Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Mardi Gras and Kitchens, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

It's Mardi Gras!  What does that mean?  Well, it depends on where you live.

If you live in most of the world, it doesn't mean a lot.

If you live where there's a lot of Roman Catholic tradition, today is when you feast and enjoy yourself, because tomorrow starts the Lenten fast.

Even though most people don't observe the fasting the way they used to, the party never went away, and it only got bigger as time went on.  It can now be quite outlandish.  A hint if you are a family person and want to enjoy a Mardi Gras parade, which can be a fun spectacle:  go to one of the small towns where nudity won't be tolerated and public drunkenness will be dealt with.

If you live where there are parades today, you are either in the parade, at the parade, staying home if you can to avoid the traffic, or you left town already.

Lots of people get tired of the madness and use the time off work and school to leave town.  The beach is a favorite destination, as is Orlando, Florida.

As noted, fasting is no longer as observed as it used to be.  Here in south Louisiana, though, that habit hangs on in the form of fish on Friday.  Yes, you are still supposed to abstain from meat on Fridays, so you have grilled cheese for lunch and then either fried fish, or fried shrimp, or a seafood gumbo for dinner.

If you attend a Catholic school that has a cafeteria, you get fish or grilled cheese on Fridays all year, not just during Lent.

Most restaurants that have a featured dish continue to do red beans on Monday (because you cook your beans on the same fire  you use to heat up the water for laundry, since Monday is laundry day) and some kind of fish or seafood is served every Friday.  It's just expected.

Yes, we do tradition.  Thus, parades, and in some areas, pink flamingos.  Tomorrow, go to the church and get ashes on your forehead and remember there's more to life than the party.  The cycle starts again.

Speaking of a cycle, Dr. D is on one.  She has been reorganizing the kitchen again.  After this, she'll move on to clothes, then papers, then back to the kitchen again.  This time, i convinced her to get rid of most of the out-of-date food.  Some of it, i am guessing, hasn't aged enough and will have to wait for the next go-round.

Finally a few more of those pictures Grandma forwards, of some kitchen failures that make you wonder how these people manage to feed themselves at all:







Have a fabulous Tuesday, everyone, Happy Mardi Gras!




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Today is:

Birthday of Wenchang Wang, the God of Literature -- China

Dairokuten-no-Hadaka Matsuri -- Chiba, Japan (around this date; one of Japan's "naked" festivals, as participants wear only a loincloth as they wrestle in the cold, wet mud, bringing luck to the community as they run through the crowds smearing the lucky mud on the onlookers)

Dance of the Secret Places -- Fairy Calendar

Dag van de Revolutie -- Suriname (Day of Liberation and Innovation)

Februaristaking -- Netherlands (commemoration of a strike against the Nazis)

Festival of Ptah -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

International Pancake Day

Kitano Baika-sai (Plum Blossom Festival) -- Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Let's All Eat Right Day -- in honor of the birth of Adelle Davis in 1904, an early pioneer in good nutrition

Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday, Carnival, the last day to feast before the Lenten fast begins tomorrow, greeted with revelry in many parts of the world; related observances and names:
    Scotland, Fasten's E'en or Bannocky Day
    Portuguese, Terça-feira Gorda
    Italian, Martedì Grasso
    Swedish, Fettisdagen
    Danish, Fastelavn
    Norwegian, Fastelavens
    Estonian, Vastlapäev
    Spanish, Martes de Carnaval
    German, Faschingsdienstag
    Hawaiian, Malasada Day
    Lithuanian, Uzgavenes
    Icelandic, Sprengidagur (literally, Bursting Day)
    also Pancake Day or Bursting Day, the day to eat the last of the eggs and butter in the form of some kind of fried cakes, and to eat until bursting

Mother's Day -- Israel (Shevat 30)

National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day -- some sites say any nuts will do, some specify peanuts; take your pick

National Clam Chowder Day -- not to be confused with New England Clam Chowder Day, back in January

National Day -- Kuwait

People's Revolution Day/People Power Day -- Philippines

Pistol Patent Day -- Samuel Colt received US Patent #138 for the first pistol on this day in 1836

Quiet Day -- can't find the history behind this one, but mommy wants one!

