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If you’re searching for missing persons involving Hurrican Katrina, MSNBC has a list of forums to do so. There are so many forums out there, and so many people searching for loved ones. My heart goes with you! I will add forum links to this site as I find them.

Search for a loved one via FEMA
Register a loved one that is missing from the Hurricane Katrina disaster on the National Next of Kin Registry

It’s never too late to make a donation to The American Red Cross which is providing essential provisions to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Here is the online link:

American Red Cross Contribution Form

Or Call:

1 800 HELP NOW

Other Resources via FEMA

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This photo says it all, and gives a bird’s eye view of the extensive flooding. I’m still in shock over this, it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

For more photos of Katrina’s aftermath click here for NOLA.com’s photo galleries.

For links to where you can donate for relief Click Here.

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If you’re interested in making a contribution to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Relief, here is a link to where you can do it. The donations supply hundreds of thousands of victims that were left homeless by Hurricane Katrina with critical necessities.

American Red Cross Contribution Form

Other avenues of donation for Hurricane Katrina Relief:

America’s Second Harvest Donation Form
Salvation Army Online Donation Form

Louisiana Emergency Info:

Louisiana Emergency Information
Parish Alerts

News Stories:

News report of the damage in New Orleans

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My heart goes out to all of the folks affected by Hurricane Katrina, I hope you all got out of harms way. Here is a link with a pic of some of the damage to the Superdome which is holding thousands of storm refugees. The top of the dome looks like someone took a huge vegetable peeler to it.

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Good Luck to all of the folks trying to get out of Katrina’s path, I’ll be thinking about you. She sure shaped up into a nasty one.

My brother Brad from Think Reef and Top Tank designed this great new header for me, I hope you like it as much as I do. Thanks a million Brad!

Also, I’ve finally fixed my comments section, sorry for any frustration any of you have had trying to comment, they’re up and running now. I always look forward to your comments.

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If you’ve ever wondered how Fil&#233 (FEE-lay) Powder is made, or would like to make it yourself, check out THIS LINK! Fil&#233 powder is a NOLA Cuisine Staple, which is made from the ground, young and tender leaves of the Sassafras tree (Sassafras root is the original flavoring of root beer). The Choctaw Indians, native in Louisiana, introduced the use of Fil&#233 to thicken Gumbos and soups. Here is what the 1901 Picayune’s Creole Cookbook had to say on the subject:

First, it will be necessary to explain here, for the benefit of many, that “Fil&#233” is a powder manufactured by the remaining tribe of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana, from the young and tender leaves of the Sassafras. The Indian squaws gather the leaves and spread them out on a stone mortar to dry. When thoroughly dried, they pound the m into a fine powder, pass them through a hair sieve, and then bring the “Fil&#233” to New Orleans to sell, coming twice a week to the French Market, from the old reservation set aside for their home on Bayou Lacombe, near Mandeville, Louisiana. The Indians used Sassafras leaves and the Sassafras for many medicinal purposes, and still set bunches of the dried roots in the French Market for use in tea and tonics. The Creoles, quick to discover and apply, found the possibilities of the powdered Sassafras leaves or “Fil&#233,” and originated the well-known dish “Gumbo Fil&#233.”

One thing to remember about using Fil&#233 in a Gumbo is to never boil it. It becomes stringy and unpleasant. When I use Fil&#233 in a Gumbo, I always add it at the table to be stirred in by the guest. It has a wonderful woodsy, earthy type of flavor.

**Update – 3/26/2005** I recently found a good sized Sassafras tree in a park near my house which I harvested some leaves from. I will post soon (here is the post), with pics of my homemade Fil&#233 powder here in Michigan.

Thanks to Doug, here in Muskegon, Michigan for the email. He says his yard is loaded with Sassafras trees. I’m going to look into getting one for the yard for next spring.

Also, check out my friend Carolyn’s post Sassafras & Fil&#233 at 18thC Cuisine!

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01/18/2008: I’m having some technical difficulties as you can see, all of my blog posts are showing in reverse order, my most recent posts can be found in the sidebar to the right and all of the recipes on this site are indexed here:

Index of Creole & Cajun Recipes

I apologize for any inconvenience and I hope to have this issue fixed in the next few days. Thanks for stopping by Nola Cuisine,

Sincerely,
Danno

Welcome to NOLA Cuisine! I’ve been having so much fun food blogging at New Orleans Cuisine and Cook’s Journal that I’ve decided to go Dot Com! I will still keep those sites up with frequent updates (hopefully more frequent than I have lately). I intend to make this site what New Orleans Cuisine is, but MUCH better! I’m using WordPress now and I find that I have more options to do what I want with the Blog (by the way, WordPress is totally free). This will still be a blog, but I want to have a more intense, user friendly Recipe Archive, as well as some other features, such as a bibliography of Creole & Cajun Cookbooks and where to find them.

I can’t wait to get this site up and running, because right now it is seriously under construction, so if I haven’t gotten links to all of my blogging friends yet, it won’t be long.

Danno

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