The Feasting Before The Fast

Interesting thing I learned about being down south today; they don't do Paczki. However, they do sell Kings Cakes, which I only learned of last year and which I didn't even try as there was some doubt about my ability to finish off a whole one today.. in fact, about the ability of the whole family working together to do so. Oh well.

I did, however, manage to place myself in charge of dinner. For all who are aware of my previous cooking endeavors, especially where whole meals are concerned, you can imagine this getting interesting in more ways than one. Aside from being later at night than we're used to eating, it turned out surprisingly well, though I also had help all the way through this time. I wasn't quite as adventurous.. we had Cajun Meatballs, Creole Rice (with polish sausage added into it), and cornbread. Also with Mardi Gras Punch (Vodka optional), and for dessert, the extremely creative angel food cake with kiwi, pineapple, blueberries (see, it's the right colors! Well.. if you pretend the blueberries are purple), and whipped cream on top. I haven't quite named that dish yet, since I'm thinking that "What Happens When I'm Out of Time, Nearly Out of Quickly-Made Ideas, And Need Specific Colors to be Involved" is just a bit too long to market it under.

(The other recipes weren't made up; the food came from allrecipes.com which, after tonight, can be garunteed to have at least two very good recipes, and has a very large selection; and fabulousfoods.com, which I've only used to re-find the punch recipe after making it last year and forgetting what it was called.)

Overall it definitely turned out better than last year, at which I had decorations including streamers and a purple tablecloth, color-coordinated food, and a breaded ham that kept taking its clothing off on the table. But I suppose those things happen.