Laughing is fun! Who knew?

It has been so much fun to belly laugh the past few days.

We just got back from Thibodaux, and I don't really care that we only won 1-0. And I don't really want to think about how we went a zillion innings with a goose egg before finally scoring right now. I'll have time to think about having a close game with Nicholls some other time in the far way future.

Me and my peeps and Coach Hullabaloo (who made a rare cameo at a mid week game) trekked over the bridge and down Highway 90 to Thibovegas to avenge our embarassment from last year at Didier Field.

We stopped for dinner at Bubbas. I don't know exactly which Bubbas it was because that whole Bubbas thing is just confusion. Bubbas II, Bubbas on the Bayou - whatever. But seriously, Bubbas has got to be the most expensive fried seafood in the history of man. $75 for food served on trays, served with plastic forks and lemon juice packets!! It was like a robbery hold up, but in reverse. In my opinion of good seafod eatin', Bubbas ain't got nothing, nothing on Drago's.

We sat at the game with our favorite Tulane friend, Lil General, and her husband, Mr. Lil General. They live in Thibodaux. They are so sweet and came to sit with us a spell at Bubbas before the game too.

Mr. Lil General was throwing out the funnies left and right (har har). I say left and right like that because there were some very annoying Kappa Sigmas who were cheerleading the game and one of their go to cat calls was the "left right left right" chant when our Greenwave players walked off the field. It was uber annoying.

Here are the Kappa Sigs when they thought they could sit on top of the Tulane dugout. They snapped this just moments before they got kicked off and sent away by security.

showsyy
Afterwards the Kappa Sigs set up like railbirds in front of the fence along first base bleachers and continued their annoying cheers. The one that was actually kind of funny was that they would all go "WHOO!" in unison each time that Rankin does his famous wind up high kick that he does. (We looove you Daniel! We wouldn't change a thing about your baseball habits! It's cute!)

photo from David Grunfeld, Times Pic
Afterwards they all congratulated the Greenies and shook hands, so I have forgiven the Kappa Sigs for some of their more immature taunts. At least they are doing something constructive with their time in college like supporting their classmates who are student athletes and not like running a drug den out of their fraternity house or acting like fools at seranades. So overall I was impressed and jealous with their school spirit - because like when's the last time a Tulane fraternity has shown up for a game, any game? ..... It's been decades. Sigh.

So anyways, on the way out to Thibodaux, Peggy kept us in stitches by sharing a classic story that will go down in the annals of Hullabaloo Huddle as one for the ages. It just might displace our apron story, as funniest story ever.

Peggy and some of my girls, Pickle and Jubilee, had been volunteering at a tournament which shall remain nameless because I don't want the FDA or health inspectors knocking down our door. or someone getting in trouble. So I'll just discuss it here on the interwebs between you and me.

So my girls Peggy, Jubilee, and Pickle are at this event and they were in charge of distributing the lunches to the teams that were participating. Which would seem like an easy task However, some of the teams would come up and grab all of their lunches for their team, but then sometimes individuals would go up and claim their own lunch. It was up to our peeps to keep track of who was getting what. You can see how this might go sideways if you aren't paying attention.

So one of the participants came up to the lunch check out and asked for her sandwich by herself. She dressed her sandwich and then left. Meanwhile another team came up to claim their lunches for the entire team. There was a stray sandwich still wrapped up all nicely that was still on the table, so it got added to the pile that was being handed over to the team and off that sandwich went.

Well the girl came back and asked where her sandwich went that she had left on the table. Peggy was momentarily horrified and explained that it must have been given to another group. The girl sez, you don't understand - I put mayo on the sandwich. Peggy responded, Oh well the sandwich in question is gone. And the girl then responds, no you don't understand! She had taken a BITE out of the sandwich! Immediately Peggy's response is to start laughing. She's given out a half eaten sandwich to goodness knows who.

One of my other girls who was also volunteering, whom I'm calling Pickle also starts to laugh, or cackle, and everybody is laughing like it's the funnies thing. Amongst just us, Pickle whispers through laughter and tears that she hoped it had gotten picked up by one of the LSU coaches (omg ha, right?!). And that she hopes (kiiiiddddding) that they think we did it on purpose. ha ha!

One of the worker bees who was supposed to be supervising Peggy, Pickle and Jubileee - was just beside herself fraught with worry over SandwichGate. Meanwhile Peggy, Pickle and Jubilee can't even look at each other without laughing. And then they start cracking jokes about the bite being like a kingcake baby. Meanwhile the concerned workerbee was wanting to report SandwichGate up the chain of command, which just made it all the more comical. Even when the concerned worker bee is distraught and trying to explain to the tournament supervisor about the mistake, it was making Peggy, Jubilee and Pickle - grown women who are mostly all grandmothers - laugh even harder. Because could you like imagine sending out a half eaten sandwich and the reaction of the person who got the half a sandwich? Or if they God forbid, had eaten it?!

Don't ever trust us to volunteer again! But in all seriousness: I swear on my cats that we won't spit in your tailgating food, or serve sandwiches we've already bitten into. I prooommmmmise!!!

SandwichGate reminds me of Peggy's and my last trip to the Litter Box in Bataan Rouge for a final farewell baseball game there. They were just building the new place next door and Peggy and I discussed at length the possibility of digging and burying some Tulane jerseys in the new litter box stadium while construction was still happening. Could you imagine how funny? Peggy even suggested that if we buried say 2 jerseys, that we should send a ransom type note and tell them that there were 4 buried jerseys just so that they would dig up the whole place chasing down the 2 ghost jerseys.

Oh, the fun of rivalries I tell you!

Yes, ha! The corndogs lost to USL. Of course they are blaming the rain delay on all their errors. While I still find USL annoying, I shan't pass up a chance to laugh that corndogs lost. So: ha ha ha ha

Postcard From The Edge

Welcome back, Mrs. Bad Fan here breaks her silence.

I almost asked Preacherman to just drive his minivan with all of us aboard straight into Bayou Lafourche last nite, but then I thought of you and how much y'all have missed me.

A group of us road tripped out to Thibodaux for our "away" baseball game with Harvard on the Bayou. Jesus, Joseph and Mary and all of the angels and saints: What is Going On Here?! We lost in the most humiliating fashion to a school who's press box is a card table set up on metal bleachers and a shed for a ticket window.

See, here's photographic proof. This is it. This is the expanse of Didier Field. Where we lost like fools.


I wish I'd snapped a picture of Graf in his hoodie trying to broadcast from that card table. It was hilarious.

Speaking of hilarious: On the way to Thibodaux Peggy was telling me the story about of Tulane's last away game at Didier Field which I did not attend. I was laughing so hard I almost pee'd my pants. Did you know Coach Jones got kicked out of Nicholl's stadium? Twice! Apparently Coach Jones got hot about some call during the game, so the ump told him to leave. But as you can see this stadium is not exactly a fortress. So Jones snuck back in somehow into a corner somewhere in the stands and didn't even have a mustache disguise or potted fern to hide behind or anything. So he got discovered and walked back out to the bus, but Tulane fans made a human tunnel for him to leave through causing much aggravation to the Colonels and their fans. So afterwards a stupid LSU fan tries to taunt Big Mike because that's how they roll in Baton Rouge - you get aggravated with games and so you taunt the opponent's fans. So Big Mike turned to the sorry squirt and said "Yeah?! Well, I peed on your truck. So there." He didn't really, but OMG ha!

