Against our better judgement, we decided to throw an impromptu Mardi Gras party immediately after returning from a weekend trip to Los Angeles. But hey, the day only comes once a year, and partyin' is damn serious business. Needless to say, this necessitated a little frantic cooking, cleaning and decorating at the last minute. But the resulting spread was delicious... and all vegan! (As the only vegetarian in our group, I have to give props to my madly cool friends for cooking delicious food that I can eat! I'm so lucky.)
I tried a new king cake recipe this year, and while I thought it was better than last year's, it was still far too salty for my taste. The sweetness of the icing helped to balance it out, but still. Bleck. Next year I have my eye on yet another cinnamon roll recipe... maybe one of these years we'll strike gold! I thought about ordering one from NOLA, but those puppies are expensive. $40+ plus expedited shipping. Although I was pleased to see that our local Dahl's had king cakes in the bakery. So maybe I'll go that route next year.
Our table was heaped high with the following (recipes forthcoming):
- red beans & rice
- black bean soyrizo soup
- creamy artichoke dip w/ pita chips
- pesto swirl crisps
- king cake
- salsa
- pineapple rings
- baby carrots
- Hurricanes
The thing I really used to love about Mardi Gras in New Orleans was the concentrated devotion to eating, drinking, relaxing and just a general sense of play. We were fortunate enough to have that here in the snowdrifts of Iowa this year. I'll toast to that any day.
