Marcella Bienvenu, NSU-Culinary
Marcella Bienvenu is a cookbook author and food writer who has been preparing Cajun and Creole dishes since the 1960s. She is currently a chef/instructor at the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University.
She is the author of four cookbooks: Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux? (Book 1), Who’s Your Mama… ? (Book 2), Cajun Cooking for Beginners, and No Baloney On My Boat. She co-authored four cookbooks with renowned chef Emeril Lagasse. She also co-authored Eula Mae’s Cajun Kitchen with Eula Mae Dore, a longtime cook for the McIlhenny family on Avery Island, and Stir the Pot: The History of Cajun Cuisine, with Carl A. Bras-seaux and Ryan A. Brasseaux. With Judy Walker, food editor for The Times-Picayune, Ms. Bienvenu co-authored Cooking Up A Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, which was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2009.
She talked about her interest in cooking and her contributions by writing books and stated: I spoke to a group in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago, and one of the ladies in the audience asked me how “did you get into food?” Well, I was born into it. My father’s family. – large family owned the newspaper, went home for lunch. My mother’s family – farmers – had pigs, chickens, cattle, garden, canned figs and pears, and made butter.
My experience in Washington, D.C. and my stint at the TP – living in New Orleans opened up a whole new world to me. I became infatuated with the history of why we eat what we eat – how did the cuisines of Cajun and Creole evolve? And now I’m somewhat of a culinary historian. I teach at Nicholls – Culinary History of the American South. And now it appears that we’ll be having our own culinary building -33,000 square feet on a 6-acre site on Highway 1 on what used to be Acadiana Plantation.
Dan Borne’-The Power Of The Ask!
Dan Borne’: president of the Louisiana Chemical Association
Mr. Borne’ graduated from Thibodaux High School salutatorian and attended Nicholls where he was student body President and Mr. Nicholls and inducted to NSU Hall of Fame.
He attended LSU to work on his Masters in Mass Communications. Dan became the news anchorman for Channel 9. Later, he worked on the staff of two senior U.S. senators, Allen Ellender, and Russell Long.
Dan joined the Edwin Edwards administration as the governor’s chief assistant and executive secretary. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Baton Rouge General Hospital and General Health System, President of the Louisiana Arts and Science Center, and President of the Louisiana Council on Economic Education.
For the past 22 years, he has served as President of the Louisiana Chemical Association. Dan is an adjunct professor at L.S.U. and he is also President of the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance, a group of over 500 businesses.
He is a member of the board of directors of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation. Dan is the public address announcer in L.S.U.’s Tiger Stadium and also the courtside announcer in the P-Mac for basketball games.
Mr. Borne’ began by saying that we are in the Renaissance in manufacturing industries which will benefit our State tremendously. He further stated that God did not give us mountains like in Colorado or the white beaches of Florida but He gave us dead dinosaurs, Jurassic Park of minerals, oil, natural gas, and the incredible Mississippi River that provides commerce and brings Louisiana to the world and the world to Louisiana.
Over the last five years, the availability of natural gas has changed the manufacturing industry in the State, because now natural gas is plentiful and relatively inexpensive.
This has and will result in billions of dollars in investments along the river in several parishes and will reverberate into all the river parishes and those bordering the river parishes. It will create good jobs especially for young people who receive technical, manufacturing, and business degrees. He further added that “Renaissance of Manufacturing” is coming and it is because of natural gas and shell gas drilling in North Louisiana and Texas.
As an adjunct instructor at LSU, one of the questions Mr. Borne’ is often asked is “how did you get the job as PA announcer at LSU?” He explains the reason was that he asked for it. The message of the story was “Don’t ever be afraid to ask.” If at anytime there is ambiguity in life as to what we are suppose to be doing on the job, with the family, or at church or volunteer activities, ask what is the next thing that needs to be done and how can one help to do it.
Dan said that another life lesson is the power of one person. He further added that the power of knowing one’s role and playing it well and understanding what the role is in an organization is important. A good friend of his went for an audition and did not get the role he wanted but got a smaller role He asked for another role but was told that there were no small roles but there were small actors. Dan tells the students who are entering into an organization to understand their roles and the part they are suppose to play and not to be intimidated by people who have bigger roles because in the grand scheme of things there are no small parts/roles in any organization.
Meet My Cousin – Dan Borne’
Thanks to the effort of Craig Stanga, past president and present Sargent-at-arms of the Thibodaux Rotary Club, the club was treated to a humorous, entertaining and insightful presentation by Dan Borne’. Dan is president of the Louisiana Chemical Association, and (as it would seem, an even more notable presence as the stadium announcer for LSU’s famed Tiger Stadium).
In addition to some very funny exchanges between cousins (Craig and Dan), Dan had some great stories about Tiger Stadium. And also spoke about one memorable encounter with LSU’s famed baseball coach and past AD, Skip Bertman. Skip Bertman and tubas???
Dan also offered some great insight into the promising future of manufacturing along the lower Mississippi river, which will greatly impact our bayou region.
The videos below are large, so be patient and give them a few moments to load.
This program is divided into 2 videos. One is Craig’s introduction. The other is Dan Borne’s presentation.
Craig’s introduction video (It’s a large file so give it a few moments to start loading):
Dan Borne’s Presentation
(It’s a large file so give it a few moments to start loading):