But alas...after the humiliation of the past 4 games, Coach Hullabaloo is going to refuse to go to Tuscaloosa for the series with Alabama and that makes me sad.

Anyways, I just have to say: All of you have been so kind and patient during my many months of silence following the end of that whackadoodle football season we had in 2012. After the umpteenth person asked about Hullabaloo Huddle last night and during our first weekend series at Turchin, I decided to just post already. My silence has been kind of on purpose, save a few outbursts on twitter. And save some some booty shaking over the Bowl Season Upsets that warmed my heart so. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank YOU Clemson and, well, um, thank you, begrudingly, Louisville. Bowl Season can make strange bedfellows of even some of us most hardened fans. But by the way, did you know that Tulane has a vastly larger endowment than Clemson?

So, anyways, what has mostly contributed to my silence has been the ever changing landscape of our future. Paying attention to and following conference negotiations, media deals and our recruiting inroads has been like running with the bulls. The fluctuations of each and every twitter newscycle has been like totally cray. At this point in our lives it even appears that the Big East is about to shred all sense of dignity and acquiese into selling it's name (!) to the Seven Whiny Babies also informally known as the Catholic 7.

Yes, you've emailed, texted and cornered me on social media for my opinions. I value that you value my ole little opinion so here is a summation:

To Whom It May Concern: Mrs. Hullabaloo approved of the Big East news. Made Lorenzo Doss' takeaway in the final game of the season a glimmer of the possibilities. But the shine's kinda worn off with the implosion that ensued and now that the 2013 schedule's been announced, plus with Robert Kelley being academically ineligible it forces me to remember that we are talking about Tulane here and not some mythical land of manna that has decided truly once and for all to get it's act together.

Plus, forgive me for not busting out a ticker tape parade about Aslut following us to the Big East and the whole excrutiating C7 Death Spiral. Although I did pause to do my best Vincent Price MUWAHAHA! that we were asked first over the remaining members of Ex-Cusa. Witnessing the apoplexy of the haters was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s for the moments that it lasted.

But then, I was confronted with a most ratchet* development in Tulane Contemporary History: Our 2013 football schedule. It SO blows. I'm a schedule elitist y'all, so sue me.

*Ratchet is actually word y'all. It's the twitter bastardization of wretched. hilarous, right? kids!

Anyways, back to my regularly scheduled bitching: What has further cemented my gossip fueled and cynical opinions is that at the tail end of the conference capers and what not, Tulane's AD pipes up and finally "had something to say."

Ok, Listen up folks! A Member of TPTB Feels It Imperative To Announce, Above All Other Absurdity of Our Making, That - wait for it ........ Boisie State Is Inappopriate and Unreasonable.....

Y'all. !

With the awkward level of crap heaved at Tulane over the winter from every corner of ESPN and national newspapers (and that unfortunate Marquette interview) about how we were responsible for the demise of the American College Conferences As We Know It for daring to accept the invitation to the Big East, this is what merited an outburst of outrage from Wilson Center: That Boisie State's PTB aren't shy or demure about strong arming a deal to benefit themselves. Look who's looking out for number one! How Shameful. And We Won't Stand For That Behavior!

Talk about a lost opportunity to Jujitzu all of the bad publicity into something positive. When's the last time we trended in the newscycles?

Anyways, moving on. I gotta reserve some ire for this Inappropriate and Unreasonable Football Schedule and this just most truly sad start to the baseball season. (But honestly, lost in all this if you can take a break from your wrist slitting appointments, Tulane Baskeball has been winning. Shhhh! though. We can't mention it or it will break the mojo. So everybody remain silent ok.)

2013 HOME Southernmost Alabama, ULM, Jack(who?)son State, East Carolina, North(of Denton) Texas, Aslut, UTEP

2013 AWAY Boca Raton Community College FAU, Louisiana Tech, Rice, UTSA, Syracuse

This is what an inaugural member of the SEC has come to: Road trips to Ruston!. I won't lie: I won't be shedding a tear about going to Boca Raton with Coach Hullabaloo, we're big fans of Miami. I can't wait to make all of my favorite restaurant reservations and hit up my favorite shops. The lone bright spot. And what's more is that with the awfulness that has befallen my Slugger Birds, we now have to turn our minds and get pumped up about opening up against South Alabama. boo.

The silver lining in all of this is my spiritual edification. In that this all makes my fog of disappointment about morning games last season just all the more tragic. God sure learned me to question a game time against Ole Miss. (What was I thinking??!!!) A sure lesson in gratefulness and humility, because even if TPTB scheduled 6pm games to make up for this ratchet-ness, it is not going to rectify a schedule packed 100% with directional schools. Lord, please forgive me and show us mercy. There is still time though for TPTB to Rise Up and walk back an agreement with one of these schools like Alabama and the Outhouse did to us. Our Lady of Football Schedules, pray for us. Amen.

Anyways, my dears: 7 months to plan so I just need to get over it and Echa Pa'Lante!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

One of my favorite football movie characters of the 80’s were the cheerleaders from the Goldie Hawn movie Wildcats. “U-G-L-Y! You ain’t got no alibi! You ugly! You! You! You ugly!”



From time to time when I get in the zone at games I start cheering that to opposing teams for giggles. Such a fantastic cheer! And plus the lyrics about alibis are just so appropriate for them fighting tigahs. ha.

Which I just have to address this: OMG about their incessant whining from the Championship to National Signing Day. Talk about u-g-l-y.

Silly me, I thought that Alabama completely embarrassing les tigres live on National Television would be the end of it. But no. When one feels entitled, then it’s imperative to complain, complain, complain (and it made me wonder which would have been worse: the gloating if they’d won or the never ending whining which ensued).

I just knew G-d would punish me somehow for gloating about this most awesome smack down in the history of America. And for laughing about the “Mantrums” (yes Peggy christened this word) which Peggy and Koozie witnessed. The complainers took it to the airwaves. and in the paper. and on the news. By air, land and sea. Oy! Enough Already!!!

About midway through football season, Peggy and Koozie took up the hobby of working Sundays at the Superdome for the Saints games which meant they got to work the BCS game. and Lawd did they have some stories about the complainers upriver.

At the end of the game, Peggy got to greet people as they left (which they did in droves). “Hope y’all have a great night! Thank you for coming!” "Enjoy your evening!" and she drolled this out there layered on REAL thick just because she could. ha ha! I love her!

Which by the way, I don’t think I can mention enough that their fans a) left in the third quarter and b) boo’d the players! Yes, they boo’d at children who play for free, don’t get an actual education and yet undertake this all for their selfish entertainment. Koozie had to work security on the field and was in front of the Golden Girls who were all forced to sit and watch the meltdown with mascara streaming down their faces.

Isn’t that fantastic?! Just enough to tide me over til September. Or this spring if we manage to beat them in Baseball.

Anyways, I just have to also point out that these quote/unquote “Fans" had the nerve to gasp and clutch their pearls when an Alabama fan went rogue and acted a fool in the Krystal’s on Bourbon. Because really, there isn’t a single solitary classless fan in the history of Louisiana A+M. That doesn’t excuse Mr. Downing for his behavior, but when you lower the bar for acceptable behavior, this is what can happen.

