To make your own beaded necklaces, dye some pasta green and some purple. Put the pasta in a plastic bag with a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring. Shake the bag until all the pasta is covered. Since Mardi Gras colors are green, purple and gold the natural color of the pasta works for gold.

Let the pasta dry completely on a piece of parchment, wax paper or paper towels.

While the pasta is drying make the posts for the bead toss with a 6″ x 6″ foam core square and a dowel or twig about a foot long. Find the center of the foam core and roughly measure the width of the twig.

With a utility knife, make an X in the center of the back of the foam core about the twig width.

Make sure the X cut comes all the way through to the front.

Jam the end of the twig into the X on the front of the foam core so it makes a hole almost all the way through.

Remove the twig. If the twig breaks through the bottom layer of the foam core, use a small piece of paper to protect the surface from glue.

Fill the hole with glue using a hot glue gun.

Insert twig and let the glue dry for a minute or two.

Decorate the posts using paint and glitter.

When the pasta is dry, make the beaded necklaces. It helps to organize the pasta in cups or small bowls.

String the pasta on cotton twine or yarn. Tape the end of the string so it doesn’t unravel while beading.

Make a whole bunch, or have your guests make them at your Mardi Gras party.

Play a bead toss game like horseshoes or make up your own rules.

She was so different, glamorous, down to earth and a Filipina! She has served as White House chef for 17 years and has prepared meals for dignitaries from every continent. My sister-in-law Grace is Filipina and is quite a chef herself whipping up all sorts of delicious things including the native Lumpia and Adobo Pork, so I was sure that I would LOVE Cris.

Her arm was in a sling, she had been walking the dog (I wondered if she meant her dog or THE dog), and she slipped on ice and broke her wrist. It sounded like a nightmare, broken in a few places with pins holding it all together. But she was still working in the kitchen!

While we were making a delcious, and nutritious Garden Vegetable Pizza, one of the recipes for First Lady, Michelle Obama’s Kids Get Cooking Day. We talked about how she first got the job, what the First Families favorite snacks are and what veggies do they grow in their garden. It was unbelievable.

Here is a slideshow of my day!

And here is the recipe for the Pizza we made, easy and delicious!

Garden Vegetable Pizza

“This could be a fun weekend project—make 3 pizzas and freeze the other 2 for the rest of the week. Making dough is fun for kids, and creates great quality time with your family. For a busy night, you can also use store-bought dough or sauce. Also, the veggies are just suggestions. You can use whatever is seasonal or your kids’ favorites. Try taking your kids grocery shopping and letting them pick out any 3 veggies they want—they’ll be even more invested in the experience and may be open to trying new things.”—White House Chef Cris Comerford

Recipe Hints:

If baking a single pizza, prep only 1/3 of the toppings and wrap remaining 2 crusts separately in plastic wrap. Keep chilled in the fridge for 1 day. Or wrap tightly in foil (over plastic wrap) and freeze up to 1 month.
Use a mandoline or sharp knife to slice the vegetables as thin as possible.
Be careful when blending the hot tomato sauce. Puree in batches, filling the blender no more than half full.
If you have a pizza stone, use it! You’ll get a crispier crust. Follow the manufacturer’s directions.
Reheat any leftover slices on a baking sheet in a 350ºF oven until hot, about 10 minutes.

Dough:

1 packet (2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 c whole wheat flour
½ c semolina flour
1 2/3–2 c whole wheat white flour
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 sm onion, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme
1 can (28 oz) peeled whole tomatoes in puree
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf

Toppings (choose whichever you’d like):

3/4 c thinly sliced zucchini (about 1 sm or 5 oz)
3/4 c thinly sliced yellow squash (about 1 sm or 5 oz)
1 c thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 sm or 6 oz)
1 c thinly sliced fennel (1/2 sm bulb)
1 c thinly sliced eggplant (about 6 oz)
½ c thinly sliced small mushrooms (about 6)
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 tsp freshly grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2 pkg (8 oz each) shredded part-skim mozzarella (4 c)
1 c sliced mixed cherry or grape tomatoes (about 12)
6 Tbsp shredded Parmesan

