Dairy Free and Delicious - Banana Ice Cream

My diet has undergone some changes over the past few years.  One of the big changes is that I no longer eat dairy.  It stuffs me up and makes me feel bad.  And, now that I've been off of it for so long, I'm lactose intolerant.

In the beginning it was hard because I loved cheese a LOT!  And, ice cream!  Yeah....it was really hard to give it up!  But, I feel a lot better without it.

I no longer crave dairy foods like I used to and the few times I've cheated a little it just wasn't as good as I remember.  I guess my taste has changed.  It also makes it easier when I find great alternatives like this...dairy free banana ice cream.

My daughter discovered it on Pinterest.  We gave it a try recently and were surprised by how easy it was to make and how rich, creamy, delicious, and satisfying it is.  And, it's totally healthy!

To make it, thinly slice bananas (about one banana per serving) and spread the slices in a freezer safe container.  We used a metal cake pan.  Place the pan in the freezer and leave it until the bananas are almost frozen but not hard.  The time will depend on how many bananas you freeze, how thick the layer is, and how thin or thick they're sliced.  Just check on them from time to time.  They freeze up pretty quickly.  Next, put the banana slices in a food processor with a dollop of your favorite nut butter (we used peanut butter) and blend it all together until it's smooth and creamy.  If the bananas are a little too frozen, just give them a few minutes to thaw a bit.  If they're not frozen enough, go ahead and put the mixture back in the freezer a bit and try again when it's a little more frozen.   We served ours with some dark chocolate chips stirred in.  It was delicious!

Enjoy!

Souper Sunday - Sopa de Tortilla

This Souper Sunday recipe is a family favorite!  I got the original recipe from an old Martha Stewart show over 15 years ago.  Her guest was Rick Bayless.  He's an expert on Mexican cuisine, has several famous restaurants, and even has his own shows on PBS.  I love his take on Mexican food!  This soup is a great example.

We've made this recipe so many times over the years that we don't even need it to remember what goes the soup.  And, the base of this soup is so good that it works great as a starter for other soups.  It's incredibly flavorful!

This recipe seemed very involved and a lot of work the first time we made it.  But, after that, it seemed to be a lot easier.  It's very forgiving and very flexible.  Feel free to change things up to your liking.  Add more or less ingredients and garnishes.  For example, chunks of chicken are really good as well as finely diced and raw radishes (they add a surprising and delicious crunch and color...you can see some in my photo above).  In fact, I'm pretty sure I saw the radishes being used on the show but it's not in the actual recipe.  Otherwise, I can't imagine that I would have thought to use them.  I'd never heard of putting them in soup.  But, they sure are good!  So, I added it to the list of ingredients.  Here's the recipe!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 large tomato

2 tablespoons corn oil (canola or vegetable oil work fine too)

1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved lengthwise

1 teaspoon course salt, plus more for seasoning

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

6 cups chicken stock

1 small bunch cilantro, leaves picked and stems reserved

1 small bunch oregano

4 yellow and blue corn tortillas (any color will do)

1/2 cup vegetable oil, for frying

1 to 2 dried Pasilla chilies, stemmed, de-veined, and left whole

1 avocado, cut into cubes

4 ounces freshly grated queso fresco (a delicious and unique cheese but we no longer use it to avoid dairy)

4 limes, washed and quartered

1 bunch radishes shredded or finely sliced

1. Heat oven to broil.  Line a small oven-proof skillet with aluminum foil.  Place the tomato in the prepared pan and broil, turning once or twice, until soft and just starting to char, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven, peel, and place the tomato in the jar of a blender.  Hint:  If you'd like to add fresh, roasted, green chilies to the soup, this a good time to roast them.  See step 6.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of corn oil in a medium soup pot over medium-low heat.  Add the onion and the garlic.  Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Add onions to jar of the blender.  Puree the tomato-onion mixture until smooth.

3. Return soup pot to medium heat.  Add remaining tablespoon of corn oil and stir in tomato-onion puree, using a rubber spatula to clean out the blender jar.  Simmer, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 7 minutes.  It should be the consistency of a dark, thick ketchup.