And then, for the cherry on top: les tigres went into a complete tailspin all the way through to signing day when their recruits started bailing on em. Because would you want to go before a sports tribunal for going 13-1? And Sweet Baby Jesus, if there is one thing I am grateful for in being mostly ignored by the media is that we don’t have whack moms, whack fathers or whack coaches who then go viral for talking out their mouths and looking like maroons. (or for that matter fans piling on by verbally lynching the high school coaches!)

So, now, meanwhile at OUR Glass House:

The Good: Tulane got it’s first four star recruit in a decade and we stole not 1, but a total of 3 recruits from the SEC. Yes indeed.


Fudge Van Hooser - turned down offers from Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Stanford.


Kedrick Banks


Darion Monroe(!) - our twelfth hour 4 star coup, who switched his commitment from Texas A&M to the Wave and teared up explaining his decision. Holy Facundus, right?!


Joshua Rounds and Royce LaFrance, some more local kids for good measure. Shown here representing The Wave at Manning's

And there was gossip that there was – gasp- an LSU recruit who was wavering on his decision up until 7am that morning about jumping ship to come to Tulane. Could you have imagined? It’s actually a scary thought because since these people are in some kind of mood, they might have marched down and torched Tulane down to smoldering embers.

The Bad: I honestly don’t know if I should feel exhilarated or more tepid in my emotions about our Legendary Signing Day due to the impending fracas which is "Conference WTF"* that was birthed via negotiations by our very own Scott Cowen. The new conference name I am using is, of course, a joke since the conference has yet to be named. But I think it frames the situation perfectly.

How low our situation has sunk over the past decade is such a nightmare of epic proportions – and the fact that TPTB just allowed this slide down while every Greenie Dat could see it from light years away and yet were powerless in the situation – makes me really need to talk about food to push it aside and pretend it’s just not happening for the time being.**

So I won't think about Conference WTF right now. I'll think about it....in a year when I have to.

*I totally stole this from somewhere I can't remember, but if it belongs to you please let me know and I will happily give you proper credit

** yes, yes I know I just finished penning that it would be cool to have Hawaii in our conference. But I didn’t mean for an implosion to happen first for this to conveniently take place.

So now to items of real importance. Yes, my brothers and sisters: The 2012 Tulane Greenwave Fall Schedule was released and I promptly decided on our tailgating menus. I call it my swan song for the “Ex-CUSA” of a situation Tulane Football finds itself in.

Rutgers: Cheesesteaks and trimmings!

Ole Miss:  Shrimp n Grits brunch

ULM: Louisiana favorites

SMU: Chicken n Waffles, oh yeah!

UAB: BBQ

Rice: Greek-Mex!

ECU: Cochon du Lait

My friend Jack says that Cheesesteaks aren’t really NJ food, even though I’ve had delicious ones in NJ. But whatever – I think it will be delish, so I’ll just consider it a Rutgers-Adjacent themed menu.

As you can see I am going though serious football withdrawals. For my final hurrah of football season I had put together a totally cute par-tay for the Saints play offs hoping that I could extend tailgating festivities until the beginning of February. Alas it was not meant to be. Mr. Roman Harper. (yes I'm calling him out).

I admit I do have some residual bitterness and spent Superbowl Sunday shopping until I was kicked out of stores when they closed for the day. But as a more well-adjusted fan used to losing, I will only lash out about it on occasion. Besides, the last time I went to San Fran I was completely underwhelmed so I’m already on record about hating on it. and Jim Harbaugh can't touch Sean Payton with a ten foot pole in the class department.

For my partay I did a whole San Francisco Menu that came out really cute and delicious: Rice-A-Roni salad, Asian BBQ Spare Ribs (recipe below), California Rolls, Clam Chowder and Irish Coffee Cheesecake (recipe below). Nell brought Fruit (get it?) Salad and Peggy brought egg rolls and her awesome Sonoma Chicken Salad. FF brought a bunch of California artisanal beer and Coach Hullabaloo went nuts with the California wines at World Market.

My tablescaping was so cute, I loved it.


We even put bunting on the house and I made this fab wreath for the front door.


So I hope you enjoy these recipes. Now, onto planning our final hurrah in Ex-CUSA....

ASIAN BBQ SPARE RIBS
2 lbs pork spare ribs or baby back ribs
2 tbs hoisin sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp five spice powder
3 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs sambal oelek (asian crushed chili pepper)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tbs honey

Cut ribs in serving pieces, one or two ribs per cut. Wash and pat dry with paper towel. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. This will yield a wet mixture, not saucy. Rub onto the ribs and cook in a slow cooker overnight. Before ready to serve, broil them in an oven for 15 minutes on each side until brown and seared.

IRISH COFFEE CHEESECAKE
22 crisp oatmeal cookies
3 tbsp of cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp of coffee liqueur or milk
1/2 tsp of vanilla
2 tbsp of instant espresso coffee powder
1/3 cup of Irish whiskey or milk
1 tsp of instant espresso coffee powder
1 tsp of granulated sugar
1 tbsp of whipping cream
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
2 tbsp of granulated sugar

Butter a spring-form pan. Rough crush the cookies in a food processor. Add tbsp of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon to processor to combine. Mush it into the pan into a thin crust. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes and then let cool completely.

Beat cream cheese with a cup of brown sugar, add eggs until smooth. Add vanilla and the coffee liqueur. Dissolve the 2tbsp of espresso coffee powder in Irish whiskey. Add this into the cream cheese mixture and pour into crust. Bake at 350F degrees for 50 minutes and then let cool.

Dissolve 1tbsp of whipping cream with 1tsp of espresso coffee and 1tsp of granulated sugar. Separately, beat 1 1/2 cup of whipping cream with 2tbsp of granulated sugar until the mixture become stiff, and then fold in espresso mixture. Spread as garnish on top of cheesecake.

Alright, Alright, Alright

Yeah Yeah Yeah - I flaked out on posting. It was a work day Friday so sue me.

Anyways, I really didn't pay attention to the game after the first half with all of the commotion going on up in the suites and all. It's ALL anybody can talk about so I need not discuss it further until the souffle is totally baked.* And no, ain't takin about Mathieu's locker.

*(well, one small note - everybody's got "a source" and Comedian Al's is hilarious. He claims he is sleeping with a friend of you know who's daughter. You know who's daughter is 15, so this would make Al a dirty old man. The bottom line is this: I can't wait for this to be concluded so that we can all come out in the open and say for real who knew what, when and how. Because the only people who don't know what's up are the media and Tammy Fletcher they are acting like fools)

But listen, everything is gonna be Alright. Coach Hutson is up for the head coaching position at Eastern Illinois, we have great candidates up for our open position and Tammy Nunez got exposed for the fool that I knew she was all along.

So we had a great Tailgate/Going Away for one of our favorite tailgatresses whose hubby has landed his dream job in the NFL. Quite exciting and we are so proud of her and her family moving on up.