1. Prepare dough: Mix yeast and sugar into 1 cup lukewarm water in small bowl. Let bloom for a few minutes.

2. Whisk together whole wheat flour, semolina flour, 1 2/3 cup of the whole wheat white flour, and 1 tsp sea salt. Put onto clean work surface and make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture and oil into well. Using a fork or your fingers, gradually bring in the flour around the sides to the center well. Once it starts to combine, work the dough with your hands (using some of remaining 1/3 cup whole wheat white flour if dough becomes too sticky) and knead until it becomes smooth and springy, about 5 minutes.

3. Put dough in oiled bowl and cover with damp cloth or plastic wrap. Leave in a warmer area of your kitchen and let rise until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. Punch dough in bowl to push some air out. Transfer dough to flour-dusted work surface. Divide into 3 balls. Roll out each ball into a crust about 1/8 to ¼”-thick (13″ diameter) and place between flour-dusted sheets of parchment on a tray until ready to use.

5. Make sauce: Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, onion, and thyme and cook, stirring, until fragrant and onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes (with puree), tomato paste, and bay leaf. Simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes with a spoon, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Discard thyme sprig and bay leaf. Transfer to blender and carefully puree until smooth. Set aside. (Makes about 2 ½ cups).

6. Heat oven to 450ºF.

7. Prepare toppings: Toss together vegetables (except cherry tomatoes), oil, lemon zest, garlic, and thyme in bowl. Season with sea salt and pepper.

8. Turn a heavy-duty half-sheet pan or a large baking sheet upside down and coat lightly coat with olive oil spray. Transfer pizza crust carefully to pan and roll up edges slightly. Spread about 3/4 cup of the sauce onto crust and sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella. Arrange one-third (about 2 cups) of the vegetables evenly on top of the cheese. Top with 1/3 cup each of the cherry tomatoes and the remaining mozzarella. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp of the Parmesan. Bake on bottom rack until crust is golden brown and crisp and vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. If making all 3 pizzas, repeat process with remaining dough, sauce, cheese, and vegetables.

Nutrition

(per serving) 310 cal, 16 g pro, 35 g carb, 6 g fiber, 12 g fat, 5 g sat fat, 529 mg sodium

Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday in French, marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of lent which starts with Ash Wednesday.

During the 46-day Lent period, many Christians fore-go the eating of meat, either completely or on Fridays only. They also traditionally give up a favored food, drink, or habit. When I was a kid my biggest sacrifice for lent was giving up sweets, I tried a few times to make it all the way through the 46 days, but, never could. Maybe this year?

So because of all these lent-en sacrifices, Fat Tuesday is all about decadence. In Puerto Rico, where my family is from, we also have Carnival, which is a lot like Mardi Gras, expect that less people flash their boobs for beads. One of the BEST places to check out Carnival is Ponce, Puerto Rico, where they really put on a party, complete with dancers in the streets wearing incredible horned-devil masks, called Vejigantes.

But regardless of whether or not you are Catholic, Mardi Gras is a terrific excuse to get friends and family together and have a rip roaring good time!

So your friends are chomping at the bit to come to your Mardi Gras shin dig? How do you get started?

Well, first things first, no Mardi Gras party is complete without some Cajun food on the table.

Here are the must haves:

Spicy Seafood Gumbo

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup roux
* 2 large onions, chopped
* 3 cups okra, chopped
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 quarts water
* salt
* black pepper
* cayenne pepper
* 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
* 6 to 8 green onions, finely chopped
* 2 pounds shrimp
* 1 cup oysters
* 1 cup crab meat
* crab claws
* hot cooked rice

Preparation:

Add shrimp to roux and cook for a few minutes. Set aside. Cook okra and onions in hot oil. Add tomatoes and garlic when okra is almost done. Cook a few minutes longer, then add water, salt and pepper. Combine shrimp and roux mixture with okra; simmer about 10 minutes. Add oysters, crab meat, and crab claws; simmer for 15 minutes. Add parsley and green onions and simmer another 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve with hot cooked rice.

