Genius!

Right? Don't you just love, love the koozies? The Louisiana Sportsmen theme for yesterday's tailgate was truly genius.

and I can't wait to break out that playbook again. Perhaps with a faux antler chandelier (do you honestly believe I would harm an animal in pursuit of the ultimate tailgating tablescape?).

But my word, yesterday's game is one episode where Mrs. Hullabaloo hates to be proven correct about intuition.

From the bottom of my heart, I love Coach Johnson's enthusiasm and darnit, I am absolutely crazy about his wife! She is Fabulous exclamation point. If only we could will Coach Johnson to do well as a collective.

I am really terrified to go back to my initial reaction to the December press conference in the Wilson Center. Wherein I listened in panic to the words "I don't know yet what the offense is going to be" "We're gonna play a version of what the Saints play" "You can script plays all you want, but then xyz player is gonna go out and make a play and that script goes out the window" or the real zinger: "Scott Cowen intimated me"

!!!!!

Peter, Joseph and Mary, I can't believe me some of the excuses that are being trotted out and sampled to see if they stick. Like "we put in 9 different players and still trying plug in which ones will work with the plays" (or something to that effect)

For real? We can't evaluate talent 4 games in? I heard this movie before and it was Bob Toledo. And the plot was a refusal to give up on a system that we couldn't recruit for or that worked for our team, instead of playing up the talent which we have in order to cobble together a string of wins. And the story ended with 3 seasons too long on a contract (because, honestly I was done, done, done when Andre Anderson had a tantrum in the locker room after USM the last time we played in Hattiesburg).

And yes, I know and appreciate that the Voice of the Wave needs to remain positive in what he puts forth on the airwaves in order to keep the job he loves, but the fact that our special teams is doing better is hardly comforting. or THIS

Hello, our 4th quarter touchdowns these past four games is not due to some miracle cohesion that is sprung forth out of thin air. It is due to playing against our opponents practice squads, which opponents have begun to put in out of pity. Because we can't sink any lower than LAST. Which is where we have wallowed for longer than my lifetime.

So please, Tulane Athletics SID, please do not put forth any more bull like, well everybody else in the conference also lost or whatever in addition to this. It just makes this sorry Tulane Tradition sadder that there's not a path to fixing any of this with our self-imposed contraints. And on top of that, that more effort is put into excuses and spin instead of common sense solutions.

TPTB has GOT to own this. Maybe I should make them some cute armband mums like they do in Texas for homecomings there. Decorate it with ribbons that read "Longest Losing Streak in the FBS" "I Compared Conference Hopping to The Titanic" "I Told Fans To Go Across the Street" or "7 to 120 Under My Watch" or my favorite: "The Next Head Coach Will Be Getting a Gift" (yes, TPTB said this. To Me. In response to when I asked after Toledo was finally fired, why he wasn't fired earlier back in December 2010 when he should have been fired. Said "gift" was in reference to the talent on the roster that Toledo built that needed to be preserved in tact).

We all knew in June what we had on our hands, heck we knew in the spring. (or if I understood this and the staff didn't, then that makes me want to go out and stage a one woman Occupy Camp on the Claiborne neutral ground - well with Naked Pizza and The Pyramid nearby I need to have to plan for sustenance you know. So this seems like an ideal location. Also, I had an awesome pedicure at the nail salon there on Calhoun too. Afterall, I gotta keep up grooming while manning my Occupy Camp. You didn't think I'd go all grubby like the genuine Occupiers did you?).

So, I digress: If it was imperative to run the Saints playbook, then what prevented us from getting JUCO's to carry out that concept? If even just for the SAFETY of our student athletes. You know, other peoples' children?

But I have to give props where props are due: You know one thing that has improved after Fans complained long and hard enough? The Dome is no longer an ice box during the games. Hoo-ray!

And then of course, #57 Zach Davis is the gift the keeps on giving with his genius interceptions.

I am sad I missed the one from yesterday now that we are spending the 4th Q back at tailgating and finish up listening on the radio. Three quarters being as much as my eyes can take. But I did catch the one in Hawaii and it was balls the wall nuts. More on Zach Davis in a second.

The truly genius dish, though, from yesterday's tailgate is awarded to the Camp Street Krewe who served Shrimp n Corn Macque Choux with beef jerky from Bourgeous Smokehouse in Thibodaux.

