Favorite Things

One of my favorite things: Tulane Not Playing at Army - yay! While we still have this wretched team on the schedule (why? why? why?!), hopefully we can finally fling them sometime soon. Temple, Penn State, Maryland, UConn ... anyone?

One of my guilty pleasures this past summer was The Bachelorette (Frank was such a fraud!) and Bethenny's Getting Married. I totally heart Bethenny Frankel and her sassiness! Mrs. Hullabaloo and Mrs. Frankel-Hoppy SO would have been friends had she been a Newcomb Girl in the early 90's.

As any good Newcomb Girl does, I heart New York! Being from New York or loving New York is an absolute prerequisite of being affiliated with Tulane. We are so lucky to be an outpost enclave of The City at Tulane. It's reason #210 why Tulane is the best school EVAH!

So Bethenny's wedding planner, the infinitely patient, Shawn Rabideau, posted a list of his favorite things to do in New York and I am so excited to try some of these on his list for Tulane's away game at Rutgers next weekend this football season.

I always do "my" favorite things to do when I go to NYC (The Strand, Century 21, H&M, Pearl River Market and Zara's), so I was happy to read Shawn's recommend list and be inspired to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. Such as creating the gumbo-like Matzo Ball Soup at Stein's Deli on Magazine (another one of my favorite things about Tulane and New Orleans)

So here, Tulane fans traveling to Rutgers, are some of Shawn's Favorite Spots in The City in no particular order:

1. Ardesia Wine Bar - Can't get enough of this Hell's Kitchen wine bar! Great wine, great food and happy hour from 5pm to 7pm Mon-Fri!

2. Favorite Burger - "5 Napkin Burger" Too many good things to list, but you MUST try their sushi…yes, they serve that too!

3. Limelight Marketplace – it’s just cute! (Exclamtion Point! Mrs. Hullabaloo is ALL over this shopping suggestion. STAT!)

4. Who doesn’t love pizza? Run to one of Shawn's all time favorite spots Johns Pizzeria. It’s a great Times Square spot that offers a quality meal for a quality price. Perfect for before or after the theater. (Speaking of Pizza, Mo's Pizza in Marrero displays a signed Patrick Ramsey helmet as that was his favorite pizza joint in Nola.)

5. Shawn's favorite Meatpacking District eats – Son Cubano and Fig & Olive. To die for! (Mr. and Mrs. Hullabaloo always do the same old, same old in the Meatpacking District: One. and we are ashamed to admit we have never, ever been to the One right here in Riverbend in New Orleans.)

6. One of Shawn's all time favorite Italian restaurants, Il Vagabondo is a hidden gem on the east side. Directly out of “The Godfather” with a full Bocce Court, this place has the most amazing lasagna you’ve ever tasted!

8. If you like paper and stationery run to Paper Presentations. It’s like the Baskin Robbins of Stationery! (Did someone say Stationery?)

9. If you like Red Velvet Cake and fresh baked bread like I do, Shawn recommends any of Amy’s Bread locations throughout the city. They have the best fresh baked goods you’ve ever tasted. Perfect for the holidays! Get your order in early because the good stuff goes fast! (No holiday needed for Red Velvet Cake!)

10. Like cupcakes…Forget about waiting in line at some of the Cupcake Stop locations, you can shop online CupCakeStop.com and ship some of their amazing flavors such as French Toast with Maple Syrup and bacon…AMAZING!

11. Looking to have a cocktail with an amazing view? Go to the Mandarin Oriental Lobby Lounge. Fantastic drinks with a fantastic view of Central Park. Perfect anytime of the year! (Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo are big fans of Mandarin Oriental and their impeccable service)

12. Who knew you could have cocktails in the library? Well you can at the Hudson Hotel's Library Bar. The perfect atmosphere after work or before hitting the town!

13. Like chocolate? Run to La Masion du Chocolat. They have the MOST exquisite chocolates Shawn has ever tasted in the city!

14. Although it’s name doesn’t do it justice, the Frying Pan located off of 26th Street and the West Side Highway is a “hot spot” of sorts. An old light ship (now converted to a bar) that is on the registrar of historic places, is something fun and out of the ordinary.

So Tulane Fans, let's do something out of the ordinary and bring us back a win!

Wicked!

First - my sincerest apology to my dear fans that I did not have a blog post whipped out to share first thing Sunday morning. I was so exhausted from that unbearable Hot as Hades, Mojave-type conditions in that horrible concrete stadium that we went straight to the hotel to clean up, sleep and then hit the road Sunday to be back Chez Nous.

My biggest disapointment HAS got to be UAB losing to Tennessee - what a game, huh?! I wish that they'd won!!

So Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo were tres hereux to be "Bienvenue en Louisiane" Sunday afternoon. Just in time to catch Sean Payton ice a blocked kick. BOOOO - those suck Coach Payton! Can that call, OK?

I know, I know! You are all extremely anxious to hear my reporting about Cooter Day, so I will get right to it!

