You heard it here third: everyone’s bracket picks sucked this year.
I actually had UConn going to the final four and wound up in 6th place which means my other picks sucked even harder.
But it was still fun nonetheless and indeed rose to the occasion for its namesake leaving a wake of madness in its trail.
Here were the results for the top ten standings for the Girls Guide to March Madness Bracket Tourney:
Congrats to Andrea for finishing in first!
Baseball season is here!
The ladies of Girls Guide Pro have come together once again to complete the Girls Guide Trifecta of Fantasy Sports (football, basketball, and now baseball!). We have some old timers and some newcomers. Stay tuned for bios on all! Here is the manager list:
Little Red Rail Riders – Jordan Zucker (Commish)
Holliday in Spain – Melissa Chusid (co-chair)
Homer’s Wonder Bat – Ann Marie Sclafani
JA – Julie Alexandria
CJMS – Martine Dimartino
PlouffeMagicDragon – Katie Des Londe
Portland Panic – Emily Hutson
Sweet N Mauer Sauce – Laree Brantley
Team Dokkkkkkkktor – Amanda Rykoff
Tiger Blood Ballers – Anita Marks
WhattaSteeles – Michele Steele
Clam Jam – Windy Palmore
Knixchix – Tina Cervasio
Our online draft was last Tuesday and I think everyone got a pretty good team!
Here are the results:
Jordan, Emily, and Julie's Teams
Anita, Martine, and Windy's Teams
Laree, Katie, and Tina's Teams
Michele, Summer, and Amanda's Teams
Ann Marie and Melissa's Teams
We’ll update you sporadically throughout the season and let you know how we’re doing!
It’s bracket time!
Girls Guide is proud to boast its first NCAA Tourney group this year!
Stay tuned to find out which savvy lady picked ‘em best!
Today I joined fellow GGPro member, Melissa Chusid, at the Bloomberg Sports Event to preview their tools for the upcoming 20ll baseball season. We were two of the three women at the 100 person event, which probably mirrors the percentage of Bloomberg’s female market. I guess it’s up to me to change that…
I can’t wait to be fully equipped to kick as much baseball ass as possible. Stay tuned to meet the solid gaggle of girls I’m gathering for the Girls Guide Pro Baseball League!
O.K. The big day is near!
I’m packing up and heading to Dallas for a relaxing getaway to visit my Texas cousins. And maybe for some sports thing… And snow angels.
Here’s what’s on the menu for the SU PA BO!!!!!
B.J. Rahi Tuna Sliders with Wasabi Chris Creamoeatu
The “Big Guy” Dish!
Chris Kemoeatu - G PIT
B.J. Raji - NT GB
Hot Chicken Greg Jennwings Balls with Cool Mike Cabrallace Blue Cheese Dressing
The “Go Long” Dish!
Mike Wallace - WR PIT
Greg Jennings - WR GB
Figgy Hood Bruschetta
Well now I know what school yard nicknames my future son has to look forward to. All good. Ziggy Zucker is going to be a bad-ass.
Ziggy Hood - DE PIT
RaChardonnay Mendenhall Poached Peaaron Rodgers
I know, I know, my east coast friends are screaming and twitching. See, back in New York we give vowels distinct pronunciations. Aaron nor Erin rhyme with Pear-in where I come from. But I’m doing it! The Pearon Rogers is on the menu! Raise your hand in the “air” if you “care” what rhymes with “pear.”
Aaron Rodgers - QB GB
Rashard Mendenhall - RB PIT
LaMarrgarita Woodley
I’m making it as woody as possible.
LaMarr Woodley - OLB PIT
Serves 4-6
Tuna Balls
Ingredients:
1 lb ahi tuna, ground or finely chopped
¼ t lemon zest
¼ t lime zest
¼ t blood orange zest
1 T lemon juice
1 T lime juice
1 T blood orange juice
¼ c scallions, finely chopped
1 T ginger, finely chopped
1 T black sesame seeds
1 T toasted sesame oil
1 t chili sesame oil
1 t chili paste
1 T panko breadcrumbs
salt
pepper
olive oil
Procedure:
Combine the tuna, citrus juices and zests, scallions, ginger, sesame seeds and oil, chili paste and oil, panko, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well, using your hands or a fork.
