Planning to evacuate from Gustav tomorrow morning, as early as possible.  Meanwhile, I’m still trying to cook/eat all of the good things in the fridge.  To sustain us through the battening-down-the-hatches ritual, I made goi ga, the lovely vietnamese cabbage & chicken salad loaded with mint, holy basil, cilantro, crispy shallots, cucumbers, and peanuts.  Yesterday’s leftover ga nuong subsitituted for the usual poached chicken.  The best part of goi ga is the dressing:  fresh cayennes or serranos pounded with garlic, sugar, and salt, mixed with rice vinegar and fish sauce.  So simple, but so delicious.

I have pizza dough resting in the fridge, so I think we’ll have pizza w/fresh mozzarella, portobella mushrooms, and basil for dinner.  I need to eat more stuff out of the fridge so I can fit more ice into it!  Looks like we’ll be packing a cooler for our road trip to Daphne.

St. Charles Parish has called for a mandatory evacuation at 12:00 today; the civil defense/tornado/warning sirens are sounding as I type these words.  As if we weren’t all anxious enough without THAT!