Did I expect Tulane to win? No, I really didn't. So I was just ecstatic with our second and third quarter performance. And ecstatic that we sacked Broadway as often as we did.

(all football photos below courtesy of the AP)

When we woke up Sunday morning I turned to Coach Hullabaloo, laughed and asked "Were we really first and ten at the Houston 30 and then it turned into 4th and 43? Or was that a wicked dream?"

Ha! Coach Hullabalo laughed and said, that was the fastest drive down the field he'd ever seen. He just didn't expect for it to be in reverse.

Oh, the typical weekend of a Tulane fan. sigh.

Clearly we have talent on our football team. We will just have to faithfully await our Coaching Messiah to lead our Greewave Rennaissance. I feel he will be coming soon.

Which reminds me that I'll need to go ask my witch/spiritual adviser, Jade, about that on my next trip to Jackson Square. I've met her personally and she is really, really good at her tarot readings. I am dead as a doornail serious. Seriously, I read this post from a Kentucky Wildcat. I then googled about that year's tourney, my jaw dropped on the ground at her accuracy and just had to go find her. But alas I plum forgot to ask her about my sports teams during my reading. I assure you it's true she has no teeth and wears pentagram star dangle earings. She also drinks blood, which completely freaks me out I admit.

Speaking of bloodsucking vampires - New Orleans VooDoo season tickets are on sale now.

One word about spiritualists - just because they give accurate readings, doesn't mean you are actually going to like what they have to say or that it's going to be what you want to hear.

So back to the topic at hand: How about Kevin Moore having some flashes of brilliance there on those back to back TD's?!?


Payten Jason back grinding it out on the field again!!!


Devin Figaro is starting to show some Robert Meachem promise!


and Trent Mackey is da man! And how about Cody Sparks first college Touch Down!?!?!


So Despite that ridiculous 4th and 43 stack of penalties and some I'd-rather-soon-forget-flashbacks of Kevin Moore throwing at people's feet, I must comment that not going for it on 4th down in the 2nd half (in lieu of kicking 50 yards) and then trying for 2 were really some stupid coaching calls.

We just need a new architect at the helm is all.

All in all, the Cooters did not disappoint in amusing me. Although I have to say that I was really looking forward to seeing the latest in gangsta fashions and disappointed they were all no-shows. I guess they don't come out for day games.

There was, however, a group of aging men who appeared old enough to know better - or at least should have picked up some manners of somesort by the looks of their age. They were seated along the 30 yard line on the sideline with their girlfriends and wives. Next to their section of seating were the Greenwave Coaches football wives, including our very own Greenwave Jackie-O, Elaine Toledo. I don't know how she manages to keep her hair and appearnce looking perfect under every weather condition and just always sparkling personality no matter what the scoreboard reads. I will miss her.

So these typical classy Cooter fans were sitting there cussing at our players and giving them the bird, right by our coaches wives! And the Cooter wives/girlfriends just chatting away amidst amongst themselves as if such behavior were acceptable. I was embarrassed for them.

and OMG on the Ranchera and Norteno tailgating music festival at Robertson Stadium. Yes, I am entitled to my petty opinions. Go Get your own blog if you didn't find that funny. Because I did and shall therefor comment on it as I please.

Additional photographic proof of The Cooter Classiness


I had the most wonderful opportunity to meet Greenwaver Dot and her fabulous family. Dot and her family shared some amazing Fried Chicken with us that was fried up fresh right there at tailgating. We are talking Fiorella's and Willie Mae's worthy fried chicken y'all. Can't wait to part-ay with Dot in Manhattan next week for Rutgers.

Sitting there in the stands by us was The Official Albert Williams Fan Club (TOAWFC). These girls were a trip and I hope to introduce myself to them sometime soon. I hearted them so! They kept calling Albert "Showtime!" As in "Okay, lets' go get them Showtime!" "Show em how it's done Showtime!" Some annoying Cooter fans started cheering "Cooters House!" behind us and TOAWFC would respond "TU House!" ...and back and forth they would go. It was like a live musical number from West Side Story.

Also, yours very truly, got to lead the homeside in The Hullabaloo with the absence of the Greenbackers. What an honor!

So next up Rutgers. and some totally devious Manhattan shopping. Watch out, Mrs. Hullabaloo is gonna sprout some horns!

Shopping Alert!

Thank you to Righteous Doc for her shopping alert at Stein Mart!

Stein Mart had some hoodies, ladies' tank tops, some nice men's golf shirts and then this total find.



Isn't it totally gorge? Since Coach Hullabaloo doesn't read this blog, you will all be the first to know that this is going in the Christmas stash and possibly make a debut during baseball season.

Hullabaloo-ray-ray!

What a DIP!

Mike Ditka Dyczko acting a fool while coaching in New Orleans. and probably how he felt after predicting a 49er win last night.

