Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Did y'all have a good Mardi Gras?  I never paid the holiday much attention until we lived in Louisiana.  To the residents of that state it's right up there with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  A different krewe hosts a parade each weekend (there's even one for the pets!).  You pitch your tent along the road early in the morning and brave the cold and rain for a good spot.  Boiled peanuts are consumed.  Beads are caught.  New friends are made.  Good times!

There's a tradition I learned that I still celebrate, despite the lack of parades and festivities in my part of Texas.  People leave their Christmas trees out (fake, I presume) and decorate them for the next big holiday:  Mardi Gras!  I don't commit all the way with a full tree but I definitely put out my mini Mardi Gras tree!  Here's the whole layout:

I even have a strand of Mardi Gras lights in purple, green, and gold.  (People complain about Christmas decorations going out in the summer?  The craft store in our town would put out Mardi Gras decorations starting in AUGUST!!)

I like to use the holiday as an excuse to make some yummy Cajun food for our friends.  We hosted a group over the weekend and I made Jambalaya, French bread, and King Cake.  (I usually buy the king cake but this year I used cinnamon rolls and cream cheese with sugar I dyed in Mardi Gras colors.  You can use two cans of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and break them apart, twisting them together to make one outer ring and then another small ring on the inside.  Bake according to instructions on the label, then pour the cream cheese over the top and sprinkle on the sugar.  There's a good tutorial for the cake here and for coloring the sugar here.)  I don't have any pictures of the food because we were hungry!  Here's the full table, though--complete with themed napkins:

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Adi