O-M-G. Coach Hullabaloo was kevelling that beef jerky was so awesome. I can't wait to copy this! So I'll share a recipe a for Crawfish n Corn Macque Choux so I'm not a complete copy cat. (also, I am sharing that Coach Hullabaloo hopes that Coach CJ is sitting down with Sean Payton today and taking copious notes).

So about Zach Davis....Last week, Coach Hullabaloo mentioned talking to his daddy at tailgating. I looked at him mighty puzzled. Because of course Coach Hullabaloo, being a male, didn't know his name so I had to wrack my brain about which particular student athlete's parent he could be speaking of. I was told we had met this fellow previously and so I had to catalogue my brain going on just this one nugget of information alone. And what was most puzzling was that Coach Hullabaloo said that apparently Daddy Davis has attended many other of our tailgates. And then Coach Hullabaloo was puzzled with me, because like how could I not know about this stealth tailgater?

Coach Hullabaloo and I had indeed met Daddy Davis previously, when some jerk fans came up to us at tailgating in Tulsa one year and made a stupid rhetorical question if Tulane was any good. In addition to just being appauled at this lack of manners, I was mortified about who this misguided individual was speaking to - Daddy Davis of all people.

So indeed, Coach Hullabaloo sez that Daddy Davis has popped into our tent over the past few years and instead of leaving the fellow standing there amongst our revelry, Coach Hullabaloo entertains him as any good host can given the inane NCAA improper benefits rules (really? I can't give Ryan Griffin's wheelchair bound grandfather a bottled water while he melts in Champions Square?). But who knew we were graced with Daddy Davis' visits? It was certainly news to me.

Zach Davis' absolutely adorable mom came by our tailgate today and so I shared with her the story about Daddy Davis being our stealth tailgater. It made for a funny story, especially with Peggy later on in the game when I was telling her about our stealth companion and she was as unawares as I was.

Well, let me tell what will not be stealth - and that is this genius tailgating dish which I proclaim "Season Winner"

MIRLITON AND CRAWFISH MACQUE CHOUX
halfa stick unsalted butter
3 cups fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 cups Louisiana trinity (1 cup onion, 1 cup bell pepper+celery)
1 10 oz can chopped tomatoes, or Ro-tel
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 cups heavy cream
3 mirlitons cooked, peeled, and diced
(maybe some chopped okra!)
1 pound Louisiana crawfish tails
handful of minced parsley
generous handful chopped green onions

Heat butter in medium saucepot. Add corn and saute for 2 minutes. Add chicken stock, trinity and tomaters. Turn heat up and cook until the chicken stock has evaporated. Add garlic, Cajun seasoning, salt, hot sauce, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil. Add mirlitons and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and simmer for 10 minutes or until cream starts to reduce and thicken. Add parsley and green onions and stir to combine.

P.S. TPTB, if one of yous are reading this, yous are starting to mess with my tailgating and that is a problem.

PELICAN DYNASTY

The proverbial "bill" is due ... Gameday is Saturday and ULM can't wait to hang one on us after all these years. They're so eager to win that they can taste it.

Well taste this: Mrs. Hullabaloo sez BRING IT ON. I've got my sportsment theme tablescape all ready to roll out for tailgating Saturday.

Roll Wave!

Just Like Butter

nah, I'm not talking about our Offensive Line....I'm talking about our theme for tailgating for the Ole Miss game, sillies!!

Although I have to say, I am fixing to commander the Up The Middle play calling. You know, like when it's sensible and appropriate to insert into the game. 4th and 2 at the goal line, Yes. You may call up the middle. 3rd and 8 and still on our half of the field: no.

Anyways, we had such an awesome tailgate today.

I was so excited to host Ta'Molly and her family who came in all the way from Nebraska. Nell and the Texas Contingent partied down with us too. I always love seeing them!

I am also so pleased to note that our tailgate krewe is growing! A new tailgate friend, J-Co, came in from Baton Rouge, and one of the newer additions to our tailgate krewe, whom we'll call CandyStriper, and his little Striper, also came.

We also have a younger contingent of recent grads joining us, lead by my favorite grad student whom I'll call Bond Girl. See, look how fabulous.

They brought adorable cocktail umbrellas for their drinks! Very Hullabaloo Huddle Worthy.

We also had a special visitor to our tailgate matinee, the granddaughter of Hoss Memtsas! She is the daughter of one of my dearest friends.