But no, I'm not talking about Mike Ditka and his MNF predictions.

hhmmmm...here we are in New Orleans, "Living the Charmed Life of Champions" thank you very much! and there you are, Mr. Dyczko, with all the sock shopping at your disposal in whatever hole you crawled to after being FIRED and you are still trying to relive your glory and appear that you are relevant somehow. (Ditka Dyczko infamously said he wouldn't even buy socks in New Orleans and that it was "the worst three years of his life." The feeling IS mutual!!! Your restaurant sucked and you clearly were not the man to lead our fabled "Yat Rennaisance" currently underway).

Anyways enough with Mr. D, so with Tulane having a bye week and the Saints deferred to Monday night I experimented making chili and cornbread. Lesson: Do not use beer in lieu of stock when stewing up your chili. Even after bringing to a boil and simmering for an eternity it leaves this weird "hoppy" after taste, which Coach Hullabaloo didn't mind, but which I did not care for at all.

What was a complete success was this OMG-I-am-totally-addicted-to-it fabulous cornbread recipe


SIMPLY FABULOUS CORNBREAD
box of jiffy cornbread mix
1/3 cup of cream
1/4 stick of room temperature butter
one stalk chopped green onions
1/4 stick of cheddar cheese shredded (4-6 oz)
1 egg
1/2 can of creamed corn
a crack or so of ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all your ingredients into a mush, just don't over mush or it will get tough. grease a muffin pan. spoon the mush about 2/3 up each cup. Cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

It is SO good!!! My new favorite recipe.

I also ran across these wonderful dip recipes that I want to try, and will share with you.

Everybody knows that Jalapeno Poppers are THE gameday food. It's just impossible to deal with at Tulane Tailgating at the dome: where do you fry them? How do you keep them crispy? uhh, the issues that just keep us tailgating hostesses up at night!

Well here voila, is perfect solution: The Jalapeno Popper DIP! We can totally do chaffing dishes. Genius!!!!


JALAPENO POPPER DIP
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can diced pickled jalapeno peppers, drained
2 seeded and sliced fresh jalapenos
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese - divided
1/4 cup bread crumbs (regular or panko)

Stir together cream cheese, half parm, and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in jalapeno peppers. Pour mixture into an oven safe serving dish, and sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly. Serve in a warm chafing dish.

Mrs. Hullabaloo also loves her some vegetables. It's always nice and refreshing to have fresh Spinach Salad or Vietnamese Chicken Salad at tailgatings, something light and low carb.

So thought this was a genius combination of yum-o and veggies!

HOT n SPICY ZUCCHINI DIP
3 c Zucchini; Shredded
2 ea Eggs; Large
1/4 c grated Parmesan
2 ts Dried Parsley, crushed
1/2 ts Dried Oregano
2 tb Fresh Parsley, minced up
1 c room temp Cream Cheese
1/4 c grated Romano Cheese
1/2 c Yellow Onion chopped
1/2 ts Salt
2 tb Milk
dash of creole seasoning

Put shredded zucchini in a colander and squeeze out any excess water. In a separate bowl, beat the room temp cream cheese to a smooth consistency and blend in the milk and eggs. Make sure it's all blended together well. Fold in all the other ingredients, including the zucchini, and then pour into a greased casserole dish. Dust the top with an extra sparkle of Creole Seasoning. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes - should be hot and bubbly. Pour into a chafing dish and serve warm.

Enjoy my little petit choux!

My thoughts on Ines

"Thank You Bob! But I love the top - such a vibrant purple. Bob, would you call this color "grape" or "aubergine"?" ....



I know you are just DYING to know my thoughts about Miss Ines. Especially in light of my absolutely catty behavior with regard to the Real Ho-wives of Oxford that made a cameo in New Orleans 2 weekends ago.

Well, here's my thoughts Hullabaloo Huddle Fans. Brace Yourselves.

Miss Ines needs to call and THANK the NY Jets for putting her on the map. Who had ever heard of her before this episode?

and then she needs to go out and find a decent stylist.

and No for the upteenth time, she is not Miss Spain/Miss Universe. Miss Ines Sainz Gallo is from Mexico. Miss Ines Saenz Esteban is from Spain. There's a zillion spanish speakers in our wonderful world. Ya think maybe their two mommas (the former Miss Gallo and the former Miss Esteban) may have chosen a similar name for their daughters. Like maybe there might be two Robert Smiths in this world?

Anyways - Yes, Miss Ines' jeans were too tight, her translucent shirt was unbuttoned too low. She left nothing to the imagination. But, alas, she did not consult me about appropriate costuming.

This whole hullabaloo is a prime example of the major difference between Southerners and Northerners. Had Miss Ines been in a locker room say in Chinquapin Parish, asking Mark Sanchez if he could describe the Jets green as "Clover" or "Hunter" dressed in that get up, Mr. Sanchez and everybody else in that locker room would have addressed her questions with utmost politeness and then as soon as she sashayed out the door, the locker room would have been completely abuzz.

See, we'll be polite to your face, and then tear you down behind our hands or after you leave. It's just our nature. If you can't say something nice about someone, well, come sit by me! So we can giggle and whisper. and then smile at you sweetly if you turn around.

