Mardi Gras Fun

Today is Mardi Gras, the last day of celebration beforeLent.Throughout the world there are amazing celebrations with tons of party food.One of the best places to celebrate is here in the States down in New Orleans.The Cajuns and Creoles, locals down there have givenus delicious recipes that actually can be eaten any time of year. One of the most famous dishes is gumbo.It's a well known dish with roots in West Africa. This stew whose name come from the African word for okra can be made tailored to your tastes.You can add okra, however this veggies is an acquired taste, thanks to it's sliminess.It should have the famed and ultra spicy Andouille sausage for kick,along with red hot pepper flakes and Creole seasoning .This last you can make at home by mixing a variety of dried peppers with paprika ,onion and garlic powders.Dried basil and thyme are also added as well.If you want a seafood gumbo, perfect not only for Mardi Gras but for Lenten Fridays,add shrimp and craw daddies (sub in lobster if you can't find the car daddies or bayou lobsters). Jambalaya is another tasty treat from the Big Easy.It's a traditional rice dish with chicken,sausage,shrimp and pepper.It is seasoned heavily with Cajun spices and slow cooked for seven hours before serving.It's a great crock pot recipe to try as well. Mardi Gras celebrations wouldn't be the same without the famed King Cake.This is one of the city's oldest traditions,first being baked in France for Epiphany.It's decorated in gold ,purple and green, symbolizing power, justice and faith.A trinket, namely a ring is baked inside .The person who finds this prize has to buy next year's cake.It's a flaky,buttery composition filled with either a cream cheese ,apple or strawberry filling.Of course there are the famed beignets.These are fried puffs of dough,which are then dredged in powdered sugar.You can also dip these in melted chocolate ,caramel or even an orange brandy sauce.Bananas also figure in Crescent City desserts.Banana pudding is an easy mix of Nilla wafers, bananas and vanilla pudding.Bananas Foster is a yummy hot mix of bananas,brown sugar,rum and butter .It can be served over ice cream or eaten just as is. Mardi Gras is a time for revelry bordering on debauched.Satisfy your gluttonous side with these richly flavored savories and sweet.They make a perfect farewell dinner before the strict dieting of Lent.

Doughnuts And Cider A Fall Tradition

Autumn is full of good treats and good eats. There's pumpkin soup, caramel apples and apple pie along with roasted squashes and braised cabbages. Another fall standard are doughnuts and cider. You can't have one without the other. They are a sweet reminder of why we love fall.

Doughnuts are actually an international cake with variations throughout the world. They are big in Israel where' they're served for Hanukkah and China where there a several variations. The French make their own called beignets while the German and the Austrians fry up ones for Lent called fastnachts. (or fasting nights). The American doughnut was thought to have been brought over by the Dutch to Manhattan in the mid 1600's and were called olykoeks. These were rings that were fried and then sprinkled with sugar. They were known as dough nuts later on in the 1700's when the were formed into little nut like balls and fried. Doughnuts as we know them started in 1803 invented by a sixteen year old boy. He then taught his mother how to make them. By the mid 1800's doughnuts were an established food in American cuisine,

Nothing says fall like doughnuts. The best kind are the cinnamon and plain cake ones that go well with a chilled glass of non alcoholic cider. The doughnuts; flavor compliments the tartness of the cider's taste. The drink also helps to cool down the cinnamon's heat and cleanse the palate. Don't try to combine any other types of doughnuts. jelly or chocolate ones or the iced one don't work. Stick with the basics. I like Entemanns' plain cinnamon and powdered sugar types. If you're lucky go to your local farms and pick up a bag of fresh made plain ones.

Nothing goes with this bright fall weather than doughnuts and cider. This is the best treat of the the season. Have some today as part of an October picnic.