An Imminent Intervention

I have a problem. Football has taken over my life. On Wednesday, I skipped Kermit Ruffins’ free show at Lafayette Square, so I wouldn’t miss the beginning of the Central Florida- Marshall game. Really? UCF and Marshall. I was the only person outside of West Virginia and Splash Mountain watching this game. Our once temporary living room setup of two TVs has become a more permanent fixture on the weekends. Even as I’m writing this, I’m watching Chris Collinsworth and Al Michaels ramble on about Peyton on one TV, and watching Herbstreit rabble as Rece Davis reveals the meaningless Week 7 BCS standings on the other.

Sunday morning, I made sure to refresh the websites for the Coach’s Poll rankings and AP rankings every 30 seconds Sunday to see if the once frustrating Bulldogs were ranked after they wrapped another one in maroon and white in a win in Gainesville- the first since 1965.

I also kept my phone handy to check the Twitter alerts for last minute NFL injury reports and the MSU beat writers’ blogs updates. Clinton Portis was once again inactive, and Mississippi State barely squeaked into the polls (including the BCS poll) at 24- the first time in almost a decade. After enduring the end of the Sherrill years, the “right way” era of Sly Croom, and ridicule from The School Up North (you know, the Rebels, I mean Fighting Yogi’s), it was about time for Mississippi State to start heating up.


I then canceled plans to go to the free Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival, and stayed home and watched the equally frustrating Saints dominate the Bucs in a stadium that has about as much character as the Clearview Mall parking lot. I also had the laptop running ESPN's FantasyCast while watching my miserable fantasy team pile on the points for the first time this year. Oh, what’s that? Oh yeah, I was on a bye this week.

I hoard remotes and useless pregame analyses like a crazy old lady hoards dogs, and like Bill Belichick hoards future draft picks. What once was confined to just Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, has now consumed the entire week. Tuesdays have now been overtaken by the MAC and Sunbelt, and Wednesdays are now reserved for Conference-USA and the WAC. What used to provoke only minor mental anguish now generates physical distress and degrades my social dexterity.

I have a serious problem. I am certain, that in the near future, I’m going to be ambushed in a strange hotel room by an A&E producer.

Lola's, Boxers, and Sweet Taters

After recovering from a weekend in which I thought I was an integral part of the Jersey Shore cast, the blog is back from its brief hiatus.

We started another weekend in New Orleans by vacating our Uptown comfort zone and heading over to Mid-City. We arrived at Lola’s just as Friday’s Sun was setting on the live oak-lined Esplanade Avenue.

Luckily, we narrowly beat the dinner rush- the somewhat small dining room was overflowing with guests as soon as we were seated. While we waited for a few small plates, we popped open our personal bottle of wine (BYOB and a $5.00 corking fee is almost as fun as stomping out a crotch fire) and fended off our mounting hunger with the antipasto plate of cheeses, prosciutto, and housemade chorizo.

Once we polished off the garlic shrimp and the avocado stuffed with crabmeat and a spicy aioli, we could barely muster a few bites of Lola’s specialty- paella with sausage, chicken, shrimp, crab, squid, and octopus. As usual, I couldn’t allow a plate to go back to the kitchen without being completely cleaned. As I took the last few bites, the Arborio rice began mingling with the red wine deep within my innards, causing me to balloon like the Imaginationland Flying Machine.

After our quick tour of Imaginationland, we again left our Uptown compound for Mid-City on Saturday. While we parked under the enormous oaks at City Park, we could already see the tents and packs of dogs ahead of us.

Across Big Lake, The Bulldog was hosting New Orleans on Tap, a beer festival/fundraiser for the Louisiana SPCA. Because what’s better than drinking and dogs? We sampled a few of the 200+ beers on tap, including some homebrews, and both agreed that Hebrew Rejewvenator (a big beer brewed with date juice), and Harpoon Leviathan Imperial Red were our favorites. The canine benefit resembled a typical New Orleans festival with food and entertainment on the Abita Stage, and something very atypical, a kissing booth.

I finally pulled Erin away from the adoption tent, and coaxed her into being my recipe test subject once again. Since fall was finally here, I had sweet potatoes on my mind, but not the marshmallow smothered kind that graces every true southern Thanksgiving spread. After seeing a similar recipe on the menu of one of Bourbon House’s Bourbon Dinners, we devised a recipe for a sweet potato crepe with roasted corn, pulled pork, and a spicier variation of our Abita Turbodog BBQ sauce that included Attala County fig preserves.

Our sweet potato fix wasn’t quite over. In an attempt to finish of the abundance of sweet potatoes left over from the night before, we surprised ourselves by somehow managing to create a Sunday brunch that would have even appeased the appetite of Admiral Ackbar. Sunny side up eggs over Marciante’s duck sausage and a sweet potato-bacon biscuit covered in a Tasso cream.

Sweet Potato-Bacon Biscuit

SWEET POTATO-BACON BISCUIT
2 cups self-rising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch black pepper
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potatoes, cooled
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
5 slices cooked bacon, drained and crumbled
3/4 to 1 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cinnamon.
3. Add the butter and work in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. In a bowl, whip the sweet potatoes with the brown sugar until very smooth.
5. Add to the flour mixture and mix in lightly but thoroughly with your fingers.
6. Add 3/4 cup of the buttermilk and the bacon and gently work to make a smooth dough, being careful not to overwork and adding more liquid as needed 1-2 teaspoons at a time.
7. Spoon onto a greased baking sheet with a greased ice cream scoop.
8. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.