There are sadly exceptions to every rule. Hokey Kagan and Bobby Hebert - you are complete idiots for saying that she asked for it. Well, not just for that. I have a laundry list for why y'all are idiots. Being LSU fans would probably be the #1 reason on my list. However, what if Miss Inez were your daughter, would you feel the same way about the behavior of the other "adults" in that room? In a locker room of millionaires there's not one modicum of manners?

Goes to show that money simply cannot buy you class. Once a coon-ass, always a coon-ass.

Wouldn't it have been more reasonable to perhaps have gone to the PR Department at the Jets and said "We, neanderthals, cannot have women reporters dressed like ho's given press passes to the locker room. We are way too immature to handle such situations and you simply must to save us from ourselves."

or at the very least, followed Ouisa's behavior and waited until afterwards to make fun of the sitatuation ("Shut Up! They don't give a damn about that Grape Sh&t Clairee!"). Because then it would have been a funny story to use to entertain at social gatherings, such as OMG remember that black lace top that Ole Miss grandmother wore?! What a hoot!

Except that now it's a catastrophe. For everyone except Miss Ines that is. She needs to strike with the iron is hot and negotiate better salary and market her newfound fame. You go girl!

Bye, Bye, Bye

I really loathe Bye weeks. Tulane really gets shafted in the whole bye week situation. They're either the first weekend or a game in.

I somehow strangley thought that Bye weeks were supposed to be to let the team rest. So shouldn't they be towards the end to ensure a strong finish?

Another item on my dislike list (yes, besides LSU and the Cooters, .... and of course UCF) is playing out of town the entire month of October practically. October in New Orleans is usually glorious weather - perfect for tailgating - and we have to spend it on the road being everybody's homecoming bitches. "If I were Athletic Director" this would be the first order of business I would rectify.

So while on the road I have had a chance to judge and criticize everybody's tailgating. So far I heart SMU's tailgating boulevarding best. So below are some photos from last year's visit to the Big D. Enjoy!

CLEAR CAIRO!

Word.

The NCAA has decided that Cairo Santos' ACT score is strangely suspicious. His score went from a 22 to a 30.

So because he didn't score like a 12 the first time, take it 6 or 7 times like all of the other neanderthals, and then take "correspondence" via the mormons to even be academically eligible that this is all very very suspicious.

It couldn't possibly be that english truly is his second language and that maybe he studied better for the second try? Besides the point: HELLO! A SCORE OF 22 IS AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY.

Join me in protesting such absurdity!

When Tulane was in NCAA's land...
Let our CAIRO GO!
Oppress'd so hard they could not stand...
Let our CAIRO go!

Go down, Dickson
Way down in NCAA land,
Tell old Jim Isch,
Let our CAIRO GO!

Amen.

UPDATE (9/16) Cairo Santos' waiver was approved by the NCAA and he has been cleared to play. Phew! That was a close call. We finally find ourselves a kicker and then they pick on us. Well, onwards we go to Houston! Let's hope all the Cooters have picked the cotton out of their ears so that they can actually "hear" whistles blown by the officials this time around.

Baby Cuteness

Nothing special to write today, just finding some cute stuff online and sharing with you.

Inspired somewhat by an online petition circulating by SLU. Apparently, Hammondites are simply outraged, just outraged, that on gameday the local Albertson's instructed the cashiers and workers to wear -gasp- purple. I'm with my brothers and sisters in Hammond to STAND UP against such tyranny!

About time there's somebody else other than just us Greenies complaining about this inequity.

GEAUX GREEN!

So, to show your support to the cause and begin indoctrinating the chillens at an early age, this cute outfit may be purchased online at Etsy



I think it's double entrendre, doubly cute. Is it "Green Wave, BABY" or "Green Wave Baby" ? Either way it's making a statement.

Records

OMG, the heat Saturday afternoon was absolutely unbearable.

Except that our tailgating was really cute so we soldiered on.





And "waves" to our neighbor tailgating krewe hostessed by Hullabaloo Huddle fan, Brittany. They had the cutest drink cups!

Some pictures of our cute sign, and the cute nametags that Cody Spark's family and friends wore to the game.



The only real downer (because the game was great) was that we had some, shall we say, colorful Ole Miss fans sitting in section 143. It was people watching central. We laughed until we cried (for real). OMG on the crazy and inappropriate outfits.

As far as what went on out on the field - without their felon QB having a few key moments, that game would have gone sideways for Ole Miss. What caught me completely by surprise was that Houston Nutt ran circles around the fans in the class department. I was not expecting that turn of events. My Ole Miss friend, Miss Glitter, is wonderful and always gracious. and has impeccable taste and manners. So I was expecting the roles to be reversed - classy fans and questionable team.

The fans that traveled pretty much just "sat" stone cold in their seats until a final QB in the 2nd half distanced out the score (yet still UNDER the point spread). I think they were gun shy after the loss to J-ville state. But came alive with that last TD. So after that TD, an Ole Miss fan who had sleeves (you know - the full on tatoo on the arms) got up, turned around and dug into Founding Father Jim.

