Louisiana+-+Mardi+Gras

Important Celebrations: Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is the name of the carnival that is celebrated in Louisiana, the day before to the Ash Wednesday. Each year, carnival season starts on January 6, also known as Twelfth Night. This day take place a ball to mark the occasion. Usually there is one major parade each day, organised by Carnival krewes, who throw to the crowd strings of plastic colorful beads, doubloons (similar to coins) and small, cheap toys. Other parades are hosted by social clubs, like Zulu and Rex. The name Mardi Gras comes from French and it means Fat Tuesday and its colours are purple, green and gold. These colors are said to have been chosen by Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch Romanoff of Russia Russia during a visit to New Orleans in 1872. Costumes and masks are frequently worn on Mardi Gras Day so in some places people are asked to put away their mask before entering. In Mardi Gras, people normally sit on the ground throwing balls, playing music, having a picnic, and watching the crowds walk by between parades. A typical drink in Mardi Gras is Cajun Bloody Mary. Its ingredients are:

· Tomato juice · Lemon juice · Lima juice · Hot radish · Worcestershire sauce · Tabasco sauce · Salt · Black peper ||= ||
 * = · Vodka

Mardi Gras is only complete with a King Cake, also known as Tuelfth Night Cake. This cake is actually a sweetened yeast bread usually baked in a ring shape. The cake is frosted with gold, green and purple icing representing in order power, faith and justice. The maker of each King Cake hides a token in the cake. The ingredients of this cake are:
 * 2 envelopes active dry yeast
 * 1/2 cup granulated sugar
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1-1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 cup warm milk (about 110°F)
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">4 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">2 teaspoons salt
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon vegetable oil
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">4 cups confectioner's sugar
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 plastic king cake baby or a pecan half
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">5 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Purple-, green-, and gold-tinted sugar sprinkles

<span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">

<span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Another typical food in Mardi Gras is the Crab Cake, composed of crab meat and various other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, milk, mayonnaise, eggs, yellow onions, and seasonings.

<span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Vegetarian people usually eat Spinach Cheese Balls, crunchy and cheesey, with various dipping sauces (normally tomato sauce). The ingedients are:
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1box frozen spinach
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 egg, slightly beaten
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon salt
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon onion powder
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon garlic powder
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1/2 cup sour cream
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 container ricotta cheese
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">2 cups All Purpose Flour
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Vegetable Oil, for deep frying
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">3/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
 * <span style="background-color: #7f00ff; color: #00ffce; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","Lucida Grande",sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1 jar pasta sauce, heated, your favorite.



[|Fresh Crawfish] = What young people do in Mardi Gras? = = = The young people wait for Mardi Gras for all a year, because they really have fun this weekend. They can do many things, like participate on a parade or dress up, but also they usually meet a lot of different people from a lot of places. Also you can belong to any Krewe (it´s like a club), but it´s so expensive. But if you belong to any you go to New Orleans with your friends and many activities. If you go to a parade you will receive a lot of necklace e, that they call beads. You can buy them in any shop for give it to any people that you want. On these days they eat special food that they buy, like King Cake and drink things like Bloody Mary.