NEW ORLEANS – A house capable of floating atop rising floodwaters made its debut Tuesday in New Orleans alongside more than a dozen other homes built through actor Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation. Called the FLOAT House, the unique home aims to answer the challenge posed by the Big Easy’s flood risk, starkly illustrated by the rising waters of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Three and a half years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, a still-recovering New Orleans may not be up to belting out “laissez les bon temps rouler” – let the good times roll – with all its usual gusto. But this year will surely be tastier, thanks to a new heartfelt and heartwarming book, “Cooking Up a Storm” (Chronicle, $24.95). The book’s subtitle explains it all: “Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.” Katrina and the subsequent flooding not only killed many and left billions of dollars in property damage, but the storm washed away countless family recipes, those lovingly hoarded scraps of notepaper and newspaper on which family meals and family memories were made.

NEW ORLEANS – A Mardi Gras parade erupted into chaos on Fat Tuesday when a series of gunshots struck seven people, including a toddler. The child was not seriously injured and two suspects were in custody, police said. The shootings happened near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration, Rex, had ended. A stream of truck floats that follow the parade were passing by when gunfire broke out.

Drew Brees was comfortable with falling just short of breaking the NFL single-season passing record. The New Orleans Saints quarterback finished 15 yards shy of Dan Marino’s mark, but still led the league in passing for the second time in three years.