It was our Texan Burger tailgate and I spent Thursday in the kitchen making Jalapeno Popper Dip (!), Chipotle mayo, Sandra Lee's southwest burgers and Cowboy caviar. The cowboy caviar was ok, I wouldn't call it a kepper. But the Jalapeno Popper Dip was simply amazing - and it actually tasted like jalapeno poppers! So Easy.

Word. I've already posted the Jalepeno Popper Dip once, but it's so good that it deserves to be reposted twice, three times. Whatever it takes.

LIFE CHANGING JALAPENO POPPER DIP
2 packages of softened cream cheese, room temp
1 cup mayo (yeah. this is not a low cal dip)
1 cup grated parm cheese divided
1 can diced jalapenos drained
2 fresh jalapenos sliced, seeds/ribs removed
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Let cream cheese sit out til it's soft soft. Preheat oven to 375. Mix together with a cup of mayo and half cup parm cheese. OK, do not try to do this by hand because you will die. I was dumb enough to do that. Use a mixer if you own one. Fold in your fresh and canned jalapenos. Pour mixture into a baking dish and scrape every last morsel out of the mixing bowl (I used an aluminum one that fit into our chaffing dish stand). Mix bread crumbs and remainder of parm cheese together and then crumble over top of the delicious creaminess. Pop into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so until the bread crumbs are browned. Serve warm at tailgating and stand back because it will be gone.

What was most definitely not alright was this (!)


Pictured here, anonymously, is Colonel Reb. Our favorite Ole Miss Tulane Fan. Yes, they exist. He grew up lovin The Wave, but did his schoolin up in Oxford. He is a trip. Last week at SMU (yes he travels to away games also, so we see him often) I ended up getting a sideline pass and gave it to Colonel Reb. We started doing well and so we made him stay down there on the sideline. He loved it loved it, because he got to hear up close and personal the Greenies start trash talking the Ponies.

So you can imagine my surprise when he showed up at tailgates with that in his hand (!). Anyways, his story is that one of the Greenbackers sent their son to pick up a case of beer for him to bring to tailgate and said son purchased these. Seriously. Colonel Reb will drink anything, so they told him to take some. Well when he got to Mrs. Hullabaloo's tailgate we covered that puppy up with a Tulane koozie lest it leave us permanently scarred for life. For sure.

This was so funny that I couldn't wait to report on it.


Apparently a Greenie Dat is friends with a Cooter and they tried to sit near us in our section at some point in the first half. The Cooters scored and he jumped up and down and started hootin and hollerin like this was the first time he'd seen a touchdown. Coach Hullabaloo was livid. Peggy started wondering aloud who this fool was. So I decided to take the direct approach:

Cooter Fan: YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! That's what I'm talkin about!!!

Mrs. Hullabaloo: Hey! Hey! Hey You! (finally getting Cooter Fan's attention) When's your next workout video coming out?

Cooter Fan: What?

Coach Hullabalo: Yeah! Richard Simmons called and he wants his headband back!

It was hilarious. Look at Coach Hullabaloo acting sassy! Surpised the heck out of me. Peggy was still laughing to herself well into the third quarter over the headband comment. Cooter Fan tucked his tail between his legs and took off. But not before I snapped this picture of him silenced and his friend snickering at him.

After Cooter Fool had left, Peggy and I were miming "He's a Maniac! Maniac! on the floo-oor" .... He's a Cooter Town Fool on a Thursday night, looking for the fight of his life.. In the real time world, no one sees him at all ...They all say he's craa-zy..." Ok anybody not of the Flashdance Era will not get this Michael Sambella ditty.

Yes we were immature, but sooooooo worth it.

You know what else was worth it? Screaming to the ref who called an unsportsman-like or excessive hit or whatever penalty that was that spotted the Cooters yet another touchdown. It was quelle bull. Definitively. Earlier in the game a ref got taken out ice cold and wheeled off in a stretcher. I kept yelling that this other bogus ref needed to be taken out on a stretcher also. Cause it was pitiful.

Anyways, with the appearance of UTFM - I decided to social butterfly amongst my Greenie Dat peeps. I took this cute video of the Shockwave Dancers.



I just loved the little future shockwave dancer trying to imitate them! Chickadee's Newcomb little sister is a member of Shockwave, so I was glad to have some shots of her. The TU Brass Band is one of my favorite game day traditions.

Next to this one.


Isn't this cool? Will make me miss the dome when we move the games back to campus....

Rendezvous in Nola, Y'all

Yes, we had ourselves an outstanding tailgate in Champions Square for Tulane Greenwave Homecoming.

It made me go Gormley Who?! We had it ALL goin' on. The tailgatresses who par-tay with Coach and Mrs. Hullabaloo are awesome. So props to Peggy for her amazing ribs, Priscilla's heavenly brisket and potato salad, and Beth Anne for the greens and mac and cheese. Yum-o!

We chose BBQ for the obvious reasons of playing Memphis, but one of the best things about Rendezvous BBQ in Memphis is that the downtstairs dining room is line with college football helmets of every school here and yonder. Tulane's is up there. You know whose is NOT? Yeah, baby - the Tigahs!

Many thanks to Nell for not only providing BBQ sausages, but also for bringing o-fficial Rendezvous BBQ Sauce to complete the day. It was perfect.


I'm still waiting for PreacherMan to give up the goods on the Banana Pudding, because it was unreal y'all.

I made some Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Blondies from Booty's Whitney Miller's cook book and had Courtney Who Makes Cookies make some cookies for our football momma's with their son's numbers on them.


The cookies looked so great that FF ate the one belonging to Xavier Rush. ha! I won't ever let him live it down!!! (We love you FF! next year I'll make a cookie just for you!)

WHITNEY MILLER'S
SWEET POTATO PEANUT BUTTER BLONDIES
Pam, for greasing baking dish
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed (I made Coach roast and mash this)
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with your pam.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a small bowl.

In another bowl, mix together the melted butter and brown sugar. Stir in the beaten eggs, sweet potato, peanut butter, vanilla, and cinnamon until combined. Add the flour mixture ingredients and mix well.

Pour batter in the baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes. Let cool in the oven (with heat turned off) for 10 minutes. Cut the blondies into squares or desired shapes.

....and Booty made some Olive n Blue Deviled Eggs (made with olives and blue cheese) accented with a green and blue jello shot for a chaser. Then we also had, of course, fixings to make Mint Juleps with Tennessee Whiskey...


Our final home tailgate for the football season will be Thursday's game against UH in two weeks. We're doing Burgers. And speaking of burgers, Ta'Molly has threatened to make us have Omaha Steakburgers at one of next year's tailgate.

Well just lock me up and throw away the key!

Koozie's Pill Party

Tonite's post is all about Family. Because, y'all: I would not trade our Tulane family for nothing.

Shout out to the Greenbackers for having some extra tickets for Lisa and her little pelicans to attend the game. Greenbackers: if you read this THANK YOU for being awesome members of the Tulane Family.

So after the game (yes, we stayed!), Peggy, Koozie, Red and FF, and Coach Hullabaloo and I stayed and shot the shute outside in the parking lot like we like to do. We do a post-mortem, laugh our selves silly and enjoy each other's company. Y'all - the Hullabaloo Huddlers are a family and we stick together. A-men!