4. Whisk in chicken stock.  Make a bouquet garni of the cilantro stems and oregano (I just tie a bunch of cilantro and oregano together with butcher twine. I don't worry about just using just the stems of the cilantro.).  Add the bouquet garni to the soup, and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer.  Partially cover and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 30 minutes.  Season soup to taste with additional salt and pepper.  Hint:  This base works great to create a veggie or chicken soup...just add what you like.  An easy and delicious soup at this point is to just add some cooked spaghetti or pasta.  Be sure to add a squeeze of lemon to each bowl!  It's delicious!)

5.  Meanwhile, prepare the garnishes.  Crumble the queso fresco cheese.  Cut and slice or grate radishes.  Cut the tortillas into 1/4 inch strips, heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed skillet, over medium high heat, until the oil is shimmering and hot.  Carefully add the tortilla strips, standing back as the oil might splatter. Fry until the strips are crisp and brown, 20 to 30 seconds. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels. Season the hot strips with salt and pepper.  Hint:  We always make a more tortilla chip strips than the recipe calls for because they're super yummy!

6.  In the same hot oil, quickly flash-fry the pasilla chilies, 3 to 4 seconds.  Remove from the oil and place on a paper towels to drain.  Let cool slightly.  Chop the chilies into bits and use as garnish.   The flavor is interesting and unique.  Hint:  Fresh green chilies, like Anaheims, are a delicious alternative.  Roast them in the oven when roasting the tomato.  Roast until they are charred (turning as needed), put them into a covered container or plastic bag for a few minutes....the steam will make it easier to peel off the skin.  Peel, remove stem, seeds, and white ribs, slice and chop into small strips or pieces. 

7.  It's time to serve it up!  We like to set all the garnishes out for everyone to add them as they like to their own bowls.  Then, ladle the hot soup on top, squeeze a wedge or two of lime into the bowl (we even toss the wedge(s) into the bowl for extra flavor), top with tortilla chip strips and enjoy!

A super delicious soup with super possibilities!  Give it a try!  Let me know what you think!  And, I'd love to hear about ways you change it up or use it for other kinds of soups.  Buen Provecho!

Souper Sunday - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Versatile Cream Sauce

I tried something a few months ago that has opened up a lot of cooking possibilities.  I made a cream sauce with cauliflower!  Sounds a little weird but it's surprisingly good and very easy to make.  It's an incredible substitute for creamy sauces since I can't eat dairy anymore.  And, it's a lot more healthy! 

It's made by simply cutting up and steaming a head of cauliflower until it's soft, putting it into a blender with milk (we use coconut/almond but any milk or unsweetened milk substitute will work) and blending it until it's smooth and creamy.  I season it during the blending process.

If I'm making it to use as an Alfredo sauce, I season it with garlic, salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne to add an extra level of flavor and some warmth but not enough to make it spicy hot.  Here's a picture I snapped a couple of nights ago when I used it like Alfred sauce and layered it with sauteed spinach with onions and red pepper flakes, gluten free pasta, the sauce, some diced tomatoes, and baked and crumbled prosciutto.  It was delicious!

I've also seasoned this amazing sauce with lemon juice and had it with rice, veggies, and chicken or fish.  It's delicious with lemon!  It gives it a light, bright, fresh flavor.

Another way we like to use this sauce is to make one of our old favorite chowder recipes.  The recipe originally called for a cream sauce made with lots of milk and cheese.  Since I can no longer eat dairy, this has become and amazing substitute and we don't even miss the cheese or dairy.  It's that good!  This isn't the best picture but to give you an idea of how good it is....hubby raves about it every single time, has seconds, thirds, and gets every drop out of the bowl that he can.

The original recipe was called something like, "Cheddar and Ham Chowder".  Here's my new version with no milk, no cheese, and no gluten....

