Least productive work week in Louisiana

I'm thinking the rest of this work week will be fairly non-productive here in Louisiana. Now that carnival season has come to a close, it's back to real life. Bahahahahaha! Crawfish season just started! People down here LOVE crawfish and having crawfish boils! Just another excuse to invite people over and drink beer. So, all being good Catholics, they'll abstain from meat on Fridays, instead opting for massive amounts of boiled seafood and beer. Not really a sacrifice as most of them would choose boiled seafood over meat most days.

Not me man. No seafood for this little chick. Ewww! I'll just munch on the other items thrown in the boil: potatoes, corn, mushrooms so spicy your lips burn, garlic, etc. Hmmm, not much of a meal there is it? Crap, I lose again.

Lemmie show ya some pics of our paradin'.

Does anyone else think my breastestes look stupidly big in this picture? I swear, looks bigger than Pickle's head! THIS is why I want a reduction people!Shortly after this picture was snapped, Twin B pulled back and declared, "Ok, that's enough. No more kisses or hugs." Ah, the love was short lived.

I know of two, yes TWO people that broke their jaw at parades. One poor little baby (2 yr old) fell out of the back of a pickup that he was watching the parade from. No, the truck wasn't moving. He's already had surgery to insert a metal plate in his jaw as it was broken in 3 places. Poor kid. Another lady knew someone on a float and caught their attention. It's common practice to "bomb" any parade watchers you're friends with. This entails throwing ridiculous amounts of beads and other throws at your friends. Beads are packaged in plastic bags in a gross (12 dozen necklaces). Those bags easily weigh several pounds and are what you're "bombed" with. I've seen children in tears after getting struck, people knocked down, you get the idea. This unlucky lady took several bags to the face, followed by a full beer can. Yes, you read that right. They threw her a beer. Not at all unheard of. When The Dude rode in a parade several years ago (pre-children) he tossed me a beer or two as he rode by. Anyway, the beer struck her square in the jaw, breaking it. Yipes!

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I am SOOOOOOO happy my husband is one of those fix it type guys. My washing machine decided to just quit working mid cycle (full tub and all!). Thankfully he had the door switch changed out and the load finished within an hour. Sweet! Later, when talking with an acquaintance, I realized how luck I am when the guy said, "Oh no. Dude, when a washing machine quits working, I'd just throw it out and buy a new one." Wow, seriously? Yes, seriously.

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It came out in discussion last night that my boss a.k.a. my father in law is kinda holding The Dude back at work because, get this, he's scared that if he sends The Dude to out of town things that I won't be able to "handle the kids" by myself, and I'll complain to him. Um, what? A.) I can handle my children on my own just fine, thanks; 2.) FIL is the LAST person I would ever complain to if I were having a hard time caring for the kids. Here's a thought: if you (FIL) think that I might be having a hard time with the kids, how 'bout you and Mamma In Law take your grandkids every now and then. Novel idea huh? Or, just make the 1 minute trip over to our house to help out. Oh I'm sorry, that would probably interrupt your social life. My bad.

A Preview

We're about to head out to the big pre-parade parties, but I wanted to pop up a couple of pictures of the cake I'm bringing

The inspiration for this cake came from a magazine that the hostess of the party brought to me. We're a tad sick of King Cakes at this point, so we thought this would be a nice change. Still festive, but different.

It's a triple layer white cake (well the layers are dyed purple gold and green), with a rasberry filling in one layer and an almond cream layer on the other. The icing is an almond cream cheese. Yum!

There will be several little kids, so with some extra batter and frosting I made some mini cupcakes for them.

Recipes to follow!

The haul...

We attended our first parade of the season. Boy did we get a haul! That wagon is chock-a-block full of Mardi Gras beads and stuffed animals. Why we get all crazy trying to catch these things is beyond me, but we do. Not sure what I'm going to do with all of this stuff either. But yeah, here it is!

Laissez les bon Temps Rouler!!!

Parade season baby! Wooo-hoo! Our first local parade kicks off tonight and we have an invite to a prime viewing location WITH private bathroom access. That is key to successful parade viewing during Mardi Gras season. We actually have secured parade route viewing areas for all major parades in our area....SA-WEET!! Lemmie throw down a little Mardi Gras history/info. for all of you not in the know, ha ha ha.

But first, pics from last year's parades! Here's the whole fam:

Yep, I was brunette that year, lol.

The girls got their first taste of cotton candy while waiting for the parade to roll.
Doing a lil' bead dance!Here is a lovely one for the family album. Here, our friend is corrupting our little Twin B with a fake plastic stogie one of the revelers threw...nice.Ok, the title of this post, what does it mean and how do you say it?! Say it with me now: lay-zay lay bawn tawn roo-lay. Right! Ya got it! Laissez les bon temp rouler, or, Let the Good Times Roll!

Mardi Gras literally translates to "fat Tuesday" in French. It's the day before Ash Wednesday, or the beginning of the Lenten season. Basically it's your last day to gorge and live in excess before the Easter season. Carnival season begins on Jan. 6th, the Epiphany, or Twelfth Night (also known as Little Christmas). Twelfth Night parties are often held as a signal to the start of the season. King cake is generally served.

What is King cake you ask? It's a brioche-style cake (sweetened yeast bread), usually rolled and shaped into an oval with cinnamon-sugar inside. It is topped with white icing, purple (symbolizing justice), gold (symbolizing power), and green (symbolizing wealth) sprinkles. Traditionally there is a small plastic baby (symbolizing baby Jesus) placed inside. Tradition dictates that whomever finds the baby inside their piece of cake must bring the King Cake to the next party.

These days, you can find King Cakes filled with just about every flavor you could imagine (custards, cream cheese, fruits, chocolate). The Dude hates filled King Cakes. He's a purist and demands his cakes contain ONLY cinnamon and sugar.

There is quite a bit of debate as to when and where Mardi Gras was brought to North America. Some say it was first celebrated in Mobile, AL while others insist it was New Orleans. Some stories suggest it was as early as 1699 in Louisiana, others say 1703 in Mobile. Regardless, it's a bigger deal (and more famous) for it's New Orleans roots.

We don't do Mardi Gras in New Orleans. That is just too touristy and crazy (go ahead, find a place to pee, I dare you). It's still big where we are (50-ish miles south of New Orleans) but there are no chicks flashing for beads or anything of that nature. More family friendly.

So what happens at a parade? Well, there is lots of eating and drinking involved. People start holding their parade route spots days in advance. Campers line the parade routes. While the parade may last only an hour or so, the cooking/parties before hand can last much longer. When the parade finally rolls by, people start going nuts. Grown adults will knock a child over trying to get their hands on some "throws." Throws (what the revelers throw from the floats) can range from beads to toys to underwear. It can get a little ridiculous how some people act.

Who rides on the floats? Each parade is for a specific Krewe. A Krewe is nothing more than a social club/organization. They tend to be a tad exclusive. You can't just join. You must be invited and there are usually a host of other restrictions. There is a royal court for each Krewe, with a King and Queen, Dukes, Ladies/maids, Pages, etc. The Dude's sister was a Maid one year. She wore this ridiculously large dress (she couldn't walk without assistance and needed help in the bathroom) and rode in the parade on a fancy convertible. Those that ride on the actual floats are usually masked and wearing costumes.

Krewe of Bacchus, rolling down St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans.

It's a fun time. If you ever get the chance, try to make it down this way for Mardi Gras season. It's an experience you'll not soon forget.