LSU Atlanta

We may be a long way from the bayou country, but that doesn't mean LSU Atlanta misses out on the third most important season of the year (right behind Football Season and Spring Football Practice): Crawfish Season!

Ready for a backyard boil of your own? Here's some tips we've gathered for boils that would make the folks back home jealous. Yes, it costs a little more here, but we appreciate it more, too.

Catering Cajun (http://www.cateringcajun.net/) now offers live crawfish for sale in addition to its pre-boiled crawfish and catering services. Best of all, the crawfish come from Mamou, La., driven up here by the truckload every week by an LSU Atlanta Club member. Prices start at $2.29 per pound in 30-40 pound sacks for live crawfish. Call ahead by Wednesday each week for large orders. Catering Cajun also offers boiled crawfish for sale by the pound.

Boudreaux's Cajun Seafood Market (http://www.boudreauxscajun.com/) in Duluth is also an option. They provide catering services for crawfish boils, and they also have a seafood market and cafe.

For large events you can also try contacting Inland Seafood (http://www.inlandseafood.com/), although they are a distributor and don't offer direct consumer sales.

Another option for live crawfish is Your DeKalb Farmer's Market in Decatur (http://www.dekalbfarmersmarket.com/). The Farmer's Market often has great prices for 30-40 pound sacks, although the crawfish are usually from Georgia farms. Don't bother trying to reserve your order ahead of time, it just confuses the staff. Simply head straight to the seafood counter and ask for crawfish. It makes planning for 50 a little stressful, but they always have delivered when we've stopped by.

Other than not leaving your phone number with the customer service desk at the Farmer's Market for an advance order (true story: I did that once and received a confused call several months later asking when I'd be in for my job interview), our best advice on what not to do when it comes to a boil-dem-yaself? It's best not to drive a sackfull up from Louisiana several days ahead of the planned boil and then try to keep them alive in the bathtub of a high-rise condo in Midtown (We miss you Larry and Emily!). Funny thing: they don't seem to go back into the mesh bags as easily as they came out. And your neighbors probably won't appreciate the scent left behind in the elevators.