4 cups of peeled and cubed potatoes

1 cup of sliced carrots

1 small to medium onion chopped

2 cups of fresh or frozen corn cut off the cob

Put all of the above ingredients into a large pan/pot and add just enough water to cover the veggies.  You can also add celery, if you like.  I leave it out because we don't like it.  Cook until the veggies are fork tender. DO NOT drain the water when it's done.

In a separate pan, steam a large head of cauliflower that's been rinsed and cut into large chunks.  Cook until soft.  When it's done, add it to the blender with enough "milk" to blend it smoothly.  I also add a bit of "butter" (I use Earth Balance spread) and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, a dash of Cayenne, paprika and a bit of chili powder.  I also add some Turmeric because it makes it look cheesy with the red of the chili powder and paprika and it's a healthy spice.  Use the above ingredients in amounts that work for you and your taste.

When the sauce and veggies are ready, pour the sauce into the pot that has the veggies and water and stir it together.  Also, add ham that's been sliced into bite sized pieces.  One of those flat, round slices you get at the store that's wrapped in plastic is the perfect amount.  Cook it all on low heat until the ham is heated through.  Double check to see if the chowder needs any additional seasoning.  Enjoy!

I'm so excited about this delicious, creamy, cauliflower sauce and I'm trying to think of other ways I can use it.  I think it would be great in other soups like clam chowder!  Can you think of other ways to use it?  I'd love to hear about them and I'd love to know if you try it and what you think.

Homemade Tamales

We made tamales!  Homemade tamales!

I saw bags of masa at the grocery store last weekend and immediately thought about tamales and decided to go for it and try to make some.  So, I also bought a large package of chicken breasts that was on sale, a large can of green enchilada sauce, and a bag of corn husks.

I cooked the chicken in the crock pot all day today with the sauce, chopped onion, and garlic.  By mid afternoon, it was done and falling off the bones.  Hubby took all the meat off the bones, shredded it and mixed some of the green chili sauce and onions into it and set it aside.  I soaked the corn husks in hot water for about an hour.

I watched a couple of videos online that showed how to assemble the tamales.  It looked easy and it was!  It was also a lot of fun!  As we made the tamales, we set them inside the holey part of a pasta pot.  When we were finished, I set it into the main pot that had water in the bottom.  I got the water boiling and steamed them for 45 minutes and checked to see if they were done.  They ended up needing a little more cooking time.  Fifteen more minutes did the trick!

They turned out really good!  We had them with salsa on top.  Yum!  

When we started out assembling the tamales, I was making them kind of small.  Turned out that hubby was making them a lot bigger.  And, as we went along, they seemed to get bigger and bigger.  Funny, but it worked out just fine.  Next time, I'll use something to measure out the masa so they'll be more uniform in size.

We'll definitely be making tamales again!  They're so much fun and so good!

We'll try some different flavors too.  Turns out they can be made sweet or savory.  I had no idea!

Backyard Harvesting and Preserving

What a weekend!  It was wonderful and scary and productive...all at the same time!  

We had rain and quite a bit of it.  That was wonderful!  We need it so badly and we'll take every drop we can get.  It's rare here and we savored the storms...opening windows, watching and listening to it fall, and breathing in that wonderful rain smell.  Ahhhhh!  My daughter and I enjoyed a little antique shopping on Saturday morning with the cloudy and cooler weather.  We even went for a walk in the rain with our dog yesterday.  And, late last night the rain poured hard...enough to wake us.  It was wonderful!  There are a few clouds in the sky today but I think the rain is over...for now.

The scary part of the weekend happened mid-day on Saturday.  Hubby had gone for a long bike ride.  It's something he does almost every weekend.  And, luckily it's often with a group.  Extra lucky this time!  I got a call from him around noon letting me know that he'd crashed and wouldn't be able to drive home.  Someone was giving him a ride to the bike shop and my daughter and I needed to meet him there to pick him up and drive his car home.  The pain was so bad that I needed to take him to an urgent care.  It turned out that a rib under his collar bone was broken and some cartilage next to his sternum was banged up.  It even hurt him to breathe!  The doc gave him a brace to hold his shoulders back.  That helps with the pain and will help the bone to heal in the right position.  The pain meds are working but he's needing to take it really easy until those stabbing/piercing/burning pains stop happening when he moves.  I'm taking good care of him!