Heat some olive oil in a pan on medium high. Scoop out a small handful of the tuna mixture and form it into a mini burger patty shape. Cook the patties in the oil for a minute on each side. Flip to cook the other side.
After another minute, transfer the patties to a paper towel lined plate to drain and cool. They should just be cooked through.
Wasabi Cream
Ingredients:
½ c mayonnaise
½ c plain yogurt, greek style
1 T wasabi paste
½ lime, juiced
1 t garlic, chopped
1 avocado
salt
Procedure:
In a blender, combine the mayonnaise and the yogurt until smooth. Add the wasabi, lime juice, salt, and garlic. Blend until smooth. Add the meat of the avocado, cut into small chunks. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender in between pulses to incorporate everything.
Now I’m still working to lose those damn 10 pounds from last year. (Who knew the 10 in 2010 was going to be so prophetic?) So I’m still limiting my carbs. You can go ahead and shmear some of the wasabi cream onto a mini dinner roll and sandwich a tuna burger in there to make a slider, but I’m just going to dip and eat. I don’t miss the bun, really. (though I clearly missed my weekly manicure…)
Serves 4-6
I admit it. I’m not a huge chicken person. Telling me something “tastes like chicken” is not a hard sell. Sure, I’ll eat it, and there are certain places where I’ll always order it (e.g. Quatorze Bis on 79th and 1st), it’s just not my favorite. Largely because I’m not that into… wait for it… the bones. So while I love the taste of chicken wings and quite enjoy getting all messy in a bar, I wanted to find a way to do this sans bones. Behold the Chicken Wings Balls!
Chicken Balls
Ingredients:
1 lb of chicken, ground
¼ c hot wing sauce (if you can’t find some, mix together equal parts (2 T each) hot sauce and melted butter)
1 T garlic, minced
1 T flour
3 scallions, finely chopped
salt
pepper
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 400. Combine the chicken, hot sauce, garlic, flour, scallions, salt and pepper in a bowl. Form the mixture into little meatballs, coat with olive oil, and place on a foil-lined tray. Bake the chicken balls until cooked through, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients:
1 c Cabrales blue cheese, chopped finely (thank you Bobby Flay for introducing it to me!)
½ c plain yogurt, greek style
1 T lemon juice
1 T chives, chopped
salt
pepper
Procedure:
Throw all of the ingredients into a blender and blend, blend, blend until smooth. Transfer to a dipping bowl.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
1 baguette, sliced into ½” pieces
1 ½ c fresh ricotta cheese
2 T honey
¼ lb prosciutto
1 c figs
1 c water
1 c sugar
½ c brandy
¼ c mint, chopped
2 T c chives, chopped
1 T heavy cream
1 lemon zested
salt
pepper
olive oil
Procedure:
In a small pot over medium high heat, combine the water, sugar, and brandy. When it starts to boil, reduce the head to low and add the figs. Simmer the figs for at least 30 min. Transfer the figs and enough liquid to cover them to a sealed container and refrigerate. Let stew overnight.
Combine the ricotta, cream, zest, honey, mint, and chives in a bowl and mix until well blended.
Brush the bread slices with olive oil and grill them until slightly browned.
Spread some of the ricotta mixture onto each slice. Then fold a piece of prosciutto on top. Slice the figs in half lengthwise and place some of them on next. Finish off with a light SWOOPS.*
*SWOOPS = Season With Olive Oil, Pepper, and Salt
Serves: 3
Ingredients:
1 btl (750) Chardonnay white wine
1 c water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 t peppercorns
1 T cloves
2 star anise
1 c sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 orange, juiced
1 orange, peel
3 pears, peeled
Procedure:
Pour the white wine and water into a pot on high heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, cloves, star anise, sugar, vanilla, vinegar, and orange. Stir. Once it starts to boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the pears. Simmer the pears in the poaching liquid for at least an hour, turning occasionally to make sure all sides of the pear gets bath time. Once the pears have started to soften, transfer them to a bowl and pour the liquid through a strainer to cover them. Cool, and serve.
