Happy Halloween!

There is a wealth of wonderful restaurants in New Orleans, every one vying for customers grown used to only the best food and entertainment in the world. One of those is Mulate's Cajun Restaurant, known for its Cajun dance floor. Here is one of their recipes from their website. The restaurant’s name was the inspiration for the character Mama Mulate in my novel Big Easy.

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ sticks butter or margarine
- 2 medium bell peppers - chopped
- 3 large onions - chopped
- 3 stalks celery - chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 2 cups bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp. Flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 handful chopped parsley
-  ¾ - 1 lb. claw crabmeat - (suit to taste)
   (Pick all of the shells out.)

Directions:

Melt butter or margarine. Sauté vegetables (bell peppers, onions, and celery) on medium heat until translucent - approximately 15 minutes.

Salt and cayenne pepper, season to taste. Mix all ingredients except crabmeat. Add vegetable mixture you've already cooked.

Mix well. Fold in crabmeat.

To Fry:

Batter with egg. Cover with breadcrumbs. Fry until golden brown.

To Bake:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

You can use this stuffing in Stuffed Mushrooms, Stuffed Bell Peppers, and Stuffed Crabs.

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It doesn’t take much technical analysis to see this as a very real probability.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=a8r0tva21Rp0

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Interesting data from the EIA.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/crude_oil_natural_gas_reserves/cr.html

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Present low prices affects future production and future prices.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=2149049

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Use of fossil fuels to increase.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN0432783820091004

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Oil prices start the week above $80/barrel.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=aAXGQTQB8BeY

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An informative article for you “shalies.”

http://www.haynesvilleshales.com/cottonvalley.html

Halloween, my favorite holiday, is almost upon us and one of the reasons I love this time of year are the tasty pumpkin pies my Mother and Grandmothers used to make.  Here is an old yet simple recipe that I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

• 1 ½ cups fresh pumpkin
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp cinnamon      
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• ¼ tsp salt

Combine ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.  Pour into pastry-lined pie pan.  Bake in hot oven (425 degrees) for about 25 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.  Serve with whipped cream on top.

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BP's head man predicts the future.

http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=98&contentId=7057148

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Suddenly, many states are major natural gas producers.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-choir-for-gas-gets-bigger/article/3410982?custom_click=lead_story_title#

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An interesting article.

http://geology.com/energy/arctic-oil-and-gas-potential/

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Gasoline stocks drop another 2.3 million barrels in the face of refinery shut downs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-hits-82-per-barrel-as-apf-986443273.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

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An exciting prospect.

http://nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115798&org=NSF&from=news

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“The ratio of crude oil to natural gas prices, which at one point this summer stood at 27:1 (27.08) in contrast to the inherent energy- value ratio of 6:1, was way out of line historically and certainly unsustainable.”

http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=2457

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Another alternative energy story.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574431213848800796.html

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18galbraith.html?_r=2

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Prices moving toward $80/barrel.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=a86Y25oAwsEU

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Billionaire George Mitchell talks with Forbes about his pioneering drilling work and the difficulties of the current market.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/george-mitchell-gas-business-energy-shale.html?partner=whiteglove_google

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Welcome to northwest Louisiana, where natural gas is flowing, property prices are popping and not everyone is happy.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/05/natural-gas-haynesville-shale-business-energy-haynesville.html

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I have used Pascal’s Manale as a setting for two stories, both featuring Mama Mulate, my fictional voodoo mambo/Tulane English professor.  In the short story Conjure Man, Mama visits Pascal’s during a hurricane to visit her much younger boyfriend/bartender. In my novel Big Easy, Mama and Wyatt Thomas seal a partnership that sets the stage for the stage for the French Quarter murder mystery.

There is no better place on earth to eat a few dozen oysters and drink cold Dixie Beer while waiting on a table to dine on Pascal’s signature barbecue shrimp and finish up with what may be the best bread pudding in all of New Orleans.

Below is the recipe for their bread pudding straight from the Pascal’s Manale website.

Ingredients:

• 3 Loaves French Bread
• 15 ozs. Raisins
• ½ Gallon Whole Milk
• ½ lb. Sugar
• 10 Eggs
• ½ Pound of Melted Butter
• 3 ozs. Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Cut French bread into cubes. Pour milk on French bread. Let milk soak into bread. Add the remaining ingredients to French bread mixture. Mix with hand until blended evenly. Pour mixture into ungreased pan.

Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Makes 15 or more servings.

Topping

• 3 ozs. Brandy
• 1 lb. butter
• 8 ozs. sugar
• 2 ozs. vanilla extract

Let butter sit at room temperature until very soft. Add the remaining ingredients and blend with mixer until smooth. Pour over bread pudding.

