This and That

Hey - I'm still here. Not much going on in my world right now. I've been browsing prior years garden magazines and visiting the garden centers. I purchased a few dahlias. My goal is to dig up and put down at least one preferably two new garden areas in the yard. This is the time of year to do that since the weather is cool for such hard work and the ground is soft. Looking forward to the spring flowers.

I can't say that I'm a Mardi Gras person anymore. I used to take my kids when they were small. But I just didn't get into it really. But I love the colorfullness of Mardi Gras the purples, yellows and greens. And I LOVE the King Cakes. All the bakeries get geared up this time of year to roll out tons of cinnamon dough and then fill them with all kinds of fillings. Just about anything you like can be made into a filling. I prefer the cream cheese filling and that is what this one is. I couldn't resist this weekend when I saw these in the bakery. You know it's fresh because they have just began to put these out. So yummy.

The history behind the Mardi Gras King Cake

The King Cake is believed to have originated in France around the 12th Century. These early Europeans celebrated the coming of the three wise men bearing gifts twelve days after Christmas calling it the feast of the Epiphany, Twelfth Night of Kings's Day.

The main part of the celebration was the baking of a King Cake to honor the three Kings. The cakes were made circular to portray the circular route used by the Kings to get to the Christ Child and confuse King Herod, who was trying to follow the wise men so he could kill the Christ Child. In these early King Cakes, a bean, a pea or a coin was hidden inside the cake. The peron who got the hidden piece was declared King for the day, or was said to have good luck in the coming year.

In Louisiana, Twelfth Night also signifes the beginning of the carnival season, which ends on Mardi Gras Day. The beans, peas and coins have been replaced by a small plastic baby to symbolize the Christ Child. The person who gets the baby is expected to carry on the carnival festivities by hosting the next King Cake Party.

You can see the cinnamon and the cream cheese filling. Also the icing is cream cheese. I also like the strawberry and the raspberry. Oh and chocolate and .....

 The plastic baby used to be found inside the cake but many people have been injured from biting into the plastic that the cakes are sold with the baby in celophane and you can place the baby into the cake yourself. I don't do the baby in the cake.

Not complaing about the weather. Rain is coming and temps are seasonable.

Have a great day everyone.

I'm thankful for the clouds and rain today.