The best part about the New Orleans Saints losing in the first round of the playoffs is that we can turn away from our Sunday television sets and turn our attention to more meaningful pursuits, namely, making the most epically awesome ribs in the universe.

And this is not an intergalactic understatement. Pat, Ross and I have achieved saucy pork-bone nirvana – and we did it by employing the scientific method, some chemistry and a little bit of patience.

And beer.

And spicy potato salad (with bacon).

And ice cream.

And it was good. It was REAL good.

Continue reading Epic Barbecue Awesomeness →

Keep stirring.

One hour and 45 minutes after I began stirring one cup of flour into one cup of bacon drippings on medium-low heat, we finally dumped the holy trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery into our roux. Today we made our annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Gumbo – it’s a once-in-a-year gumbo of epic proportion, and really, it’s the only way to properly dispose of the leftovers. As Hank Williams Jr. would say, “It’s a family tradition.”

I think our Thanksgiving guests prefer the leftovers to the actual feast – though Pat’s turkey is heralded far and wide as the best. In fact, he has usurped my own father as the official roaster of the official turkey when we’re back home in Louisiana. He brines it overnight and then flips the bird four times during the roasting process to keep it from drying out.

The result is succulent on the Thanksgiving Day table – and epic in the gumbo thereafter.

Continue reading Thanksgiving Day Turkey Gumbo – Now, with Bacon Grease →

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

We hope y’all will join us for the Eighth Annual Krewe of Helios-Arizona Mardi Gras Parade and Party:
Saturday, January 30, 2010
4PM-10PM***
Pat and Stacy World Headquarters
24952 N. 74th Place
Scottsdale AZ 85255
As many of you have been here, done this and actually returned home with a T-shirt (and boatloads of authentic Mardi Gras beads), no changes have been made to our parade route or party format – but in case you had one too many hurricanes last year – or the year before that, or the year before that – here it is in a nutshell:
Arrive on time (4 PM) for the parade… bring the kiddos, a friend and a lawn chair, but no four-legged companions… genuflect before our 2010 Parade Queen Tami Simmons… catch the bountiful beads raining down from our cul-de-sac-circumnavigating flotilla of floats (but please, keep your clothes on)… get in line… eat some homemade Cajun goodness (gumbo, red-beans-and-rice, grits, muffalettas)… drink some hurricanes (but not too many)… eat a slice of authentic New Orleans king cake (but don’t choke on the baby) and laissez les bon temps rouler!
For those of you who do not arrive on time (4 PM), don’t whine to us that you are eating the pan-scrapings of cold grits. Do not complain that you have never seen a muffaletta and believe it to be offensive to your Italian heritage. Don’t be upset when you see others wearing cool KREWE OF HELIOS-ARIZONA T-SHIRTS. You have been warned: The time is anointed, so don’t be disappointed. 4 o’clock is the time to rock.
And for those of you late-arriving lackeys that look at your watch at 9:30 PM and think, “Hey, now’s a great time to show up for the party!” THINK AGAIN! Our neighbors are nice people. They tolerate an annual parade on their street. They dig Mardi Gras beads out of their cacti and allow strangers to park in their driveways in exchange for our annual romp through the culinary goodness of the Bayou State. We like them. They tolerate us. They like to sleep (and so do I). The finish time for our party is 10 PM. If you are here at 9:59, expect a gentle serenade of “Turn Out the Lights, the Party’s Over.” If you arrive at 10:05, you will feel the wrath of cranky Stacy. Six hours is plenty of time to party!
So come on out and have some fun – January 30 – yes, it’s early. The actual Fat Tuesday is February 16, but we’ll be at our hometown Mardi Gras and the weekend before that is Super Bowl weekend, ergo, we decided to kick off the parade season… and yes, we are on the national parade calendar… but no, we are not the first parade of the year. So come on out and have some fun!
Krewe of Helios Arizona Mardi Gras Parade
Saturday, January 30, 2010
4PM-10PM
Be there, aloha!
(And for those of you who haven’t been with us before, you can check out our parade etiquette and rules in this delightful 7th edition explanation… or even the 6th edition… or the 4th… you get the picture)

So Pat’s employer graciously offered my sweet husband a one-week, NONPAID vacation in the form of a furlough. Since he had to take this “fur-cation / vaca-lough” before the end of the first quarter, we decided to coordinate it with my Arizona State University spring break (March 9-13). Depending on how you look at it, this week-long sojourn is either a sign of the times or a sign of the apocalypse.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Unlike my classmates who have trotted off to exotic locales (Lake Havasu) for exotic beverages (Milwaukee’s Best) and exotic endeavors (waking up in their own vomit on Dad’s credit card), Pat and I have undertaken a few household chores that we’d been avoiding – cleaning out the office and doing yardwork (more on that later). Oh, and did I mention we gave up alcohol for Lent?
SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE: Just because we’re sober, doesn’t mean we have to be serious, which is why I’ve also used this week to participate in a fun creative endeavor that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten around to. Behold, the Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest, 2009.
Depict an historic or cultural event by using marshmallow Peeps (bunnies or chicks) as your medium. I was inspired by current affairs and chose to re-enact “Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey.” You may have caught this on YouTube – where another turkey gets the axe in full view of the cameras. Here’s my depiction from two angles – one as though you were watching it on MSNBPeeps…

And the other as if you were on scene with the governor, the TV crews and the decaPEEPtation.

Now, I can’t win the contest because I am not a resident of the District of Columbia, but I hope to make the finals. Will let you know when voting commences so you can give a shout out to YOUR PEEPS (and vote early and often for me). I may actually have enough time before the weekend is done to crank out another PEEPtacular diorama, so stay tuned…