Tuesday, January 18, 2011

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 The beans, peas and coins have been replaced by a small plastic baby to symbolize the Christ Child.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.

17 comments:

Darla said...

Dang if your header didn't make me pause again....I need to be outside digging and moving some things around myself. I have always enjoyed the King's Cake story. Man this cake is colorful...

Terra said...

King Cakes are so fun, aren't they? Like you, I am thinking of gardening, and my current post is about the 2 canna I planted a couple days ago. I want to plant veggies but must wait, darn.

Connie said...

I've never tasted King cake before, Becca. It sounds and looks as if it would be delicious!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Since I lived in New Orleans for 5 yrs. I loved Mardi Gras. AND--I loved the King Cakes... It used to be a rule that the person who gets the 'baby' had to buy the next King Cake... One year, we went to about 28 different parades during the entire Mardi Gras season. That's when my kids were young --and we all loved it. (We always stayed in the 'family' areas!!!! ha)

Hope you get some bulbs planted... We have rain up here today. Snow is coming back so they say.
Hugs,
Betsy

Lona said...

Hi Becca. I have heard of the King cakes but have never tried one. Your looks so yummy and I see it is colorful just like Mardi Gras. I think everyone is starting to anxious to dig into the dirt again. You are fortunate because you will be able to long before I can. It has been fun planning new flowers and beds this winter so far. Take care. Hugs.

Patsy said...

Looks like we are in for more snow and ice. But spring is coming.

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

Wow the cake is yummy! I love the colors, and other pics too
kim

Far Side of Fifty said...

Hi Becca..Very Interesting about the cakes! Looks yummy to me:)

Gatsbys Gardens said...

I have never heard of the King Cake, but it looks like such fun especially with the baby.

Eileen

Deb said...

nice post Becca...count down to spring....

Infatuated with Homes and Gardens said...

This is what I love about blogging ,learning something new about people ,this sounds like such a fun tradition ,but then are they all in Louisianna/New Orleans ,I so want try a slice of that cake!
Thanks for leaving a comment on my last post.
~Sharon~

Diane said...

Interesting post with lots of info. We don't 'do' mardi gras so it was good to learn about new things. That cake looks very non slimming to me LOL.
Have a good week and take care. Diane

Ginger said...

I LOVE king cake too! I like the plain kind, though.

You are so ambitious to add two MORE gardens to your property! And I'm impressed you've had success with dahlias there. They either don't grow at all or very poorly here in jackson for some reason - or it could very well be me :)

Unknown said...

There you are! It is such fun to browse the mag's as we look forward to the beauty hidden beneath this soil, isn't it. A hot cup of tea, a mag & me ...

Have a beautiful day, Becca.
TTFN ~
Hugs, Marydon

siteseer said...

I'm really looking forward to spring. Been browsing the catalogs and dreaming of digging.

Never heard of king cakes, but I'm in a weight loss challenge so I'd better not think about them :)

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

That's good to know about King Cakes, and the colors are beautiful to see. I used to like Mardi Gras until I have kids, and how wild people behave!

Thank you for leaving such comforting words on my post..

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I learned some things from your post. I like it when traditions based on Christianity live on. I can't decide if those cakes look good to me or not, though. I guess I'm not a big cake person, anyway. My indulgence is chocolate, usually dark.

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