For those of you who don't know ~ Coach Memtsas was a legendary figure in Westbank and New Orleans high school athletics. The stadium in Harvey is named after him. Coach Memtsas was a member of the Tulane Greenwave Football Team in the 30's and played in the inaugural Sugar Bowl game. 

Here is a picture of a bracelet she wore that had some of the swag Coach Memtsas received as a TU football player.

It was so cute, and I was thrilled to share some of that history.

I was pretty proud of our tailgate party today and I was even more pleased that students noticed! I was busily packing things up right before the game when I got a tap on my shoulder and there stood two students. These co-ed's had been tailgating in the parking cave underneath us, she said that they had been admiring our tent and tablescaping. They loved it so much that they felt compelled to come over and tell us how much they admired it all.

I'm so humbled! I take a virtual courtsey bow and receive your gracious praise.

So anyways, back to this butter business.....Our tailgate theme could very well have just been called "butter" with the vats of it used in menu we served this weekend.

Once again, everybody asked for recipes. Most have been posted before, some of them I am tweaking tho after careful thought.

Bond Girl brought some praline bacon, which is always super easy. Recipe for Praline Bacon is here What you need: oven, wire rack, thick cut bacon, brown sugar, pecans. kicking it up, drizzle with steens and a sprinkle of cayenne.

PEGGY'S SINFUL GRITS peggy doubled this for the size of our tailgating krewe

4 cups of water
4 cups whipping cream
tablespoon of salt
2 cups yellow grits
half a pound of butter (yes!)
2 cups frozen niblet roasted corn
chopped green onion


Berl the water and cream, add the salt. Turn down the heat, add grits and fold in the butter. Simmer to thicken. add corn to finish and then garnish with chopped green onion.

Originally I refered to the recipe from the White Lace Inn for Blueberry French Toast Casserole. One of my hullabaloo-ettes, whom I'll call Ace's Mom, had suggested it when I had a complete meltdown about our new television gameday schedule. But after actually making it, I found some ways to make it super easy to toss together before a brunch tailgating, I also found that the cream cheese filling needed to be a smidge sweeter.

MRS. HULLABALOO'S VERSION OF FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

3 french bread pistolettes
1 pack of fresh blueberries, rinsed
a third a cuppa sugar
quarter cup sour cream
dash vanilla
4 ounces of creole cream cheese
1 3/4 to 2 cups of eggnog (eyeball it)
dash of cinnamon
handful of powder sugar


Take 2 pistolettes and slice up, taking the crust off. Chop up into bits and cubes. Grease up a 9 x 9 baking dish. Spread the bottom of the pan evenly with your cubed up, crustless french bread. Sprinkle the fresh blueberries over the top. Whisk together the creole cream cheese with the sour cream. If your cream cheese is not already smooth and room temp, pop it into the microwave for a whirl before mixing with the sour cream. We want to avoid lumpiness. Fold in the sugar to your mixture. Pour over the Blueberries like we are making a lasagne. Next Up, slice the remaining pistolette into 1" thick rounds (with crusts) and place over the cream cheese layer to cover. Once the french bread slices are all in place, pour the eggnog evenly over everything. Dust the cinnamon over the top a smidge. Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350, put your covered dish into the oven and bake for 45 minutes covered. Then uncover and cook an additional 15 minutes until the top is browned. Take out the oven, cool a bit and then dust with powder sugar using a wire mesh strainer (it helps get rid of the lumpies!).

I also made my world acclaimed BBQ Shrimp, which for yesterday's game I totally cheated and just used a couple bags of grocery bought Louisiana peeled, raw 21/25 count shrimp. So that way we weren't having to work to peel apart the shells. Head on fresh shrimp is totally the way to geaux because the BBQ sauce gets all up in the nooks and crannies of the shrimps and cooking with the heads on gives the whole sauce extra flavor. Anyways, I made my sauce the night before (I doubled the amount of butter for the crowd and adjusted seasonings here and there until I was happy with the flavor), which you can see from the recipe is based on butter. In the morning while the french toast casserole was in the oven, I dumped the frozen shrimp and sauce in a big stock pot, simmered until the shrimps cooked (they are pink and curl into a "c" and not a closed "o") and then spooned it into chaffing dishes to keep warm at tailgate.

Ok, so last night I admittedly had another Brain Hurricane about our upcoming tailgating for the ULM game! I decided on a Louisiana Sportsmen Theme for tablescaping! YES! How adorable, right?!

