed/is still the same/will never be the same again. I'm there during Mardi Gras (yes, again) and plan to visit a few more places I wasn't able to get to last time, eat a few more dishes I had no room for then, and meet a whole bunch of people I have never spoken to before. Mardi Gras might happen only once a year, but, really, I think that New Orleans itself is a living, breathing, lifelong Mardi Gras, as evidenced by the wild fusion of food, music, people and cultures. I predict good times! Well, good times but safe times. How safe, you say? You can see for yourself in today's post: 5 Mardi Gras laws I will have no problem obeying :)

Top 5 things I would include in a letter to my 16 year-old self

List by Tosca

"I'm writing this on the first piece of paper I could find. It's the kids notepad - yes you have three of them (kids, not notepads...)..."
- David Arnold in Dear me : more letters to my sixteen-year-old self edited by Joseph Galliano

I spent Tuesday evening reading a book I randomly picked up from Manukau Library's display shelf. Some of my best finds happen that way. The book was Dear me : more letters to my sixteen-year-old self and is a collection of letters by celebrities who wrote words of advice, assurance, humour for their 16 year old selves. Some are funny, some are blunt, some are truly sad. All are quite poignant and touching. (Wait. Do those mean the same thing?) My favs were those written by Jodi Picoult ('He won't remember hurting you. But when you write, you will always remember what it felt like to have that bandage ripped off your heart. And that's why, when people read your stories, they'll bleed a little on the inside'), Amistead Maupin, David Arnold, Gillian Anderson (P.S. Follow your dreams not your boyfriends') and Alan Rickman ('Make your own unique messes, and then work your way out of them'). They all made me teary eyed and a little wistful. They also made me wonder what I would write to myself if I had to. If I'd have known at 16 what I know today...what kind of person would I be? One I'd like? One I could live with? I mean, think about it, if we could send our 16 year old selves a letter with a heads up about who to love/not to love or what opportunities to grab/ignore, then I'm not fully sure we'd any of us be the people we are today. And, speaking for myself, I'm actually ok with who I am. I don't regret anything I've done. It's more a case of regretting chances I hadn't taken, or things I hadn't just gone out and done without all of the planning and lists and angsting. If I could, though, if I could somehow write a letter to myself without adversely affecting time and history (think Bradbury's 'butterfly effect' here, people), this is what I'd tell myself...

Honourable mention:

You were born to read. Your love of Austen, Dickens, Ludlum, Plato et al. at 9 years of age is not weird. In fact, read more. It's your ticket in life. You won't believe me but you will find a profession full of people just like you. It will all make sense later :)

Mum and dad were wrong. You *can* get a job being fluent in Māori, with a nose piercing and a tattoo. Cut them some slack. They just worry about you and are incredibly supportive whatever you choose to be in life (except possibly a serial killer but we've never tested this so I can't say it with any certainty, just a niggling suspicion that it is the case)

You've always believed that the people you choose to surround yourself with can say lots about your values and ethics. Stick with that, and temper it with a little more forgiveness (honest forgiveness not just lip service) and a little less grudge holding

That boy? And I know you know the one. He's a total frog. Kiss him, anyway, because he's not worth feeling like you can never open up to people again. Mark the experience up to 'just one of those things' and move on. At 16 you shouldn't be thinking about 'happy ever after,' anyway. Worry about finishing your assignments on time, instead. It'll stand you in good stead later in life, trust me. In a few years you'll twice consider marriage, but remember that if you can look at the mother and see the daughter twenty years on, then the same could be said of fathers and their sons as well

Top 5 books I'm using to learn how to play the mandolin

List by Tosca

"The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and I think it comes from that shadow string, the double strings."
- Rita Dove

