The southern rains drifted through here last night, so today was a good day to drive to Baton Rouge -- overcast skies, but dry pavement.

Shopping was charmed.

Patel Bros. does not have a shop in Baton Rouge. But Fashion India expanded with a grocery department. We found asafoetida, fenugreek seeds, cardamom seeds, tamarind paste, garam masala, black mustard seeds, amchur powder and curry leaves. The leaves are fresh, but the ladies assure me that they can be frozen. I saw rose syrup, then forgot to pick a bottle up. I remember rose lassi from my days in New York.

Almonds in the shell were $3.29/pound at Fresh Pickins produce. Pomegranates 69 cents apiece. Call it the bird stop.

Whole Foods sells half-pound blocks of Callebaut chocolate in milk, semi-sweet, bittersweet and white.

Then to Tony's Seafood for turtle, shrimp, stuffed crabs and a treat of boiled crabs.

Let's not forget Gas Lane No. 17 in Woodville on the way down for a fresh snack of chicken-fried chicken gizzards. (Lyman says they're not as good as the ones at Shell in Bude.)

UPDATE: Lyman is trolling (fisherman's term) the couple of Indian cookbooks we own. (Thanks, Jordana.)