It's Mardi Gras Season!!!

Saturday was the official start of the Mardi Gras season here on the Gulf Coast, and it was our first parade of the season in Ocean Springs, a small yet adorable beach community here in South Mississippi. We try to go to this parade every year because its a small yet nice and they have really great throws (for those of you that are not familiar with Mardi Gras.... throws are trinkets that they throw right off the "floats"). As usual we had a great time and got some great goodies and a TON of beads and moon pies! Here's a few pics from the day :)

Girl Scout Mardi Gras Night!!!

Thursday night was our girl scout meeting night and we had a BLAST!!! We learned all about Mardi Gras! We decorated Mardi Gras masks, we read stories about Mardi Gras, put on a Mardi Gras parade and ate some fabulous King Cake that I made earlier in the day. I think the kiddos had a ball, I know I sure did! Here's some pictures from the night :)

Our Yummy Mardi Gras Cake!!! And no, I didn't add the baby since I didn't want them fighting over the baby LOL!

This is one of our little "honorary Girl Scouts" he's the brother of one of the girls in our group lol :)

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

Happy Mardi Gras Everyone! Whether you are in the heart of NOLA or across the nation... Happy Fat Tuesday! Mardi Gras is a HUGE deal down here... I can't stress how big a deal it is or how fun a time it is down here... the kids are out of school (in our district for three days) most people are off of work (my hubby is not though... apparently the Air Force doesn't share the same sense of fun or holiday as the rest of people down here lol) and there are parades and food galore! All in all, its a great time and fun experience... This is our third year celebrating it and enjoying all the fun that comes along with it too. Since the munchkin is off of school this morning we've been watching the NOLA parades on T.V., Baking a king cake, Reading "Mimi's first Mardi Gras" -- her favorite book this time of year, and making masks to play with! I've got Gumbo in the crock pot and I'll be picking up a loaf of fresh french bread for dinner tonight! I might not have been born Cajun but I am learning to how to be one! :)

Apparently its so good it'll make you like your fingers ;)

Munchkins cool Mardi Gras mask we made together... she decorated, I hot glued... :)

Catching Up!

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been a little MIA for a week or two... we've been so busy around here lately! Between soccer practices, games, girl scout meetings, girl scout cookie selling, Mardi Gras parades, valentines day parties, kindergarten programs and planting trees! Whew! Like I said... CRAAAAAAAAZY! Hope you all are doing well, I've got a few craft and painting projects up my sleeve so stay tuned! In the mean time... enjoy the photos from what's been going on :)

Munchkin's new soccer pics from this year (taken by yours truly) She's on team Fire this year!
Fire it up! Fire it up! Fire it up! Were on FIRE! Were team F-I-R-E!
(yup, that's their team chant) :) Isn't she adorable?!

Yup, that's a GIANT baby's pacifier! LOL!
She caught that huge thing off a float that was going down the street!

My awesome hubby caught me a Mardi Gras rose! So sweet! :)

And my king of Mardi Gras... My bubbas baby ACE :)

The kiddo, all ready for valentines day at school and wearing her home made shirt
(also made by me) I saw the idea on pinterest.com (my new obsession) :)

YAY! Planting trees in the back yard on Arbor day! :D

She's a natural I tell ya! :)

Happy Mardi Gras 2011

Happy Mardi Gras Yall!

I have been offiically off work for 2 days for Mardi Gras, can you believe that places close for 2 days just so we can PARTY! I know... awesome isn't it!?! Even the kids are out of school! Yeah, Mardi Gras is THAT big of a deal, but then again its an amazing event that no one should miss, if given the opportunity! We've had beignet's for breakfast already and I am making po-boys and gumbo for dinner tonight and topping it off with some king cake! ... Don't look at me like that... it is FAT TUESDAY after all... ;) Saturday we went to D'Iberville's parade "Kewe de Mystique". A crew is a organization that puts on the parade or ball... just in case your wondering, there's been alot of things down here (not just all Mardi Gras related) that I've had to learn, but its amazing how they do things down here. This is why I never want to leave... I seriously think I could live down here for forever, now just to convince our family to move from Florida to here LOL!

And in case you wanna try some good cajun recipe's and experience a little Mardi Gras yourself... here's a few of my recipes for what I'm making... except my Gumbo... that's a secret I'm taking to the grave... just like most cajun ladies do! LOL! Just know... "The secret's in the sauce" ;)

Jess's Easy Beignet's

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6 minutes
Total Time: 16 minutes
Ingredients:

* ½ cup butter
* 1 cup water
* ¼ teaspoon salt
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 4 eggs
* Oil for deep frying
* 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter in the water. Add salt and flour, and stir until a sticky batter is formed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until the batter is smooth.

Heat the oil to 375F. Fry mounded teaspoons of dough, several at a time, for about 6 minutes. They are done when they are light, golden brown on each side. Drain them for a few minutes on a clean kitchen towel and serve warm, dusted with the confectioners’ sugar.