Anyways, during our post-game Koozie brought up that he and Peggy wanted to host a party at their place for the SMU game. He wanted Coach and I to go, but I reminded him that Coach and I would still be going to SMU. He was astounded. "WHAT!? Yous want some Cyanide to take wit ya?", sez Koozie. While I giggled I reminded him that Familia Hullabaloo are Texans, and that I would still want to see my family. Peggy was hilarious - she started doing a spoof rendition of me calling my folks and yelling into her "air" phone: "HEY: We Lost! So We AIN'T Comin', YA HEAR!!!!" and then fake hanging up. snicker!

So then we just went off on a tangent about how our next trick as fans would be to all re-enact Romeo and Juliet and all take cyanide together. Everybody commit mass suicide in the stands at the same time. Very Jamestown - or was it Jonestown? (we couldn't decide which J-Town it was, so "J-Town" it shall be). Peggy was laughing about pouring everyone "kool-aid" shots in lieu of Booty's jello shots. lmao!

And so we just tumbled down hill from there and suggested that at the Peggy and Koozie Pill Party, they would attach a hose to the car exhaust and do hits like a hookah.

I swear I laughed so hard I almost pee'd my pants!

Another thing that made me laught silly was Speedracer during the game. When we saw Up The Middle TM surfacing again we just went completely out the box. Speedracer was joking that Bob Toledo was calling the game from English Turn. No, wait - he was actually up in a suite texting the calls. Speedracer and I started yelling (for real y'all) "UP THE MIDDLE!!!!" I was laughing because this random guy down the row kept turning around and looking at me sideways. lmao! I mention this and Coach Hullabaloo chimed back that HE (as in Coach H) was looking at ME sideways. ha ha! He was so embarassed by me. Well, y'all I was embarrased by those dern Up the Middle Calls!

Anyways, so my Town Daughter did me proud today! Look at Chickadee's a-dorable shoes!


Listen y'all, every student needs to be indoctrinated by Mrs. Hullabaloo. Cute Green and Blue outfits are e-ssential. Chickadee told me that she and her adorable friend took all of their green and blue options out of their closets and styled their look for today. ♥ ♥ ♥ !!! I luvs my Town Daughter familia!

Welcome Visitors! Thank you for finding my little shtetl on the webs! So happy you came by! Miz Butterfly aksed I redact her story and I have happily obliged. Much love to y'all!

Anyways, as Speedracer so eloquently put it today during our pre-game Toast and Hullabaloo Chant (I like this tradition!) "The ONLY Good Tigah in Louisiana is a GRAMBLING Tigah!"

Yes, We're All Sinners Get Over It

Boo the drama’s over. Nothing to see here anymore. Except that I wish that they would show Imelda Jefferson’s collection of shoes. Coach Hullabaloo is fierce in the shoe shopping department and he doesn’t own 50 pairs of shoes. I don’t think I even own 50 pairs of shoes. I heard that the Jefferson Shoes deserved their own episode of Crib’s.

How exactly does a scholarship student from rural Louisiana afford 50 pairs of $100 sneakers. Oh the spin doctors on WWL just turned themselves into pretzels explaining how since U-BR had done some sort of favor to Nike, now their players could order shoes at deep discounts thru Nike. And all is kosher with this improper benefit NCAA regulations thingy. Dontcha just love it?

Well, so now enough with them and on with Us.


Casey Robottom doing the Heisman at last year's game. Photo taken by the Commercial Appeal.

In seven short days we got ourselves the Ham-land, as Coach likes to call it, coming into our decaying city. Our City which these visitors claim/disown in the same breath. When asked where they are from, I promise you that these individuals would all chrip out “New Orleans!” yet then they turn around and say how they could never possibly live here with all the colorfulness that is here. Mrs. Hullabaloo rolls her eyes at you! While I acknowledge that The Hamland is quaint in that Mayberry kind of way, I could never actually live there either. I’m too much of a sinner and I do quite enjoy my mixed-race/mixed-income neighborhood thank you very much. So there, we're even.

Koozie, Peggy, Coach and I drove to The Hamland a year or so ago for a Tulane baseball game. One of our former players is now a coach there, which causes us much distress. On a previous occasion, Peggy and I went alone and had life changing pizza at Tommy's Pizzeria. Tommy's Pizzeria might make me pause to say I could never live in The Hamland because it is the best kept secret out of there. Anyways, with our bellies full of this divine pizza, Peggy and I kept cheering something silly between innings which made us laugh like silly teenagers because at the end of our made-up cheer another Greenie Dat would chime in “and Take #23 with you!” (or whatever our former player/their current coach’s jersey number was). Every single time. We just laughed ourselves silly. Lawd we have to have a sense of humor here in Greenie Dat Nation.

So anyways, on this particular trip with Koozie, Peggy, Coach, we met up with FF Jim and his wife, Red, and perched ourselves on their precarious splinter-ridden rightfield bleechers. Section 110 on the Road kinda like. Well, we somehow got onto the topic about how Jews don’t say G-d’s name. Jews and Tulane just go with the territory, so it wasn’t a stretch to get on this topic. Jews don’t say “Yahweh” “Jehovah” none of that, they don’t even write it. It’s too sacred to even say his name (notice how I omit the “o” in deference to my proper Tulane upbringing). So then Peggy, with her endless sense of humor, starts joking about some Christian hymn that includes his name and starts asking aloud “Well what do they do when they get to that part of the song? Do they hum instead?” So the silly season started and we just took off doing all kinds of funny versions of said hymn. Very reminiscent of our banter in Section 110 at Turchin.

And then have you ever had that sneaking feeling when everyone around you is silent and watching you? Well we collectively got that feeling and looked around us to find that the Hammond-ites were none to pleased with us sinners and giving us the sideways glance stares. Clearly, we were no longer getting the pass we normally enjoy in Section 110 which has given us much acclaim and fame.

They are just so uptight and Christian up there.

And copy-cats too. Greenwave Marketing had some videos done for football season with individual players saying “Get your football tickets and come watch me do this” and then there would be a clip of some spectacular play from last season. Like Orleans Darkwa bulldozing Ole Miss, Joe Kemp catching a long bomb v. Ole Miss, Ryan Griffin airing one out to Ryan Grant for Rice.

And so Southeastern had to do that same thing with them showing clips of an interception against us. Ha ha ha – sooo funny! ha ha ha!


Well, let’s just see who has the last laugh y’all.

Okay my Chamudi's: Tulane v. SLU Gameday Menu – please sign up Hullabaloo Tailgaters

Muffalettas
BBQ Shrimp
Stuffed Artichokes
Fruit Salad
Robert’s Shrimp Dip
Rouse’s Crawfish Dip
Mother’s Jambalaya
Popeye’s
Vodka for Bloody Marys

....and then I think I might bring some Creole Tea Sandwiches (biscuits with turkey or ham, tomato and LeRuth’s Green Goddess Meynez)

Mazel Tov!

Meraviglioso!

Our Play-by-Play Announcer has found his "Sole" Mate. his Muse. The Perfect "Pair", yes! Comhghairdeachas!

Signore e Signora Hullabaloo were privileged to be allowed into the inner circle of The Voice of the Greenwave to witness his nuptials to his very lovely Muse. Yes little chickens, The Graf is hitched!

