Insightful Eating is taking a Stay-At-Home World Food Tour during quarantine, and even though we aren’t traveling in reality, with a little imagination, we will create fun, interesting and tasty out-of-town experiences in our own kitchen. After over 50 years, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was canceled this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t bring the sounds, smells and tastes of Jazz Fest to our own home, or at least try.
Step One: Play some great jazz music and turn in up. New Orleans radio station, WWOZ, will be Festing in Place http://wwoz.org by broadcasting curated performances from past Jazz Fests. If you tune in, you can hear New Orleans’ favorites like Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Trombone Shorty, and more. Also, many artists from the Jazz Fest line-up have taken their performances to social media. Of course, streaming personal jazz favorites is a great way to set the Jazz Fest scene at home. One of our go-to musical favorites is my soulful, blues-singing brother, Michael Liuzza. http://michaelliuzza.com
Step Two: Consider dressing the part. It adds to the fun if you think Jazz Fest attire. The options are endless. We donned hats, vintage T-shirts and flip-flops. I put on some crazy costume jewelry to make my crew laugh.
Step Three: Food, Food, more food. There are many options to try at home. With over 60 food and drink vendors at Jazz Fest, there are plenty of cuisine ideas. We boiled crawfish. See my previous post about boiling seafood. https://insightfuleating.com/2019/01/18/i-like-it-like-dat-express-yourself-with-a-seafood-boil We also made short-cut beignets, we call Stunods (donuts spelled backwards), made from fried ready-made biscuits sprinkled with powdered sugar and New Orleans Iced-Coffee for dessert.
Step Four: Do a colorful art craft or make some jewelry with your festin’ crew. The internet is full of easy craft ideas for all ages. My family made some easy beaded bracelets to remember our Stay-At-Home Jazz Fest experience.
Stay-At-home Jazz Fest
The good news is Jazz Fest dates have been set for 2021. I’m looking forward to being there next year. I hope you enjoy making your Stay-At-Home World Food Tour as fun as possible to bring some light-hearted happiness to the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just some added insight and flair to bring the spirit of the visit to the home. Our next stop: Japan.
Rose's Insightful Eating 