The AM~Erica Mardi Gras

So anyway...

It's yet another holiday!!

We've already had a very Seussical time this week! (reminder HERE) But today is the culmination of a celebration that has been going on for a few weeks.

Remember when I said part of why I enjoy celebrating things? (here's a reminder HERE) The part I'm referring to, right now, is the researching & learning part! I love finding out new things & about why some of the traditions happen...as well as the fun nuances, timing & terminology of these holidays.

So, today is Mardi Gras! WOO-WOO! Par-tay! Amm-i-rite? However...I love knowing people who are & know the culture of NOLA (aka: New Orleans, LA)...even if they leave New Orleans, they take the culture with them.

Since January 6th (aka: Three Kings Day), we have actually been celebrating Carnival! Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday". So, Mardi Gras actually happens on the day before Ash Wednesday (aka: the beginning of the Lenten season).

So I have a friend, Lisha over at THE LUCKY MOM, who is from that area. We got into a Facebook discussion about sweets for breakfast that led to making King Cake. It got there...in a stair step conversation that really did make sense...I'm just jumping to the bottom step to save you some mental exercise...and extra typing on my part.

Anyhoo...I have, also, talked about Britta, from BRITTA BLVD., too. She does incredible Mardi Gras parties, on top of her Halloween ones (and many other things)!! I do know she makes a bread maker King Cake that was adapted from a by-hand, from-scratch, time-consuming recipe. But I don't have a bread maker...and I don't get a lot of time. So I went researching on how to fake a King Cake, but with the colors & lemon-flavored glaze.

I found a few places on Pinterest that said to use canned cinnamon rolls & roll 'em out. Most of them have a cream cheese filling. I have also seen some, from scratch, that do NOT include the cream cheese filling, but still appear to be a glorified cinnamon roll sweet bread...

In the conversation with Lisha, I said that I wanted to try one. She did inform me that King Cake needed a baby...or it's just "cake". Then she offered to send me some to use...and she did! I had 2 babies delivered So...no pressure, eh? Now I gotta figure out something...so I got researching & planning. So, I decided to take a super-mega-cheater route to trying a King Cake. We had a group coming to the house a few days before Mardi Gras, so still in the Carnival season, I decided I should try it. So I rolled out a couple cans of cinnamon rolls, slathered the top of it with melted butter & sprinkled with brown sugar, rolled back up like a big cinnamon roll loaf, then snaked it into a ring inside a bundt pan...and baked it. I made a glaze that was too runny, then drizzled it on the cake & decorated it in sections of purple sugar sprinkles (for justice), deep green sugar sprinkles (for faith), and deep yellow/gold sugar sprinkles (for power). I also hid one of the babies inside the ring. Then...BAM! Cheater King Cake!

Crazy enough? After explaining King Cake to our small group...the first cut contained the baby! Go figure!

Britta saw this pic & thought it would be a pull-apart version! That would be awesome! And Lisha said it looked like the real thing. I think I'm gonna stick with it...or try a pull-apart version, even!

With it being Fat Tuesday, I am making another one. This will finish up an awesome meal we have planned!

We have done Dirty Rice the last couple of years...but this year we are going to do a shrimp boil with red beans & rice! Oh yes we are! I'm stoked! And we changed it up since we had Dirty Rice a few days ago.

A pot of the very pretty Dirty Rice we (hubby, Teen Girl & I) enjoy

I'm even planning to make some fake-out mocktail Hurricanes (again).

A couple of years ago, I made a tshirt based on Kate Spade's "Pardon My French" shirt, from her Fall/Winter 2012 runway. I think it's funny. And I made one for Teen Girl, too, to wear for Mardi Gras & beyond.

I have also donned purple, green & gold in outfits &/or accessories, too.

One year, I did a silly-selfie photo shoot based on a last-minute character I had my arm twisted into doing. I was "asked" by the incomparable Kevin McBeth and Ben Nordstrom to help out a variety show act. It was to help move along a rendition of "Copacabana". There's about a 2ish-minute interlude in the middle with nothing happening except music...for about 2 minutes. So...the night before it was to happen, I was "asked" to come in during, at least part of, the interlude as a filler...dressed as a Lola-type showgirl (but appropriate enough for church) to move along this little guy's song rendition. No really...he was vertically challenged, so the thought process was that "Lola" would be much, much taller as a sight gag. In less than 24 hours, I had to put something together quickly...so...here was a goofy pic of Lola:

Leis on the head to create a very tall Carmen Miranda type "hat",
little girl tutus on the arms,
long necklaces & a borrowed dress...
Also had on very tall, strappy , platform heels for extra height.
(pic taken by Gary Ford)

Use what you got or can get a hold of...under pressure, you never know what you can come up with!

So it was this that got me thinking how well it would go with Mardi Gras just a few days later...

I bring you just a few pics from my silly-selfie Mardi Gras photo shoot (which I did do ON Mardi Gras that year)...Lolafied:

I know, I know...just missing a mask...but I didn't have one at that time. So, I just dealt with the over-the-top outfit in Carnival/Mardi Gras colors in a very costumey-form.

These were taken 4 years ago! WOW!! Can't believe it's been that long!

*ahem*

Anyhoo...I really like this time of year! And I love getting to know more about it. I want to find the parades sometime, too. One day...hubby & I may even host a masquerade party. I've always wanted to that...