Shrove Tuesday -- Christian

Single-Tasking Day -- encouraging you to do one thing at a time, and not feel guilty; begun by Theresa Gabriel, who claims multitasking is inefficient and hurts your brain! she suggests it be on the 4th Tuesday of the month, although other sites list other dates

Spay Day USA -- sponsored by the HSUS; Sit! Stay! Spay! Good Owner! 

St. Walburga's Day (Patron of boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, harvests; Antwerp, Belgium; Eichstätt, Germany; Gronigen, Netherlands; Oudenarde, Belgium; Plymouth, England; Zutphen, Netherlands; against coughs, dog bites, famine, hydrophobia/rabies, mad dogs, plague, storms)

Soviet Occupation Day -- Georgia

World Spay Day -- don't let your pets litter!   


Birthdays Today:

Josh Wolff, 1977
Chelsea Handler,1975
Sean Astin, 1971
Tea Leoni, 1966
Carrot Top, 1965
Lee Evans, 1964
Neil Jrdan, 1950
Ric Flair, 1949
Karen Grassle, 1944
George Harrison, 1943
Diane Baker, 1938
Tom Courtenay, 1937
Bob Schieffer, 1937
Sally Jessy Raphael, 1935
"Texas Rose" Bascom, 1922
Bobby Riggs, 1918
Anthony Burgess, 1917
Jim Backus, 1913
Millicent Hammond Fenwick, 1910
Adelle Davis, 1904
Zeppo Marx, 1901
Meher Baba, 1894
Enrico Caruso, 1873
Charles Lang Freer, 1856
Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1841
Xuande, Emperor of China, 1398


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Little Night Music"(Musical), 1973
"Toys in the Attic"(Play), 1960
"Wonderful Town"(Musical), 1953
"Your Show of Shows"(TV), 1950
"Natoma"(Herbert Opera), 1911
"Riders to the Sea"(Play), 1904
"Hernani"(Victor Hugo Play), 1830


Today in History:

The First Bank of the United States is chartered, 1791
The German Midiatisation is enacted, taking over 1,000 German sovereign states into about 40 larger entities, 1803
Samuel Colt patents the first revolving barrel multishot firearm, 1836
The first US electric printing press is patented by Thomas Davenport, 1837
Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress, 1870
The US Steel Corp. is organized under J P Morgan, 1901
The Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games, 1904
Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, 1912
Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax, 1919
Diplomatic relations between Japan and the Soviet Union are established, 1925
Glacier Bay National Monument (now Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve) is established in Alaska, 1925
Francisco Franco becomes General of Spain, 1926
Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission, 1928
The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier, 1933
In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis, 1941
The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1951
Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston, 1964
The first unit of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, the first commercial nuclear power station in Canada, goes online, 1971
President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, 1986
In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more, 1994
In the Irish general election, the Fianna Fáil-led government suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state, 2011
The World Health Organization removes India from the list of polio endemic countries, 2012
Hundreds of pro-Russian protesters block the Crimean parliament and demand a referendum on Crimea's independence, 2014
The XXIII Winter Olympic Games close in Pyeongchang, Korea; Norway wins a record 39 medals, 14 gold, 2018
The influential film review site Rotten Tomatoes implements changes to the site after internet trolls target the new Captain Marvel film, 2019

23 comments:

  1. I associate Mardi Gras with the Gay and Lesbian Street Festival held in one of our biggest state capitals. Thank you for a very different perspective.
    Oh, those kitchen disasters... I even feel quite competent at the moment.

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  2. World Spay Day -- don't let your pets litter! Thanks for the chuckles.
    And not least thanks for a look into your Mardi Gras celebrations.
    Where we live lenten and carnival/Mardi Gras practices are almost non-existant. We do some festivity Sunday - much like Halloween, dress up, go trick and treating. But the great parades are at Pentecosten - only because it is too cold here in February/March for outdoor happenings ;)
    Then we, as members of the small Cahtoilc minority, actually eat lost of candy, cakes and rich dishes Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (sometimes pancakes). We do normally not go to church for the ashes tomorrow, as we live far from the church, and do not own a car, but ashes are handed out next Sunday too. It is made from burnt "palm bracnches", and last Sunday we remembered to give ours to the church, for the I think third time ever ;)

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  3. I cannot imagine those burned dishes. I would think the fire alarms would be ringing far before the food reached that state! The house must smell of smoke for days. Have a wonderful Mardi Gras. I have a friend from NOLA who celebrates it every year.