Talk to the Paw

Lawd. where to start....

...and by the way, my aggravation has nothing to do about Coach CJ Johnson. We could have Coach XYZ here right now, and that poor soul would probably also be getting tossed into the machine that is Tulane Athletics, chewed up and spit out also. So it doesn't really matter who is Head Coach under the circumstances we find ourselves in.

It is plain to everybody without myopia that we are outmanned and outmanuevered as a program. From top to bottom.

Here's a relatable story......if I go to my cupboard and I decide I want to make a cake, I need flour and eggs. If I only find, say, truffle oil and cornmeal either I need to decide to go with it and make a delicious polenta or I need to lay down steps to figure this out. If I am pre-occupied, then perhaps I hire someone to give me a hand in the Kitchen.  Somebody eager and knowledgeable about the running of a kitchen. I also need to go to the store and buy flour and eggs and figure out a way to pay for flour and eggs if I don’t have it in the budget. Or I need to find a new cookbook and decide on a different recipe. Or I need to find and hire a genius whizbang chef that pioneers molecular gastronomy and can actually turn my cornmeal and truffle oil into this amazing, unheard of, polenta cake dessert that spurs a truffle cake movement copy-catted by everyone in the food industry. I don't berate my defenseless truffle oil and cornmeal for not being flour and eggs.  I do not, take my truffle oil and cornmeal and just resign myself to make do and see what happens when I whisk what I have in the bowl. I do not alternatively seek out a replacement twin with my same cooking expertise and philosophy and then hamstring them with what is in my cupboard and ask them to carry out the task in my stead. Because unless I have a massive reserve of good fortune that magically transforms things in the oven, what I am going to get is going to be inedible. And I don’t need to actually make it and taste it to know that.

Anyways, enough of my senseless drivel.....

We Met in a Bathroom Line

People, will always ask two questions, well three,

Do you work at Tulane? No. They won’t have me. Could you imagine? I’d be like fired 50 times a day. I cause too much consternation.  But with some of the inane Wilson Center and Gibson Hall decisions it does take work to be a Tulane fan, that's for sure.

Your husband is a Coach at Tulane? No. Coach Hullabaloo was formerly known simply as Mr. Hullabaloo until our game against UCF in 2009. Mr. and Mrs. Hullabaloo traveled with the team to dreary Orlando and Coach Toledo was still on this kick of refusing to hire a Special Teams Coordinator. And Toledo was allowed to carry on this charade by TPTB mind you. for years. Anyways, Mr. Hullabaloo was so excited to get to be on the sidelines so he went out before the trip and bought himself the same golf shirt the staff wears and the same baseball caps so he could look like an "official person" and not the husband of a lunatic SuperFan.  When I posted the picture of Mr. Hullabaloo on the sidelines on Facebook, one of our friends exclaimed, “Yay! We have a Special Teams Coach!” So it started out as a joke to call Mr. Hullabaloo “Coach” and well, now here we are today and the name has just stuck. So now he is my Coach Hullabaloo. and I love him so.

Did Y’all Go to Tulane? No. Mrs. Hullabaloo is a graduate of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, thank you very much. And Coach Hullabaloo went to a lovely college in the valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Where, he likes to point out, students did not take their laundry to dry cleaners or have housekeepers come clean their apartments. or take a job solely to fund manicures and pedicures twice a month. And seriously, if Coach Hullabaloo and I had gone to college together, I would have never graduated! Coach Hullabaloo rocked his college time as a fraternity member and bar tender at the “in” bar there. His roomates were also all bar tenders at the other “in” bars. They used to host rent parties in their disco-lit basement and charge admission to help pay their rent. He also used to book little known bands, like Dave Matthews (pre-1994), and organize music festivals. It was bad enough of a distraction that I would cut class to paint banners at the sorority house (priorities!) or because I was recuperating from a night out (or yes, sometimes to avoid that awful on again/off again “fling” who continued to aggravate my college life by declaring my same major). So God, thankfully saw to it that we both carved our paths at different institutions of higher learning, barely claim diplomas and then serendipitously meet in the bathroom line at a Halloween house party years and years later.

Coach Hullabaloo would like it noted that we was NOT a Delt nor a Sigma Nu. Sworn enemies apparently at his college with these two groups.

