My Godmother’s name was Catherine. Because she was my Godmother, I called her Nanny. Catherine had a fantastic way with people. She went out of her way to be kind to everyone she met, and once she met someone, she treated them as a friend unless they proved otherwise. Nanny didn’t judge people by their appearance. She believed it is a person's personality and actions that define them. In the early 1950s, Nanny worked at F.W. Woolworth on Canal Street in New Orleans. Back then, most of the merchandise was kept behind sales counters. Customers had to be waited on by a salesperson if they wanted to try on shoes, slips, or dresses. At Woolworths there was a social scale among the staff, Many thought that they were too good to wait on black customers, poor white people, or anyone different. One day a male "Drag Queen '' performer who worked at a nightclub on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter came in. When he asked to try on ladi...
Bienvenue! I was born in New Orleans with a family tree that dates back to the original settlers of the Louisiana Territory. My cultural heritage is primarily Louisiana Cajun French and Sicilian Italian. I was raised in a family of would-be wise guys and zany women with backbones made of iron. Please enjoy the stories and recipes from the generations of my family and my musings on life in this nonsensical world.