Mardi Gras King Cake

Are you looking for a G-rated way to celebrate Mardi Gras?  Look no further than the King Cake!  It's called a King Cake after Christ the KING.  Traditionally, a little plastic baby (representing Baby Jesus) is baked inside the cake.  Whoever gets the piece with the baby gets to make the cake the next year.  I just set mine on top because it's less mess.  A King Cake is really just cinnamon bread dough baked in an oval, topped with a powdered sugar glaze and green, gold, and purple sprinkles (the Mardi Gras colors).  I like to let the kids help with that last part!  I also like to decorate with beads like they hand out at Mardi Gras parades.  Here is the recipe I used for King Cake.

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

Christmas Tree Hunting

We get our Christmas trees from a National Forest that's about 1.5 hours away from our house.  We purchase permits for $10 a pop, and by cutting our trees we're helping to thin the forest.  It's a family tradition my in-laws started many years ago. 

Here are scenes from our tree hunting expedition.  We got a tree for my in-laws and a tree for my house.  Since my husband wasn't able to join us, I cut our tree.  And then the chain fell off the chainsaw.  Oops.



If you haven't gotten your tree yet, happy tree hunting to you!