665. Zella Palmer, Part 2.

665. Part 2 of our interview of Zella Palmer, expert on Creole and African cooking. She released a documentary, The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot. She is also the author of Recipes and Remembrances of Fair Dillard, 1869-2019.Zella, educator, food historian, author, and filmmaker, serves as the Chair and Director of the Dillard University Ray Charles Program in African-American Material Culture. Palmer is committed to preserving the legacy of African-American, Native American, and Latino culinary history in New Orleans and the South. Palmer curated The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking: The Black Hand in the Pot academic conference and documentary, the Nellie Murray Feast, and the Dr. Rudy Joseph Lombard: Black Hand in the Pot Lecture Series.

1. Now available: Liberty in Louisiana: A Comedy. The oldest play about Louisiana, author James Workman wrote it as a celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. Now it is back in print for the first time in 222 years. Order your copy today!
2. This week in the Louisiana Anthology. Samuel Clemens. "Letter to Pamela A. Moffett."
       [It's the be]ginning of Lent, and all good Catholics eat and drink freely of what they please, and, in fact, do what they please, in order that they may be the better able to keep sober and quiet during the coming fast. It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans.
       I posted off up town yesterday morning as soon as the boat landed, in blissful ignorance of the great day. At the corner of Good-Children and Tchoupitoulas streets, I beheld an apparition! — and my first impulse was to dodge behind a lamp-post. It was a woman — a hay-stack of curtain calico, ten feet high — sweeping majestically down the middle of the street (for what pavement in the world could accommodate hoops of such vast proportions?) Next I saw a girl of eighteen, mounted on a fine horse, and dressed as a Spanish Cavalier, with long rapier, flowing curls, blue satin doublet and half-breeches, trimmed with broad white lace — (the balance of her dainty legs cased in flesh-colored silk stockings) — white kid gloves — and a nodding crimson feather in the coquettishest little cap in the world. She removed said cap and bowed low to me, and nothing loath, I bowed in return — but I could n’t help murmuring, “By the beard of the Prophet, Miss, but you’ve mistaken your man this time — for I never saw your silk mask before, — nor the balance of your costume, either, for that matter.” And then I saw a hundred men, women and children in fine, fancy, splendid, ugly, coarse, ridiculous, grotesque, laughable costumes, and the truth flashed upon me — “This is Mardi-Gras!”
3. This week in Louisiana history. February 13, 1899. Lowest temperature ever recorded in Louisiana, Minden, -16°F.
4. This week in New Orleans history. First Rex Parade.
   February 13, 1872 Lewis J. Salomon reigned as Rex during the organization's first parade on February 13, 1872.  The theme was "Triumphal Entry". The official anthem of Rex, "If Ever I Cease to Love", was a hit song of the early 1870's era from a musical comedy named "Bluebeard". The musical's leading lady, Lydia Thompson, was performing in New Orleans at the time of the first Rex parade. The visiting Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, who had seen "Bluebeard" during his national tour, was also familiar with the song and with Thompson, to whom he had once sent a gift bracelet.  
   
5. This week in Louisiana.
   Krewe of Artemis Parade
   Downtown Baton Rouge
   Baton Rouge, LA 70801
   February 21, 2026 at 7:00 PM
   Website: kreweofartemis.net
   Email: info@kreweofartemis.net
   Phone: (225) 344-5272
   To find the parade route, visit the krewe's website and click on "Parade Route" in the main menu.
   The Krewe of Artemis is Baton Rouge's premier women‑led Mardi Gras parade, known for its family‑friendly atmosphere, signature throws, and vibrant nighttime procession:
   
• All‑Female Krewe: Founded in 2001, Artemis is the first and largest women's Mardi Gras krewe in Baton Rouge.
• Night Parade: Floats are illuminated for a glowing, high‑energy procession through downtown.
• Signature Throws: Popular items include light‑up beads, custom cups, and the krewe's collectible plush moon.
6. Postcards from Louisiana. Delfayo Marsalis.

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