This is a picture of a mandolin. Not just any mandolin. MY mandolin. It's beautiful. And it makes the loveliest sound. Just...not when I play it. I'm teaching myself to play the mandolin. Why? One big reason: I want to play bluegrass music! I want to be good enough to play the songs in The complete idiot's guide to bluegrass mandolin favourites. :) One day (obviously not today) I want to be good enough to be the Earl Scruggs of the mandolin. (I can't think of a mandolin equivalent of his style of banjo playing, so stop mocking me). And if you ask me, 'Who is Earl Scruggs?' I'm going to cry :P Why bluegrass? I'm not sure. I just know that I fell in love with the style of music when I was about 9 or 10 years old. There are only three places in my whole life I've had such a yearning to see: New Orleans, Route 66 and Kentucky. Specifically, Kentucky for all of their various bluegrass festivals and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. This has to happen. It just *has* to. Confession: I also want a banjo of my very own, and have done so since I was about 12. I just don't think I'm ready for one yet. Weirdly, when I do buy myself a banjo, I want to play it not like Earl Scruggs, but like Steve Martin. And if you haven't seen him play with Men With Banjos Who Know How To Use Them you so need to fix that. I can help! Here's a YouTube clip of them playing on the David Letterman show. MAD LUV. I'm going to use the Christmas/New Year period to learn to play a tune in a halfway decent manner. Or something approaching it. Hopefully, 5 tunes so that that can make up another post. Maybe. So, not today, but someday very soon, I'm going to stun you all with my mandolin. And not by whacking you over the head with it :)

What I really want to be able to play:

The complete idiot's guide to bluegrass mandolin favorites [music] : 16 bluegrass classics, all in both easy & intermediate arrangements by Dennis Caplinger

New classics for bluegrass mandolin [music] by Butch Baldassari

Mel Bay presents mandolin classics in tablature [music] [arranged] by Robert Bancalari

Top 5 most requested nonfiction reads

List by Tosca

"What is reading but silent conversation?
- Walter Savage Landor

Something I find endlessly fascinating about people and how they connect with books, is that we all approach the act of reading in different ways. When some of us read fiction we're usually doing so for reasons of fun and leisure and relaxation. The fact that we might learn something along the way is an added bonus. When others of us read nonfiction we're primarily doing so with an expectation of learning/re-learning (about places, people, times...). If we get some enjoyment out of it that, too, is the cherry on top. I also find it interesting that we take something different away from each book and use what we've learned in some literary version of paying it forward. I had a quick look around online and found a post by Michael Hyatt who, after a discussion with friends, listed ten practices he observes when reading nonfiction:

How to read a non-fiction book by Michael Hyatt

Don't feel that you need to finish

Start with the author bio

Read the table of contents

Quickly scan the whole book

Highlight important messages

Take notes in the front or the margins

Use a set of note-taking symbols

Dog-ear pages you want to re-visit

Review the book and transfer actions to your to-do list

Share the book's message

While I might not use every single one of these, I might do some. I also think that it isn't something that I'd restrict just to nonfiction. I'd be equally as likely to use some of Hyatt's list for fiction, too. How about you?

Our Top 5 list today is a very simple one: Top 5 most requested nonfiction reads and, maybe while you're reading the books below *hint hint* you can figure out how *you* read nonfiction. See? Method to madness. Today, anyway :)

Honourable mention:
Breaking silence: The Kahui case by Ian Wishart

My Top 5 recipes from Alison & Simon Holst’s 'The New Zealand bread book'

List by Annie

"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou."
- Omar Khayyam

My Top 5 recipes from Alison & Simon Holst’s The New Zealand bread book

I grew up in a house where my mum made bread. And, because I was a kid and most kids’ mums didn’t make bread, sometimes this was embarrassing. But I do have fond memories of a group of my classmates around our house, all making bread with my mum.

Because I’m a fan of Alison Holst’s recipes, the bread book caught my eye. I’m getting into baking in a big way – so seeing it for sale really cheaply persuaded me to give it a go.

Now, a year on, I can offer my fav go-to recipes out of this book. In another year, I’ll probably have some more! Where available, I’ve added my notes from my copy of the book. I’m so addicted, my family bought me a food mixer for my 40th, one with a sturdy dough hook.

If you’re looking for something a little bit different to contribute to those ‘bring-a-plate’ functions this season, try these out.
~ Annie, Central

Last seen standing still...