Of all people. This guy seriously had no clue who he was trying to start something with. First of all - Jim is twice his size, so he's lucky that Jim didn't stand up. Because that would have been an "Ohhh, Noooooo" moment. and secondly, Jim has an encyclopedic knowledge of sports in general, in addition to having a college degree not from Mississippi. Here's a recap of the exchange:

Tattoo Man: blah blah blah take that. tulane sucks, ole miss is superb blah blah blah

FF Jim: Ole Miss lost to Jacksonville State. Do you know who Jacksonville State lost to today? Appalachian State.

Tattoo Man: *head exploding* Well, yeah? blah blah our record blah blah bowl game

FF Jim: After TODAY - our records will be THE SAME. and if you want to discuss records, Massoli has 2 felonies on HIS record. You wanna talk about records?

Tattoo Man: blah blah blah. turns around and sits down.

FF Jim: Y'all may win this game, but you have to go back to Mississippi. (and as the saying goes in Louisiana - Thank God for Mississippi so we aren't "last" always).

Anyways, enough with them. They came and spent money in New Orleans and our athletic department got paid. Yay!

So how PERFECT is this? My Town Daughter, Chickadee, is working at the Ticket Office in the Wilson Center. Chickadee also worked at the game on Saturday, was out on the field and got to hand out the fuzzy hair pieces that the student section was wearing. She's such a cutie pie.

And speaking of cutie pies, how about this little story sent to me by a friend (Yes, I have very dear friends who are LSU fans - don't tell anybody it will ruin my street cred, ok)?

"Dear Mrs. Hullabaloo, My Brother works the Tulane homegames and is on the field, so he asked if he could bring his 6 year old son. Well, as you know, I come from a family of Tiger fans, BUT, my nephew had a ball at the Tulane game. He made friends with the student section and was cheering and throwing footballs with the students. LOL. Nephew told my brother it was one of the best days of his life. We were cracking up. He had to go with my brother to another section of the field and said, "Dad, I better go back over there, my friends are looking for me to cheer with them!"

L-eaux-L...

Now, finally, to the recipe sharing.

Priscilla brought some pork for sandwiches. I'm not sure how she prepares it. When I cook it, it's so simple girl - you'll want to slap yo momma.

Momma Hullabaloo's Pork
(this is my mother's - who can't cook - recipe and it is delish)
So take your cut of pork, we use the "Picnic" Cut
(as I google, the Picnic cut is the lower shoulder.)
a can or two of coca cola
optional: s+p, garlic powder
cajun injector

The seasonings are completely optional, it is delicious just with the coca cola alone. I promise.

Preheat your oven between 325-350. Lovingly place your picnic shoulder in an oven roasting pan with the skin facing up. Shower with a can of coca cola - you can add a second can during the roasting if you see there isn't enough Jus emitting from the pork. Take a cajun injector and fill the meat up with as much coke as it can handle.

Cover loosely with foil and put into the oven for 3-4 hours until the pork is done (internal temp should be 180 and the juices should run clear). While the pork is roasting, every half hour or so - keep injecting the meat with the Jus.

Once cooked, let cool and then slice up for sandwiches. And to accompany this deliciousness, onion relish and hot mustard caper spread is the way to go.

Pickled Onion Relish
One whole onion (white, yellow, red. don't matter)
quarter to half a tomater
boiling water
s+p
lemon juice
splash vinegar
splash water
splash canola or olive oil (whatever you have)

Boil some water. Slice up your onion into super thin rounds and put in a bowl. Cover onions with hot water and let steam for a few minutes. Drain.

Slice tomaters and place on a paper towel to pat dry. Chop up tomaters into small quarter inch cubes. Add to onions

Season tomaters and onion slices with juice from about half a lemon, capful or more of white vinegar, drizzle with canola or olive oil. Tons o salt and dash or so of pepper. If too lemony or vinegary, add just a teaspoon of water. Cool before serving. I leave it out of the fridge to cool so that the flavors mingle and marinate.

Carmelized Red Onion relish (yum-o)
One whole red onion
Balsamic vinegar
nonstick cooking spray or some olive oil
dash saltnpeppa

Slice up your red onion into thin rounds. Sautee up in a pan over low heat and drizzle with balsamic - just dashes at a time. Don't over balsamic the poor things. You can sample a bit while it's cooking down to judge if you should sprinkle more balsamic in there. Sprinkle a little saltnpeppa. Keep sauteeing until they are soft and carmelized. Cool before serving.

Hot Mustard and Capers Spread
Chinese Hot Mustard (a few tablespoons)
Regular yellow mustard (a few tablespoons)
Dollop or so of mayo
dash of honey
teaspoon or two of capers (brined green peppercorns)

Whip together the wet ingredients. Chop up the capers into bits and then fold into the mix. Spread onto your roll with a slice of pork and some onion relish.


