I don't think anybody makes it better than my Momma but there is plenty of good fried chicken out there in the city.  Two discussions about fried and frying chicken are active on the board now:

Fried chicken... initiated by MsRiv and Leah Chase's Creole Fried Chicken by United119

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Inquiring Minds wrote: It takes a lot of strength to do what you did, maria. You should be very proud of yourself. I know your mama would be. And what a great life you are making for yourself!

Mr. Lake wrote: Ditto on that.

I could not imagine myself being so brave as to move alone to a far away place where I knew hardly anyone. And look at you now, ya big TV celebrity, you!

schatze said: I wish I had the balls to do something like that and be better off in two years time. It's amazing how fear stops us and scary what we miss out out on because of it. We might all achieve wonderful things if fear didn't stop us.

Read the whole thread about our amazing Maria here.

As a young child I heard my parents discuss a move out of state which would have entailed a promotion for my father and who knows how much more money he'd make if he moved and moved again and again. They decided to stay in Metairie. And there were no more promotions. My father made a good living and has no regrets. We could'a been richer but I don't think we would'a been happier.

As a teenager I was included when my parents discussed a move from their small suburban home to a larger one as opposed to adding on to the house. My vote was to stay -- my friends were in that neighborhood, my school was there, and just about everything I'd known about since I was four years old was there. They stayed.

Now there is some regret. They have some wonderful neighbors but the old neighborhood ain't what it used to be. And they are faced with their house and addition (built on old swampland) sinking into the morass.

Mike and I bought a house in that neighborhood. We were renting it when the owner decided to sell. I was happy there, brought my two babies home from the hospital to that house, and took my children to their first day of school at the same school I had attended. It was a good life -- so familiar, like a small town.

Then we had the opportunity to buy a big old house in a nice old neighborhood and we moved. Only about six miles away but to a different universe. Took me several years to adjust. In my mind, the people weren't the same. But Mike, who is like TV's "Raymond" (who everybody loves) tried hard to convince me that "they're just regular people". I'm still not convinced generally speaking but we do have some lovely neighbors. I love our house, our neighborhood, how convenient it is to get around to and from, and (now) just about everything about it. I'm so glad we moved.

What I think I'm trying to say is that life throws you clues. How good you are at deciphering them may be the key.

I was looking at some footage from Lafitte and Crown Point and started to cry (I haven't done that as much as I did for a long time after Katrina). Those poor people. It's awful. And when I watched the helicopter fly-over I got that old Katrina thing back that I thought I had gotten over -- that horrible "what's going to happen to us" feeling.