But now we remember that it's the day before Ash Wednesday. Tomorrow begins the Lenten season. And as we begin to focus ourselves on the coming season, I offer you some thoughts on Lent HERE. Just some focus on what the season is about & how to handle it.

In the meantime...enjoy your Fat Tuesday! Listen to some jazz music, even! (Or listen to Harry Connick, Jr. ... That would be amazing! He's a jazzy-crooner, NOLA guy. He's kind of talented.)

Maybe we'll just throw on some masks, dress crazy, bang on some pots & pans, play a kazoo or other toy instruments while listening to jazz music...and march in a couple of circles in our house. We'll be the Williams Krewe parade! Or it might just be me...not sure how my family would feel about that one. Maybe I'll be the All AM~Erica Krewe...so there!

OK...I have a cheater King Cake to make! And an extra baby to keep going on this new tradition in our house...thanks to Lisha!

What do you all do (or plan to do)?
Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica is Calling the Pigskin Pretties

So anyway...

TICK-TICK-TICK...

The countdown to the 2013 NFL (yes...I do mean FOOTBALL SEASON this time) is coming upon us very soon! Raise your hand if you are excited!!

*raises hand like an overzealous Hermione*

It's during this preseason time that many start looking at and projecting stats to compile to see about building a team of their own. For anyone who is unawares: it's called "Fantasy Football." Some of you are getting excited by that thought...and some of you may be cringing.

Most of you know it's my hubby's fault that I really like football. After being a "football widow" for a long time, it became more of a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" kind of thing. Kind of like my STAR TREK FOLLOWING, I came into it by being baptized in the association river.

Well, my hubby has participated in several fantasy football leagues over the years...there was even the year that he was the commissioner of one, and I helped. It hurt my head. As much as I love keeping up with football, I hated keeping up with the FFL. The team names usually amuse me, as well as the trash-talking...but that's about it.

So, while my hubby does his FFL-thing, I had thought along those lines...

My friend, Lisha, over at THE LUCKY MOM & I did this wager a couple of times. Last season, she asked me if I wanted to wager something for our teams playing against each other.
Now, if you probably remember, my Chiefs were...um...awful last season. Embarrassingly awful! Lisha's team, the NO Saints, were having a tough year, but nothing like ours. So when they played, she offered up an interesting wager: if our team lost, we needed to sport our Facebook profile pic as the other team for 24 hours; the pic being of the winner's choosing.

My family was very busy at the beginning of the game. We had to DVR it & watch the possible massacre when we got back home. We stayed off of social media during that time so we didn't know what was going on until we could watch it. When we got caught up, we got on Twitter & Facebook to catch up on reactions, too. Then I saw the wager offered up. I didn't want to take her up on it & wanted to pretend I didn't even see it. I did tell her I wasn't sure, especially with how sad our team was...
Well...
...later in the game, the Chiefs were actually making up lost ground. They put up a fight. They were putting up such a great fight that I flagged her down & asked if she was still up for the wager. Even if we lost & I had to sport a Saints pic of sorts...it was going to be worth it! She agreed.

Now then, if you don't know how hard I root for the Chiefs' kicker, you need to catch up RIGHT HERE to understand. Because he had an amazing game!!! He had to make up for everyone else that game...so much so...that he led us to 1 of our 2 victories of the entire season!!!

Wha...WHA????

It was quite a game. Quite. A. Game.

And, like a good sport, Lisha said she would hold up the end of her wager, and I would pick the pic for her to use. So...of course I had to use one of Ryan Succop...that I slightly doctored to add his number & "MVP" to his shirt:

The pic I chose & doctored for my friend's profile pic

It was a lot of fun. Now that preseason has been going, the Chiefs played their 1st preseason game against...guess who! That's right! The Saints! So...Lisha offered up the wager again. I'm pretty excited about our team this year, so of course I took her up on it! Why not! Amm-i-rite?

Well...as it turns out, our backups to our backups' backups weren't so great. We lost in the end. So...like a good sport...I held up my end of the wager. She picked the picture I was to sport for 24 hours:

The pic my friend picked for me to use for my profile pic

You know what? Just that was a lot of fun! No money exchanged & just 1 day of changing your profile pic if you lose the wager!

So...I got thinking...

I know a LOT of gals who are big football fans! And from all different teams! So it led me to thinking about this:

What if there was just a lighter version of a pick-a-team league out there, for the football-lovin' women? You know, you root for your team every week & wager up your profile pic for 1 day should your team lose? Yes...even if it's to one of your twitch-worthy arch rivals.

So, my pigskin pretties...who's in? Would that be something you might be interested in this season? The first official kickoff is right around the corner!

Let me know! If you're on FB, send me a private message. Or you can email me: erica.williams74@gmail.com.

This could be fun...and we refuse to be the football widows, yo!

So let me know, if you know someone who would be interested & I'll start working out the details.

Sound good? Starting a League of Our Own?? *wink, wink*

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

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UPDATE:
I decided to start a Facebook page specifically for this!

Head on over to WageHer (click for the link HERE), take a look around & decide if you want to join in the fun! Hope to see a bunch of the girls there!

All the football-lovin' gals, put your hands in, and "WageHer" on 3:

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