Easy Peesy Red and Sweet Potato Salad
One sweet potater or yam
3 or 4 small red potatoes
small yukon gold potato (optional)
packet of ranch dressing
whomp of mayonaise
generous tablespoon of pickle relish
handful super sweet yellow corn (can or frozen)
saltnpeppa

Scrub wash and chop up your potatoes, skin on into half inch sized cubes. Cover with water in a large stock pot. Salt the water generously. Bring to boil and boil for about 8-10 minutes. Taste a tater piece to see if cooked through. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.

Whip a generous whomp of mayo with about quarter to half packet of ranch dressing mix. Add taters, corn, relish and stir together to combine. add saltnpeppa to taste. Voila.

Raspberry Vinaigrette for Spinach Salad
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar (I cheated and used orange champagne vinegar)
1/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a blender or food processor, combine raspberry vinegar, raspberries, honey, and basil; whirl 1 minutes or until well blended. With the motor on, add olive oil in a slow steady stream, whirling until dressing is smooth.

Candied Pecans (garnish for spinach salad)
Roughly chop about a cup or so of shelled pecans
2 tablespoons of butter
1.5 tablespoon brown sugar
sheet of wax paper

Melt butter in a pan over medium low heat, add brown sugar and stir to combine. Toss in pecans and turn to coat with brown sugar butter. Scrape out onto a sheet of wax paper, spread pecans out to cool and then store in a ziplock and refrigerate.

Thank You NFL!

The NFL got a bad rap as the No Fun League last year when they tried to sue Who Dats over ownership of Who Dat and the Fleur de lis. and then also when they basically dismissed the saints and gave 80-10 coverage in favor of Indianapolis leading up to SB44.

What stinkers, non?

Well, I think it caught them by surprise how we just gobble up cute merchandise and how we can bring millions out for a parade and thousands out to the airport (hello, 13 fans in Indianapolis). And how fiercely loyal we are to our teams.

So the NFL put on a SPECTACULAR pre-game parade and concert in Jackson Square yesterday. The Tulane Marching Band was the only collegiate band to participate in the parade. Southern played in the Superdome for kick-off and half time.

In the picture above, TUMB members eye blacked themselves in the Who Dat black and gold. Because afterall, if it weren't for Tulane there would be no Dave Dixon or Hale Boggs to create the Saints and the Superdome.

I was so proud to see our Olive n Blue band marching down Decatur Street! Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo scored some guest passes for Jackson Square and got to see them live. I can't stop writing how awesome it was.

There were spectacular shots of Jackson Square, the river, Algiers Point, downtown. It made me so proud of New Orleans.

and then to cap it off - Dave Matthews played live and capped off with a massive JAM session with Kermit Ruffins and Trombone Shorty. and if it couldn't have gotten any more insane, Mardi Gras Indians and some Secondline Steppers came out. Jackson Square went completely Rachel Zoe ba-nanas!



Thank You NFL for a truly extraordinary kick-off!!!

Shopping Alert, part deux

RUN to Talbots.com girls!



SALE!!! and Today is BOGOHO (buy one, get one half off) in the sale items. Totally cute pants, can't wait for mine to come in the mail (!)

We made her change!

photo by bobby of nola via flickr

Mrs. Hullabaloo is a heartless tough love Town Mom.

We thought we'd start to introduce our little Town Daughter chickadees to some off-campus, outside-of-the-bubble activity and bring them to Gordon Biersch for the radio shows on Wednesdays. One at a time, rotating them - maybe we might invite them together for the homecoming week show.

Big Sky is my first Town Daughter, whose all grown up now as a Sophomore. She's a mountain west girl and had alerted us last spring that steaks and juicy fat burgers were few and far between in the campus kitchens. So after taking her to sample her very first oysters at Bourbon House Seafood and Drago's, we now always treat her to other fine New Orleans steak and burger joints.

Big Sky finds my enthusiasm for the Wave intriguing as most Tulane students do. More as observers than actual participants.

Now, to her credit - she's got the Saints Who Dat thing down. She came downtown after the NFC championship win to mingle with Who Dats on Bourbon Street. She went to the SB Victory Parade in the freezing cold. And, she texted me at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning when we were in Miami for SB weekend to let us know she went to be on the "Good Morning America!" taping in Jackson Square. It was my proudest Momma moment!

We always invite Big Sky to tailgating for football and baseball and she always obliges (well because I'm her Town Mom and she has to). She gets to sample tasty dishes lovingly prepared and mingle with Tulane fans. We are hoping that enthusiasm rubs off on her at some point.

So we pulled up to Willow Street to find Big Sky waiting for us. In a purple top.

Yes, you read that right. She was wearing purple.

H3ll to the no. Coach Hullabaloo rolled down the window and joked that he tried to hit the puddle by the curb hoping it would splash up and force a costume change.

We indeed drove her back to her dorm so she could find a more appropriate color choice. For real. Gotta start learning them somehow, right?