Ingredients:
2 oz. tequila
1 oz. woody water*
1 lime, juiced
1 oz. pear (or orange) liquor
shake of salt
Procedure:
* To make the woody water, boil 1 c water, ½ c sugar, 4 sprigs rosemary, 4 sprigs thyme, 4 sprigs oregano, and 4 sage leaves in a pot. Simmer for 2-4 min. Strain and cool.
Throw all contents into a shaker with some ice. Shake it up. Pour into a glass and down.
Now MAN UP and CHOW DOWN!!
Thanks to Guide to Online Schools for naming Girls Guide one of the top five fantasy football websites! We appreciate the recognition among a long list of qualified contenders! View the entire list HERE!
I was rooting for the Packers and the Jets this past weekend. More the Jets than the Packers but I wanted to make specific picks on both games.
So I got the wrong one out of the two if I had to choose, but it was a nice little post-season.
We watched all decked out in green in my friend Kimo’s newly redone, beautiful backyard. (Advantage L.A.).
Kimo said he wanted Bears/Steelers to win because he wants “in the mud” football.
I said, “What do you mean Keems? Jets/Packers would be pussy football?”
“Ya, Jord.”
“Well then I’m rooting for powder puff football!” chimed in Let.
“Ya, Keems, I’ll do my nails during the game if I want to!
We could have gotten into the whole “I’d rather have a good-looking quarterback than a defiling one” thing, but that seemed a little over-played at the time. It’s all good. We’re all friends.
Jord with Dylan, Alex, and Wes Brough in Jets Green
Great season everyone! I’m sad it’s over, but at least I won’t have to be haunted by that godforsaken “Your wish has been granted” Yahoo! pop up ad anymore…
Here are the final results of the season:
League Home Sauce:
1st place – Fiery Foxes (Wendy and Bryna)
2nd place – Trash Truckers (Lauren Howard)
3rd place – Funky Hookers (Liz and Gayle)
In this league, the regular season standings were maintained throughout the playoffs. Now there’s something I’ve never seen before! Way to play it, ladies!
GG2FF:
1st place – Smack and Cheese (Me – Yipee!)
2nd place – Hollywood Highness (Lisa)
3rd place – Woody’s Johnson (Morgan)
I didn’t win it until Tuesday, but Vick and All Day took it on home for me. Winning is completely validating. All of a sudden, there is no mention of luck. No, no, mama’s a lucky girl. Morgan was the me of the pro league, cruising through the season, losing in the semi-finals, and coming back with a vengeance in the last game of the year.
Girls Guide Pro:
1st place – Eat Prey Destroy (Melissa Jacobs)
2nd place – LareeRocks (Laree)
3rd place – Fat Sweaters (Me – yay!)
Winning with Randy Moss in your starting line up: impressive or obnoxious? Either way, The Football Girl got it done. Laree nabbed the silver on a choke week, and I hung onto to a medal with my killer team rising to the occasion. Santa was a week late with the numbers I needed from Forte, but it was nice to end the season in style.
Girls Guide Camp:
1st place – Tightends (Laurie)
2nd place – Blue Candy (Andee)
3rd place – Hog and Rocks (Stephanie)
Andee’s first and only loss of the year wound up being in the Su Pa Bo. “Now I understand the pain of fantasy, Commish,” she confessed. Laurie now owes Aaron Rodgers a gift basket. Steph owes her bronze to her MVP, Arian Foster.
Great job, ladies!!! Stay tuned for draft plans starting in June! Now on to concentrating on hoops…
Touch back with you next season!
oxoxo
- Commish
Well, I’m out of sorts. It’s Monday and there’s no game tonight. But it’s my mother’s bday so at least there’ll be some distraction.
Last week I was in Vermont, (yes, during the storm!) and made a Saints meal in my country house for the boys. The Saints are one of my favorite teams so it was nice to end the season in their honor. Here’s what I threw together:
Starter: Drew Brie with Marques ColStone Ground Crackers
Marques Colston - WR NO
Drew Brees - QB NO
Side: Jeremy Shiitockey with PiHeirloom Tomatoes
Pierre Thomas - RB NO
Jeremy Shockey - TE NO
Main: Fire Grilled Tracy Porterhouse
Tracy Porter - CB NO
We’re starting off easy. Cheese and Crackers.
