Baby, come back!

I’m sorry.  I am really, really sorry.  I promise I will never, ever put your through such a rigorous contest again.  What was I thinking?  I guess I wasn’t thinking.  Why?

Because life is just crazy right now.  There are at least four families in my circle of friends that are going through a trial.

Plus, I’ve been distracted by broken things that need fixing and expecting you to entertain me with your answers, rather than entertaining  you with my stories.

Furthermore, I’ve been up to my elbows in grease trying to repair the small outboard so that Termite can make the last weekend of duck hunting.  The regular duck-hunting boat had a major breakdown, so that expensive repair will have to wait.

On the bright side, we recently indulged in the first baked delights of the “season”.  Do you know which season that is?  It isn’t celebrated everywhere.

That’s right!  It’s King Cake season.

Dotter came down and brought this ready-to-be-decorated King Cake, complete with colored sugars, plastic decorations (which I’ve NEVER seen on a King Cake before and have no idea why Cannata’s included a crown, a mask, and a clown?), and of course, a TINY BABY.  For some reason, this baby was gold.  Never seen a gold baby before, but every bakery and grocery store is competing for your King Cake business, so I guess they think it might give them an edge.

I personally like the pink babies.

And do you know the story of the King Cake?  No?  Well, I’ll give you the short version:

In the Christian religion, January 6th is called The Epiphany, and some know it as King’s Day, in honor of the three wise men who searched for the baby king (Jesus).  King Cakes, with a plastic baby hidden inside, became part of the celebration to symbolize the finding of the baby Jesus.

Traditionally, the cakes are oval-shaped to show the unity of all Christians.  Furthermore, January 6th, also called Twelfth Night, marks the beginning of the Mardi Gras season, with the carnival colors of purple, green, and gold placed on the cake (hence the colored sugars).

As the cake is eaten, each person waits anxiously to see who has the piece of cake that contains the plastic baby.   That lucky person is “obligated” to bring the King Cake to the next celebration.

Termite did the decorating honors and chose to mix the sugars rather than apply them in single-colored strips.

The cake had a little bit of filling inside.  The first person who guesses the correct filling flavor will be able to participate in the celebration with a King Cake of their own.  How’s that for sneaky?

One exciting thing happened this week, but because I’ve been so distracted, I forgot to take my camera and I don’t have a Smart Phone. So sorry, but you’ll just have to settle for the story. . .

Dotter and I recorded background vocals for an up-and-coming Cajun-French rock band.  It was the real deal:  sound booth, head phones, big round microphone.  Let me tell you something, singing with those headphones on is harder than it seems.  I now have a new respect for recording artists and the technicians who do the mixing and recording.  It was really fun, and we got to hear the final product before we left.  Now, just waiting for our copy of the CD!

Upcoming is a trip to New Orleans to see (myself in) an exhibit called “Living with Hurricanes:  Katrina and Beyond”, to eat shrimp and grits for lunch at Cafe Amelie, take pics, and write a food review for eatlikeanative.com, and have dinner with my first-born son.

So, please come back!  I’ve missed all of you, and I need to know what you’ve been doing!

Write soon,

BW

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59 Comments

  1. I’ve been busy with my jewelry business and will have an announcement when I get back from vacation in a few weeks. Have fun with Mardi Gras season! Let me guess strawberry on the filling.

  2. You’ve been holding out on us…VOCALS! I’m impressed. I’m guessing …Alto?
    Goodness, how the King Cake has evolved over the years. Before plastic it was a Kidney Bean. The only “filling” was what was done to your stomach.

    As to your filling, I’m guessing Cream Cheese. BTW, Termite did a great job decorating. Hope it tasted as good as it looked. Who gets the honor of bringing the cake next week?

    1. We didn’t put the baby in the cake, Steffi. So, no one is bringing the cake next time :(.

      Vocals? I LOVE to sing, but don’t do it nearly as much as I used to. I can sing either soprano or alto. I took the low melody in the recording. Dotter is way better at harmony than I, and a better soprano, too.

          1. You be da Do-wop girls! Did ya get to wear the dresses with all the whirly twirly strings?

            Too kewl!

