RL Reeves Jr

Writer documenting life in New Orleans 9th Ward. I'm eating 500 po boys at 500 different restaurants, gas stations, corner stores and cafes in New Orleans

65 Years Ago Today Ruby Bridges Strode Up The Stairs At Frantz Elementary In New Orleans 9th Ward

William Frantz Elementary. 3811 North Galvez Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70117

John Steinbeck was on the scene, November 14th, 1960. He described the assemblage of racists thusly:

“Their words written down are dirty, carefully and selectedly filthy. But there was something far worse here than dirt, a kind of frightening witches’ Sabbath. Here was no spontaneous cry of anger, of insane rage.

Perhaps that is what made me sick with weary nausea. Here was no principle good or bad, no direction. These blowzy women, with their little hats and their clippings, hungered for attention. They wanted to be admired. They simpered in happy, almost innocent triumph when they were applauded. Theirs was the demented cruelty of egocentric children, and somehow this made their insensate beastliness much more heart-breaking. These were not mothers, or even women. They were crazy actors playing to a crazy audience.”

Winners 58th Annual Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert – Wick Fowler Memorial Championship. Chili Cookoff

Winners 58th Annual Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert – Wick Fowler Memorial Championship. Chili Cookoff

Recipe: Red Beans And Rice With Smoked Alligator Sausage

We have a life long love of gators.

Perhaps this was brought on by old actioners like Alligator [screenplay by John Sayles], the incredible 80s film wherein a beastly, 36 foot long gator attacks a stretch limo and occasionally erupts out of the Chicago sewer system to devour unwary residents of the Windy City.

The Evolution of Swans Down Flour Packaging

Swans Down Flour. May 31st, 1886.

When I tell the story of a brand with a history as long and vivid as Swans Down flour the tale must begin with the people behind it, and just as importantly the development of the marque.

Swans Down branding leans on imagery of softness and purity: swan down evokes feathers, lightness, delicacy—qualities desirable in cake baking.

2025 Frank X. Tolbert–Wick Fowler Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook‑Off

2025 Frank X. Tolbert–Wick Fowler Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook‑Off

Back in the 80s when I first started pilgrimaging to Terlingua for what we just called ‘The Wick’ the little dusty mining town was a mite different. There were zero airbnbs, you could buy a nice-sized plot of land for a couple thousand bucks and entering or leaving nearby Mexico was as simple as hopping on a raft or wading the Rio Grande.

Field Report: 2025 Krewe De Boo Halloween Parade

2025 Krewe De Boo Halloween Parade

I had resigned myself to missing the 2025 edition of the Krewe de Boo Halloween parade as New Orleans was socked in with the first rain storm we’d had since August. Then, as life on the Gulf of Mexico often does, the clouds parted and the city was bathed in sweet sunshine. Time to motor up to the French Quarter for one of our town’s best parties of the years. This is what I saw

Field Report: 2025 Prince of Wales Social and Pleasure Second Line

2025 Prince of Wales Social and Pleasure Second Line

The Prince of Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club was formed in 1928 and has hosted a second line roll through their 12th Ward neighborhood for nearly 100 years now. We took a 15 minute car ride uptown today to document their rolling street party. This is what we saw

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Pinto Beans With Jalapenos and Bacon

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Pinto Beans With Jalapenos and Bacon

Deluxe Side Dishes For Central Texas Barbecue

When I’m motoring out to Central Texas barbecue’s legendary smokehouses I do not eat side dishes.

People fly to Texas from all over the globe to eat at the smoked meat temples of Smithville, Taylor, Lockhart and Luling.

It ain’t for the potato salad.

Field Report: 2025 Young Men Olympian Jr Benevolent Association Second Line

2025 Young Men Olympian Jr Benevolent Association Second Line

Young Men Olympian Jr Benevolent Association was founded in 1884.

2025 Young Men Olympian Jr Benevolent Association Second Line

Chester A. Arthur was in the White House while William J. Behan was in the mayor’s office in downtown New Orleans.

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Spaghetti With Sweet Onion Brisket Ragu

RL Reeves Jr Recipe: Spaghetti With Sweet Onion Brisket Ragu [photo courtesy Ryan Adams]

When in the presence of a superior cook, I like to focus, laser-like, on the subject at hand, take notes and give proper deference to the higher authority.

Such was the case on many trips to Agata’s kitchen in Alabaster, Alabama.

There is an enormous Italian diaspora in central Alabama.

For decades, immigrants from the Boot have traveled to Dixie to settle into the fertile blacklands, and begin their new lives among the country folk of Chilton, Shelby and Jefferson counties.

It’s a little known fact that the Birmingham area hosts some of the finest Italian restaurants in the whole United States.

Places where they still bring a hot loaf of bread to table the moment you’re seated, Chianti bottles line the walls, and the tablecloths?

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