The Lafayette Science Museum celebrates Louisiana's bicentennial with its newly opened exhibit titled "Louisiana 200 Years Later." History comes to life through local and international perspectives using artifacts, graphic panels, photographs, video kiosks and a Civil War diorama displaying artifacts from Port Hudson State Historic Site. Important milestones of Louisiana's bicentennial timeline are brought to life by local historian and writer, Jim Bradshaw. A collaboration with museums in Lafayette's sister cities of Poitiers, France and Montreal, Canada highlight the process of surveying in Louisiana's earliest cities.

This exhibit also features The Fabrique Nationale (FN)/Browning/Winchester Collection, an assortment of historic, rare and modern firearms that are on loan from the Belgian manufacturer Fabrique Nationale (FN). More than 40 guns representing the unique transatlantic heritage of the FN family of brands are on display together for the first time ever. These are some of the oldest and most historically important firearms in the world.

The exhibit opened May 1, 2012 and runs through Feb. 28, 2013. The Lafayette Science Museum is located at 433 Jefferson St. in downtown Lafayette. For more information, call 337-291-5544 or visit the museum's website at www.lafayettesciencemuseum.org. 

From Chef Patrick Mould:
My absolute favorite seafood ingredient is the soft-shell crab. Louisiana blue point crabs shed their shell every time they go through a growing spurt. The crab will eventually harden its shell but for a brief amount of time the result is a completely edible crab. Hard soft-shell crabs are fished all along the Gulf coast and eastern seaboard. Caught in baited traps the crabs are culled through and the red liner crabs, which literally have a small red line on their underbelly and is an indication that they are on the verge of softening, are set aside to molt in salted tanks. You would be hard pressed to find any fresher seafood. Traditionally the soft-shell crabs are deep-fried however my favorite method of cooking this summertime seafood is grilled. Summertime would not be complete unless I fired up the grill and cooked up some. Get the recipe here>