Mardi Gras is coming
Did you know that Mardi Gras is less than 2 weeks away? I always forget about this celebration until the last minute. I guess it doesn’t help that the date moves each year.
Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” celebrates the last day before the season of lent. During Lent, many Christians give up certain foods or vices as a form of devotion. The Mardi Gras celebration is one last party before the restrictions come. In New Orleans, this party tends toward crazy drunken rowdiness, but the celebration is more toned down in other places.
In England, where I grew up, Mardi Gras was known as Pancake Tuesday or just Pancake Day. Hundreds of years ago, pancakes were seen as decadent because they contained fats and sugar. A pancake feast (with thin pancakes more like crepes) kicks off the Lenten season in style. In England, it is also common to see pancake races, usually relays involving running and flipping the pancakes in a pan. This is great fun to watch.
If you are interested in celebrating Mardi Gras without the debauchery, I would recommend either pancakes or making a king cake. King cakes are a New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition. The cake is a cinnamon cake kind of like coffee cake that is shaped into a circle or oval. Traditionally, a small plastic baby is baked into the cake, and the person who gets the piece with the baby is supposed to bring a king cake to the next party. You can buy king cakes online, or you could try this very simple, kid friendly recipe.
(Photo used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user Yarnivore.)
