A Practical Mardi Gras (Gee, That Sounds Like Fun Doesn't It?)

Mardi Gras is a particular day on the Church calendar for many people, but for those living in the area around the Southeastern Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras is a season.

Lasting roughly from Epiphany to the day before Ash Wednesday, it is a season of rich food, revelry, and, in some cases, utter drunkenness and debauchery. 

I have a theory that the roots of the holiday are actually pretty simple, and highly practical.

Catholic fasting during Lent used to be a much more stringent practice than it is today. It wasn't just no meat on Fridays: it was no meat on any weekday. Other rich and tempting foods, foods involving sugar or butter or eggs, were off the menu too.

Explains king cake...great, wonderful, fattening, glorious way to get rid of extra sugar, butter, and eggs.

This left all those Catholic housewives with a quandary- they had to get rid of all the rich, tempting food in their pantries before Lent, or it would all go to waste.

Hence the days immediately preceding Lent, and especially the day before Lent, became a time of feasting on all the odds and ends that needed to be consumed before the time of fasting began. 

I've decided to resurrect this tradition in my own household, so I'll be cleaning out the freezer and the pantry. I've noticed it's gotten very full, and there's a lot of random grocery store clearance finds or promotional "get this free with purchase" items that have been lying around for quite some time now. It's probably time to get those used up and free up some storage space. 

We will not, however, be involved in any drunkenness or utter debauchery. Well...maybe a little drunkenness. After the kids are in bed. And we'll be in bed by 11. But not too much drunkenness, or that'll lead to debauchery, and then we'll have another kid to put to bed before we can do this next year.

Gosh, being a responsible grown-up really puts a crimp in my style.

Anyway, feel free to join in, and comment with what you find-- think of it as culinary de-cluttering or spring cleaning. I'll be posting the all the random stuff as I use it up, talk about where I got it, and what I end up doing with it. Feel free to comment with your own odds and ends (about food and pantry finds--not the other thing). This is going to be fun. :) 

Maybe I'll even find something to do with all that BBQ sauce. 

If you like what you see on my blog and would like to see more, please do me a favor and hit 'subscribe' on the top of the page. You  can enter your email and you'll receive updates when I publish a new post. Thanks!