It was a lovely celebration from beginning to end, and those who missed it (you know who you are) really missed a wonderful celebration and the Groom's Cake replica of Turchin Stadium, which was just amazing.

The cutest thing were the bridesmaids all decorated their heels like Muses shoes. Similar to this beauty given to Mrs. Hullabaloo last Mardi Gras (a gift from the Missus V.O.W.).



I have to say that I don't know what the happy couple was thinking by inviting BOTH Peggy and I cause it was just like regular season. Just as if we were sitting in 110 at Turchin or 140 at the Dome, people watching, color commentating, cackling outloud. Which made being serious while in God's house very difficult. During my communion prayer I tried to close my eyes and meditate in prayer and had to keep saying "shhhh!" to Peggy out of the side of my mouth while laughter tears were rolling down my face. Lol y'all.

So at the reception, Kaare Johnson, local radio personality and upriver alumnus, thought it might be funny and put a score on a piece of napkin and stuck it on the Groom's Cake. Mrs. Hullabaloo was not amused and ammended said score. Oh but yes I did. I think that's why I was getting darts from Messieur Johnson. But I shant have Turchin defaced. Not even in jest. I can't allow it.

Mrs. Hullabaloo shook some booty y'all. The band broke into a cover of Ying Yang Twin's "Halftime" and we got c-razy Crunk y'all. The band even played Boot Scootin Boogie and Peggy helped me remember the line dance. Lawd was THAT a blast from the past. Brought me right back to our adventurous jaunts as a Newcomb Co-eds out at Mudbugs.

Anyways, in all it was a fun night, such a special celebration in the Greenwave family. "Your Happy Final:" Mr. and Mrs. Voice of the Wave happily ever after....

Mazel Tov!

Craigslist

photographic proof that the Times Picayune took a photo of a Tulane game this season. Michael DeMocker did it.

Yea yea yea. it's almost afternoon and I've totally slacked on the post-game edition.

Don't get me wrong: I was completely kvelling over the win. We even went to Tracey's to harass tiger fans even though there was no post-game radio show there. It was great. They're such weanies.

So the game. Okay. When we witnessed that long bomb from Ryan Griffin to Ryan Grant and it was actually caught and resulted in a touchdown - it seemed like it totally happened in slow motion.

Let me set it up for you....

There's not a sound. The entire Greenie Dat Nation is standing and holding their breath. Griffin is under pressure. The ball sails out of Ryan's hands in a lollipop shape out to the 20. Ryan Grant is in a tight run with a cornerback. He stretches out his hands, the defender is a few steps off his heels. The ball actually lands and stays in his hands. Eeeh, aahh, ooohhh, he trips into the endzone. The DOME ERUPTS.

!!!!!!

Girl, let me tell you. I still wasn't breathing. Peggy and I were so shocked we turned, looked at each other and let out a massive scream with our mouths wide open, our knees slightly crouched and our palms wide open at our sides in complete exclamation. Then we hugged and jumped up and down hugging for about a minute. Very Laverne and Shirley.

...and then. Rice marched down the field and made a 1st down. Because we jumped off sides. OMG SIGH. Coach Hullabaloo was so angry. He couldn't even watch that last throw by Fanuzzi's replacement. It ended up hitting the receiver right in the helmet. I had to tell Coach Hullabaloo all about it afterwards.

Our reaction to Ryan Grant's miracle touchdown was such a contrast to THAT LAME @$$ field goal on 4th and 3 at the goal line. WHAT was that story exactly? I had moved up the terrace level at the beginning of the 4th Q. The entire Greenbackers section all screamed NOOOOOO! when we saw the field goal unit jog out.

The ENTIRE Greenie Dat Nation was so disgusted, there was no Hullabaloo cheered after the score was announced. A Protest. I think we have had our fill of lame coaching decisions. We've reached our quota, so enough of that - Ok? Alright. Just so you know. It's on the record.

So we've also decided to put an ad in Craigslist for a special teams coach. Because as things are, we might as well just go and place the ball for a 40 or 60 yard scoring drive for our opponents and rest our kickers for all the uselessness that is our blocking.

Who cares about Where's Waldo - where's our special teams coach!?!

Anyways, our We Eat Rice for Lunch tailgating menu was a success. We ordered Jambalaya from Mothers, Priscilla made a yummy gumbo with white rice, Peggy brought "Owl" Tenders, Coach Hullabaloo made Rice Crispy Treats and I made Deviled Owl Eggs. and Bootie Judy provided some yummy drunken Rice Pudding.

Oh and we laughed ourselves silly choreagraphing Riptide beating up Shasta as part of a gametime performance. Who is Shasta you ask? That's the name of the Houston Cooter. Seriously. It's name is Shasta.

Booty Judy has become a fan of the Rice Owl Marching Band and their sarcasm after I posted their Tulsa skit, so we kinda took that a few steps beyond in our Riptide Stalks Shasta skit. Coach Hullabaloo rolls his eyes at the Rice band - Peggy was just perplexed, I don't think she'd ever paid attention to them. Like what's up with the Nutria Rat chasing Little Red Riding Hood, and oil drum and hurricane glasses? As Coach Hullabaloo says, they're like a halftime Renaissance Festival.

Well, here we go. UCF next week. Time to just grab onto our ankles and pray. [yes, I just wrote that - if you have a problem with it, be useful and help me with the Craigslist ad. If you haven't watched a UCF game this fall: don't. Just go into next Saturday's game blissfully ignorant.]

Ice Chests and Rosters

So last night was the "Tulane Bowl." I say that because the San Diego Chargers played the Chicago Bears in preseason. It was officially the first meeting of Tulane players as adversaries in a while.

Matt Forte v. Jeremy Williams 2010

Matt Forte was drafted to Chicago in the 3rd round and had an amazing rookie season. While he played at Tulane I used to scream "Give it to Forte!" Providing my sideline calls out to the coaching staff and telepathically indoctrinating them with "Thou Shall Not Deviate From This Play." ha!


Jeremy Williams went undrafted (quelle bull, non?) and is a free agent with San Diego. Jeremy is also being heralded as "the most impressive undrafted free agent of this year's crop" by the North County Times of San Diego. He is currently being tapped to be the #4 WR on the Chargers' Roster.


Mrs. Hullabaloo watched the NFL combines to see what Jeremy would be up against. (whoever spends their free time watching the combines is a serious diehard, for real. If I weren't for Jeremy, even I, superfreakfanatic, would have passed.) Golden Tate looked riduculouso in those silly gold spanks and chainlink fence necklace thing he had going on and couldn't catch a ball if it were handed to him and placed directly in his hands. Jeremy caught every pass sent his way. His hands were measured at the combine and they span 10 inches (!). So I was completely peturbed when he was shafted in the draft.

It is very important for me to know the team roster, so I usually hang on to the roster handed out at the spring scrimmage and keep it in the car. So that I can memorize and quiz Coach Hullabaloo over the summer during Road Trips and such. Well, I quiz, Coach Hullabaloo says something silly, I fuss at him to take me seriously and then I go back to calling out the roster. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. all the way to our final destination. If I stick with it, we are completely prepped in time for Football Season. Defensive Line for $200, Alex!

So while we were on vacay, a member of Tulane Nation posted on one of our forums that the Winn Dixie at Tchoup and Jefferson had Tulane foam ice chests on sale for $3.