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An interesting study by the USGS.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2009/3060/pdf/FS09-3060.pdf

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Oil approaches $80/barrel.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=aVSlj956tNkY

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An interesting article for all of you “shalies” out there.

http://blogs.epmag.com/rebecca/2009/10/14/marcellus-is-the-new-black/

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Is Bossier the new Haynesville?

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idAFN1424185420091014?rpc=44

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 Natural gas also goes back upward after a false start.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=81372&hmpn=1

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Oil prices ready to soar.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=amRHVlbSydbI

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“The promise of enough natural gas to last the United States more than 100 years based on discoveries of vast shale formations could be the country’s next speculative bubble to burst.”

http://newsok.com/gasshalesfutureisuncertain/article/3408637

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A how-to primer.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twiparch/091007/twipprint.html

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When Anne and I first married we lived in a large house with many windows that overlooked a small body of water called Ski Island Lake.  My Cousin Skip worked for Capitol Records at the time and had been recently transferred to OKC from Austin, Texas.  Since he was new to the City he spent lots of time with us and we enjoyed him immensely.

Skip would usually ride a bike from his apartment to our house.  He was slender and had a goatee and thinning hair he almost always covered with a jaunty Panama hat.  Skip knows more about the recording industry than almost anyone on earth, and he and his wife Connie recently retired to Austin after years in New York City and Los Angeles.

Whenever Skip visited Anne and me during his short stay in Oklahoma City, he always brought us LP’s or tapes, mostly of new and rising artists that we had never heard of before, but soon would.  He could make salsa and guacamole dip like no other person I have ever known, either before or since and here is his simple recipe.

5 green onions                                      1 clove garlic

¼ cup fresh cilantro                              1 half lemon or lime, squeezed

3 or 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded           3 ripe tomatoes

(How hot do you want it?)                    Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

After making sure all the ingredients are crisp and ripe, uniformly dice on a chopping block with a sharp knife and then blend very gently in a food processor.  After transferring the ingredients to a large serving bowl add the lemon juice (or lime if that’s what floats your boat) and salt and pepper to taste.  Chill for an hour or so in the refrigerator while you slug a few Coronas or Tecates, or just grab a bag of your favorite tortilla chips and indulge yourself immediately.  Either way you will be in Heaven.

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Environmental factors result in block on drilling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/science/earth/09leases.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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"Things have started to turn up, but the question is will it be a sustainable turn-up or will we get to a point when we go down again or stay flat for a period of time."

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article194908.ece

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“Unconventional gas is the future.”

http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/1645247.html

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“China has a plan and we don’t.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=acjrjOnBY8FU

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Not exactly going out on a limb.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=aHkXcArcUCI4

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Another good article for all you “shalies” out there.

http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/pubs/PDF/NCGS_OFR_2009-01_20090709.pdf

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California replaces geologists and geophysicists with professional engineers and land surveyors. Interesting!

http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2009/09/california-abolishes-geology-board.html

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Arnaud’s is a famous New Orleans restaurant that I visited the first time when I was in the eighth grade. Even though I have eaten at hundreds of restaurants since, I still remember my first Arnaud’s experience with vivid recall.

Check out their website. It is wonderful and not pretentious. Like many buildings in New Orleans, the one housing Arnaud’s is haunted, perhaps by Count Arnaud himself. What more can you ask for than ghosts, great food and the French Quarter?

Here is an original Arnaud’s recipe straight from their website.

Caramel Cup Custard
 
Simplicity and elegance are underscored in this deceptively modest dessert. It comes to table molded as the cup shape in which it is baked, then overturned on a saucer for presentation. The silky smoothness of the custard is a revelation. It has long been a standard at Arnaud’s and would be impossible to remove from the menu.

• ½ cup granulated sugar, for the caramel
• 1 tablespoon water
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups whole milk, scalded
• ½ teaspoon best quality pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 275°.

In a small, heavy skillet over low heat, stir the ½-cup sugar and 1-tablespoon water until the sugar melts, is free of lumps and turns a light caramel color.

Divide the caramel among six 4 ounce custard cups and let stand until cooled.

Beat the eggs with the 1/4 cup sugar and add the scalded milk slowly, while stirring. Add the vanilla and strain carefully into the prepared cups, to avoid disturbing the caramel.

Place cups in a pan of hot water. The water should come almost to the top of the cups. Cover with foil. Bake slowly for 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hours, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the water and cool to room temperature. Chill until
serving time.

To serve, run a knife around the edge of the custard and invert the cup onto a small plate.

Serves 6

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A report on a Texas wind farm.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-wind_01bus.State.Edition1.ddb4af.html

Panexco

Europe tries its hand at unconventional gas.

http://www.epmag.com/WebOnly2009/item45693.php

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