ROUSES_Fall2022_Magazine-low-res

When someone asks about my life in Thibodaux, I say it’s like I am studying abroad. I’m from Mobile, Alabama, so the South is not new to me. But since moving from the bay to the bayou, I’ve realized there’s just something about Thibodaux. The food, music, language, culture and people are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. My friend Dane made the gumbo on the cover; our neighbor Perry might bring in a tray of fresh-fried choupique he caught earlier; and a sunny day during crawfish season is just begging for a boil in the backyard. That’s just Thibodaux for you. I’d lived here eight months when Ida hit. Afterwards, I moved in with Matt, Joe and Ethan — and these guys, now my great friends, really opened the door to the good times in Thibodaux for me. I try to immerse myself in the local culture. I keep a running list of Cajun French words that I can toss around in casual conversation. And my bucket list of things to do, like my Cajun lexicon, just keeps growing. For instance, frogging is a high priority up here, along with skinning a raccoon and kayaking down Bayou Lafourche, which runs right through town. To sum it all up (using my Cajun):

In the tomatoes vs. roux debate, I’m #teamroux. I love a good, dark gumbo like the one on this side’s cover — and I love-love a good, dark gumbo poured over a bowl of fresh potato salad. (Although I hear that’s controversial here in New Orleans.) My love of gumbo runs deep, and my identity runs deeper than Art Director at Rouses: One of my secret talents is roller skating. When I joined the Chattanooga Roller Girls a few years back, I was tasked with choosing a strong skater name. My Southwest Louisiana heritage came into play, and I became “Roux” while on wheels. Carrying a part of my Cajun identity onto the track helped me channel my inner roux-ga-roux (folklore swamp monster, to those not familiar). Once we moved back (farther) South, I embraced my Cajun roots further. Every winter, I look forward to waking up before the sun on Mardi Gras day to participate in Courir de Mardi Gras; I still like to brag about catching the chicken on a rainy Mardi Gras morning in 2017. There’s just nothing like a steaming bowl of fresh gumbo on Mardi Gras day, after a long morning of walking along country roads with a hundred of your closest friends. – Eliza Schulze, Art Director

For those of you who haven’t heard of red bean gumbo, it’s a creamy, red bean soup mixture that has a roux flavor like gumbo. I love to talk about red bean gumbo because it’s delicious and combines two of my favorite meals in one! When I was growing up in Luling, my family was always very serious about their beans & rice: red beans, white beans, lima beans — you name it — and of course, we were always equally serious when it came to our gumbos. When we evacuated ahead of Hurricane Katrina to my nanny’s house it was my uncle’s turn to cook dinner, and he did not disappoint us with his wonderful red bean gumbo. I still remember that first bite; it was so good that I quickly went back for seconds. Many of my cousins cook their red bean gumbo using his recipe. They use canned beans when they’re short on time, and dried red beans when they have plenty of time to let the beans cook down slow and velvety…yum! – Amanda Kennedy, Senior Manager Brand & Marketing Strategy

Life in Thibodaux, I like that, me. – Mary Ann Florey, Graphic Designer

10 ROUSES FAL L 2022