Winner, Winner, Spaghetti Model Dinner

After playing the role of Susan Lucci as the perennial second place finisher to the likes of nola.com and Lorin Gaudin, Blackened Out finally claimed the #1 spot in the Best Local Blog category in Gambit's Best of New Orleans 2012. While the rest of the city concerns itself with the cone of uncertainty, we're digging deep into the cellar and opening up bottles of the good stuff here at Blackened Out Hurricane Hunter Headquarters. Best to enjoy it now instead of running the risk of letting the good juice go to waste in a power outage.  And even though we expect a referendum to be called for by Uptown Messenger, in the mean time we are going to ride this high for as long as we can.

And of course by "ride this high" we really mean "take the week off."  In accordance with the Blackened Out Bylaws, we are required to abide by the hurricane closures mandated by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Don't blame us - we didn't make these rules.  Well, actually we did, but we never thought that we would follow them.

So tie down the patio furniture, fill up that generator, and start planning your wine pairings. The Pope tells us that peanut butter and jelly pairs well with everything from rich, fruity California cabernets to lighter, more acidic reds from Burgundy.

And last but not least, thanks to all of you readers who voted for us this year. Your encouragment has renewed our enthusiasm for the little blog that could, and we hope to keep you entertained for many more years to come.