She found an adorable Tulane logo tee-shirt that we loved. We got to introduce Big Sky to Coach Toledo and to other Tulane fans at the radio show. Could you imagine our shame if we had allowed her to appear in purple? and as terrible Town Parents, Coach Hullabaloo and I joked with Tulane fans how we made her change before coming.

This is what we want to see, Big Sky (shot of random co-eds at homecoming): Spirited Co-Eds in Cute Tulane Apparel.


Overall, it was a great, fun show. Alex Wacha, Andrew Nierman, and Philip Davis were interviewed, as well as Coach Toledo. Can't wait for game day now!

P.S. We Love You Big Sky! (Don't hate us!)

Fine Cooking and Memo to O-Town

Props to Lisa for alerting me to this find at Sam's


All kinds of interesting recipes, so thank you Lisa for scouting it out at Sam's.

APRICOT GRILLED CHICKEN
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 cup apricot preserves (preferably without corn syrup, read the label)
3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the preserves, vinegar, red pepper flakes, rosemary, and a large pinch of salt; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer. Stir just a bit, until the sauce thickens up (about 3 to 5 minutes). Remove from heat, jar it up and let cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Bring it out to baste on your chickens when you are grilling.

Fine Cooking recommends that prior to using, warm the sauce to make the sauce smooth for basting your chickens.

So tonight is the radio show and I am so excited! Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo are huge fans of Gordon Biersch Brewery. It's where we watched the Saints beat the Eagles for their first play off win ever; the Saints beat the Patriots in MNF; the Saints beat the Cardinals on the road to Superbowl 44 and now the home of the Tulane Football Coach's Radio Show. Hopefully it's a good Karma/Mojo zone.

So I'm looking forward to the beginning of gameweek with a visit to GB. However, before I part, MEMO to our very naive and sadly misguided visitors from O-Town: Keep your Pretentious Bullshit at home. Thank You.

Using Katrina in a "Joke" or a "Taunt" is strictly off-limits and very un-Grove worthy. Hayley Barbour is definitively a big fat idiot who will pay his due when the time comes. As former RNC Chairman, ya think he might have swindled a good deal while everybody else got screwed? In the history of politics, I assure you that this is nothing new or groundbreaking. We in Louisiana can run circles around everybody when it comes to schooling politicians in the art of fixing deals.

Mississippi = 25% Katrina damage; New Orleans+Louisiana = 75% Katrina related damage. Yet you and I both got the same sum of money (and Mississippi overall has less people!). Clearly you cannot do math, so Boot Straps my @ss. What you got was more federal money with your guv + the White House idiot both of the same party. I'll even leave out commenting on Ed Orgeron and his tasteless circling over our football team while many of the Tulane family was still on rooftops and in attics. What you got is called a handout, an entitlement, and dare I say it: welfare money. So go stew in it, okay?

Bye now. That is all.

Da Saints Edition

It's an exciting week in New Orleans.

Tulane plays Ole Miss at the Dome on Saturday, which I'm not sure how that's gonna go....

Ole Miss blew a lead and lost to J-ville State in double overtime, army style. So they could come to town as punishers. Or they could not, which would be good for us. Because we need them to be sloppy. To give us a breather and give us another week to get our act together.

Also, my one and only Ole Miss friend, Miss Glitter, will not be coming to New Orleans even though she's a New Orleans girl. Other Ole Miss folks on the internets have been referring to New Orleans as "Mogadishu", so I have a foreboading sense about their visit to our city. Thinking it might all go sideways instead of the jovial visit I had originally anticipated it to be. What I am looking forward to is that kick off is 8pm, so we won't be baking in the sun all day.

But anyways, I mention that this will be an exciting week because it's the official start to the NFL Season and the kick off is happening right here in New Orleans!

There are all kinds of televised activities between the Taylor Swift + Dave Matthews Concert in Jackson Square, the NFL Parade down Decatur, etc.

As part of the lead up to the NFL festivities the TP profiled favorite gameday recipes of local restaurant celebrities, like the adorable Leah Chase and Willie Mae's great granddaughter, Kerry Seaton-Stewart.

Kerry provided her secret ingredient to Deviled Eggs, which I thought was perfect to share Deviled Egg recipes since we have Ole Miss coming in and all. (I think we can manage some good deviled eggs here in Mogadishu.)

WILLIE MAE'S SCOTCH HOUSE DEVILED EGGS
Prepare about three eggs per person. Add a dash of vinegar to the water for boiling, will keep cracked eggs from leaking. After the eggs are boiled for seven to nine minutes, run them under cold water. Cut the eggs lengthwise and remove the yolks.

Per dozen eggs: half-cup of jarred sandwich spread, a half-cup of regular mayonnaise, a teaspoon of lemon juice, a teaspoon of sweet pickle relish drained. S+P to taste. Mash the yolks with the mixture and spoon them back into the egg whites. Garnish with paprika, cayenne and a sprig of parsley for your dish.