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  4. Just one slight correction. Catholics don't HAVE to eat fish on Friday. It's a tradition from days of old when people were asked to give up meat (a luxury in those days) on Fridays. They were allowed fish, which was cheaper, instead. The money saved is meant to be given to the poor. I wonder how many do that.

    God bless.

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  5. "Let's All Eat Right" Day on Mardi Gras?
    I suspect the half-empty wine bottle in the first picture may have made a contribution...

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  6. LOL! We just lost our appetite for breakfast after those photos! Oh man :)

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  7. Feeling a whole lot better about my cooking now...
    I love reading all your historic anniversaries! There are so many that fit into the ‘I had no idea!’ Mode!
    And it’s Mardi Gras here. Not sure if we’re going to go. Or hide...

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  8. It's Pączki day. I love these wonderful special donuts. When I was teaching, on Shrove Tuesday I use to make pancakes for my students and we prepare for Ash Wednesday. Enjoy your Pączki Mimi.

    Cruisin Paul

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  9. We don't really celebrate anything anymore. It's another day and as long as hubby and I are together we're good.

    Thanks for the history lesson. Much of this I didn't know.

    Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Big hug. ♥

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  10. photo two looks like lava !!!! ☺☺☺☺♥♥♥♥♥

    I remember the days of fish on friday, no meat, ashes on the head, palm fronds on sunday and eating the candy we gave up for lent; all day on easter sunday :) ☺☺♥♥

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  11. Well ya just never know what interesting things Mardi Gras will bring!

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  12. In this area, not so much as far as Mardi Gras. I am knitting special socks, but then, I tend to be "the different drummer" in the area... I remember someone telling me that the various restaurants around here serve clam chowder on Fridays, for that reason... If I ever go to your neck of the woods for that celebration, the "family friendly" version sounds a bit less... Nerve wracking? :) Oh, my, um, can someone tell the folks in the first two pics, if it's 250 for 30 minutes, it's not 500 for 15! Eeeeep!

    Yep, all my critters spayed. Well, except for the chickens...

    Cat

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  13. Just popped it to see what words of wisdom I can get! my happy tuesday is up.

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  14. If I were local, and I'm not, I'd imagine that Mardi Gras would be the kind of celebration I'd love when young and want less and less to do with as I got older.

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  15. When I was a kid Monday was always washing day. All done by hand...no washing machine. Our Nana would light the fire under the copper up in the back yard to boil up the sheets etc. Blue bags and starch was part of the process.

    Fish on Fridays wasn't a set menu for us...but it was for the local Catholic community.

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  16. No parades here, but we do ashes and fish on Friday. Well, the hubby does fish, I only like solid white albacore tuna so I stick with that.

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  17. Love the second photo, reminds me of "grilling" marshmallows on the stove.

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  18. Love all your bakeries and the one I like best are the cutie pie chickies you made from biscuits. My granddaughters would love those. Gotta try it. Thanks for sharing. Sending a big thank you hug for the great idea!

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  19. I'm wondering what on earth that still-glowing thing in the saucepan was supposed to be. I never knew Mardi Gras was the beginning of Lent.

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  20. That monkey cake "fail" is hilarious. Mardi Gras isn't really celebrated big around here. We don't do the parades or much. A lot of people do, however, eat only fish on Fridays.

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  21. Mimi,

    I'm Southern Baptist, so I know little to nothing about Catholic traditions, so am I understanding correctly that Mardi Gras has something to do with the Catholics? If so, then I had no clue!

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  22. Happy Fat Tuesday ~ hope you had fun ~ fun photos and history ^_^

    Happy Moments to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  23. I learned some (fun) new stuff about Mardi Gras! You know what's funny? We have fish every Friday - the hubby grew up in Maryland, and for some reason, Friday's in his house were always Fish Friday, so we adopted that for him and always have some form of fish for dinner on Friday nights. :) He's not even Catholic! :D

    I love the pictures your Grandma forwarded - they're hilarious!! :)

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