Mrs. Hullabaloo was at a sorority function last night - yes, I graduated but that doesn't mean we stop being members. We just have more casual functions on occasion with other alumnae members. Last night's was fabulous, we had massages and make-up makeovers at a shop owned by one of our alums.

So one of our newer alumnae members is from Ole Miss and was the sweetest! She is a recent graduate from one of our chapters at Ole Miss and she reminded me that their deferred rush week is happening right now in Oxford. So there will not be much of an Ole Miss student contingent in New Orleans since it's Rush Weekend. Peggy will be sad, as will I, because we will miss getting to see some of the get ups that some of these girls wear for a football game. I'm not talking about a nice dress and cute sandals - I mean like some of these outfits for the game in 2010 were crazy. They weren't trashy or hideous, they were.....overdone. a lot overdone. Lace backs, sequins, rhinestone bangles, cut down to there. For a football game. And more make-up than you can shake a stick at in a Sak's cosmetics department. I had to laugh because one lady's attire was so over the top, that my Razorback friend Char commented, "Now, that, that is...riveting"

Peggy, being the ever prankster, dug out one of her mother's old carnival ball shell blouses for the next home game. You know the sequined ones that you can pair with a ball gown skirt? She pulled up to tailgating in that get up and we were just hooting with laughter!

So the other day, I ran across this genius blog set up by current Tulane co-eds titled We are the W.E.. They post all sorts of cute articles about the REAL Tulane student life. Cautioning freshmen newbies on where to be seen, which guys are the total package,how to attain that globally envied Tulane skill of getting your tasks completed and still have a social life (priorities!). Some things are still the same: Weekends start on Thursdays, but they no longer start at The Rendon Inn, pit stop at AT's and end at Fat Harry's or Igor's. And they still go to the beach for spring formal, except now they go all Martha Stewart on us and handpaint ice chests like these for their dates.(and stock them. Mrs. Hullabaloo would like it noted that I never, once, purchased beverages for a date in college. As it should be ladies. Sets a dangerous precedence. Marriage is about give and take and Coach Hullabaloo likes to say that I have perfected the art of him giving and me taking......)

Anyways, the girls of W.E. kindly linked up to Cooler Connection on Facebook to give their readers ideas for this new Tulane tradition and I have posted some of my favorites here for you to admire.

I loved some of the ideas, like painting the view of your football field from your seats. Or trimming the edge with your fight song. And I simply loved making the drink cubbies a "girl" and "guy". So clever!

Anyways, Ole Miss is upon us. We are as ready as we are going to be, Chandelier in tow!

Roll Wave my chamudis!

Coach B has me OBSESSED

Mrs. Hullabaloo is social media friends with a former TU Coach, whom we'll call Coach B.

Earlier this week Coach B started posting several PSY videos.  The Navy Academy one, a few other random ones.  I told him he was obsessed!

But Lawd! Now his obsession has rubbed off on ME for crying out loud! Coach Hullabaloo, on the other hand, is delighted that watching these videos is resulting in me spending less of his money.

My favorite Gangnam Style parody has got to be this one from the Oregon Duck.  The Duck is my 2nd favorite NCAA college mascot, behind Riptide, of course.

Y'all remember the Duck from this episode when he had his way with the Houston Cooter, right?

....speaking of Riptide, Coach Hullabaloo was in some kind of mood after coming back from the Devon Walker Rally on campus last week.  He overheard fresmen asking "What's with the bird?!"  Omg, Coach Hullabaloo was fit to be tied.  He was peturbed, as other fans were, about Riptide not being on the field for the Rutgers game.  And then when I told him Riptide wasn't invited to Orientation neither, it was all she wrote....



You have to wait until the end of the video for the credits. "For Kevin Bacon" ??? talk about LMAO! and Kermit the frog?  and like what's on the Duck's back when he's walking away? Yoda?

And look at the Duck's sunglasses at the beginning.  The little airplane dragging the duck banner?!

Oh, how I love college football!

Retail Therapy Continues....

This might turn out to be a most expensive season for Coach Hullabaloo y'all!

Check it out, super cute handbags from By Sara Designs! 

I am going to need to investigate the source of this curiously sudden enthusiasm for Tulane licensed products in the marketplace.

In the meantime, I'll take it!

Roll Wave!

Bye Week Blues

You'll all be thrilled to know that I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself this weekend about our sad state of affairs. Somewhat anyways, and decided to finally tackle this chandelier situation that has been hanging over my head for a while. (did I just make a joke?)

