Et cetera

Eat: Cracklin Butter. The fat kid in me likes to think of butter as the universal condiment; it improves the taste of every food, short of raw fruits and vegetables (I’m guessing). So how do you improve an already perfect edible? You add some cracklins. The guys at Uptown butcher Cleaver and Co. (3917 Baronne) sell a “crackling butter,” which is just what it sounds like: a compound butter made with pork cracklins. What are you waiting for? Go douse your apple in cracklin-speckled butter.

Drink: A Juice Cocktail. So you’re a health nut (or at least pretending to be one) and you’re dying for a cocktail. Before you resign yourself to a mocktail (read: glorified juice) or throw your hands up and say to hell with health, you may want to peruse vegan restaurant Seed’s “Juice Cocktail” menu, which boasts a number of health-oriented ingredients combined with solid doses of booze. The Almond Milk Punch ($10), for instance, is, as suggested by its name, a healthier iteration of a classic Southern Milk Punch cocktail — subbing almond milk for heavy cream and maple syrup for refined white sugar. Other highlights of the drink menu include “The Baudin” ($8): Bourbon, Agave nectar, lemon and hot sauce; and “The Toasted Seed Bloody Mary” ($10): tomato juice, a toasted seed mix, vodka, lemon, lime, and olive brine.

Wear: Finding a white dress that doesn’t make you look like you’re: a) en route to your own wedding, b) attending your first communion, c) coming or going from/to the lab, which we all assume you work in, or d) recycling your third grade DIY ghost costume. And when White Linen night rolls around, you throw in the added textile variable white linen and you have yourself the makings of a scavenger hunt for the Holy Grail. Fortunately, with a week until the big night, there’s still time until the night-before, it’s-white-that’s-good-enough shopping panic.

Exclusively from Intermix, L’Agence offers a sleeveless A-line dress ($498) with structuring pleats, made of, yes, white linen, embellished with a gold, double-way zipper that serves both embellishment and functional (as far as manipulating the shape of the dress) purposes. Bonus: It contains two pockets, in case you run out of purse real estate, or you just don’t know what to do with your hands. From her spring 2014 collection, Nicole Miller offers a more classic frock ($290) for the evening: a fitted white linen dress with a sleeveless, three-dimensional silhouette. An extra plus: The garment is made of a linen blend, giving it some elasticity, which, as you probably know, is a godsend in 90-degree weather.

Fete: At a White Linen Speakeasy: If you’re keen on donning your best white summer frock, sipping an icy libation, and immersing yourself in NOLA’s art scene, yet hesitant — dare I say, entirely resistant — to having your personal space invaded by thousands of your closest strangers on Julia Street, the White Linen Night Jazz + Art Speakeasy is where you should be. Where Y’Art, NolaVie, New Orleans Living Magazine, and NOLA Art House Music will co-host a truly alternative White Linen Night event at Tasseology (the building with Podesta Bunny Men perched atop, 1228 OC Haley) on Saturday, August 2. The ’20s-themed speakeasy party will showcase the works of emerging musicians and artists and will feature prohibition-inspired cocktails and jazz performances from Evan Christopher, Greg Agid, Bleu Orleans, and Matt Lemmler. Tickets are $10. Doors open at 9 PM/ shows start at 10 PM.

Laugh: Meanwhile in the Quarter…

Wrong LA? Or just overly eager about White Linen night?