I mentioned this in a newsletter at the end of the year, but it bears repeating. Southern Living is polling readers to determine the Tastiest Town in the South. We know we have the tastiest state in the country, and Lafayette is leading the pack, but right now Louisville is close on their heels. We can't let that happen. Come on, Louisianans, go vote!

You can vote once per day per email address—so vote early, and vote often.

This is quick, easy, and oh so tasty. Good hot or cold, it's great for tailgating or any buffet-style gathering.

Get the recipe here.

The twelfth night after Christmas (January 6th) is called the Feast of the Epiphany, King's Day, or simply Twelfth Night. It is the official end of the Christmas season and in New Orleans it's the official start of the Carnival season that leads up to the day before Ash Wednesday, or Mardi Gras. You can count on us to bring you parade news, balls, party food, special recipes, and more. Stay tuned!

It occurs to me to ask: are there any special foods that you prepare for a traditional 12th Night? Send us your favorite carnival recipes too. Please fill out the comment form or email me directly.

Appetizers based largely on
seafood have been my fallback for every New Year's Eve gathering I have hosted
for as long as I can remember. They are the perfect accompaniment to the river
of champagne that inevitably flows out of the tail end of one year into the
infancy of the next.

 Most of my go-to dishes can
either be prepared in advance and heated just before serving or prepared in
advance and served chilled straight from the refrigerator.  My friends "ooh and aah" every year
and no one seems to care that I am serving the same thing again and again.

This year the game is
changing just a bit: The annual bash is to be an upscale NYE hors d'oeuvres
potluck hosted by my friends Tiffany Eyer and Stacey Summa on their communal
properties in Gentilly. The location will be a change of scene but I am lugging
along the same dishes I always serve at my own parties.

Each of these dishes has a
story.

Crawfish Stuffed Bread (this is
actually a new addition to the menu): When my sister, Beth, came home to visit
from Chicago last spring, I surprised her with a massive spread that included
home-made Crawfish Bread. It’s pretty much a dead ringer for the stuff Panaroma
Foods (in Marksville) sells at the Jazz Fest. In figuring out how to make it, I
felt as though I had cracked the nuclear code. My sister inspires me to excel
as a cook: Every time she comes home I try to wow her with amazing foods
prepared with Louisiana ingredients. I force upon her what she is missing by
living up north because I want her to move back home. It is working:  She becomes increasingly homesick each time
she visits and now she is shopping for a place in New Orleans. Hooray!

Crawfish
Clemmons:
Hair Master Ron Clemmons, keeps me and Susan in our chemically-enhanced (wht lie?) blond
locks. Ron is also a fantastic, creative cook. He created Crawfish Gouda for a
special celebration dinner for his partner, Matt D'Abadie. I altered the dish
by serving the decadent crawfish sauce in vol au vent shells that turned it
into a killer appetizer or hors d'oeuvre. Then I christened the dish in Ron's
honor. This screams for an assertive, aged champagne.

Spicy
Jumbo Lump Crabmeat:
Back in the days when I was married to her son, my friend Robin McAlear and I
used to host frequent dinner parties at her fabulous Garden District home, “The
Big House,” a most gracious site for gatherings. Robin and I had the
entertaining game down. One afternoon we were sipping pre-party glasses of
champagne and feeling pretty smug because, for a change, dinner was roasting in
the oven, and we and the kitchen were clean and presentable while guests had
yet to arrive. We wanted something to nibble. Yikes! It occurred to us both at
once: We had no hors d’oeuvres to offer. To our Southern Hostess selves this was
tragic. An investigation of the refrigerator revealed a collection of
condiments, some shriveling green onions, and one great prize—a pound of jumbo
lump crabmeat. We minced the onions, chopped up some capers, added a hefty dose
of McIlhenny’s Spicy Mayonnaise (one of the world’s great inventions), and
gently folded in the crabmeat with a squeeze of lemon juice for acidity. A star
was born.