An Early Mardi Gras

Both king cakes were gone quickly.

After the morning service we adjourned to the Parish Hall, where Jill had organized an early Mardi Gras feast. (For logistical convenience many churches celebrate Fat Tuesday when everyone is gathered on Sunday, though dimanche gras doesn't have the same ring, n'est-ce pas?)

Liz, a Louisianan who recently moved to California by way of Texas, brought two king cakes. From the Christian Science Monitor:

Although extremely popular during the season of Carnival/Mardis Gras, the King’s cake traditionally has its roots in Europe, from the Middle Ages. The cakes are eaten as part of the celebrations following Christmas on Epiphany (Twelfth Night) after the birth of Christ, and the gifts of the Magi – the three kings who offered gifts to the Messiah. Celebrations would continue from then all the way through Fat Tuesday/Mardis Gras, and the beginning of the Lenten season.

Often, a token was hidden inside the cake – a coin or bean, which is said to give the person who finds it inside their bread good fortune throughout the year. This has come to include the insertion of a plastic baby after the cake is baked, usually by tucking it inside from the bottom, where no one can see.

The plastic baby hidden in each cake represents the baby Jesus. No one confessed to finding either (one tradition holds that he or she must bring the king cake next year).

There were enough sweets, jambalaya, red beans & rice, and salads to fill leftover containers. Lent, the Christian season of prayer, fasting, and the setting aside of worldly pleasures, begins Wednesday.