Saturday, February 21, 2009

It's a Celebrashon!

Oo-wee podnah's, today's pos' 'bout gettin' ready fo' Fat Choosday and da Mardi Gras celebrashon, y'all!

Mardi Gras has been 'round fo'ever, brought over t' da U.S. by da French. Way back when da Romans embraced Christianity dey decided dey bettah go 'head and embrace some dem ol' pagan ritu'ls ratha' dan abolish dem. Da people wear masks t' hide dare identity. Dat way no one know who you be when you bein' a cooyon (dat mean fool, y'all). I t'ink da mos' of us will agree dat da mos' famous celebrashon in our co'ner da worl' is in N'awluns, y'all and Bourbon Street! But Mardi Gras done celebrated all 'round da world. Could be at yo house, too!

Da Mardi Gras season actually starts da twelth night after Christmas- Dat be January 6th, y'all. Dis da day dat da King Cake is tradition'lly served so mark yo calenda' fo' next year. But we won't let dat be stoppin' us, no. We'll bake dat cake no how. A lil' toy bebe is hidden in dat dare cake. Who ever now find dat dare bebe in dare cake is declared da King fo' da day and dey get t' make da next King Cake. Da King Cake is made in da shape of an oval , like a crown and out of da coffee-cake dough, decorated wit' gold, green and purple shugah icin'. Oo-wee, dat sound good, y'all. Y'all know I don' like t' cook but I found dis heah recipe dat look easy. No, no. It' not traditional but dat's ahright. If I can do it, you sho'ly can!

King Cake
1 can of cinnamon rolls, wit' icin'
Shugah sprinkles in yellow, gold and green
Lookie heah at how dese rolls undo. Y'all see dat. Get da generic kin' cuz day squirrly like dese. Shape dem rolls into an oval, twisting dem all togethe', and place it on a cookie sheet. Cook as directed on da package.


When dey done cooking, slip dat lil' toy bebe inside da cake. Cover da tops wit' da white icing. Sprinkle da different colors of sugars on da top, alternating as you go 'round da oval. And dat be all, y'all! Ea-sy!






Now, da Mardi Gras season end on Fat Choosday. Dat be da day you Laissez les bon temps rouler! (You pronounce dat like dis heah: le-say le bon tonh rou-lay!) Dat mean, Let da good times roll! Cuz on Wednesday da Lent Season be on and you good Catholics be givin' up somet'ing dat you love while in reflectin' da up comin' Easter. So, let's get goin' y'all.










Firs', we have t' break out da beads. Beads, beads and mo'e beads. One of da prizes of Mardi Gras. Let's keep our tops on ladies. You don' have to show your ta-ta's t' obtain da much wanted green, gold and purple beads. And don' let no drunken cooyon try tell you ut'erwise. Coins, trinkets and beads have been t'rown from da parade floats since da tradition started. Da "barin' all" tradition is not so much a tradition as much as it's da loss of inhibition after some ladies consume a lot of dos her'canes and encouraged by before mentioned drunken cooyons. Dos mask come in handy tho, should you decide t' 'xpose yo'self.

Yes, da her'canes sho'ly help wit dat. Dat be a fruity punch drink dat make yo' insides feel good. oo-wee. It was made most famous by dat famous restaurant, Pat O'Brien's. Hurry on up and make yo'self one! Maybe you could just leave out da rum fo' da chilren.


Now heah is the hard recipe:

Hurricane Recipe
1 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
4 ounces dark rum
4 ounces passion fruit syrup
Crushed ice
Orange and/or lime slice
1 Maraschino Cherry

In a cocktail shaker, add lemon juice, rum, passion fruit syrup, and crushed ice; shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes and den strain into a tall glass or hurricane glass. Garnish wit an orange and/or lime slices and a maraschino cherry.

But if you want t' make it easy, head on ove' to World Market and purchase da Pat O'Brien mix. Dat be what I did! Add water t' da mix and shake. Add da rum to dat. Oo-wee, if dat don' make you take yo' top off ladies, no'ting will!

