Friday, January 29, 2010

It's Mardi Gras Season!






I've been to many'a Mardi Gras celebrations growing up in Louisiana. There is of course the huge New Orleans Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street, the Garden District and the suburbs surrounding the city. But there are also the Cajun and very traditional celebrations that take place in small "Cajun Country" towns such as Mamou and Coteau. I'll explain more about these later.

This will be the first of many posts about facts and history of Mardi Gras until the season is over. It's one of my favorite Holidays. Seriously...it's pretty much considered a religion in Louisiana. I was totally bummed when I moved to Chicago and realized we wouldn't have three days off for "Fat Tuesday":) First fact, Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday.


The colors of Mardi Gras are Purple, Green and Gold. These stand for Justice, Faith and Power (respectively). And of course there is the King Cake. A huge Mardi Gras tradition (see pics above). It's kinda like a rolled brioche or coffee cake topped with icing and sugar in the colors of Mardi Gras. Yum! They also come with different kinds of fillings such as cream cheese, praline, cherry and chocolate. My personal favorite is Cream Cheese.....
Oh, and there is a plastic baby hidden inside the cake. Tradition is the person who gets the slice of cake with the baby inside has to buy a cake for next year's celebration.

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