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As the great-great granddaughter of Antoine Alciatore, the founder of Antoine’s Restaurant, and the great granddaughter of George Leidenheimer, who established the eponymous bakery...

Over a year ago, the Clarion Herald launched NOLA Catholic Parenting column and blog and, then added a podcast in October. 

Deacon Dennis Adams vividly remembers attending one particular Friday-night birthday party as a youngster growing up in Wisner...

Jeff Young, the Catholic Foodie – “Where Food Meets Faith” – traces his love of cooking and food to his childhood with a stay-at-home mom and large extended family...

As the school cafeteria manager at St. Mary’s Elementary, the owner of a catering business and a food-loving New Orleanian, Stephanie Jackson is used to cooking for crowds ranging from 20 to 600.

Dr. Ann Logarbo remembers clearly the day  she promised to prepare an annual St. Joseph altar. On her day off, she drove from her St. Tammany Parish home to visit her mother, Mary Cefalu, in Amite.

As a youngster growing up in Houston, Religious of the Sacred Heart Sister Jan Dunn was always welcomed into the kitchen to watch her grandmother’s housekeeper prepare meals.

A room packed with mostly out-of-towners interested in Creole Italian cuisine listened to native New Orleanian Jyl Benson regale them with the colorful history of New Orleans cooking as they sampled olive salad and Creole red gravy at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB).

As a youngster growing up in Lafayette, Father Samuel Fontana thought nothing of taking a pair scissors to his backyard to snip fresh herbs to throw into a simmering pot, or of breaking down rabbits, doves and ducks for stewing after a hunting expedition.

Deacon Carlo Maniglia’s love for food and faith came from his upbringing in an Italian family. His recalls his grandparents’ home burning down on North Roman and Gov. Nicholls streets, and soon after, they erected a St. Joseph altar.

Miracles – some pretty hefty ones – have rocked Karen Hubert Ursin’s life from Day One. As a newborn, Ursin was baptized in the hospital because her doctors were concerned her O-negative blood type – seen as a potential death sentence in 1955 – was working against her little body.

When consummate entertainer, musician and cradle Catholic Deacon John Moore talks about growing up in New Orleans, his life story is intertwined with the Catholic faith.

Nine years ago, Emily Abry Barré found herself in the middle of a literal crossfire on the streets of New Orleans. When two men began shooting at one another from their respective vehicles, Barré was the innocent – and unlucky – driver lodged between them. She walked away unharmed, but shaken.

Francisca Aleman or “Panchita,” as she is affectionately known to family and friends, counts herself a blessed person. Twenty-two years ago she left Vera Cruz, Mexico, alone, seeking a better life in the United States. “Coming to the United States gave me hope, and I was happy to work here to help my family in Mexico,” she said.

Whenever she visits her family back home in India, one of the first things Karen Fernandes asks for is a succulent vegetarian stew brimming with mushrooms plucked from the hillsides of the coastal town where she grew up. “We make it with lots of spices, so say you want to make chicken curry – you would just substitute mushrooms for the chicken,” explained Fernandes, listing other ingredients that she craves from her homeland, such as fresh coconut, bamboo shoots and the purple blossoms of the banana plant, the latter of which adds texture and flavor to lentil dishes.

On any given day at St. Anthony’s Gardens Senior Living in Covington, the kitchen staff operates as a restaurant offering a choice of five entree items, specials and an “always-available” menu (that includes salad, sandwiches and desserts).

It’s the price every homeowner in South Louisiana must eventually pay: re-armoring structures assaulted by scorching summers, heavy rains and winters that can feel as cold as Minnesota one day and swampy the next. That time has arrived for Spanish Renaissance-style St. Joseph Church and its 99-foot-high bell tower, which rises majestically over the streets of Old Gretna.