I know, I know...we are now into Lent, and I am just talking about Mardi Gras. I have sort of an excuse this year because Mardi Gras and my husband's birthday were on the same day this year. Do you know about Mardi Gras? It is the last day before Ash Wednesday, which starts the 40 days of Lent and what most people think of as the Easter season. It was early this year, because Easter will fall on Sunday, March 31. (if you are interested in why Easter is never on the same date, see here) There are many celebrations of Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, but the main reason is that Lent is starting the next day, and historically, this was the time to get rid of the eggs, milk, flour and fat that one gives up for Lent. So, pancakes are popular, as well as meat (hence Fat Tuesday) and generally all the good stuff. Besides New Orleans and Mobile, AL, there are famous Mardi Gras celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Nice, France; and Venice, Italy. At many parties, there is a cake that has a token inside. This token can be a bean (fève) or even a small plastic baby. When I had parties at school, the plastic baby Jesus was very popular. I ended up with several, however I only used one at a time in a cake!
So, I hope that you had a great Mardi Gras, wearing green, gold and purple beads and having a wonderful time.
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Update:
Mardi Gras 2017 is tomorrow. The party has been going on in New Orleans, also fueled by the NBA All-Star weekend just a couple of weeks ago.
Although New Orleans has the most well known Mardi Gras celebration in the US, Mobile, Alabama also lays claim to having the first celebration of Mardi Gras in the Americas. But historians often point to March 3, 1699, when French explorers Iberville and Bieville landed at a point near the future site of New Orleans, dubbed it Point du Mardi Gras, and promptly had a party.
Mardi Gras celebrations include parades, balls, socials, and eating. As previously stated, the day before Ash Wednesday is the one in which folks partied like crazy and ate lots of fatty things to get rid of the eggs, millk, yeast before the stark days of Lent.
There will be no King's cake for us this year, mostly because I was distracted and couldn't remember the exact date of Mardi Gras. But you can be sure that we will "laissez les bons temps rouler" here at chez Jones.
To find out more about King's Cakes, click here (remember to smash your piece before consuming, just in case you're the winner of the plastic baby Jesus!)
Mardi Gras in Mobile, AL
