Shrove Tuesday
The last day before the beginning of Lent on the Gulf Coast that once belonged to France, it is Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday”: Laissez les bon temps rouler!
It was first celebrated in Mobile, Alabama, but the big show is in New Orleans, and it is a holiday in the state of Louisiana, because people wouldn’t show up for work anyway, so why fight it.
The tradition is to serve King cake, which is generally a circle of cinnamon bun dough with a white frosting on top sprinkled with sugar colored purple, gold, and green. If that weren’t bad enough, they put the figurine of a baby in the dough, and whoever finds it in their piece is supposed to be lucky. Actually if you find it and don’t choke on it, I guess you are lucky. You should use a small ceramic figurine, as some of the cheap plastic versions melt in the oven [yummy].
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Besides, a plastic figurine wouldn’t break teeth nearly as effectively.
In recent years, Galveston, another city that has a past that includes utter destruction by a hurricane, has taken up Mardi Gras as its own. They have probably done it for commercial reasons, but I have to admit they put on a pretty good show considering they are not New Orleans, and I’m willing to cut them some slack. As you said… Laissez les bon temps rouler!
BTW, if you are ever in Galveston, visit their historical museum, not only for the 1900 hurricane artifacts and photos but also for the most marvelous lighthouse Fresnel lens I have ever seen in my life. Who says lifesaving technology cannot also be art!
I have a friend who is an artist and she has done some interesting things with motherboards. Now, if I could convince her to take the next step and put up a web site…