Yep, we are in the pre-Lenten season, aka the Mardi Gras days of debauchery. Funnily enough, this yearly celebration of decadence and depravity actually has its origins in Catholicism. As an appreciator of irony, I had to celebrate it this Crockpot Monday.
I invited my friends Mandy, Kimia, Bina and Amish over to enjoy a baked potato bar. Baked potatoes are great for groups of people because it allows everyone to customize their spuds to suit their tastebuds. Given that I made veggie chili in the slow cooker (which was actually just my chili from the "Super Bowl of Chili" post without the meat), baked potatoes in the oven and had everyone bring their favorite baked potato topping.
But, baked potatoes don't scream Mardi Gras. You know what does? King Cake! |
| Baked Potato Version 1 |
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| My King Cake |
The king cake is a Mardi Gras tradition. The "king cake" is named after the three wise men, or three kings, who visited Jesus after his birth and brought the notorious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The cake celebrates the Epiphany and tastes like a coffee cake or large cinnamon roll with purple, green and gold sugary frosting. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com. I did, however, change the frosting to a mixture of cream cheese and confectioner sugar. And, it was tasty!
The colors of the king cake are symbolic. Purple represents Justice, Gold represents Power and Green represents Faith. But the real treat is a small toy baby, symbolizing the baby Jesus, hidden inside the cake. Whoever finds the baby in their piece of cake is declared King or Queen for the day and is responsible for hosting the next Mardi Gras party.
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| Baby Jesus atop the King Cake |
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| Kimia the Queen for the Day |
Not gonna lie. The baked potato looks delicious!
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