Author: Emily Gautreaux

Tulane Donation Drive Raises Over $1 Million in 24 hours

For the past three years, Tulane University has hosted an annual “Giving Day,” but this year’s event was certainly for the record books as fundraising records were broken by nearly 45% when thousands of donors came together to celebrate the historic university. As detailed fully in a press release from the university, the 24-hour “Give Green: A Day for the Audacious” was an event held on June 25, after having been postponed twice by the university out of respect for the challenges faced by members of its community.

This year, over $1.1 million was raised from a collection of more than 2,700 gifts, according to the preliminary numbers. In the recent history of Tulane university, the “Giving Day” event stands as a celebratory watermark for the school, but with such a challenging year as 2020, many perceived the event as an outstanding achievement and a powerful vote of confidence in the Tulant institution at large.

“Given the uncertainty of the past few months and the multiple postponements of Give Green, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the astounding generosity of our Tulane community. I know that Tulanians everywhere have dealt with extraordinary challenges this year — so to see them come together in support of the university was even more powerful than in the past,” said Jenny Nathan Simoneaux, executive director of Annual and Leadership Giving at Tulane.

Contributions for this year’s “Give Green” event were from all reaches of the country and world as the gifts came from all 50 states and from 12 countries during this remarkable 24-hour event. Donor momentum was kept high during the day thanks to over two dozen challenges and matching gifts that further boosted the impact of generosity to schools, units, and initiatives all across the university.

On Give Green Day, the grand prize, The Carol Lavin Bernick Big Green Grand Prize, lightly takes advantage of the “winning nature” of Tulanians near and far, fostering friendly rivalries between schools and participants by offering bonus funds for the highest number of gifts donated. Tulane Athletics, Newcomb Institute and the School of Professional Advancement each won an extra $5,000 because they received the highest number of gifts in their respective categories. Tulane Law School, the School of Liberal Arts and the Center for Public Service won $2,000 each. The A. B. Freeman School of Business, the School of Science and Engineering, and the Tulane University Marching Band also received a bonus $1,000.

Alumni with reunions in 2020 (those whose graduation years end in 0 or 5) were also offered a special challenge — the largest one this year — with an anonymous reunion celebrant matching up to $50,000. Overall, those classes more than tripled that challenge — bringing in $234,317 toward their class totals.

The event was a resounding success across various social media platforms throughout the day as Tulanians shared their excitement about the university with friends, family and colleagues.

For more education related information, click here.

Tasty and Tested Homemade Pizza Recipes

Heralded as an eternal crowd-pleaser for a reason, it’s not often that pizza disappoints, and this recipe library by Bon Appetit gives you over a dozen delicious reasons to preheat your oven. These homemade pizza recipes are sure to elevate your next at home pizza night in no time.

Caramelized Zucchini Flatbread

Tired of summer squash, try this delicious homemade pizza solution. The secret to a flatbread with a super-crunchy crust? Pre-roasting all of the veggies. This step concentrates their flavor, and also helps to cook out some of their moisture, which would otherwise soak into the crust. When shaping the dough, don’t be afraid to stretch it as thinly as possible—if the dough is springing back on you, just be patient and let it rest for a few minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Homemade Pizza

Combine two favorite foods in one inspiring package. A few tips: Letting the cast-iron pan preheat in a blazing hot oven will help ensure a crispy bottom crust, just be careful getting it in and out of the oven. You can use rotisserie chicken or your own leftovers. But what really makes this recipe stand out is the blue cheese dressing, which is mild enough to convert the blue cheese adverse.

Sheet-Pan Homemade Pizza with Brussels Sprouts and Salami

There is no higher calling of the humble Brussels sprout than this sheet-pan pizza. Pre-roast them until they’re well caramelized before assembling the pizza, which means all you have to do is make sure that the bottom crust is good and brown before sticking the whole thing under the broiler to get the cheese bubbling. The final result is a cheesy, crispy, can’t-stop-eating balance of flavor and texture.

“HEALTHYISH” Salad Pizza

Swap the red sauce for crisp lettuce tossed in a bracing dressing—and be amazed. Let the dough sit out for 20-30 minutes, which will make it easier to handle and stretch. It is highly recommend to make a double batch of pickled onions to layer in sandwiches, salads, and tacos that need a pick-me-up.