Ingredients:
3 c shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 box baby heirloom tomatoes, sliced in half
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T lemon oil
olive oil
salt
pepper
Procedure:
Salt the tomatoes. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium high. Throw in the scallions and onions and cook until translucent, about 2-3 min. Add the mushrooms and cook another few minutes until the shitakes have absorbed the liquid and released it. Add the garlic and tomatoes and stir in. Season with salt, pepper, and the lemon oil. Stir. Cook for another few minutes and serve.
Ingredients:
Porterhouse steak
salt
pepper
fireplace grill
Procedure:
Liberally season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. Build a fire. Once it’s died down so that the flame is still going but is below the grill, place the steaks on the fire. Cook each side for about 4-5 minutes, depending on the height of the flame and your desired cook level, I like medium rare.
Don’t play with the steaks on the fire, it ruins the crust.
Now Man Up! And Chow Down!!
It’s a Brett Chevre running theme:
Brett Favre - QB MIN
Johnny Lox and Goat Cheese Stuffed Matt ForTaters
Matt Forte - RB CHI
Johnny Knox - WR CHI
Visanthe Panko Crusted Goat Cheese and Tomato Salad
Visanthe Schiancoe - TE MIN
and a Guavaris Jaiquirison for the cocktail
Tavaris Jackson - QB MIN
Ingredients:
4 oz. smoked salmon, finely chopped (Yes, technically this is not lox, it’s nova; lox is cured and nova is cold-smoked, but I like it better.)
4 oz. soft goat cheese
3 T dill, finely chopped
2 T tarragon, finely chopped
2 T chives, finely chopped
3 T scallions, finely chopped
1 T lemon zest (1 small lemon)
2 T lemon juice (1 small lemon)
12 small potatoes (new or creamers work well)
1 c black sesame seeds
olive oil
salt
pepper
Procedure:
Boil the potatoes until slightly tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool. Slice them in half and scoop out the middle using a melon baller or a paring knife, making them into tiny little bowls. Discard the center (or save for mashed potatoes!). Dip the shells into some olive oil and place skin side down on a foil lined tray. Broil the hollowed potatoes until brown and crisping, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and drain on paper towel lined platter.
In a bowl, combine the smoked salmon, chevre, dill, tarragon, chives, scallions, lemon juice and zest until well incorporated. Scoop a little of the salmon mixture and roll it into a ball. Place the black sesame seeds on a plate. Roll the salmon filling ball in the sesame seeds until nicely covered. Pop the sesame coated salmon ball into a potato shell. Repeat with the rest. Aren’t they cute?!?!
Ingredients:
2 oz. chevre log
2 Roma tomatoes, slow roasted
1 Persian cucumber
½ avocado
2 T pea sprouts
1 head frisee
1 T dressing of choice
1 c panko breadcrumbs, seasoned with parley, salt and pepper
1 egg
½ c flour
olive oil
Procedure:
Using unflavored dental floss, cut the goat cheese log into discs ½” thick. Place flour in a bowl. Beat egg with a t of water in another bowl. Place seasoned panko in a third bowl. (You can toast the panko in the oven at 425 for five minutes beforehand to bring out the flavor.) Dip each goat cheese disc into the flour bowl and fully cover. Then dredge it in the egg and then the panko to fully coat. Place coated cheese on a wax paper lined tray. Repeat until all of the goat cheese is coated in the breadcrumbs. Place the wax tray in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
When you’re ready to make the salad, heat some oil in a pan on high heat. Cook the frozen cheese in the oil until browning. Flip and brown the other side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.
Throw some washed frisee in a bowl. Coat with dressing of choice. Add a few halved roasted tomatoes, sliced and salted cucumber, avocado, and pea shoots. Place the panko coated goat cheese on top. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 oz light rum
1 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
1 oz guava, muddled
Procedure:
Muddle guava in shaker. Add rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. Pour over ice.
And then there was one. Smack and Cheese made it to the GG2FF Su Pa Bo! (Thank you Vick, Nicks, Marshall, and Jets D!)
Fat Sweaters got knocked out by Eat Prey Destroy. (Like I’d have started Garrard over Brady…)
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I am Jordan Zucker, commissioner of the all female Girls Guide empire leagues!
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