Mardi Gras time

[Swing]

What are you cooking, doing, eating to celebrate? Are you in purple and gold and green?

While watching some fun on YouTube and other social media, I thought, "Someone on HCL must be cooking up a storm."

So, what are you doing for Mardi Gras?

 

[Supervisor42]

What are you cooking, doing, eating to celebrate? Are you in purple and gold and green?

While watching some fun on YouTube and other social media, I thought, "Someone on HCL must be cooking up a storm."

So, what are you doing for Mardi Gras?

We will attend our local parade.
It's impressive, last year over 100 floats!
Not too shabby for a 'small town'.
I just hope they still have some of those fake $100 bills left.
Us practical jokers love those!

 

[Swing]

@Supervisor42, that sounds wonderful and fun. There is a March 1st at 3pm parade I hope to see as my daughter will be marching in it.
She's with a Krewe from here. They marched in the Rome, Italy New Year's Day parade this year. Lots of fun.

 

[Pearl]

Who has King Cake??

 

[Supervisor42]

Who has King Cake??

Our local bakery does!
They have about 8 employees, made over 8,000 King Cakes last year!

 

[Swing]

I wish I had a King Cake here. I could use a slice. (who knows, might even find the baby).

I'll share.

 

[Patchouli]

I had never heard of King Cake until last year when a work friend was all about that Mardi Gras and now lives there near NO. She found a King Cake in a local bakery here, maybe I'll be able to find one too. I just looked stuff up about MG and what is Krewe? Crew? Parade? They have that many parades all of January, February, March? I have never been and likely never will.

 

[Swing]

I had never heard of a Krewe until my daughter became part of the Cotton Candy Marching Krewe here where we live. And it was started from someone that had be in Louisiana. It appears all they do is routines like a drill team, or drill team marching. Pam, (daughter) has been in the CCKrewe about 4 or 5 years now. New Year 24, they were invited by Rome Italy to march in the 25 New Year parade. And now on FB and YT shorts I'm seeing a lot of them. In the Cotton Candies, they dress all in pink (even hair) and wear white boots or shoes of some type. Other than that, the sky is the limit.

The photo is my daughter in the beaked mask at a local nice neighborhood school parade. But it gives you the idea of how they dress to be in the Cotton Candies. In recent history there is a lavender krewe and an old ladies silver krewe

This is New Year's Day in Rome Italy. Pam is far right, 2nd row in a dress with a lot of discs on it.

PS: They are non-profit and help out some charities around town. Each lady had to pay her own expenses for the Rome trip.

 

[Tim Horton]

Glad this was brought up... Will get and brew up some 8 O' Clock coffee and some local bear claw pastries.. Likely as close as I can come to come to coffee and a Benya this far north....

To add... If I've been told right ...bow-so-lay... in Cajun French is part of something meaning ...good times roll...

 

[Supervisor42]

I wish I had a King Cake here. I could use a slice. (who knows, might even find the baby).

I'll share.

View attachment 174215

Ours are not as tall but with lots of wonderful gooey stuff inside.
Actual picture of ours in our little hometown bakery:

 

[Swing]

I sure could use one of those to nibble on for two or three days. They look delicious.

 

[Peanut]

My first Mardi Gras was in Mobile (where it originated in 1703). I was in the military, not only was it a blast, it was the first time I was treated with respect for being military in a US city. Times were different then, a vietnam hangover. But I was truly treated with respect... and it was Mardi Gras, icing on the king cake.

MG in Mobile is far more enjoyable than Nola, at least to me. Smaller crowds, easier to get around.

I think about going down there every winter. I’d like to see the festivities in Mobile again. Maybe one day...

 

[Supervisor42]

I sure could use one of those to nibble on for two or three days. They look delicious.

A peek inside of a 'real' King Cake

:

And there is a wide variety of 'fillings' for you to choose from to go in 'your' King Cake.
Fillings:
"Though the cake was originally plain with sweet toppings, most King Cakes these days have a filling such as cinnamon, cream cheese, almond, raspberry, praline or chocolate."

 

[Jen]

What are you cooking, doing, eating to celebrate? Are you in purple and gold and green?

While watching some fun on YouTube and other social media, I thought, "Someone on HCL must be cooking up a storm."

So, what are you doing for Mardi Gras?

I have only been to one Mardi Gras. It was in Sardinia, Italy and it was small but pretty wild.

There was a bull on a float that gave out wine through his unmentionable parts.... little cups were provided but you had to get the wine by pulling on said parts.

There was a frightening wild-eyed looking one man band with scary dancers around him.

I was an adult when I saw that and never want to see anything like it again.

I did have some wine.

 

[Weedygarden]

Decades ago, I had two students, brothers, whose father was from Louisiana. They had a sister who lived in Louisiana who would ship cakes, beads and doubloons, which we shared with our students.

A couple years ago, my Sunday after church food service group decorated and served food for Mardi Gras. I made red beans and rice. I used the recipe that Fundy sent me a few years ago, and people asked where I learned to cook. I just followed the recipe and that recipe is so good. Another person in our group tried to decorate a King Cake, but finding the colored sugars was a challenge. I think she tried to dye her own because she couldn't find the colors in the stores, but it was not 100% as bright as what you see in the photos. She did find babies for the cake. Maybe you can order it online, but she didn't have time for that.

It is a good time to make a batch of red beans and rice for freezer meals. I had around 20 containers from one recipe last year.