            1. Ha ha, Foam, no whirly strings! It was a recording studio not a live performance!!!! What an imagination you have! Funny story: Termite told me the other day I needed to learn some modern dance steps. I said, “I CAN DANCE!” and proceeded to show him the twist, the monkey, the swim, the jerk, the bougalou, and the one that REALLY made him laugh was the pony. Through rifts of laughter he said, “For real? Really? The pony?” LOL!!! 😀

  3. Yummy! I celebrated my baby boy’s 1st birthday on Monday, and my oldest will make 3 on the 30th!

    I will guess strawberry cream cheese because a year ago on Monday, I stuffed myself silly with strawberry cream cheese king cake and Popeye’s Fried Chicken, then went into labor 🙂

  4. I’m guessing vanilla filling. Sorry I didn’t do the contest but I have gone back and read most everything. Singing! I’m impressed. I hope you had a ball.

  5. Great job, Termite on decorating.

    We have had two snow days this week. Today home with 5-6 inches of snow.

    Love the Mardi Gras cake and history!
    When is your trip to NO? Congrats on your accomplishments… I know you are making a difference for the bayou area!

  6. I would guess a vanilla pudding type filling for the cake.

    It’s snowing in Oklahoma and all the schools are closed around here. This weekend is the largest basketball tournament held in the US, right here in town so I bet you guess what I’ll be wading snow for!

  7. Guessing cinnamon pecan.

    I fired up the french press about half an hour ago.
    It might rock if I get a better grade of beans.

    Yard will be well fertilized with ground beans.

    I think I’ll get one sent up here anyway.

  8. Termite did good and it looks very yummy. I guess Strawberry Bavarian. At least that is probably what I would have chosen.

    Been freezing all day here so, I guess I can work on the computer tomorrow and see if I can get it running better.

    Blufloyd, drink some of that java for me please.
    BW, hope you get all the craziness out of the way soon and the repairs. Have fun on your trip.

  9. No guess on the cake filling. I’m fixated on that oyster stew recipe over on the other site. I’m going to get me a quart of oysters this weekend and give it a go.
    Somehow oyster stew turned into our traditional Christmas eve supper when I was growing up in Iowa – my dad loved it. I’ll bet he would have loved it more with our oysters and your recipe!

    1. Shore – That dish is divine, can I tell ya? I hate to admit I had never had it before we cooked it that night, and I’m telling you, it was so very very good. I’m so glad you are going to cook it. I look forward to hearing about the results. BW

  10. I’m with Shoreacres—that review and recipe is just too tempting to ignore! Wish I could be in Kemah right now getting some fresh Galveston oysters right off the boat.

    Boy that Isle Dernier band is **wild**—I love ’em. They need to be over here playin’ SXSW this year. And you, BW, a backup singer! Is there anything you don’t do??! 😉

    That sounds like a lovely jaunt over to NO; take lots of pics.

    Would that filling be almond paste/marzipan? Yummmmm………

    Good luck to Termite on the duck-huntin’ this weekend—-stay warm Termite!

    1. I’m back from the Big City, Egret. Didn’t get that many pics — too many people in the way of interesting things! To answer your question: Yes, there is. I could never get the hang of knitting and crochet. There. I said it. Whooped by limp yarn.

  11. Dear Readers: Keep trying. No one has guessed the filling correctly yet.

    As of now, BW is away from desk until Saturday night, when hopefully she will see a winning comment!

  12. Happy New Year Bw,first of the year and new things to do.Going to college again and as an old man,doing what I should have done when I was younger.I’m not looking to get back in the workforce,not after working for over 50years,just need to know that I can still do what I always wanted to do.Haven’t had the time to read everything you’ve written but really enjoy everything you write.Your words are like pictures,your pictures need no words.Now I’m just guessing that the filling for the King cake would be rasin,pecan&cinnamon cream cheese.I may not be right but that’s what I would fill one with.

      1. Cannatas has some CRAZY fillings, including a red velvet doberge something-or-other, chocolate brownie, and they have one covered in a non-traditional caramel-looking icing called Voodoo King Cake. I wish I had the money (and metabolism) to try them all!

  13. My favorite filling is Bavarian Cream, I think its because I never figured out how to make it……. Dang gelatin!

    Meche’s “Fried” King Cake with a Bavarian cream filling……….. A cup of community dark roast “du lait”, What more could you want?

    1. DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!

      Foamheart guessed correctly: BAVARIAN CREAM!

