Another recipe from Nora Ephron's "Heartburn."

"Once in New Orleans, we all went to Mosca's for dinner, and we ate marinated crab, baked oysters, barbecued shrimp, spaghetti bordelaise, chicken with garlic, sausage with potatoes, and on the way back to town, a dozen oysters each at the Acme and beignets and coffee with chicory on the wharf. Then Arthur said, 'Let's go to Chez Helene's for the bread pudding,' and we did, and we each had two. The owner of Chez Helene gave us the recipe when we left, and I'm going to throw it in because it's the best bread pudding I've ever eaten. It tastes like caramelized mush.

Cream 2 cups sugar with 2 sticks butter. Add six beaten eggs, then add 2 1/2 cups milk, on 13-ounce can evaporated milk, 2 tablespoons nutmeg, 2 tablespoons vanilla, a loaf of wet bread in chunks and pieces (any bread will do, the worse the better) and 1 cup raisins. Stir to mix. Pour into a deep greased casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours, stirring after the first hour. Serve warm with hard sauce."

Here's a hard sauce recipe from Land of Lakes butter:

Nutmeg Hard Sauce
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon brandy
Nutmeg

In a small mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar and butter. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients; continue beating until fluffy.

What they call 'barbecued shrimp' in New Orleans is shell-on shrimp served in a runny, mybloggers sauce and you get your fingers messy peeling them. The recipes I have call for peeled shrimp, and I say Why not? Peel 'em, so you can get down to eating.

Barbecued Shrimp

1 pound peeled, deveined shrimp
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup melted butter
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Dash of Tabasco

Arrange shrimp in a single layer in a baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over shrimp. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve with some nice French bread and fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli) to dip in the butter sauce.