king cakes, bachelors, and balance.

I have always had a special place in my heart for New Orleans.  I'm not from there, but have visited many times both as a tourist and as a guest of locals.  I love the food, the music, the culture, the smell of urine/vomit/Hurricanes that permeates the French Quarter.

Because of that love, I happily tackled the daunting task of making a King Cake back when I was doing 365 new things.  The cake was so delicious, my co-workers - even the New Orleans native ones - still ask me to make it.  I'm not particularly impressed with many of the things I cook, but I'm very proud of my King Cake and I haven't missed a year since 2010.   

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday and I've got my King Cake dough rising in the oven right now.

Happy Carnival!

Also, this weekend I went out to dinner and drinks with some girlfriends.  There wasn't anything particularly exciting about the night except how much time we spent talking about The Bachelor.  This franchise has been around for 25 seasons, which means between the five of us, we figured serious hours have been wasted on this stupid show.  It was mortifying how many characters from the Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad we knew by first (and sometimes) last names, where they were from, what they did for a living and how almost all of their relationships had met their tragic end.

I love these women so much, but it's apparent our taste in television could use some refinement.

 

I talk a lot about striving to find a balance in my life and tonight I think I've found it.  I'm watching television I'm not proud of while baking something of which I'm very proud.  

Happy Mardi Gras!  Happy Bachelor viewing!