While he was resting in the recliner on Sunday morning, I went out in the backyard to enjoy the cooler and moist air from the storms.  It turned out that a lot more figs had ripened.  I started picking them and ended up with a big bowl full.  There's still a bunch more on the tree that are green.  

The colors are incredible!

I quickly got to work preparing them for the dehydrator.  And, this time, I remembered to take some photos.  I used the same technique of dropping them into boiling water.  It weakens the skin to allow moisture to escape easier during dehydration.  Look how dark the water got...

After just 30 seconds, I scooped them out and dropped them into an ice bath.

It's interesting how the blanching turned parts of them green.

My daughter helped me slice them.

They were so pretty that I posted a pic on Instagram...

 My daughter suggested slicing them into quarters instead of halves.  She thought they might dry better and be easier to eat.  She was right!  They're already done and so delicious!  Some are sweet like brown sugar!  And, I love that delicate crispy, crunch of the little seeds.  Yum!

My Basil plants were big and lush...perfect for harvesting!  So, I cut a bowl full of basil to process into freezer cubes to use throughout the winter.  I try to do this several times every summer and it works great!  This year, besides the standard, green Basil, I also have a variety now with purple leaves.  It has a slightly different flavor but still has the delicious basil taste that I love.  Bugs seem to bother it less too.  It had very few munched leaves compared to the green plants that I have.

I picked off all of the good leaves and rinsed them in cold water.

The colors of the leaves floating in the water were so pretty that I had to take a picture...

After rinsing, I spun the leaves dry in a salad spinner and chopped them up in the food processor with olive oil (I did the green ones and purple ones separately...just because).  I put spoonfuls of it into the compartments of an ice tray.  It's amazing how little there is after it's chopped.  I almost filled a whole ice tray this time though.

I always like to put the tray into a plastic bag and tightly close the end.  That keeps the freezer from smelling like Basil and keeps the basil from smelling like freezer.  After they're frozen, I place them into a Rubbermaid container and keep them in the freezer for convenient use.  It works great in sauces and dressings.  And, best of all, even in the middle of winter, it tastes like I just picked it.

Since I'm sharing photos of food I preserved this week...here's a picture of some refrigerator pickled cauliflower that I made last week.  It should be ready to eat by now.  I think I'll have some for lunch!  I made it in one of my new, green, Ball canning jars.  I love how they're making them in colors now!

It's kind of amazing how much food I'm getting from our yard.  Especially since our garden isn't going so well.  It's so satisfying to eat food that we grew and know exactly what's in it and what's not.

Time for lunch!  :-)

Yum!

We have a fig tree in our back yard and the fruit is starting to ripen.  Luckily, this year, it's ripening a bit at a time instead of all at once.  We usually lose most of them because we just can't eat them fast enough.  And, even though we like them, we don't love them.  I was going to try something new this year, dehydrating.  I gave it a whirl yesterday and filled a couple trays in the dehydrator.  They were finished this morning and....WOW!  They're SO yummy!  This is officially my favorite way to eat figs!

I tried a method I'd seen online....drop whole figs into boiling water for 30 seconds to weaken the skin so moisture can get through while dehydrating.  Remove them from the water and immediately dunk them into an ice bath.  I dried and cut them in half and put them on the trays.  They've been drying for almost 24 hours.  A little less time might have been better.  But, they sure are tasty and they have a crispiness from the seeds that seems to add to the fun of eating them.  I can't wait for more to ripen!

Road Trip, Day 18 - Taos, New Mexico

The eighteenth day of our road trip started very early as we "got the heck outta Dodge"...Dodge City, Kansas that is.  You can go HERE to read about that.  It was a long drive that day through miles and miles of prairies and grassland and then miles and miles of desert.  Heading farther and farther west was looking more and more familiar, beautiful and just plain good!  It's hard to explain but it felt great to see rocks and dirt again!  We're just not used to so much green and water and although it's beautiful  in the South and Midwest, it's all so much the same color and texture....green and plants.  I guess it just comes down to what you're used to and what you love.  For us, the west is the best!

