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Awesome photo by Angie Mosier

I’m a Saints fan (of course!). It was a close one against the Vikings, and now the Vikings aren’t going to the big game either. I will simply have to focus on the food and hopefully there will be some funny commercials and a good halftime show.

So…the food! Here are some things I think about with a game-time menu. It’s helpful to have plenty of pick-up food you don’t need a fork and knife for—chips and dips, small sandwiches or sliders, wings, etc. If someone jumps up from the sofa in joy or disgust, you don’t need a whole plate of food going everywhere in all the excitement. For halftime, a bowl of something like chili can be a nice bit of calm in the storm.

If your team IS in the big game, don’t forget that you are NOT going to want to be spending time in the kitchen during the game. So pick things you can make ahead rather than recipes that require fixing just before serving. Don’t be afraid to order out or go store-bought on some items. Pick a couple of stars, as I like to say, of your own and let them shine. You can buy the rest or if your guests offer to bring something they can bring some of their favorite game-day snacks to fill out the menu.

My palate simply never gets tired of the salty satisfaction of chips and salsa. You can make homemade salsa way ahead of time and then sit back and enjoy it (and the compliments) while you watch the game. I have four salsa recipes in Gumbo Love, and they are all stars. Take it up another notch and make some homemade guacamole. Just be sure to make plenty because it is addictive and everyone loves it! And whatever dips you make, be sure to have plenty of chips or crackers on hand so you’re not left with dip and nothing to dip in it!

I’ve got my Holy Guacamole recipe below from Gumbo Love. The Tailgate Shrimp and Crab Dip would also be a winner. And the Honey Ale Pimento Cheese. Now my mind is really jumping with ideas. And, of course, I want to know…what will you be making for this year’s Super Bowl?

Holy Guacamole

7 ripe medium avocados
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped seeded jalapeno
1/2 cup chopped Roma tomatoes
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
Tortilla chips for serving

1. Pit, peel, and chop the avocados into chunks and place in a large bowl with the lime juice. Smash the avocado into a chunky consistency with a fork or potato masher.
2. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, tomatoes, and onion and mix together. If you are making ahead instead of serving right away, cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap is pressed directly against the surface of the guacamole.

Photo by Angie Mosier

What a chilly 2018 it’s been so far. The cold weather is the perfect excuse to stay inside and cook something spicy to warm up those taste buds!

I love using hot sauce because it’s all in the touch and taste of the chef. One drop, a dash, or a generous sprinkle can make all the difference. Not only can you play around with amounts of hot sauce, it’s fun to experiment with different brands too. Most of us have a favorite hot sauce (naturally I am partial to LuLu’s Perfect Pepper!), but it’s also fun to keep several on hand to try out in different dishes. 

LuLu’s Perfect Pepper Sauce is bottled by the friendly folks at Panola Pepper Corporation in Lake Providence, Louisiana. Let me just say, there’s a reason we call it “perfect.”

Crystal is another good one—also delicious and also made by a family business in Louisiana.

TABASCO is probably the most recognized hot sauce with the longest history, and, what do you know, it’s also made in Louisiana. TABASCO is on the hotter end of the scale, so it’s nice that it really does come out of that little bottle in distinct drops.

There are plenty of others, including Texas Pete (made in North Carolina!) and international faves Cholula and Sriracha.

Have fun gussying up your chilis, gumbos, creoles, soups, wings, fried chicken, ribs…whatever you can think of! And I’d love to know: what’s your favorite hot sauce and what do you like to put it in (or on)?

All my spicy Gumbo Love!

We are one week into the New Year. It’s a good time to assess resolutions and intentions.

Like so many other people, I have resolved to be more active and eat clean and low-carb for January. I need to detox holiday overindulgences and jumpstart health and wellness habits for the year.

Moderation and balance are my mantras for well-being. I know that healthy habits are great and make me feel awesome. But indulgences are the sugar and spice of life and are SO. MUCH. FUN!!

This past week at LuLu’s in Gulf Shores, the guys in the kitchen, knowing about my New Years Resolution, made a special no-carb version of our fish tacos. The presentation was gorgeous and the food was totally to die for. Other options in my current repertoire are peel n eats, gumbo (hold the rice), grilled fish with coleslaw and sometimes just a big beautiful salad! Just so you know though… I’m saving room for King Cake. Mardi Gras is just around the corner!

