Throw me somethin' Mister!

Yesterday was the Vicksburg Mardi Gras Parade. Being a Yankee transplant, I used to “think” I knew about Mardi Gras. It was that crazy time in New Orleans. I knew the religious roots, as a celebration and debauchery associated with having a great time and eating all the bad food before the Lenten season. Now that I live in the south, I realize it is so much more than that!

My friend Sandy has an apartment overlooking Washington Street, the main drag through downtown where the parade action is centered. As usual, she invited one and all, and we had a great time. Everyone brought food and/or drinks and we had all out enjoyable afternoon. We started with a couple of hours of food and drinks, and then we hit the balcony. We definitely were closing in on structural overloading of the balcony! We were at least two rows deep. We started by throwing some beads ourselves. It was waaaay to fun throwing beads at all of the kids down on the street below us. The cops had just come through and cleared off the street, so what did we do but start throwing beads. The street was even more crowded than before!!!
Eventually the parade got down to our part of town. Actually, the judging was being held on the balcony two buildings down from us. As a result, the floats and groups were really excitable and friendly in our section. There were all sorts of groups and floats. We had motorcycles, monster trucks, dancing girls, and FLOATS. Most importantly, they all had beads, candy, and trinkets to throw. A lot of people take it pretty seriously, so they saw our balcony as a challenge – get the beads upstairs!!
After the parade was over we did some more beading of the people on the street. Sandy’s balcony is great – I don’t know what we’sl do if she ever moves The rest of the afternoon was spent eating and drinking. I must admit, we did a lot of both. We looked like a bunch of boozers – going through more hurricanes, bloody mary’s, and champagne than acceptable for a Saturday afternoon. More importantly, I want to give my peeps a major shout out – Way to cook! There were about 35 of us there, and there were probably a dozen crock pots, a dozen different appetizers, and a bunch of other goodies. The list included stuffed japenos, ham and cheese rolls, rotel dip, spinach and artichoke dip, red beans and rice, duck gumbo, shrimp etoufee, crawfish bisque, muffaletta spread, paula deen brownies, better than sex cake, and bread pudding. It was enough to make a food network personality go bonkers!

I have to take a moment to brag on my food. I made an appetizer and a dessert - love having the opportunity to try making new things and pawning them off on my friends. My appetizer was something I saw in the Rachel Ray living that arrived last week: cheesy corn bites. I did dessert, bread pudding. Really, what is more New Orleans than Bread Pudding? It is up there with beignets from the Café du Monde. I have to admit, it was better than anything I could have imagined. I am really proud of it! Recipes follow:

Cheesy Corn Bites

• 8 oz cream cheese (room temperture)
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernals
• 1/2 -1 can black beans rinsed and drained
• approx 48 scoop shapped tortillas

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Mix cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, egg, corn, and bean.
2. Arrane chips on a baking sheet and scoop mixture into tortila. Bake approximately 20 minutes until filling sets.
3. Serve warm, sprinkling with chives or gree onions

Fresh Raspberry Bread Pudding

• 5-6 cups carsely crmbled or diced french bread, challah, or rich white bread [crusts removed]
• 1/2 pint fresh raspberries [may substitute blueberries or blackberries]
• 2 cups heavy crem
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 6 larg eggs
• 1 tbl vanilla extract

1. Coat slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray
2. Layer half of the bread in the slow cooker and sprinkle with half of the rasperries. Repeat layers ending with berries on top.
3. In a large bowl whisk together cream, milk, sugar, ggs, and vanilla until sooth. Pour into cooker over breakd and berries. Gently push down the bread to make sure it is entirely moistened. Cover and cook on high until puffed, about 2 1/2 hours. Knife in th center should come out clean or an instant read thermometer should read 190 degrees.
4. Remove lid and cook on High for another 15 minutes
5. Cover, turn off the cooker and let the pudding stan to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperatur with whipped cream

Note: I doubled the raspberries and vanilla when I made it, and it was yum-a-licious!