It was exciting to see mountains again too!  The mountains of northern New Mexico are beautiful!  This is some of the scenery we enjoyed as we got closer to Taos...

We had to stop to take it all in and breathe the fresh, cool, air.  Ahhhh!

We'd left Dodge City so early that we pulled into Taos by around noon.  We hadn't eaten much that morning and we were very hungry.  So, the first order of business was to find a place to eat!  We thought Huevos Rancheros sounded awesome.  So, we started asking around and ended up at a little hole in the wall restaurant called, "La Cueva".  The food was awesome!  There's nothing like New Mexico chilies and sauces!  Yummmmmm!  It was so good that we ended up back there for dinner.  It was at least as good the second time.  I had chicken with mole sauce (just in case you've never heard of that...it's a chili sauce with Mexican chocolate in it) and my daughter had seafood enchiladas.  The food was amazing, the people were very nice, the service was great, and the prices were great!

I'm surprised I actually took the time to take a picture

because I was so hungry but here's my breakfast/lunch...

Afterwards, we popped into "Gearing Up" bike shop a few doors down.  I wanted to see if they had anything for my dear hubby.  I bought him a few great things.  What a bike shop!  They had so many fun things and they were super nice too!  It turns out there are a lot of trails in the area.  I think we'll be heading back to check some of them out one of these days!

Next, we got back into the car to visit one of the main things we'd come to see, Taos Pueblo.  My daughter had seen it in a book and it was one of the places she'd hoped to see one day.  This was the day!  It was just minutes from the restaurant and easy to find.

As we drove up and parked, we saw the cemetery and what was left of the original church.

And, just look at that gorgeous sky!  What a beautiful area!!!

Before entering, we needed to go up to a more modern/newer building to purchase our tickets.

I love the posts on that building...

This is a World Heritage Site and a National Landmark.  The Pueblo has been inhabited by

Native Americans for over 1,000 years.  They still live there today.

There were several larger complexes like this...

And, a bunch of smaller ones like this...

They're made with mud and straw with wood beams for the roof.

The wood is visible on the ceilings inside.  

There is a small church.  The design is simple on the outside and it's more ornately decorated on the inside.  It's dark, quiet, and very peaceful inside but they don't allow photographs.

I love the blue glass windows along the sides of the church.

And, the smooth, curved, mud walls are so pretty.

This was my favorite little house.  It looks so cute and cozy.

Residents/Native Americans were selling food, handmade jewelry and other items in some of the pueblo rooms/homes and outside.  This dog was peacefully napping in the shade next to a mud oven.

We had hoped for a tour but the guide never showed up.  We walked around a bit and took some photos but didn't stay long as it was quite hot in the full sun.

Since we arrived in Taos so early in the day, we had plenty of time to visit a place I really wanted to see, "Weaving Southwest".  It was just a ten minute drive from town to the small community of Arroyo Seco.  This seemed to be the main street....

Here it is...a simple building with a lovely, Southwest facade...

I gasped when I walked in.  The colors, the rugs, the yarn....gorgeous!

I would have loved to have taken some of the beautiful rugs home with me.

Unfortunately, they're a bit out of my price range.  The colors, design and workmanship are top notch!  They do, however, offer classes and workshops.  Hmmmm?  Maybe on a future trip!

The lady working there that day was really nice and it turned out that her son lives close to where I live in Southern California.  She'd just come back from visiting.  It's such a small world!

I bought a couple of things before I left.  I bought a wood batten that I should be able to use with my inkle loom.  I have a feeling it will be much more comfortable on my hands than a credit card!  That's the stick on the left.  On the right is a tapestry beater.  It's small but I love the wood grain on it and it's very comfortable in my hand.  I'm hoping to try out tapestry weaving someday.  And, it's not everyday I'm in a shop that sells things like this.  So, I HAD to get it!  ;-)

Before leaving Arroyo Seco, we walked through a couple of fun little shops.