I’d love to hear what healthy, low-carb dishes you’ve tried or love!

And all of the sudden another year has passed! Reflecting on the past 12 months and creating intentions for the coming year is a ritual for me this time of year. In a nutshell, my meditation has brought me to … gratitude and excitement.

On Christmas night we played a fun card game where questions like “what gives you energy?”, or “what keeps you up at night?”, or “what’s your greatest accomplishment this year?” were asked and we went around the circle for everyone to answer. Of course, my love, children, grandchildren, and relationships are paramount in my life. But I always come back to an overwhelming sense of gratitude and good energy for the gift and phenomenon of the restaurants and my LuLu’s families. Creating, maintaining, and sharing a culture of excellence at and through LuLu’s – which is a total group effort and endeavor – has been the most energizing and rewarding experience in my 46 years of working life.

The excitement part comes into play as we prepare to open our third location in Myrtle Beach this year. Sometimes I think I’m crazy for embarking on such a huge project. And then I remember what joy the LuLu’s experience brings to all involved … and that if I weren’t at least part Crazy… none of this would have happened in the first place! Lol!

Thank you all for continuing to support my vision of LuLu’s and helping me to dream and manifest even bigger and better!

What are your thoughts about this last year and intentions for next? I’d love to hear!

Cheers to gratitude, excitement, and staying a little bit Crazy in 2018!
Happy New Year!!
Love, LuLu

It’s getting that time of year when we waiver between frenzy and festive. My daughters tease me every year for being equal parts bah-humbug and enthusiastic Mrs. Santa. In my first cookbook, LuLu’s Kitchen, there is a whole section affectionately titled Traditional UnChristmas Dinner where I write, “I prefer to throw a party rather than celebrate Christmas. No gifts permitted, or you will be thrown out. Just bring a bottle of fancy French pink champagne and an appetite for scrumptious food… The highlight of the meal might just be the Krispy Kreme UnChristmas Pudding. It is ridiculous how sweet it is and so good. Almost as good as a “Hot Now” Krispy Kreme doughnut… almost.”

I’ve softened up a little on the gift-giving- lol. And when I stop spinning, pause, and soak in the blessings of family, good health, and the beauty that surrounds me, all of the busyness and preparation for the parties and gatherings becomes 100% worth it! And it never hurts to have a little sweet treat to boot! #DessertFirst

Wishing you all happy and fun Holiday preparations in these coming days!
I’d love to hear what your Christmas party menus include!

GumboLove, LuLu

I have mixed feelings about holidays. I even have a menu chapter in my first cookbook called  “UnChristmas Dinner.”

I like to treat every day as if it’s special. Maybe it’s a really creative day and I get a lot done on an idea I’ve had. That’s worthy of celebration. Maybe the tomato on my tomato sandwich is especially juicy and tasty. Definitely worth celebrating.

At LuLu’s we do have a few holiday-centered events, like Billy Claus and Happy Noon Years, and the hard work our staff puts in to pull them off and the smiles on our guests faces are celebration-worthy. But so is the day of rest afterward.

The scramble of the holidays can put me in a tizz. As someone who loves to gift presents, loves to cook, and loves to visit with people, the crazy expectations of the holiday season can sometimes turn these loving activities into anxiety-driven chores.

Here’s my challenge to myself this holiday season, and I’ll share it with you in case you’d like a partner in your attempt to stay calm this time of year.

Take the time to be aware and soak up the good stuff. The way the lights twinkle. The smell of something good baking in the oven. The soft texture of a favorite blanket.

Sing. We listen to Christmas music for weeks on end so that it becomes like background music at a mall. Listen to the words again as you cook or drive and don’t be afraid to turn it up and belt it out!

Take walks. The birds, fish, and plants don’t seem to notice the rest of us are going crazy with Christmas preparations. The way they go about their business as if nothing unusual is happening in the world is grounding.

Keep expectations for yourself but not for what will happen or other people will do. My intention is to see the best in all the people, food, and festivity I come across. 