So while ULM took Auburn to overtime and missed winning the game by a field goal, I twisted tulle and ribbon. (lawd, sweet baby jesus, September 29th!!!!!! Sigh). Tomorrow I tackle tablecloths. Onwards!

I did sullenly manage to melt Coach Hullabaloo's credit card -begrudgingly- and purchase 3 tops, a skirt and the cutest ruffled logo'd scarf you've ever seen from Meesh and Mia's Tulane collection!  Who are we kidding?!  It was like my happiest moment ever as a Greenwave Fan!

The game next week is at 11 - ELEVEN!  the thought of getting up so early, just makes me want to curl up and take a nap.  But our southern brunch inspired menu kind of perks me up a bit (ladies, please sign up!).

BBQ Shrimp - Mrs. Hullabaloo
Grits - Hullabaloo-ette
Praline Bacon
French Toast Casserole
Deviled Eggs - Booty
Brandy Milk Punch - Booty
Mimosa fixings
Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix
Vodka
Pickled veggies (olives, asparagus, snap beans)
Celery
Apples and Dip - Hullabaloo-ette
Coffee and fixings - Mrs. Hullabaloo

...New week....new game....let's be ready for it! cause lawd, it's coming whether we want it to or not.

SQUEAL!

Y'ALL!!!!! Shut. The. Front. Door!  Remember when Dillard's debuted Tulane panties? (by the way, you can still order them here through Hanky Panky. I still think the cami would be cute paired up under a cute cardigan....)

Well, hold on to your drawers for the motherlode of Shopping Alerts!  Cause Meesh and Mia have the most adorable licensed Tulane tops and dresses, EVER!!!

OMG, OMG, OMG....Just LOOK!

and LOOK!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW C-UUUUTE!!!

and OMG could you just die!?!!!

I'm just kevelling!

Brings tears to my eyes, we aren't worthy!!!

JUST PINCH ME, AM I DREAMING?!!

ALL. of. this. So Hullabaloo Huddle-worthy! And y'all (!) they have everything in BOTH olive and blue.  So you can get all of this adorableness, and more, in every color!  If you can picture this, I am literally jumping up and down squealing!!!

OMG, Coach Hullabaloo will simply just kill me, or at the very least divorce me, when he sees the bill from this......

Please Support #18 Devon Walker

Tulane has posted a link for our community and those who have expressed support to donate to the Walker family as Devon undergoes critical spinal surgery, care and rehabilitation.

The direct link for donations is here https://tulaneuniversity.ejoinme.org/?tabid=413351

The long-term extent of Devon's injuries is currently unknown.  Devon underwent surgery on Sunday afternoon where the neurosurgeons stabilized his spine.  As of today, Devon appears to be alert and responsive and has (Thank You Jesus) shown movement in his shoulders. This according to Coach CJ Johnson at his speech at the New Orleans QB Club lunch today.  Rick Dickson mentioned during his press conference this afternoon from the hospital that he was joking with Devon about his braids, so his signature braids seem to still be with him.  Devon may or may not have to undergo additional procedures.  They are waiting for the swelling to completely go down to make additional determinations.  He is currently in stable condition at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa.  It is a wait and see situation for atleast another day or two. He is not out of the clear yet.  And then the severity of the permanent damage can be determined.

When we were watching the game on Saturday with Booty, Booty started to cry because she knows Devon from her office at Tulane.

Devon is an exemplary student and a walk on scholarship player.  Here's the article from summer 2011 when Devon was awarded a full football scholarship.

Booty says that Devon always has two teammates in tow and the three of them apparently take all of their classes together, they study together and help each other out. In Cell and Molecular Biology at Tulane.  Listen y'all, the lazy writer of this blog you are currently reading decided to take biology at a community college back home over the summer while an undergrad, because I was too chicken to take for real biology.  And this guy is majoring in it and tutoring other people, and paid his own way for a few years!  Waveprofessor mentioned that when he taught Devon, Devon went out of his way to help another teammate pass the class, even though that teammate was ahead of him on the roster. and Devon was still in the hunt for even getting a scholarship spot.

Devon and his teammates in Hawaii last season.

I can't even begin to imagine the burden that Coach CJ Johnson is currently carrying and the sadness that is cast over the men in Olive and Blue.  We could not have had a more well-timed Bye week, because I don't think I could even watch a game right now, much less prepare for one if I were a player.