There were Hollyhocks growing in flowerbeds all around.  I couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Aren't they pretty?!  They must love the climate there.

Next, we headed back to Taos and checked into our hotel for the night, "Hotel La Fonda De Taos".  I'd found it on Trip Advisor and it had great reviews.  It sounded like an interesting and nice place to stay.  It's right on the Taos Plaza (an old shopping area in the center of town that's recently been fixed up and has become a great shopping and dining destination).  We checked in and took our stuff to our room.  We had a great view of the plaza and it was so nice to have a window that opens.  Our room was where the window is, just below the "N" on the Hotel La Fonda sign.  

The people that work there are all very nice and the hotel is colorful, clean and pretty.

Here's a view of the lobby from the mezzanine.  There's a restaurant through the door on the left.

The mezzanine had a cozy seating area and it was close to our room.  The fireplace turns on with a switch/dial.  There are books, games, tables and chairs and comfy sofas to relax.

There are little doors like this along the hallways to the rooms.  They're probably about a foot and a half to two feet wide and maybe three feet tall.  I meant to ask what they're for but forgot to whenever I was passing by the front desk.  So, my story is that they're for the ghosts.  Yup...this place is supposedly haunted too.  They even told me that the rooms had earplugs because of the moans and creaking sounds.  I left the bathroom light on just in case and tried not to open my eyes during the night!  But, I found out in the middle of the night that the earplugs are probably because it can get rather loud on the plaza and the sound is amplified as it bounces between the buildings.

Here's our window from the inside looking out onto the plaza after a late afternoon rainstorm.

The hotel was clean and nice.  I think the only thing we didn't like was the smell of the room.  But, my daughter quickly spotted the source of the smell and took care of it.  It was a glass vase-like thing, filled with potpourri, hanging on the wall.  She quickly slipped it out of it's holder, stored it in the armoire, and voila...the smell went away!  Yay!  We were sure to put it back before we left.

After checking in and taking our stuff to the room, we headed out for some shopping...another thing we were hoping to have time for and did!  Yippee!  And...the shopping there is awesome!  I could have spent SO much money...if I had SO much money to spend!  There were lots of great little shops and things in them that I loved!  And, there were so many more we could have seen!

The Taos Plaza is lined with little shops.  More shops are just outside of the Plaza.  And, there are so many more beyond that!  Wow!  And, even though there are art galleries and very nice shops and things being sold, it's down to earth and comfortable like I'd hoped.  We love Taos!

It turned out that there are a few yarn shops in town.  We went into one of them but they hardly had any yarn...or anything at all for that matter.  Then, I made sure to stop in at Mooncat Fiber because they sell yarn that's dyed by someone who used to live in California and go to our stitch nights.  She now lives in New Mexico.  The store owner raved about her yarn and how much they love her.  There was a gorgeous blue skein that I had to buy!  You can find Berry Colorful Yarnings HERE and HERE.  This is the photo I posted on Instagram that day...

Just across the sidewalk was a wonderful little fabric shop.  It's called, "Common Thread".  It was filled with some of the most beautiful and unique fabrics I've ever seen!  My daughter loved it too!  I like the tree standing in the middle of the store.  It was a cute and fun place to visit!

After shopping and another great meal at La Cueva, we headed back to our room for some much needed rest.  How great it was that we were able to get to town so early and fit so much into one afternoon!  Sleep was needed though as we were planning to head out very early the next day for an even longer drive to Grand Canyon and the final stop of our amazing, three week road trip!

Road Trip, Day 13 - Oak Alley Plantation

While we were planning our road trip and the week we were going to be spending in Louisiana, my daughter shared with me that she'd love to see Oak Alley Plantation.  She'd seen photos of it years prior and didn't want to miss it, if at all possible.  So, there was no way we were going to leave Louisiana without going to see it!  

During our stay at Dansereau House, we took a drive to see it.  It was just half an hour away.

