Louisiana Life - November/December 2021

Top Doctors

Castle Connolly Top Doctors is a healthcare research company and the official source for Top Doctors for the past 25 years. Castle Connolly's established nomination survey, research, screening and selection process, under the direction of an MD, involves many hundreds…

Contributors

Writer and Photographer Kevin Rabalais Kevin Rabalais, an Avoyelles Parish native, writes and photographs the Natural State series for Louisiana Life. After living for more than a decade in Europe and the South Pacific, he is excited to be back home…

Gator HUNT

Along the Antill Canal in Terrebonne Parish, 10 miles southeast of Gibson, we drift for 15 minutes before the first sighting. “There,” says Rod Bonvillain Jr., a construction foreman from Houma. He moves toward the bow, finger pointing to…

Magical Mystery

A visit to Paulo Dufour’s studio on Narrow Road in a wooded countryside north of Covington in St. Tammany Parish is like a walk through Tennessee Williams’ “Glass Menagerie,” a dreamlike place filled…

Struck Down

On what seemed like an ordinary day in September 2020 (or what could pass as ordinary in the 2020s), Mandeville resident Larry Saar felt a little dizziness in the front of his forehead while working at his real estate office.…

The Gift of Books

For Saints Fans Be in that Number Author Sheldon Mickles has gathered the greatest Saints players, from #9 Drew Brees to #26 Deuce McAllister, and everyone in between and beyond, in one big, limited-edition book. With stats, stories, historic photos…

Top Traiteurs

One of our features in this issue is Top Doctors. Maybe one day there should be a companion piece called “Top Traiteurs.” Many cultures throughout history have their brand of folk healers. In Louisiana, the Creole culture created the “traiteur,”…

How Sweet It Is

It’s hard to imagine Thanksgiving and Christmas without sweet potatoes on the table. They appear in a variety of guises — candied, gussied up with marshmallows, turned into soups, casseroles, breads, puddings and pies. They marry happily with holiday dressings,…

Gourmands at Haunted Plantation

Celebrated Louisiana and Mississippi chefs are converging Nov. 13-14 at The Myrtles plantation and Restaurant 1796 for the third annual St. Francisville Food and Wine Festival. New for…

Sticker Shock

  Unfortunately, swinging the fridge door wide revealed only a cavernous abundance of empty space surrounding one edible item: a lonely bag of shredded cheese. Tired, stressed and real meal-deprived from days of last-minute arts market prep, Daneisha Davis…

Prime Perch

A feathered friend enjoys respite in Lake Charles by Jody Mcfarlain, opelousas              

Natural Element

When self-taught gardener Verna Cook Garvan created a private garden on her property facing Lake Hamilton outside Hot Springs, Arkansas, she chose every plant, picked the locations and…

Shopping the State

Louisiana is an antique shoppers wonderland, so if you are one or have one on your list, options abound in every corner of the state — and the middle, too. Shopping for the holidays in Louisiana is as unique as…

Home Grown

1. Culinary Calendar This 15-month calendar of Louisiana’s finest cooking highlights a recipe for each month, plus two bonus recipes to keep you cooking all year. (louisianalife.com)   2. The Essential Louisiana Seafood Cookbook The easy-to-follow recipes emphasize Louisiana seafood…

Travel Louisiana for the Holidays

This time of year welcomes us to reflect on our love and gratitude for one another, so it’s the perfect time to join loved ones and enjoy the gifts and bounty…