Devon's family is distraught, but hopeful, and overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. The prayer circles in the Greenie Dat Nation have been off the hook.

So friends, haters, lurkers, generous souls, please come together and show some love. Hit the donation link above, any bit counts.

Shalom.

We Need Your Prayers

Now is not the time for me to review the buzzsaw game we had this afternoon. 

While Tulsa basks in their post-victory glow, Mrs. Hullabaloo requests that the rest of our classy nation could please send their most fervent, genuine, and devoted prayers to Devon Walker, his family, his teammates and his coaches.

Shalom.

Don't Tread On This

And don't you forget it, ya heard?!

ROLL WAVE!

This

(WORD!)

......Discuss amongst yourselves

P.S. Mrs. Hullabaloo has a relatable story, but I'll keep it to myself for a while and share when it won't come across as bitter. or gossipping.

P.P.S. Can you bee-lieve I am quoting Miz Nunez? Lawd, go out and buy yourselves a lottery ticket! toDAY!

Finding My Zen as a Greenie Dat

Ok, I’ve had 48 hours to digest. Hurricane Mrs. Hullabaloo, has calmed down now.  Coach Hullabaloo thinks that the pictures on my banner are too old, and are therefor to blame for our demise on Saturday.  So my project this week will be to tend to some housecleaning of the banners and hopefully continue to get my mind off of Saturday's game.

So yes, I'm simmering down some.  Just in time to faintly start thinking about sigh, our upcoming game against the Aslut Hurricanes. Which in other Ex-Cusa news: Houston fired their O.C. after one game. Harsh. Of course, he was the O.C. from the school that beat them.

I found the news hilariously funny and then, once I thought about it, mildly troubling. Considering that we have both UTEP and Memphis on our schedule this season, with their former O.C. now our O.C. ...oh pressure, the pressure!

......Lawd, I really just can’t think about that now.....(no, I am not advocating such precipitous steps at our program, I'm just apprehensive about our spread offense opponents down the stretch)

Anyways, in an effort to find inner peace and zen out a little, I gots recipes and cute pictures to share from our Jersey inspired tailgate par-tay. Of course, I am still kicking myself today that I did not steal a snapshot of Angel Johnson, Coach CJ’s wife, at the game. But GIRL!  Let me tell you that I have the biggest crush on her.

Isn’t this picture just the cutest?! Totally Mrs. Hullabaloo approved!

Angel Johnson has the. most. fabulicious. Olive and Blue wardrobe and the most fierce sense of style, period. I sooo wanted to take her picture when I ran into her at the game on Saturday, but I didn’t want to appear to be a complete creepy weirdo SuperFan. So instead I’ll just write about it on my blog here.

She was wearing these boots, with an adorable green pants suit and the most adorable bedazzled v-neck babydoll teeshirt that one of the other coaches’ wives made. I roll my eye at this, because WHY DOES THE TEAM SHOP INSIST ON HAVING MEN SELECT MERCHANDISE FOR THE LADIES?! We want cute things, there’s a market for it, “Shrink it and Pink it” sucks. The result is that we are ALL guilty of licensing restrictions, even the staff. We have to resort to making our own cute things. So get with the program, puh-leeze. Thank you. That is all....

Anyways, Angel had the fiercest make-up job on top of her awesomely styled outfit.  Green eyeshadow! Oh, how I loved it loved it!

So at tailgating, I didn’t let Hurricane Isaac put too much of a damper on things than it had already. Lawd, we had tailgating krewe members resort to cooking their dish entirely over open flame for lack of power to their houses!  I was able to manage plucking a few items out of the complete darkness and unbearable heat that was my powerless storage area, in order to somewhat manage to put together a semblance of a proper tailgating spread.

Poor sweet Priscilla, who still has no power at home, made the roastbeef for our cheesesteak sandwiches using only her grill in her yard.  She is such a fabulous cook that it turned out spectacular.

PRISCILLA’S PERFECTION ROAST BEEF
A rump roast
Dry rub: tony chachere's, rock salt (must use rock salt, it makes for a good crust) and cracked black pepper. I'd say about a palmful each
A whole onion roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
About a ladleful or so of chicken broth

Pat yer roast down with paper towels and then rub it down real good with the dry rub. Take a dutch oven and brown it real good all the way around on all sides. When all sides of the rump's properly browned, put a little bit of chicken stock in the pan. Enough to deglaze the crunchy cooked bits (I’m guessing about three quarters of a cup. We don't want stew here), toss in the onion and the garlic, cover it and then either put it on bbq pit or in an oven at 350° for 3-4 hrs until well done.