Top 5 photos I took using tips/tricks I learnt from a kids book
List by Tosca

"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."
- Lewis Hine

I don't enjoy posing for photos. I never have. Flip through our family photo albums and you'd be hard pressed to find me there. I could care less about myself that way. Put a camera in my hands, though, and it's a different story. My fascination with photography isn't a new one. I like to think of it as more...rekindled. Something about being behind a camera, being able to provide some visual commentary about life, makes me appreciate how intrinsically beautiful everything is. No matter how seemingly random. A week or so ago I used tips from a pet photography book on my nephews instead. (Thankfully, they are still talking to me). I decided, after writing up that post, that I'd like to explore some more photography books, only this time from the kids area. The book I finally decided to bring home with me is Digital Photography: Point, Click, and Create Cool Digital Effects by Alan Buckingham (2005). Curiosity made me pick a book that was published some 6 years ago. Sure, the clothes and hair are a little dated, but the tips hold as true today as they would have then. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so, armed with nothing more than my iPhone 4S and four photo apps (instagram, Pixlromatic, Snapseed and Mosaiq), I took Buckingham's book for a test drive. The results, in no particular order, are below. As is a slideshow of extra photos that I didn't use in this post.

Top 5 pet photography tricks I used with the nephews instead

List by Tosca

"The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality."
- Henri Cartier Bresson

It's Saturday and, as I said I would, I'm sharing 5 photos I took of my nephews, using tricks/tips that were in a book about pet photography that I came across earlier this week. My nephews were obliging enough to give up a part of their Saturday afternoon (while their friends looked on equal parts amused at the antics of their friends, and horrified that I might make them participate). Thank you to: Markhiem Elijah Williams (aged 14), Jaxin Bilal Wayne Williams (aged 13), Kalani Peter Harlem Alakoka (aged 7) and Remy Lakota Brown (aged 1).

Top 5 pet photography tricks I plan to use on my nephews instead (and post pics of on Saturday) because I have cute pet envy

List by Tosca

"The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude."
- Robert Brault

This isn't a serious-ish post. You can probably tell that by the long winded post title, and yet I still feel compelled to warn you in advance. So, here goes. Yesterday afternoon I felt guilty about the fact that The Art of Fielding : A Novel by Chad Harbach is overdue on my card (I can't get into it and I keep trying because online critics talk about how good it really is, one of them said it reminded them of John Iriving, whose books I adored in my late teens/early 20s so I tried for that reason only I now want to hunt them down and frown at them because I didn't feel that) and went downstairs to return it, only to get down there and realise it was upstairs on my desk. Dumb. Not wanting to make it a wasted trip, I raided their new/recently returned display shelf and found - TA DA - Pet photography 101 : tips for taking better photos of your dog or cat by Andrew Darlow. I don't own a pet. The cat I had preferred my father. She also thought she was a dog and would only come if you whistled. The dog I had was as neurotic as I was and had this odd habit of crying loudly if it rained while we were out walking, and would then run home without me to hide behind the sofa. I figure it's me, not them, and so I don't have pets anymore. Which means I can't take photos of them, and I'm disappointed because they make such cute subjects! I'm going to do the next best thing - I'm going to take 5 of Monsieur Darlow's tips and have my nephews pose in place of cute fluffy puppies/kittens instead. I foresee tears, drama, tragedy and possible laughs all around (for them? for me? for the neighbours?) *hopeful look* This book really does have fantastic ideas for photographing pets and I highly recommend it - I'm just envious of all of the people who can actually put these into practice and brag about them. If you like this post, or if it made you laugh, then please pretty please post a pic of your own cute dog/cat/llama/chinchilla/axolotyl :-) (Don't dismiss axolotyls - they were my favourite pets of all the ones we ever had, and smarter than you'd think).

On to the tips I've chosen, which are just numbers and words at the moment. Saturday I will upload the pics! (Assuming I, or my nephews, have managed to come out of the experience unscathed and somewhat willing to talk about it all).