I was able to enlist the help of friends due to my absence from New Orleans and managed to score an ice chest - hullabaloo, ray, ray!

and then I ran across this new website, Holy Turf, which claims to explore the "Passion of College Big 12/Sec Football." Despite the narrow nature of their site, one of the fabulous ideas they had was putting the team roster on the ice chest - offense in one color and defense in another. Team Captains are starred with an asterisk.


Loved the idea so much, I'm sharing it with you for Tulane Tailgating season.

Roll Wave Compadres!


P.S. Peggy found a wonderful new drink for tailgating season:

PIMMS RANGOON

Pimm's Cup with Ginger Ale and get this, a slice of cucumber. Pimm's Cup is a fruit liquor. The one currently produced by Pimm's is a gin. But Pimm's has made different types (vodka, whiskey, rum). Either way, it's a totally new orleans type of drink. Thanks Peggy!

Gameday Breakfast

Mrs. Hullabaloo loves waking up on gameday. So much excitement to look forward to. One tip: it's best to just get your arguments with your husbands out of the way early. Then have a Zing Zang bloody mary with pickled asparagus and have fun!

Anyways, one of my favorite "go to" breakfasts for gameday is Savory Bread Pudding. Mrs. Hullabaloo makes a whole batch of these a day or two in advance, they keep beautifully in the fridge. Pop a couple in the oven at 200 degrees to reheat while your coffee is abrewin' and you have yourself a veritable feast.

When Joe Activia, the new athletic dictator in Baton Rouge, took over from Skip Bertmen (who sent his kids to Tulane); Joe's first order of business was to renege on the home and away agreement made with Tulane in a 10 year deal. So for 2 years in a row we had to drag ourselves to Baton Rouge. When Mr. Activia asked for a third variance on the agreement we thankfully finally said "No. So pay up." Shows why Tulane ranks #1 in the state as the highest income generating degree. Graduate from Tulane, make more money. and get everything in writing. So if they break a contract, they pay up. Very simple.

Honestly, the only thing I'll miss about those trips to Baton Rouge is stopping for breakfast on the way there. We had a delightful breakfast at Dot's Diner of all places. They have a delicious egg and biscuit dish that is topped with crawfish etouffee. What is not to love about that?

Here's a photo of Peggy in one of the fine academic buildings in Baton Rouge. Could you imagine this display in Uptown? ha!


And right out side this building was a tailgating group who had set up their grills next to a station of propane tanks. Just waiting for trouble. For real y'all!

So on this farewell tour of Baton Rouge, Koozie had made these hilarious million dollar bills with Billy Cannon's picture on it. See that day was special. Billy Cannon taking time away from his gambling and counterfitting career to participate in another activity other than pawning his heisman trophy for BBQ ribs. (You think I'm kidding? go google it yourself). This "university" actually honored a convicted felon at halftime as "Alumnus of the Year."

Friends, I use the term "university" in this situation very loosely. Can you call yourself a university and cut classics from your curriculum? forget it, they can't even spell curriculum...

... wait, I think conventional wisdom was that we were supposed to shed a tear over terminating one of the longest football rivalries in history here. I mean, after all they honor convicted felons as "Alumnus of the Year"!!!

Anyways, so we had a ball pulling out these bills and asking some very confused people for change. Peggy and I had to educate a very irate purple fan sitting next to us who was completely in the dark about Mr. Cannon's legacy. Apparently she had wanted us to stand up and clap.

a gratuitous photo of the ingenuity on display in Baton Rouge.


They totally failed in the wooden cut-out shape games most of us played with as children.

Well, let me tell you: your tailgating crowd will give you a standing ovation with this breakfast bread pudding.

SAVORY BREAD PUDDING


Nonstick cooking spray
Canola oil or a few pats of butter
half medium sized onion chopped
1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
6 or so breakfast sausage links
4 eggs
2 cups milk
dash mustard
dash hot sauce, like Tabasco or Crystal
dash worcestershire sauce
dash Italian seasoning
dash chopped fresh sage
(it won't hurt to add pinch of any other fresh herbs you might have)
stalk or two green onions, chopped
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 long french baguette*, or 2 or 3 smaller pistoletes

*At the Vietnamese groceries, they sell amazing french baguettes usually 3 for $1. So I stock up and freeze them. If you take them out as you start assembling your ingredients, they are soft enough to tear when you need to add them in the recipe.

So spray a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray and set that aside.

Saute your onions in the canola oil or butter for a bit until softened, then add sliced mushrooms. Once mushrooms are brown, add your chopped fresh sage and herbs (leave italian seasoning for later). once combined, set pan to the side to cool off. Meanwhile cook your sausage links to your preferred method (I toss mine in a toaster oven). Once cooked, slice up the links and add to onion mixture.

Preheat your oven to 325. Prepare yourself a cup of coffee.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, Italian seasoning, hot sauce, worcestershire, mustard and salt and pepper. Add in onion, mushroom mixture. Add in the chopped green onions. Now take your french bread and start tearing off bits and toss them into the egg mixture. Keep tossing torn bits in until the liquid is absorbed, but still juicy and soft. Turn the ingredients around a touch to distribute the onions, mushrooms, etc. Put the bowl in the fridge while you enjoy your coffee and peruse the newspaper for a few minutes.

If your mixture is super runny, add some more torn bits of bread. You want the pudding mixture to still be moist.

Now take your muffin pan and put batches about 3/4 way up in each crevice. Set your oven timer to 30 minutes. (If you want, you could add a dash of shredded cheese on top of each: cheddar, gruyere, whatever you like). Change into your cute gameday outfit, set your breakfast table and pack up one of your ice chests with tailgating grub.

Remove the puddings from the muffin tins and place on a serving platter. Take your place and wait to receive a rain of applause from your breakfast guests.

Mazel Tov!

Football Tablescaping

Last weekend Miss Peggy and I attending a local jewelry show. Small, but we found some great things to add to our tailgating menu. Some pre-mixed dip packets and this garlic pepper jelly that is a favorite of Rachel Ray. It was yum-O.

One of our not so favorite things were these standing ashtrays that were customized for .... drum roll please .... LSU fans. ha! These mail box-looking things were personalized to say "LSU Smoke Pot" as in a vessel for smoke ashes, to be used by LSU fans. Yes, fellow tailgaters and sports fans, you truly can have it all. I can safely say I was not jealous.

Now, on the other end of the specturm of cuteness, I ran across these cute football party ideas from Kari in Texas. With her permission I am sharing them with all you Tulane Tailgating fans, who appreciate "fabulous."


love these ref koozies doubling as vases!





I can't wait to use mini webers as centerpieces.

And how creative using the mini foam footballs for filler, thank you Kari for the inspiration! We love it!!!!

Very Hullabaloo Huddle-worthy...

Leatha's in Louisiana

Oh USM. The Mustard Buzzards. Alma Mater of Trischelle.

I am not ashamed to admit that I count a USM alumnus amongst my Tulane cyber-buddies. Lee roots for both teams, and Tulane passionately, so he’s forgiven.

