Any excuse to tablescape

Nothing like living in the middle of the biggest free party in the world.

Much to the relief of some in the Greenwave community, I'm on hiatus from athletics-related activities this weekend to enjoy the gras with Coach Hullabaloo and my family. I am glad I did because apparently we didn't bunt in the 9th inning of the first game against Sacred Heart and dropped the third game in the series, so a meltdown has ensued.

This is the first Mardi Gras in a very long while that Tulane has had multiple float representation (other than TUMB) in any of the parades since Riptide had his own royalty float in Endymion back after the undefeated season. Tulane was in Cleopatra and in Morpheus. Plus my friend Tyrone Power says that his float for the St. Patrick's Parade is going to be Tulane themed as well.

My girl whom I'll call Barbarella rides in Cleopatra and she gave me this TU decorated margarita glass. Glasses were their signature throws. I loved that.

So in the spirit of Mardi Gras, I had to share with the wider world some of my cute parade tablescaping. Mardi Gras tailgating is the most difficult place in the world to do so unless you are fortunate enough to have a private home on the parade route.

Coach Hullabaloo and I took up some free sidewalk real estate, packed a grill and I just had room for my one little table, but I did the best I could.

What do you think?

I found the fleur de lis flag at Wal-Mart and the runner I tossed on top was fabric I picked up and have been hoarding for an appropriate mardi gras opportunity.

I actually liked the idea of re-using old Mardi Gras cups and koozies. You know how obsessed I am with koozies and drinkware, so I am a mardi gras bandit when it comes to koozies thrown from floats. They are my favorite throws. So I like the idea of having various koozies from the various parade krewes.

I also polished off some drink cups I had made for some of Coach Hullabaloo's mardi gras themed birthday parties (He's a february birthday, so he's been lucky enough to have a double whammy some years). And then the queen of olive and blue tailgating here has ample green tableware. You'll notice I had to keep the purple to an absolute minimum.

I love adding these waffle towels from Monogram Express, it's such an easy way to perk up a table. And I find arranging stuff inside a catch all bucket is essential on windy days. And then finish up the little vignette with a couple of sparkly mardi gras tiaras and ta da, you can take a bow.

My original idea was to serve my favorite gluten-free kingcake from Peacebaker, along with my favorite real kingcake that is from Hi Do Bakery (the best in New Orleans. Hands down). However, this crazy thing called gravity happens when you leave a box on top of a car while packing the trunk - eventually somewhere along your route said box will fly off the roof of the car. It's crazy how that happens.

So that's how we ended up with just the gluten free Peacebaker king cake. Which I think was the universe's way of saying I didn't need to cheat and that lent is imminent.

One thing that I love about being a tailgating maven is that I am getting really good at tossing together quick and simple outdoor menus. Last night after the last parade we raced through a Rouse's before they closed, I took a cue from Sandra Lee's semi-home made and picked up stuff for some cheater cheater chicken salad and some cheater cheater cole slaw. Some turkey sausages to toss on the grill with some bell peppers and onions, a pack of rolls, a few bags of healthy-ish chips (yeah, but the Zapps), with a tub of hummus, and I was done at the grocery.

The idea behind the cheater cheater chicken salad is that when you are being lazy and can't cook some fresh chicken from scratch (which really you should because the taste is so much better), you can just glam up store bought chicken salad from the deli section at the store with a few key ingredients.

Cheater Cheater Chicken Salad
a container of store bought chicken salad (I prefer Robért's, but Rouse's was ok)
handful red seedless grapes (or dried cranberries, yum either way), chopped
couple stalks of green onions, chopped
handful chopped walnuts or pecans

Wash and chop the grapes and green onions, chop the pecans and mix thoroughly in the storebought chicken salad. Voila, a riff off of Sonoma Chicken Salad. Using this thought you could throw caution to the wind and instead do a curry chicken salad version by tossing in some curry powder, a small dollop of chutney, green onions, raisins or apples, and cashews.

Cheater Cheater Coleslaw
a package of precut coleslaw (I used the asian version that had kale and broccoli along with cabbage)
couple stalks of green onions, chopped
handful curly parsley (leaves), chopped
mayo, what you like to add
sour cream, smidge
vinegar, smidge
honey mustard, smidge
SUGAR, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

I love, love, the cole slaw from Houston's so this is their copycat verison. I do the sauce first and get the portions to the taste that I like and then I add it little by little to the veg. In lieu of ruining the veg with a mishap.

So to all my Greenies out there in the world: HAPPY MARDI GRAS! You're a fan of the best college in the world, because like everywhere else it's just a random weekend in March. How sad for everywhere else, right?