Cast-Iron Pizza with Fennel and Sausage

Pizza dough is usually sold as a 1-lb. ball. You only need 12 oz. for this cast-iron pizza recipe; tear off 4 oz. for making garlic knots. We used a 10″ pan, so if yours is bigger, use a bit more dough. Cooking sausage in the pan before adding the dough infuses the crust with porky flavor.

“Making Perfect” Homemade Pizza

With the amount of love, time, and research that went into making what constitutes the “perfect” pizza, you’ll definitely want to share. You’ll only use one 200 g ball of dough and about 3 Tbsp. pizza sauce to make one pie, so you’ll have lots left over—with the best-ever excuse to invite people over for a pizza party, but you can also freeze the dough for up to two weeks to keep it on hand for whenever you need it.

Fried Egg Flatbreads with Nduja and Mustard Greens

Nduja is a spreadable, spicy pork salami that grounds all of the other ingredients, but you’ll get heat from the mustard greens, as well. Give them a taste before you decide how much to put on.

For more delicious recipes, click here.

Natural Wonders of Louisiana

Branching out of the typical boundaries of famous Louisiana cities is a great way to familiarize yourself with the oft-forgotten, yet unforgettable aspects and natural wonders of Louisiana- thanks to a helpful article from Treehugger.

While our state is rightly famous for its culture, music, and cuisine, most commonly intersecting and resulting in New Orleans and Mardi Gras holding the number 1 spot on quintessential Louisiana locations lists, you’d be doing a great disservice to yourself by not exploring beyond the city limits.

Atchafalaya River Basin

Squeezed roughly between Baton Rouge and Lafayette is the country’s largest wetland and swamp, comprising a whopping 260,000 acres of cypress-tupelo swamps, bayous, marshland and open water. To experience this remarkable,  sweeping wetland ecosystem of south-central Louisiana,  visit the Atchafalaya Wildlife Refuge by traversing the second-longest bridge in the country — the 18.2-mile-long Atchafalaya Basin Bridge.

Cypress Island Preserve

This picturesque preserve is known for its thriving rookery as it protects 9,500 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp and bottomland hardwood forest just outside the city of Lafayette. It’s not uncommon to encounter a variety of wading birds, including blue herons, roseate spoonbills, cormorants and a variety of egret species while hiking the preserve’s levee and boardwalk trails. Although the preserve is open year-round, plan to visit the rookery between March and June, which is the peak gathering season for these magnificent avians.

Pass-a-Loutre

Set off for adventure with this 66,000-acre wetland that is located just outside of New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, as it is only accessible by 10-mile boat ride. Pass-a-Loutre is an exceptionally scenic place for all kinds of activities, including both freshwater and saltwater fishing, crabbing, camping and even house-boating. Besides its scenic marshlands, man made canals, natural bayous and channels.

Kisatchie National Forest

Despite being Louisiana’s only national forrest, Kisatchie packs a punch amidst the state’s vast stretches of swampland. Originally designated by President Herbert Hoover in 1930, this beautiful 604,000-acre stretch of woodlands is filled with a combination of longleaf pines and bottomland hardwoods. The forest is home for many animals, the rarest of which include the Louisiana black bear, the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Louisiana pine snake; additionally, the area offers a variety of recreational activities, which include camping, horseback riding, boating, fishing, mountain biking, swimming and more.

Breton Wildlife Refuge

Breton Island is one of the oldest wildlife refuges in the country , having been established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Roosevelt was prompted to take this action after learning of the ongoing destruction of the island’s birds, nests and eggs. More than 100 years later, the island has transformed into a thriving, low-impact bird watching and fishing destination.

Ouachita River

Originating in Arkansas and running 605 miles south into Louisiana, this is the 25th longest river in the country, which is named for the indigenous Ouachita tribe. While it’s mostly utilized for commercial purposes today, certain parts of the river are popular hunting and fishing areas.

For more Louisiana related articles and to learn about other natural wonders of our great state, click here.

Nicholls Releases Literary Journal Chênière

Nicholls recently announced it was proud to release its 4th installment of its Annual Issue of Literary Journal Chênière.  Chênière began as an idea in the summer of 2014, with Nicholls Language and Literature faculty Scott Banville wanting an online journal in the Humanities at the university. Shana Walton became the first faculty advisor of the journal thereafter. Afterwards, Professors Patrick Perkins and Michael Martin took over as faculty advisors for the journal. Creative Writing student Anna Babin served as the journal’s first student editor.  The journal is based out of Nicholls State University, located in the Bayou Region of Thibodaux, Louisiana.

