Game day goodies

Over the next several weekends, rabid fans all over Louisiana will attend the world’s biggest outdoor picnics—tailgate parties in the shadows of their favorite football stadiums. At Tiger Stadium, seasoned cooks set up an elaborate tent city and serve menus that stretch beyond prosaic burgers and dogs, making the tailgate tradition about both spectacle and flavor. Here are a few items to help keep it fresh and fun.

Oh, has the Lucite go-cup ever become popular with the ladies. It keeps the sand out of your drink at the beach, and it keeps your cocktail debris-free outside the stadium. Balfour House on Burbank Drive carries clear on-the-go tumblers as well as hefty party cups (above) and are happy to monogram your name, initials or sorority letters on the cups in trendy colors.

Available at: Balfour House, 3930 Burbank Dr., Suite D (Map it!), 767-7210

There’s no shortage of smoked sausage in the Bayou State, from Baton Rouge-based Manda Meats to the mom-and-pop Cajun markets ?throughout south Louisiana. Thursdays and Saturdays, Kentwood-based Cutrer’s Meat Market and Slaughterhouse sells its signature smoked sausages, made from a 100-year-old family recipe, at the Red Stick Farmers Market. And perfect for the LSU-Arkansas face-off Nov. 29, at home this year, Iverstine Family Farms sells succulent ribs, chops, butts and a limited number of whole hogs. They also sell at the farmers market on Saturdays.

Manda Meats: Found at local supermarkets
Cutrer and Iverstine products: At the Red Stick Farmers Market

Sweet Wishes Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe features several varieties of fresh cupcakes baked on site and decorated with everything from screen images to team mascots. Southern and LSU fans can arrive equipped with cupcakes in blue and yellow or purple and gold (above). Prefer to bake a dozen at home? Then pick up a cupcake carrier at Target or Wal-Mart or find a collapsible carrier at Sur la Table.

Cupcakes available at: Sweet Wishes Gourmet Cupcake Shoppe, sweetwishescafe.com
Carriers available at: Target, Wal-Mart and Sur la Table