      So, you will be receiving a small King Cake from Canata’s, filled with a little Bavarian Cream.

      Please email me your shipping address!

      Thank you for submitting. Fried King Cake? Oh my . . .

      1. I was just fixing to give another try. I have read your article on the King Cate and have even gone on line and read about it. Oh well, maybe next time.

        1. Colleen, go ahead and make another guess, and I’ll give you a hint . . . it’s not a mixture of fillings. It’s two words, so try again. Don’t question me. Just do it. I have my reasons . . . . .

  14. Ok what other site? You holding out on us again. Oyster stew seems to be a great midwestern tradition. My 80 year old cousin’s kept oysters in the shell in barrels in the basement. Came by freight to rail yard.

    C.E. where you going back to school?
    I might do LSU if I can move my body after retiring in a year and a half.

    1. blufloyd
      I’m going to Lonestar college in Houston.It’s quite a chore getting used to studying the books after all these years.

  15. Blufloyd, click on the “eat like a native” link in BWs article above. It is on that page.

    Can I guess again on the cake filling too? How about old fashioned cinnamon?

  16. I thought ELAN site went dormant. Guess I’ll check bookmark again. Guess after I got 100 pounds of Folse/Besh cookbooks I never lookred back.

    1. Blu – The owner asked me to write food articles for ELAN to get things rolling again . . . she got transferred out of state, but wants to get site up to date and active again. . . . .and I’m just helping her out. There is some new forum/recipe activity on there . . .

  17. Well well well… one entry in 2009 none in 2010 calendar is from 2009….hard to maintain active readers if owners napping…..

  18. Foamheart guessed correctly! It was Bavarian Cream!

    See how much fun that was?

    Thank you all for coming back, and for accepting my apology for the hard quiz.

    I’m back from the big city but not sure what I want to write about this time (after I write the food article, of course).

  19. I’d have never guessed right. I was kind of leaning towards apple/cinnamon but what do I know? lol

    I’ll have to ask Hubby if the bakery he works for makes King Cakes. Never had one before.

    I’ve noticed in the last few years that Mardi Gras is beginning to be celebrated in places other than NOLA. Not to the same extent, by any means, but it is spreading.

    My employer holds a Fat Tuesday event on campus, with a live band, beads, food vendors, etc.

    Sadly, none of the vendors serve food reminiscent of Mardi Gras, Louisiana or NOLA. I would have killed for a nice plate of red beans and rice. Guess I’ll have to fix my own. Again!

    Just nipped outside to ask Hubby (he’s raking leaves) if Saffron’s offers King Cakes. He didn’t even know what a King Cake was. I told him and said to ask. If they do, I want one.

    1. Bug, there are bakeries in N.O. that ship their king cake’s all over. Maybe hubby’s bakery could mail order some. There a hardware store up here in north LA. that ships them in from down south. Gambino’s, I think.

    2. “I’ve noticed in the last few years that Mardi Gras is beginning to be celebrated in places other than NOLA. Not to the same extent, by any means, but it is spreading”.

      If there is a Coonass around anywhere, it is Mardi Gras. I have celebrated in numerous non-Louisiana cities and non-US countries including more than a few honky tonks in West Texas and New Mexico where you seriously had to buck up to wear beads! But once the Cowboys realize you are a real professional partier they mellow out.

      Carnival is an attitude that just happens around the same time yearly. It takes that long for you to forget how much fun it was last year. LOL

  20. They had King Cakes advertised at our local grocery today and you could chose the filling. I think I would rather make one from scratch.

    1. So, did you get you some Dunkin beans for the French press?

      Did you get you some “fat booty in a cup” to go in your coffee? LOL!! I might have to try some of that stuff.

  21. Still catching a few crabs BW and as soon as the truck picks them up around 3 Tuesday morning we are going back to Tunica Ms for the rest of duck season,last hunt wasn’t very good as it was locked up with ice and snow.Did get a banded wood duck here yesterday morning,my 4th one.

    1. Wow, four wood ducks? What is the significance of the band? Yesterday was our last day. Termite shot a green head this weekend and was stoked about that. The whole duck is in my freezer for some reason . . . . . Have a great hunt!

    2. A friend long ago made a hat band for me out of the little curved feathers from the wood duck. Thats a sharp looking hat band. It always got compliments.

      Course the cooked ducks got a few too.