The name is derived from a local, coastal environmental feature. The journal is in its third issue and continues to evolve. The goal of Chênière is to become the top undergraduate Humanities journal in the Gulf Coast Region.  Literary journals give students and faculty alike the opportunity to get their work published on a smaller scale while also providing experience and exposure of the writing, editing, selection, publishing and printing process to students in the field.

The name Chênière was a conscious title chosen for several reasons:  not only for its local connections but also for the way it works as a metaphor for knowledge. Like Chênières, knowledge is temporary, built up over time in a gradual way, provides firm ground for putting down roots, for settling down and creating more knowledge and culture and then is either slowly replaced by a new Chênière via the process of silt and erosion or suddenly through a hurricane-like event.

In its fourth installment, Chênière is produced by three partnering departments: the Department of English, the Department of Modern Languages, and the Department of Cultural Studies.  Students explored various topics including William Faulkner and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  As a side note, the Department of English, Modern Languages, & Cultural Studies’ online degree was once again listed in Best Online Bachelor’s Degrees in English Programs, ranking in the top 25 nationally.  Part of that ranking was due to the phenomenal Literary Journal offering and its fourth installment proves to be no exception to its history of excellence.

Faculty advisor Dr. Michael Martin, assistant professor of English stated, “This issue is the culmination of a year of hard work, from procuring submissions to moving through the editing process.  The five articles are some of the highest quality essays yet published in Chênière.”

The issue features five articles from multiple fields of study, including art history, film and early American literary studies. Student authors are: Tabitha Mire (BA ‘19) from Lockport; Krista Butts, teaching certification graduate student from Houma; Caitlin Jones, a senior English major from Raceland; Lillian LeCompte, a junior English major from Houma; and Hannah Reynolds, a senior English major from Troy, North Carolina.

Faculty editors from the Department of English, Modern Languages, and Cultural Studies are Dr. Banville, Dr. Alex Fabrizio, Dr. Abigail Scherer and Dr. Victoria Scholz. To submit an essay, contact nsuchenieresubmit@gmail.com.

You can view the issue here: https://www.nicholls.edu/cheniere/articles/volume-4/.

For more articles like this CLICK HERE

 

Top Three Grilling Vegetables

Move over chicken, steaks and hot dogs; there’s a new guy in town that’s taking over the grill by storm: Veggies! We can’t think of a veggie that wouldn’t go well on the grill and Martha Stewart seems to agree in her recent article. Unlike meat, vegetables cook very quickly and easily soak up the best smoky flavors from the grill. They are hard to mess up, since most of the time, you can tell that vegetables are ready to eat by just looking at them. While we love any grilled vegetable, some vegetables fare better on the grill than others.  It’s important to have a clear strategy for each one to get the most flavor. We have compiled our top 3 favorite grilling veggies followed by tips shared by the biggest grilling pros in the industry.  Start your burners!

  1. Eggplant

Americans could take some eggplant appreciation lessons from The Middle East.  They are way ahead of us in terms of eggplant incorporation (hello, baba ganoush ftw). Eggplant is excellent no matter how it is prepared, but it takes on a whole new level of charm when you throw it on the grill and it takes on grill marks like a pro, making even the most novice griller seem like he or she knows what they are doing.

When grilling, halve your eggplant lengthwise and cut into one-inch wedges. Brush the wedge sides with olive oil, and grill the oiled side down over medium-high heat until just golden and marked (about three minutes). Next, transfer the eggplant to a slightly cooler part of the grill (medium heat) and grill until marked, five to six minutes. Finally, soften it up by grilling skin sides down for five to seven minutes. Season with salt. Try grilled eggplant with yogurt Sauce, pomegranate dressing to add some fun and flavor.

  1. Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are one of the most versatile vegetables there is and they are absolutely excellent on the grill. Grill bell peppers on high heat turning occasionally until skins are charred in spots, approximately 15 to 18 minutes total. Remove the peppers from the grill and let them cool slightly.  Next, peel away the charred skins using a paper towel. Halve the peppers, and discard the seeds and stems before serving.  Try grilled peppers as a topping for pizza, for stuffed peppers (cooked on the grill) or in a salad with goat cheese.