It's a beautiful place!

Sadly, because it is a Southern plantation, there is a dark part to it's history...slavery.  That is where we began our tour (this part is self guided).  The original slave quarters/homes are long gone but replicas have been built to show how the slaves lived.  There are two rows of them.  One side has some items inside each home that slaves might have had....like a sack on the floor to sleep or a stool.  The doorways in that row are roped off and there are signs in each one that explain various facts about how they lived, worked, were treated, and died.

Here's the other row...

And, a photo of just one of them with lean-to chairs

(or that's what I thought they were) leaning against the wall.

This row is made to be walked through with exhibits and information.  I was already sad about the slave history of this area and I felt it as I came onto the property.  But, this part really got to me and it was hard not to cry.  It's incredibly, unbelievably horrible that any human can treat another with such cruelty and disrespect.  The item on the right side of this photo bothered me a lot!  It would have been placed around the neck of a slave to limit their movement and ability to run away.  The bells hanging on the parts that stick up were to make noise to make it even harder for them to get away.

This sign hangs in one of the houses...

Here is the wall with names of the slaves that were at Oak Alley...

 A little understanding about slavery at the plantation did reduce it's beauty somewhat.

Although, the the old oaks are majestic and a bit haunting.  This is the double row of oaks that leads from the Mississippi River to the front of the house.  Rows of trees were planted in this way to cool the air as it blows through them which helps to cool the house.  All sides of the house were lined with windows and they're placed directly across the house from one another for maximum airflow.

This is the same row of trees, looking from the house veranda toward the river...

These oaks are amazing!  Here's the same view from the ground...

I think it's only possible to grasp their enormity in person.  But, I did try to capture it in pictures.  Here's a closer shot to show the roots...

And, even closer to show the ferns...which weren't all that small...for even more perspective...

Here's a creative little shot looking up the trunk at some of the baby ferns...

The main house has a guided tour.  Here's our lovely tour guide...

We started in this room.

The couple who had the house built are in the two paintings on the far wall.

There were some interesting items on this table.  The candle stand was used when a boy came to court one of their daughters.  If the father liked him, he'd rotate the candle up for a longer burning time.  When the flame reached the metal part it was time for him to leave.  If the father didn't like the guy, he'd provide very little burn time.  They sell candle holders like this in their gift shop.

The gentlemen would retire to this room after dinner to smoke and drink rum which was made with the sugar cane they grew.  Women weren't allowed to drink hard spirits.  The woman of the house must not have liked that and figured out a clever way to get around it.  She'd put some in a jar with fruit.  It became a "fruity" drink and therefore acceptable for the women to enjoy.  I'm impressed!

One of the interesting things in the dining room was the table that was very short.

People were much shorter back then!  I wish I remembered the height but trust me...it was short!

Another interesting thing in this room is the device hanging over the table.  A rope ran across the ceiling from it to the corner where a slave sat and pulled a rope to gently swing it back and forth.  They needed to swing it enough to cool the guests and keep the flies away but not so much as to put out the candles.  There were also fly catching jars (also sold in the gift shop) on the table...they're the things with hankies on top so guests didn't have to see the buzzing and dead flies inside the jars.

This is one of the bedrooms.  Most of the things in the house are not original as the house was eventually taken by the bank (long story...you'll have to read about it or visit) and the owners must have taken the things with them or something.  The house was vacant for a long time and cows broke in and destroyed the first level floor.  Obviously, a lot of work was put into this home to restore it and  to find appropriate furnishings and decor.

The cradle is so detailed and amazing!

We enjoyed a story that was told as we viewed this room...  Pineapples are a symbol of hospitality.  When guests came to visit they were given sliced pineapple.  When the hosts were ready for the guests to leave, they'd leave a pineapple in their room as a way to say "we enjoyed your visit, now take this pineapple and leave".  lol

Here's another bedroom.  The story I found most interesting here was that the mattresses were filled with Spanish Moss.  It would get lumpy after sleeping on it and slaves would spend hours each day rolling out the lumps.  They used a roller that was part of the headboard.  I've often seen old beds with a round section that looked like a rolling pin.  I never knew why they were made that way, until now.