Another easy peasy Deviled Egg recipe I found out on the internets was using just Marzetti's Cole Slaw dressing with the yolks instead of mayo and all that.

Most interesting ingredient Deviled Egg recipe I found was using the Chinese Hot Mustard packets from take-out restaurants.

ZIPPY DEVILED EGG RECIPE
12 eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Chinese hot prepared mustard
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
Drop of mayonaise
salt and pepper to taste
paprika, for garnish

I think this might be yummy with crumbled bacon as a garnish too. Good idea Mrs. Hullabaloo!

And most decadent recipe from one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Anne Burrell. Don't you love how she lovingly calls her ingredients "My Babies" ? I love, love, love her enthusiasm in the kitchen! and Mrs. Hullabaloo just l-o-v-e-s her some truffle.



AB's TRUFFLED DEVILED EGGS
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 tablespoon truffle oil
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped black truffle peelings
Chopped chives, for garnish

Place the eggs in a pot and cover with tap water. The level of the water should be about 1 inch above the eggs. Bring the pot to a boil, Turn off the heat and COVER!!!! Let sit for 13 minutes-EXACTLY!!!!! Run the eggs under cold water, Peel, cut, etc.

After mashing yolks, add mayo, truffle oil, cayenne and truffle peelings. Continue to whip until very light and fluffy. *If you want a little more truffle flavor add a little more truffle oil with caution. Don't over truffle.

Spoon back into the whites. Sprinkle with chopped chives.

OMG, these all sound SO delicious. I just might have to make a set of all three and taste test. Yum-o!

Do you have a favorite Deviled Egg recipe? Please share!

Oh, and a free giveaway today. Saints Lip Balm that I picked up from the cute NFL Boutique on Magazine Street. Lucky recipient shall be chosen from comments.

Thanks for participating!

We're #1

Well not really. But we were on Friday when all other CUSA teams swirled in the toilet for their home openers.

UCF, ECU, UTEP and the Cooters now join us in the "W" column in the conference after week 1.

I am sorry that Mrs. Hullabaloo has very little to report about our home opener. I was literally physically detained for the days leading up to gameday in another city, unable to hostess tailgating. But I made it just in time to grab a bite of stuffed artichokes and then "sit", as instructed, for the game. and We won. yay!

Our favorite tailgating beau, Jim, made us a cute sign for our new booster club. I hope to have pictures to post of that soon.

I do have pictures of this adorable shirt by one of the fans. I told her she needed to be careful because there might be a mugging of her shirt.



So post-game Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo were again called out of town. to Atlanta.

Of all the cities in the country to have to be Labor Day weekend, we just had to be in Atlanta. They hosted a chicken bowl and invited the Tarholes and the Tiggers to play.

Half way to Atlanta I realized the occasion and then remembered that I had a Tarheel shirt sitting in my closet. Missed opportunity, oh well.

So we pulled up to our hotel and it turned out we were staying in the same hotel as the Tarheel band. and assorted purple people. ugh.

Gameday some of the purple people decided to smoke cigars in their hotel rooms, stank up the entire hotel. So gauche they are.

Later that evening, about kick off time, Coach H and I are driving back to our hotel and the street is blocked because a cab has stopped in the middle of a very busy road so that a purple undergrad and his minder could throw up on the curb. We pulled up to the scene when the Minder was holding up Lightweight and steadying him.

Lightweight kept trying to grab at a street pole that was not within reach and swaying over. Minder finally had enough and steared him over to climb back in the cab, which took for-ev-err. Come on: one foot up, next foot, and shove him in already!

Go all that way just to over do it before kick off and then make a fool of yourself in public like that.

The next day I had wanted to get up and go so that we avoided sharing the road and annoying me further than I was already annoyed, but no such luck. It was a caravan heading back to Louisiana.

At one point we ran over a Tigger car flag that was in the middle of the highway. It made me feel so much better.

PSTP

Memorabilia from Linda

One of my favorite Hullabaloo-ettes, partners-in-crime, "Saucy" Terry coined this term for our Pre-Season-Tailgating-Party that we held last year before the 2009 season. Our PSTP was a lazy HOT Sunday afternoon.

We grilled burgers and hot dogs, brought tailgating fare to share and reconvened our little tailgating/section 110 peoples before the beginning of the season. I miss these folks during the offseason, so the PSTP was a wonderful way to get my "fix" to tide me over a few weeks before the official kick off begins.


Coach Hullabaloo and Koozie, our official Tailgating "Iron Grill Masters", at the 2009 PSTP.

Hullabaloo-ette Linda does a PSTP with her family. They officially call it the "Pre Wave Family BBQ" where they have a mini reunion with family members at the end of summer before Tulane Football season starts.

Which made me think that I kind of like the idea of hosting a Bon Voyage to Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo party before we completely immerse themselves in football season. How funny is that? "Farewell to the Die Hards! See ya in December or February"

Oh, and "Saucy" - Congratulations! You are the official winner of the License Plate thingie giveaway. Show it with pride :0)

Roll Wave!