  1. Asparagus

Asparagus works beautifully on the grill. It cooks much faster than other conventional methods. There are some unfortunate pitfalls with grilled asparagus, though. You need to keep your eyes on them or you’re going to lose them in the bottom of your pit (or you can wrap them up in foil, but then you won’t get a char). Use asparagus spears that are no thicker than half-an-inch. Bunch six or seven spears together, and thread a skewer through the upper part of spears.  Gently turn the skewer to keep spears from breaking. Repeat at the bottom of the bunch, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or your seasoning of choice. Grill over medium-high heat, turning once, until marked and just tender—about nine minutes in total. Serve with grilled lemon halves.

It’s always a great idea to grill vegetables by skewering them alongside your choice of meat. Use skewers to keep small or narrow veggies from falling into the fire and remember to soak wooden ones for 30 minutes beforehand so they don’t burn. Finally, if you’d like to achieve restaurant-worthy crosshatch marks, wait until the grate leaves a set of lines, then rotate the vegetables 90 degrees. It’s surefire advice for mouthwatering success.

For more recipes, CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

Best Music Venues in South Louisiana

Live music has an incredible impact around the globe. Not only is live music necessary, it also creates the ultimate human connection so it’s no wonder that people are sorely missing seeing their favorite acts due to current safety issues concerning the pandemic.  We’ve compiled a list of the best music venues in Louisiana using Louisiana Travel’s help so that you can start planning your post-pandemic concert schedule now!

Why Live?

Live music is more important as a unifying force than ever before. Studies found that when people are asked what defines them most as a person, they answer “music” more often than hometown, politics, race, or religion.  Live music shows connect us with like-minded people who enjoy the same things we enjoy, creating a sense of unity and community.  Because of this, live music creates more intense feeling and emotion than listening to your Ipod or radio.  78% of people report feeling high-intensity emotions when they experience live shows.  Two-thirds of Gen X, Y, and Z attend at least one concert or festival each year, with a majority going to multiple concerts or events.  Live shows are in super high demand!  It should come as no surprise that people pay high dollar for live experiences. After all, live only happens once and no two events are ever the same.

Top 3 in Louisiana

Tipitina’s, New Orleans

Established in 1977, Tipitina’s (named after one of Professor Longhair’s most famous tunes) began as a neighborhood juke joint by a group of young music fans to provide a place for Professor Longhair to perform in his final years. The venue has survived in an ever-changing musical, political, and environmental climate.  It changed ownership and briefly closed in 1984, changed hands a few more times, then in 2018, Tipitina’s was purchased by the members of the New Orleans-based band Galactic.  Many of NOLA’s most beloved artists continue to play here, including Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, the Meters, the Radiators, Better Than Ezra, and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. Tipitina’s has been fortunate over its history to host artists with more widespread fame like Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Lenny Kravitz, James Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tim McGraw, Goo Goo Dolls, Willie Nelson, Buddy Guy and Dresden Dolls.  Many historic live recordings were made at Tipitina’s by artists including Professor Longhair, Tuts Washington, Dr. John, the Neville Brothers and Anders Osborne. Tipitina’s is a timeless musical institution and will continue to promote unforgettable music and a rich future.

Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette

First a guest house for travelers, the Blue Moon Saloon opened in 2001 on the back porch and has since become one of America’s premier venues for roots music from around the globe. Everyone is welcome at this world-famous honky tonk based in Lafayette Louisiana, a epicenter for culture, music, food and fun.  It has become a neutral ground where travelers, families, artists and politicians dance, and let the good times roll.  Frequently hosting local acts like The Givers, you’ll hear all genres of music from acapella to zydeco.  They’ve also been known to host fun events like vinyl record exchanges and outdoor yoga on the porch.  Next time you go through Lafayette, book your stay at the guest house and check to see who is on the schedule.  You are sure to have a good time!

Varsity Theatre, Baton Rouge

The Varsity first opened its doors in 1937 and saw much support from area residents.  Before the present age of online streaming services, or even the days of video rental stores, cinema and film fans were out of luck.  Those wanting to see the latest films usually had to depend on the nearest college film festival.  During most of the 1980s, however, Baton Rouge was an exception. Just outside the gates of campus, the Varsity Theatre fueled the passions of hundreds of local moviegoers for nearly a decade.  Having played many roles over the years, The Varsity has moved from its original function as a feature film theatre to its current life as a concert venue. Reopening in 1990 as a live music concert venue, it soon found a new purpose satisfying the entertainment needs of area college students. The theatre has thrived in this new role and remains a popular venue hosting acts of all genres and interests and for all audiences, young and old.

For more articles like this, visit here.