So, what you waitin' fo'? Go make groceries, turn on yo' zydeco music, put on da Jambalaya fo' dinne' , sip on dos Her'canes and say it wit' me,

Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Announcements:
And the winner of the February 18th Shirt is.... Kristen Giger!!! Kristen pick your favorite Ray to be featured on your shirt. If you need a reminder of your choices, email me and I will help you.

Patchwork Denim: Kudos to Peggy and Cassie for submitting their photos of Patchwork Denim. What about the rest of you? Tera, Maureen, Melanie, you know who you are! Don't forget to send them into highlowaha218@gmail.com by Wednesday, February 25th by 5:00pm. This is patch yielding event!

Subscribe: Don't forget to subscribe to the blog and get all the updates straight to your email box every morning. Input your email address to the right. An email will then be sent to you. If you don't see it, check your junk mail or spam mail. Once you get the email, click on the verification link and you're done.

Dis be da Cruise Director speaking. Signing off 'til Monday, y'all!!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm up way too early and I think I only got half of what you said. But then again I'm partially deaf. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Robin...I love you!

Deaf or not it's early and it was hard for me too...what I did gather though was yummy cinnamon roll king cake is EASY to make and hurricane mix is available at Central Market!

I love it!!!!

Anonymous said...

OK OK OK. I apologize right now.

BUT I have to tell you all! Because I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!

I told you all yesterday that I am going on a cruise for spring break. We leave next Saturday, for...you guessed it...

NEW ORLEANS!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!

OK I cannot even type fast enough and I keep having to hit backspace for all the typos!

We are leaving from new orleans for the cruise on MONDAY, but we are going down there early to see the city a little bit. Out hotel is on canal st, 0.2 miles from PAT O'BRIENS!!!

OMG I cannot wait. THANKS for this post and for getting me even more excited for our trip. SO, when we go to pat's next saturday night, I will be sure to order a hurricane for everyone!

Anonymous said...

I know it's not too early, well actually I'm on eastern time at a volleyball tournament in Indiapolis... I'll have to re-read this tomorrow night when I get home, yay! and can concentrate on all the new words!!!! recipes too! How fun!

Every one have a great day... I'm out to the courts for a very, very...long day!!

Happy Day
volleymom in Indy aka Peggy

Anonymous said...

and yes, I can spell... Indianapolis....

volley mom

Anonymous said...

Glad I'm not the only who struggled reading this Nawlins' dialect!
We are off to a soccer tournament....Have a great weekend HLA!

Cheryl Houston said...

aw, shucks! It's easy. Here's a little help.

podnah's = partners
da = the
dat = that
dare - there/their
t' = to
dis = this
fo' = for
yo = your
words like pos' and mos' = post and most.
wit' = with

whereever there's a " ' " a letter is missing but surely if you can read pirate speak you can read a little cajun. Well, I don't know but it's funny when I read it!

Happy Saturday!

Anonymous said...

Cheryl...no doubt it is funny and now going back it is pretty easy to read...I just had to stop trying to read it and just go with it and it makes perfect sense.

Cajun is definitely easier than piratese!

Here's to Mardi Gras!

Anonymous said...

Hi everyone!
I'm new here- Claudia invited me and I have to say this is such a great idea!
Today's post certainly gets me in the mood for Mardi Gras!
Every year we celebrate with a Cajun meal of sorts and a local Microbrewery makes a Mardi Gras Ale- of course here in Wisconsin we always manage to find a way to add beer to the celebration!
Have a great day! Cheers!
Carrie

Shannon C said...

I am so impressed with the fact that you kept up the "accent" the entire time. I can't even imagine how long it took you to type it.

I think I may just try to make the cake this year - it does sound easy.

Have a great day everyone!

Anonymous said...

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days...let me recap:

First off: I STILL have NOT seen the HLA red carpet show beause my computer is a piece of junk!!!

CEREAL: My fav is Cap'n Crunch...the original and best!