This beignets recipe makes 28 to 32.

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Spicy Shrimp Po-Boys

Yield: 4 sandwiches
Ingredients:
For the remoulade sauce:
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. light mayonnaise
2 tbsp. stone ground mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1½ tbsp. pickle juice
½ tsp. prepared horseradish
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. hot paprika
Dash of hot sauce

For the sandwiches:
1 lb. medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning blend
1 baguette (or 4 sandwich rolls)
Shredded lettuce
Sliced tomato

Directions:
To make the remoulade sauce, combine all of the sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. (If you don’t have a blender or food processor, you can just mix it in a small bowl with a spoon.) Adjust seasonings to taste. Chill until ready to use.

To prepare the sandwiches, combine the shrimp with the olive oil and cajun seasoning in a medium bowl. Toss well to coat the shrimp. Heat a grill pan to medium-high and grill the shrimp just until opaque, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.

Slice the baguette into 4 servings, and cut horizontally to open the bread. Spread some of the remoulade sauce onto both pieces of the bread. Layer the bottom slice of bread with shrimp, then top with lettuce and tomato as desired. Top with the remaining piece of bread and serve immediately.

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Here's a few pics from Saturday's parade too :)

(Yes, those are in deed thongs on his head ;)


So as you can see... its not just all about the partying (ok maybe lol ) but its about taking it easy, having a good time with the people you love and letting the good times roll...
...its a way of life down here!

Laissez Le Bon Temp Rouler !!!

Meaning... "Let the good times roll!" And that's exactly what we did on Saturday! We went to our first Mardi Gras parade of the season. I seriously, no SERIOUSLY LOVE this time of year down here in what I like to call "Cajun country" the weather is beautiful, the out door cooking starts, the food smells amazing and the people are so friendly. I swear if I could have chosen a birth right I'd have made myself been born a Cajun ;) Cause they sure know how to have a good time! The parade was awesome, we watched some of the brightest and most colorful floats go by and throw us TONS of trinkets, while we danced away to Zydeco music. We spent just about all afternoon hanging out in Ocean Springs, its a seaside city just over the bridge from Biloxi, its also the city I will be working in starting tomorrow. We also have a another parade next weekend in D'Iberville which is also over another bridge but in the opposite direction, Biloxi is a Peninsula ;) And then next month we are going to NOLA for my birthday! This year it just happens to fall right after Fat Tuesday, so it should make for an awesome time but just enough time to pass for the "tourists" to leave ;) Not that I consider myself a "local" or a "tourists" I am some where in the middle... but if you asked me to stay here permanently I would in a heart beat! Anyway here are a few pics I took from the parade before my camera died lol. Enjoy and remember, Laissez Le Bon Temp Rouler!!!

I took this Saints one for my dear friend Ashley WHO DAT! ;)


The Ocean Springs High School Band :D (Yes, I used to be a band geek)

The Kiddo dancing with her Daddy to the Zydeco music :)

Mr. T Ain't got nothing on this girl! ;)

Two whole grocery bags full of "throws"... and this was after we gave two arm fulls away to our neighbors down the street! :D

What's on my phone Tuesday!

I am gonna say it... I am horrible this week... I have one... yeah, count it... just one photo for "Whats on my Phone Tuesday's". How lame am I... very... I have to say though, last week was a boring yet busy week. I didn't find anything interesting at the places I had to venture, and alot of my weird mood is brought by the rain we've had lately... Its still raining as I type this! I hope it doesn't continue this way... doesn't the weather know we have Mardi Gras parades and activities to start soon! Sheesh! So here is my one and only pic for this week... wanna guess what its of? I do promise to be better next week and have better subject material next time. So for now enjoy and I hope you all are having better weather than we are here... and if your wanting to check out some other cool "What's on my phone Tuesday" posts or want to partcipate yourself then head on over to Jessica at The Lowe Family News.

Oh just in case your wondering... this would be me driving in my car, stopped at a red light, that just turned green, with an jerk behind me honking at me because I made him wait all of 3 seconds before slamming on my gas to rev through the green light while it poured. Where was I going you might ask? On my way to Target in D'Iberville thats like over the bay bridge from Biloxi. Im on beach blvd with the ocean to my extreme right and the old biloxi light house (that survived Hurricane Katrina) in front of me. The light house has been newly restored and painted about a year ago and still works to this day. Oh and that goldish building that is all lit up just beyond that light house is the casino Beau Rivage... its one of Biloxi's more fancy swanky casino/hotel... think of it as a smaller version of the Belliago in Las Vegas, I love it for the food. they pretty much have the best buffet in town! And when I mean buffet I dont mean the kind at Golden Coral or Ryans... I mean top dollar filet mignon and lobster tails! Mmmm! Enticing? I think so! :D