Rouses_FINAL-November-December-2017

IN OUR STORES

Christmas on the Bayou Pelican Publishing celebrates the 25th anniversary of The Cajun Night Before Christmas , the Louisiana version of Clement Clarke Moore’s classic poem, A Visit From St. Nicholas , which is more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas . Written in Cajun dialect and set in a bayou, it features Ole St. Nick “wit’ snow-white chin whisker an’ quiverin’ belly,” dressed “head to his toes” in muskrat instead of a red suit. In place of a sleigh, he drives a skiff piled high with toys, pulled not by reindeer, but by eight flying alligators: Gaston, T’Boy, Pierre, Alcee, Ninette, Suzette, Celeste and Renee. Copies of The Cajun Night Before Christmas are available for sale at all Rouses Markets in Louisiana. ​

Panettone Panettone are sold all over Italy, especially in Milan, where this tall Christmas bread filled with dried raisins and candied oranges was invented. Like fruitcake, which panettone resembles, the sweet treat is served during Christmas celebrations — especially on Christmas Day and Santo Stefano (the feast day of St. Stephen and a national holiday in Italy, celebrated on December 26). It is also customarily eaten on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Our panettone was personally tasted and selected on a recent buying trip to Italy.

Local Satsumas Satsumas — a type of mandarin citrus — are

grown all over the Gulf Coast. They’re sweet, seedless and easy to peel. We buy Louisiana satsumas from father-and- son farming team Ben Becnel, Sr. and Ben Becnel, Jr., in Plaquemines Parish, and their neighbor, Matt Ranatza. Both farms also grow Louisiana sweets, navel oranges, grapefruits and Meyer lemons. Alabama satsumas come in a bit later in the season. Ours are from third-generation farmer Jeremy Sessions of Sessions Produce in Grand Bay. ​

WWW.ROUSES.COM 47