Mardi Gras England!
Feb. 12th, 2013 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardI have been all angsty over not being in New Orleans for Mardi Gras for the first time in four years, despite the fact that I usually don't go to the parades because omgpeopleeverywherethingsflyingatmyfacehelp. But today is Mardi Gras! England may have its pancakes and all, but NOLA has Mardi Gras and king cake and beads! And I needed a little Mardi Gras cheer, king cake, and bling.
So I stuck the two strings of beads I had with me in my hair. (Krewe of Rex, which is good because Rex always has the traditional Mardi Gras colors. Plus Rex is the one which rolls on Mardi Gras day!) For reference: I was thinking about this; my hair didn't come out that clean, but I wrapped the strings of beads twice around and pinned them into place with bobby pins. I can't really do a proper topknot, since my hair is so heavy that doing so gives me a headache.
And I made a king cake! The shades of purple, green, and gold aren't quite right, but that was the closest I could get and I didn't want to buy food coloring, since the crunch from the colored sugars is one of the best parts of eating king cake. I used this recipe from NOLA.com, the Times-Picayune's website, and it turned out pretty darn good -- like a real NOLA king cake! I was a little afraid that the yeast wouldn't work out,, but even if I didn't trust my ingredients or my measurements or my oven, I do trust my ability to put together a yeasted sweet dough, and it all worked out in the end. (Although yeah, I sort of miscalculated on the spacing of the stripes.)
I took the king cake (I halved the recipe, because I have a limited amount of space) to my Rome and Its Neighbours class, where it was a resounding success. (To be fair, cake is always a resounding success.) I mean, I also had to explain king cake, Mardi Gras, krewes, and Mardi Gras beads -- "Oh, that's why you have those things in your hair!" -- but I'm always happy to talk about New Orleans and Mardi Gras, even multiple times in the same day. ("But why beads?" my professor kept asking. "They actually throw them?" "Yep. One of my undergrad professors had a tooth knocked out by flying beads." "WHAT.")
I think I might make another king cake, because Mardi Gras season might now be over, but I've still got all the ingredients and also I fed the majority of my king cake to other people...
That took some of the sting out of not being in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I miss my friends, and I miss the parades, but at least I got my king cake and a few strings of beads, even if no one else in Leicester had a clue why I was wearing beads in my hair.
So I stuck the two strings of beads I had with me in my hair. (Krewe of Rex, which is good because Rex always has the traditional Mardi Gras colors. Plus Rex is the one which rolls on Mardi Gras day!) For reference: I was thinking about this; my hair didn't come out that clean, but I wrapped the strings of beads twice around and pinned them into place with bobby pins. I can't really do a proper topknot, since my hair is so heavy that doing so gives me a headache.
And I made a king cake! The shades of purple, green, and gold aren't quite right, but that was the closest I could get and I didn't want to buy food coloring, since the crunch from the colored sugars is one of the best parts of eating king cake. I used this recipe from NOLA.com, the Times-Picayune's website, and it turned out pretty darn good -- like a real NOLA king cake! I was a little afraid that the yeast wouldn't work out,, but even if I didn't trust my ingredients or my measurements or my oven, I do trust my ability to put together a yeasted sweet dough, and it all worked out in the end. (Although yeah, I sort of miscalculated on the spacing of the stripes.)
I took the king cake (I halved the recipe, because I have a limited amount of space) to my Rome and Its Neighbours class, where it was a resounding success. (To be fair, cake is always a resounding success.) I mean, I also had to explain king cake, Mardi Gras, krewes, and Mardi Gras beads -- "Oh, that's why you have those things in your hair!" -- but I'm always happy to talk about New Orleans and Mardi Gras, even multiple times in the same day. ("But why beads?" my professor kept asking. "They actually throw them?" "Yep. One of my undergrad professors had a tooth knocked out by flying beads." "WHAT.")
I think I might make another king cake, because Mardi Gras season might now be over, but I've still got all the ingredients and also I fed the majority of my king cake to other people...
That took some of the sting out of not being in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I miss my friends, and I miss the parades, but at least I got my king cake and a few strings of beads, even if no one else in Leicester had a clue why I was wearing beads in my hair.
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Date: 2013-02-12 06:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-12 07:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-13 12:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-02-13 09:07 pm (UTC)