White Kitchen Memories

A huge hurricane is brewing in the Atlantic, at least 5 days away from us, if it does make it to New Orleans. As of now, the storm is expected to impact Mexico or south Texas, not us. But the idea of another giant one possibly hitting here makes people a little anxious. And guess what else it does? It makes New Orleanians want to eat.
I like comfort foods, those that we have always enjoyed and that make us feel satisfied. One of the ones we eat at this time of the year is Jambalaya. Given I have some sausage and part of a smoked chicken in my refrigerator, and several containers of turkey stock I will cook that today. The other ingredients I either have or will obtain at the supermarket later. Since Jambalaya is a favorite here I won't be the only one cooking that today. My mother never really liked that dish but I have cooked it since adulthood and it is one of the things that gets better when it sits in the refrigerator a couple of days. the flavor blends over time.
Hmmmmmmmmm If I had some pork meat I would also make barbecue beef for sandwiches. That's another one that I am used to while "waiting for a hurricane" to make progress. my father was very found of that one so my mother cooked that once in awhile when I was a kid.
There was a restaurant on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi called the "White Kitchen", a landmark during my childhood days because it was a huge stop in the middle of the wilderness for truck drivers and people like us who had a second home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (about 1 1/2 hours from New Orleans). The White Kitchen made the best barbecued beef and pork sandwiches on the planet. I also used to love their fruit malts. The strawberry had plenty of fresh strawberries in the bottom of the shake. I can still see and taste that when I remember the place. The White Kitchen also had slot machines for 5 or 25 cent coins. Of course little Jimmy (me) used to play the slots one time every trip we stopped at the White Kitchen to eat those sandwiches and refuel the auto. My dad would always give me a coin to try it, but I never won anything.
The White Kitchen was in alligator country. We could see them in the swamps as we rode through the highway in our car. There used to be alligator farms and one the traveler could visit to watch a show,. But we never did go. When my state built a new interstate highway that was direct and faster route to Mississippi, the White Kitchen gradually died from the lack of customers. Other than a few stragglers, people who hunted or fished in the area there were few people took that old route that passed in front of the White Kitchen. It closed and then was completely wiped away by Hurricane Camille, another huge storm that hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, landing near where the once seemingly fortress like White Kitchen building was rendered into rubble by huge tidal wave (tsunami) and unGodly winds.
Kids like to eat the same thing over and over because they can trust it to taste good, so I never ate the White Kitchen Jambalaya. I wanted my barbecue sandwich and malt shake. I am sure it must have been wonderful, as never was there a complaint about any of the food that place served. Too bad I didn't get the recipe for White Kitchen Jambalaya so I could use that one to make mine today.
Oh well, the hurricane bringing up the memory of the White Kitchen is a tasty treat itself as that big hurricane brews in the waters nearby.