We served the roast beef with jus on a french roll with provolone and sauteed onions and green peppers and oh sweet baby Jesus was it good. (Priscilla is suggesting we do a for real cook book, what do you think?)

For desserts, FF’s wife, Red, made a beautiful Amaretto Cheesecake (thanks Red!) and Ta’Molly’s husband brought us Canollis. Nell brought this delicious and adorable individualized cobblers for dessert. It was so good, and so cute!

Not sure if you can tell from the picture, she had sprinkled it adorably with green and blue colored sugar!

NELL'S CUTEST APPLE COBBLER
One box yellow cake mix (Nell used Betty Crocker)
2 cans of Comstock brand Apple Pie Filling*
2 sticks of butter sliced in tabs
Toasted pecans, chopped
Brown sugar
Spirit colored sugar

Preheat your oven to 350°. Combine cake mix, filling and slices of butter and pour into a greased baking pan. Bake for a total of 25 minutes, but 20 minutes in you’ll need to add the pecans.  So while you’re waiting the 20 minutes, toast your pecans either in a skillet on the stove, or on a pan in the oven.  Keep an eye on them, as soon as you can start smelling the pecans, shut off the heat pronto so you don’t burn the nuts. Add a smidge of butter to the hot pecans and coat them by sprinkling with a handful of brown sugar. Let the pecans cool a little to chop, and then toss over the cobbler in the oven. Finish cooking the cobbler for another 5 minutes until thoroughly cooked through.  Let cool, and then spoon a batch into clear acrylics rocks size glasses.  Sprinkle the top with colored sugar, and then top with color coordinated spoon. 

*One of the neatest things about this super easy recipe is that you can swap out the filling!  You can use blueberry filling, cherry filling - whatever!  and perusing the Comstock website, I came across this: Blueberry Barbecue Sauce!  How perfect for the Tulane game against ECU to go with our cochon du lait!?! Oh yeah, y'all!
 
The piece de resistance was Preacherman, who provided these meatballs that were truly delicious. I googled this same recipe shared by several bloggers. So if you claim ownership of this recipe, besides giving you a tiara, I will give you proper credit for birthing such awesomeness.

PREACHERMAN’S TAILGATE MEATBALLS
Pound of mild pork sausage
Pound of ground beef
halfa cup seasoned breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten
cuppa milk
cuppa finely diced sweet onion
halfa cuppa finely diced sweet onion (chop up super small,ya heard)
saltnpeppa
pretzel sticks to use as toothpicks
P.S. you might want to make extra, because you WILL snag some to nibble on.

Preheat oven to 375°. Mush meats with the rest of the ingredients and shape into balls about the width of a businesscard. Line em up with some breathing space between them on a lightly greased pan cookie sheet or baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes while you check your facebook. Or you can be more productive and make the sauce below.  Turn the meatballs to cook on the other side, for another 15 minutes.

GRAVY SAUCE OF MAGNIFICENCE
halfa cuppa apple jelly
halfa cuppa creole mustard
halfa cuppa whiskey
healthy dash of Worcestershire sauce and another healthy dash of Tabasco (ooooh yeah!)

Dump all these ingredients into a large flat skillet pan and stir to combine over medium heat. Heat ingredients through on a simmer for one minute, don't like boil and carmelize. Add your cooked meatballs and let everything cook for 5 more minutes, stirring to make sure they all get coated appropriately. Just give into the urge to eat a couple of meatballs.  That's what the extra is for! Refrigerate yer heavenly meatballs overnight. At tailgating, reheat with a chaffing dish or put in a foil pan on the grill for about 5 or 10 minutes.
 
After much heartache, thoughtful prayer and meditation, Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo have decided to stay put and party with our Greenie Dats in New Orleans. Gather at some watering hole where I won't upset neighbors with my commentary during the game.  I’ll use the bye weekend to finish up some loose ends I have for our brunch tailgating for the Tulane v. Ole Miss game. So it won’t be entirely tragic that I miss out on paying a visit in Aslut. Although I will totally miss shopping up at one ofmy favorite haunts.

Au revoir mon petit choux! Bonne Chance!