Our Semester Kickoff Party last Saturday was an awesome success! Not only did we ring in the new semester, but we also demolished 55 pounds of crawfish and raised around $500 towards getting our own space. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came out!

Here are a million pictures of the crawfish boil on Facebook. We were hosted by the ever-gracious LaunchPad, which you should totally stop by if you happen to be in the area. it's a really sweet space with a great backyard.

THINGS WE LEARNED:

NUMBER ONE, there are helpful transplants from Louisiana and Alabama all over the place, so if you ever get stuck on how to tear the tail off of a crawfish just send up a batsignal.

NUMBER TWO, steam burns can make it hard to write blog posts two days later.

NUMBER THREE, everyone wants to teach a class! If you're interested in leading a class about something you're interested in, pop on over to our teacher suggestion page.

NUMBER FOUR, people really like this jambalaya recipe (courtesy The American Table by Ronald Johnson, the most perfect cookbook in the world. Mine is dog-eared and falling apart, but everything that comes out of it is amazing. Best Amazon review: "Ronald Johnson is a God Damned Joy"):

• 4 onions, chopped
• 2 T butter
• 1 green pepper, seeded, chopped
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1 lb learn pork, cut into small cubes
• 1 cup chopped cooked ham (or ham hocks)
• 1/2 lb sausage
• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups beef stock
• pinch of cayenne (many pinches!)
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 2 bay leaves
• pinch of cloves

Saute the onions until they're golden-brown. Add vegetables + pork and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring now and again. 

Add the ham and the sausage, then the rice. Stir well! Add the stock and the seasonings, cover, turn the heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Remove the lid and cook 15 minutes to work the water either into the rice or out of the pot.

This recipe is really forgiving, I doubled some parts and tripled some others, so don't be afraid of following the directions too closely! And now, the ever-photogenic crawfish:

A million more pictures on Facebook