If anyone wanted to nap during the day, they needed to rest on a sofa or chair because of all the work it took to prepare mattresses each day for the next night.

I believe they called this the "Lavender Room".  The way it looks now is how a later owner had it.  She and her husband spent decades restoring the home. 

Another view of the "Lavender Room"...

A lovely view of a downstairs hall sitting area...

Here it is again later in our tour when another tour guide was sitting down for a little rest...

There was an in home office which was unusual for that time.

Offices were usually outside of the home.

There are chandeliers throughout the home.  Many of them had these fan-like shapes hanging from them.  I think they're so pretty!

A photo of my daughter standing next to one of the huge

columns that are all the way around the house.

There are big shutters to protect each of the doors and windows.

I like the swirly latches that keep them open...

Here's the back of the house...

There are rows of old oak trees that lead up to the back, just like the front...

They ring this bell every half hour for the start of a new tour...

This "little" garden is on one side of the house.

That's a garage in the distance.

Here's my sweet daughter taking a photo of the house from that "little" garden...

There are brick walkways around it.

Here's that garage...

Complete with old cars.  There's even a kitty sleeping on top!

After touring the main house, we went back toward the slave area to eat at the little restaurant beyond.  We stopped at one of the large kettles that had been used to cook down the sugar cane.  They're now being used as water features with water lilies growing in them.

This one looks like it's glowing!

Wow!

There were pretty flowers planted throughout the property.

I love these!  I had some in my wedding bouquet.

Gorgeous!

There are a LOT of dragonflies in the South!

There are Crape Myrtle trees in California but none like we saw in the South!

They're very big there!  And, very pretty!  I took this picture from the veranda...

There were pretty pink and white spots of lichen on the trunks and branches...

A creative/fun shot of some moss growing on the walkway...

The food in their restaurant was quite good.  They even had a gluten free menu.  My daughter was so happy about that.  I cheated a bit with gluten on the trip.  Luckily, it doesn't get to my stomach like it does hers.  But, I feel a lot better without it.  I'm back on track now!  I had shrimp and crab gumbo for lunch.  We shared some taster glasses of three different julep drinks.  I liked lemon the best but they were all way too sweet for both us.  Blech!  I posted this on Instagram while we were on the trip.

The restaurant had a map of the plantations along the river way back when.  All the
properties were long and skinny to give more people access to the river.  Interesting!

Here's some sugar cane growing on the property.  It's tall but still not as tall as it is in Maui!

Before leaving the area, we decided to go check out the levy and river.  There are
parking areas along it and trails that run along the top for walking and biking.

The river is on the left and the plantations are on the right.

Something that I found interesting is that the levies were there when the plantations were built.  Slaves...even women...worked to maintain them.

Here's the path on top...

The Mississippi River!...

Here's another view of the landscape.
There are many acres of sugar cane in Louisiana!

I took a few pictures from the car on the way back to Dansereau House.  Many of the roads we traveled on in Louisiana and Mississippi were lined with tall green trees and plants.
It's VERY green there!

And, many of the roads traveled over, along or through swamps and bayous.  Unfortunately, we never found a place to pull over to take a photo.  So, we have LOTS of blurry ones as we attempted to catch a good shot while we were traveling of the water that was on the side.  It was amazing to see how much water there is and how trees and so many plants were growing in it!  This is the best shot I got...

We also had a hard time finding a place to pull over to photograph one of those iconic trees dripping with Spanish Moss.  I got this photo from the car as well.  We learned that Spanish Moss grows here and there and can skip over areas.  They're not really sure why it grows on some trees and in some areas and not others.

I think it's interesting that they used it to fill mattresses in the past.

We went back to Dansereau House for one more night.  The next day, we headed north to Memphis!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope ya'll are still enjoying posts about our road trip.  I've sure been enjoying all your comments!  We had a blast and saw so much.  I'm slowly catching up.
Only a few more places left to share.