This week people around the world celebrated Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) or Shrove Tuesday (the term used in the United Kingdom). It is the day before Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of lent.
We read in the United Kingdom Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day. Why would one celebrate with eating pancakes? Wikipedia (www.en.wikipedia.org) states "The reason pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself."
We love to celebrate so we started off our day with Pancakes like the English. We then were going to have a decadent dinner New Orleans style, but the day was so filled with other kid activities we had to postpone our Mardi Gras celebration to Wednesday, hence Mercredi Gras.
For our New Orleans style dinner we made Chicken and Sausage Gumbo over rice, Red Beans and Rice, and New Orleans Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce. I am blessed with some great kitchen help to assist in chopping, stirring, and more. All the help makes for a great meal! We are going to experiment with more cajun, creole and carribean recipes.
No comments:
Post a Comment