Gosh what a weird Martini Town v. Beer Town rivalry. Uptown duking it out against Hattiesvegas during baseball season either at the the Glamorous Turchin or under the stack of high-rise FEMA trailers in Pete’s Trailer Park (I promise it most definitely looks like a stack of trailers).

Fond memory of the 2009 CUSA baseball tourney in Hattiesvegas – the only fond memory: a banner the Greenbackers unfurled behind homeplate. “THANK YOU CORKY” ....as in thank you for the lopsided w-l record during Corky’s coaching tenure at USM. We had just beat USM during the regular season the week prior. Of course USM ended up winning the whole dang tourney and going straight to the CWS that year. So I guess they should have thanked us.

There’s some great football wins against USM during my time (1994, 1998, 2002, 2003). In 1994 USM turned off the stadium lights completely at the final. Leaving fans in the darkness to figure a way out. What a hoot.

Plus there are some great stories to share. For example: can you name which team Brett Favre debuted against in college, setting his professional trajectory? The day is September 19, 1987. The Greenwave is leading 24-17 in the second half..... My favorite Tulane QB is at the helm.


(psst...Messieur Louisiana Jones, you promised me a signed copy of this picture. Don’t forget.)

Brett Favre was seventh string and hungover, and warming the bench on the sidelines. Favre gets called up to play. USM has a miracle comeback .... the rest has been history.

How can you not laugh at this picture of Brett Favre?


Besides such luminaries as Trishelle and this hilarious picture of Brett, Hattiesvegas has also given us Chef Robert St. John with his delicious grilling recipes (Comeback sauce, yum!), and most importantly Leatha’s BBQ Inn. Seriously. Good. BBQ. Every place claims to be “the best” but Leatha’s really is “the best.” It’s such a simple place, nothing fussy. Leatha’s granddaughters wait on you in house dresses and slippers. You get towel washcloths instead of napkins or paper towels. The coleslaw is mustardy and delicious. The portions are ginormous, enough for a week’s worth of BBQ eatin. The whole place is a shrine to Brett Favre. They have this seriously funny cartoon on the wall: Favre is sitting on a horse carousel saluting the sunset. LOL! Because you know he’ll be out there under center until he’s using a walker.
So Leatha’s BBQ Inn was a recommendation from Peggy. and girl, Peggy knows her BBQ. I am serious.

Peggy has shared with us this really great rib recipe for tailgating, which is easy. and delicious. and is on the menu for November 6th.

PEGGY'S lsu student SLOW-COOKED BBQ RIBS
6-10 lbs ribs, cleaned and cut into 2-3 rib pieces
"Good Seasons" Garlic+Herb dressing (make according to package directions)
6-8 cloves of crushed garlic (using a wide kitchen knife, smash your garlic into a paste)
salt 'N peppa
Favorite barbecue sauce (mine is Maull’s from St. Louis)

Lightly salt and pepper ribs on the bone side only. Pour dressing and garlic into a large ziploc bag and combine. Put rib pieces in bag to coat with dressing on all sides. Remove ribs from ziplock (yes, these instructions are necessary as you just never know). Place ribs in a slow cooker with dressing. Cover and cook on low for about 18 hours. Peggy puts hers in overnight and reset in the morning. Use tongs to remove tender ribs to a cookie sheet. Coat ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and finish off on a hot grill until barbecue sauce is dark and gooey. If the weather is uncooperative, you can place in a 400 degree oven to brown the BBQ sauce.

These ribs go perfectly with Charlotte’s Old Settler’s Beans

OLD SETTLERS BBQ BEANS
1/2 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
1/2 lb bacon, chopped (or turkey bacon)
1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can pork and beans (or regular veggie baked beans)
1 16-oz can kidney beans, drained
1 16-oz can lima beans, drained
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup barbeque sauce (again, Maull’s is my favorite)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp prepared mustard sauce.

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, brown ground meat, bacon, and onion in a skillet and then drain off any excess jus. Add in all of the canned beans to the meat. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, BBQ sauce, ketchup, chili powder, mustard into a sauce. Pour sauce over the meat+beans and toss together. Pour everything lovingly into a greased 9" x 13" pan. Use a spatula and get every morsel of goodness out and into that pan. Bake for 45 min and stand back for the stampede (6 servings).

Mouthwatering tailgating food from the South ~

Roll Wave!

My Tailgating Divas

I don't know what I would do without this pair of gals ~


Priscilla and Peggy are the most awesomest Tailgating Hostesses. Their recipes are truly "the best." Most gameday fanatics will do 6 or 7 tailgates a season. I do atleast 15 for football season alone.

I've learned a lot about proper hostessing from my tailgating divas: make it easy, but always try to use fresh ingredients. The most important lesson they've imparted: the earlier you start preparing dishes vastly improves the quotient ratio of enjoyment+fun V. spousal arguments+aggravation. Honey, this is so true.

Definitively, there's no "walking taco" at our tailgates. (quelle gauche, non?). The Hullabaloo Huddle zone is unequivocably not of the human garbage disposal tailgating variety.

I've shared a few of Priscilla's recipes, here and here. She even makes her own pickles! Priscilla inspired me to make my own pickles, using Tyler Florence's ultimate B&B recipe. Tyler, a true man of the South, is my kitchen hero.


Chef Tyler's Ultimate Sloppy Joe recipe with Goat Cheese Butternut Squash Slaw is SO easy and saves you from Manwich cans. I serve the butternut squash slaw at Mardi Gras and whenever I get a chance at home. If Coach Hullabaloo would allow it, I would paste a photo of Chef Ty lovingly on my fridge so that he could look over my tailgate preparations and offer reassurance and his blessings.

mrs. hullabaloo's version of
TYLER'S CHEVRE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SLAW
4 ounces fresh creamy goat cheese, room temperature
1 medium butternut squash
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
2 stalks green onion (my addition as I love onion)

While you sip a cocktial, sweetly ask your husband to peel the squash with a vegetable peeler. Seriously, that is a hard task! So once it's clean, chop up the tip into big manageable hunks. save the bulb for something else. Grate the squash into shreds or if you have a mandolin, use that to make strips of the squash. Put into a bowl with your craberries, walnuts, green onions and parsley. Whip the wet ingredients into a smooth gravy. s+p to taste. Sneak a taste of this irresitable dressing, nobody will notice. Pour over the veggies and toss together. awesome! It's fabulous as a burger or sloppy joe topper. I promise.

So Peggy has a chicken salad that is like OMG fantabulous and Tyler Florence-worthy. We shall be enjoying it for the Sept 11 gameday.


PEGGY'S SONOMA CHICKEN SALAD
3 chicken breasts
dash of cajun seasoning
salt and pepper
quarter onion and clove of garlic
water
3 ribs celery, chopped
bunch of red unseeded grapes, chop in halves
6 stalks green onion, chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 womps of mayonaise
mini croissants

Season chicken with s+p and cajun seasoning. Put in a saucepan with onion and garlic and then cover with water. Cover. Bring to boil and then lower to medium and let poach for about 20 mins. Prick the meat to check to see if juices are running clear. Remove and let cool (toss the onion and garlic, but keep that broth for something else. like BBQ shrimp). Shred chicken up. mix up with the rest of the veggies and adjust s+p to your liking. Lovingly scoop onto les croissants.

Bon Appetit Mes Petites Choux!