18 FACTS (adapted from facebook):
1. I was ambidextrous in Kindergarten until kids made fun of me, then I switched to just my right hand.

2. One of my favorite indoor hobbies is woodburning.

3. The first fish I ever caught was a steelhead.

4. I LOVE archery hunting.

5. My favorite winter time activity is ice fishing.

6. I became a mother much before I ever anticipated...and it has taught me more than I could have ever imagined.

7. I miss Yellowstone more than words can express, and a special part of my heart will always be at Cabin Creek.

8. I talked my way out of an underage on a Penn State sponsored research trip to FL over spring break my sophomore year

9. We had trap shooting at our wedding reception.

10. I like to keep my nails long and filed.

11. I have a very good friend with whom I cannot agree on much of anything.

12. I hate girly drama.

13. Rappelled for the first time from the underside of a highway bridge about 200 feet off the ground...at midnight.

14. I have a bearded dragon, Clayton, that I bought with my 16th birthday money.

15. I have only ever been involved with the poaching of one deer.

16. I drank confiscated alcohol so that rookie rangers could learn how to conduct FST's (field sobriety tests).

17. Daytime TV irritates me, however in the mornings I am a Fox and Friends junkie

18. I have no idea what my future holds, and that scares the crap out of me

I too was impressed that you kept up the lingo through out the whole post...i enjoyed reading it!

Yay! I win a tee-shirt...how did I do that?? Can I get back to you on which one??

Finally...this is why I am proud to be a Penn State Alumni...all you people out there involved in high education, you HAVE to check this out: http://www.thon.org/home

~Kristen Giger

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

What a day it's been! I am back now to say... Nice job, Cheryl.

Of course, I was privy to hearing Cheryl read her post out loud while sitting in my kitchen. If you think the post is funny, you would have LOVED hearing her read it! It was great!

I will be making the king cake. I'm pretty sure Michael's sells babies that can be baked into the cake.

eknoxuk said...

I'm excited! I'm definitely going to do a Mardi Gras party for the kiddos on Tuesday night now with this great easy king cake and jambalaya! Thanks for the great ideas!

Anonymous said...

Happy Sunday HLA. I've been out of town this weekend and trying to catch up. OK 18 facts:

1. I am a Texas girl...born, raised, school and still here.

2. Graduated from UTA with a BA in Exercise Sports and Health Studies and a Minor in Dance.

3. I have been dancing since I was 3 years old ( Ballet, Jazz, Modern and Lyrical) It is my true passion.

4. My favorite workout is to put on music and dance like no one is watching.

5. I worked for J & J for 5 years managing corporate fitness centers.

6. I worked for Lake Austin Spa & Resort as an instructor(Beautiful place and so rewarding!)

7. I have been married to my wonderful husband for 8 years. He is the calm in my storm!!! (Me being the storm, him being the calm)

8. We have two beautiful, healthy daughters...4 1/2 and almost three.

9. I am a neat freak..but have relaxed more with each child.

10. If it is a carbohydrate...it has my name on it.

11. I enjoy running and lifting weights ( to burn off # 10)

12. Music...One of my many loves!!

13. Enjoy reading...If I can stay awake long enough to get through a few pages..It is relaxing to me.

14. I have one sister, 7 years younger than me and we are very close.

15. I often wonder when I meet new people.."Where are you on this journey we call life?"

16. I love to cook but don't do it enough.

17. I love to snow ski in Colorado and sun bathe on any beach!

18. I am a doer and planner at heart.


New Orleans is an amazing town. I want to go back sooner than later. Cheryl you crack me up!! Fat Tuesday..bring it on....

Anonymous said...

I really wasn't dissin' the Cajun. I really did open my eyes and pull the computer up onto the bed (as I do every morning to get my day started). So it was dark and my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders. Let's just say I'm glad there were pics and I intend to try it on Tuesday! :-)

Anonymous said...

I want King Cake and a Hurricane right now!! 10 am...

Nuthin wrong wit dat, I be sayin!!