Louisiana Jambalaya

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
* 2 red onions, chopped
* 5 green onions, chopped
* 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 jalapeño chili, finely chopped with seeds
* 1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 pound andouille sausage or hot Italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 3/4 pound ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth
* 1 16-ounce can plum tomatoes, diced, with liquid
* 3 cups long-grain rice

Preparation

Melt butter in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add red onions, 4 green onion, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, jalapeño, Creole Seasoning, cayenne pepper and oregano. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Mix in tomato paste. Add sausage, ham, broth, tomatoes and rice. Bring mixture to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Garnish with remaining green onion and serve.

Red Beans & Rice

Ingredients:

* 1 quart (4 cups) dried red beans
* 2 quarts water
* 1 pound ham or salt pork
* 1 carrot, chopped
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 bay leaf
* pepper, to taste
* salt, to taste

Preparation:

Soak the beans overnight in cold water; drain. Heat the beans in about 2 quarts of water, add all ingredients except salt, and boil for at least 2 hours. When beans are tender, mash them up a bit. Serve on white boiled rice with meat and vegetables on top.

To wash down all this delicious food, most New Orleans Mardi Gras-ers serve the Hurricane. Funny story about the Hurricane, my first time in New Orleans I went through a drive through that served them, and I got one, thinking, there is no way that a drive through would serve an alchoholic drink. wrong. a few sips into it I parked the car, got out and sat out on the hood of the car enjoying my hurricane, then passed out in the car before getting on the road again. They are THAT potent. Consider yourself warned!

Hurricanes

Ingredients:

* 2 oz light rum
* 2 oz dark rum
* 2 oz passion fruit juice
* 1 oz orange juice
* juice of a half a lime
* 1 Tbsp simple syrup
* 1 Tbsp grenadine
* orange slice and cherry for garnish

Fill a pitcher with ice cubes. Add the rum, passion fruit juice, orange juice, grenadine, lime juice and simple syrup and stir until chilled. Strain the cocktail into glasses, top each with an orange slice or cherry for garnish.

For dessert, you MUST have a King Cake, no Mardi Gras celebration is complete without one! This cake is also called Twelfth Night Cake and is actually a sweetened yeast bread and baked in a ring shape. The cake is frosted with gold, green, and purple icing representing in order, power, faith, and justice. The traditional colors on the King Cake date back to 1872.

The maker of each King Cake hides a token in the cake. The tokens used are a dried red bean or a figurine of a baby. When the cake is cut and shared, the finder of the hidden treasure is said to enjoy good luck for the coming year. The lucky recipient may also be expected to bake the King Cake or throw the Mardi Gras party for the following year.

King Cake- Traditional New Orleans Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups flour unsifted
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest, this is lemon rind, grated
1/2 cup warm milk
5 egg yolks
1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1″ plastic baby doll

Directions:

Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes, or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and, using a wooden spoon, slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon at a time) and continue to beat 2 minutes, or until dough can be formed into a medium-soft ball.

Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. While kneading, sprinkle up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic.

Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft-free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down forcefully. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft-free spot for 45 minutes, or until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, you can hide the plastic baby in the cake at this time.

Colored sugars

Ingredients:

Green, purple, & yellow paste
12 tablespoons sugar

Squeeze a dot of green paste in palm of hand. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the paste and rub together quickly. Place this mixture on wax paper and wash hands to remove color. Repeat process for other 2 colors. Place aside.

Icing

Ingredients:

3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 – 6 tablespoons water

Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow.

And here is a great story from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine about all of the delicious tasties that will make your Mardi Gras party one for the history books!

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