Give thanks every day! Starting from a place of gratitude has an almost magical way of making so much of the icky stuff fall away.

May you have a peaceful, calm, holiday season full of celebrating the good stuff!

I’d love to hear from you—what’s your favorite way to stay calm in the midst of holiday madness?

All my Gumbo Love!

There is an evolution going on right before our eyes! Oysters have become BIG news – having made the most recent covers of Mobile Bay Magazine and New Orleans Magazines.

I write about these odd and delicious wonders in a piece in GUMBO LOVE called  ‘Notes On Oysters’. Since that published, the culture of oysters has evolved even further.  These coastal delicacies have always been not just ‘on my radar’ as a chef, but in my kitchen,  on my table, and in my gumbo for forever! It’s funny, ever since the dawn of refrigeration, the rule to only eat oysters in an R month really became obsolete. But folks (like me) like their customs and I have kept and even write about the R rule.

But very recent history has presented us with rapid developments in oyster farming – making cultivated specialty oysters an art form. This new wave of oysters might just upend the ‘season’ for oysters altogether making it so that we can and SHOULD eat oysters all year long. 

What’s most interesting is that the forefront of the oyster farming movement is happening in my own back yard …in rural coastal Alabama,  Dauphin Island to be exact.  There is some debate amongst folks about the different methods and processes of oyster to table. I am still very fond of and do business with fisheries and neighbors who deal in traditional harvesting and commerce.  And I never pass up an opportunity to make the oyster pilgrimage down to Apalachicola. I’m just fascinated watching this evolution of the mighty mollusk!  What do you think? And what’s your favorite oyster dish?? 

It’s been so wonderful being a part of the 26th Annual Meeting Of The Minds this year in Key West. For those who don’t know, MOTM is a convention of Parrot Head Clubs whose members travel (or phlock – as they say) from far and wide to “Party With a Purpose”. Despite the devastation in the Keys from Hurricane Irma, the Parrot Heads persisted. MOTM would happen with the original theme “We’re Still Here!” Totally appropriate!

I have always loved my Parrot Head friends who inspire me to live more colorfully and consciously, and to dance more often! Recently, having come across statistics about the good work that these clubs have been doing, I just had to share!

Since 2002, over 200 clubs have formed in the US, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and Australia. In the last 15 years these groups have raised $46.5 million and have logged 3,815,000 volunteer hours. How. Freaking. Amazing!

Each club works locally to assist in community services ranging from distributing Christmas gifts to seniors and hospital patients to animal rescue efforts, to environmental concerns like beach and park clean-ups and more.

This week at Meeting Of The Minds, I am absolutely honored and humbled to share in their company and revelry! These are the people! MOTM 2018 is already in my calendar and I can not wait!

To all of the Parrot Heads… thank you for what you have done and what you continue to do for the greater good of humanity! From the #CrazySista … sending you all the #GumboLove

It got legitimately chilly this weekend in Alabama! Not so much in Key West where I was, but it got me thinking about cold-weather food. Gumbo, for me and for soooo many of our guests at LuLu’s, is year-round proposition. Hot-weather, cold-weather, and everything in between. But if you’ve been thinking of making it yourself, a chilly fall day with maybe some football on the TV is a perfect time to try it.

In GUMBO LOVE, I discuss all the ins and outs of making gumbo. But perhaps the most important element of the simmering goodness is the roux. Worry about getting the roux just right stops a lot of people from trying. One way to approach it is to get a little personal with it.

Think about a person you know who may be a little challenging to deal with but whose bold and flavorful company is always worth the patience and extra care they require.

In GUMBO LOVE, I call the roux “a little bit of a diva”…

If you rush her, she will rebel, and you’ll end up back where you started. She wants to take her time getting ready, and she wants to see just how far you’re willing to go to witness her magic. 

She will reward you for all your stirring and patience—after a final little show of hissing and spitting, she will start to come around and take the trinity of onions, celery, and peppers you’ve offered into her velvety embrace and, like a fairy godmother, turn those humble ingredients into the luxurious magic that is gumbo.

I can tell you from a long friendship, the diva roux makes excellent company on a chilly day. Don’t be afraid to get to know her.

All my Gumbo Love!

Photo by Angie Mosier