How to celebrate Fat Tuesday, with FOOD!

It’s Fat Tuesday! (Also known as Pancake Day, Mardi Gras, and Shrove Tuesday.) Whatever you call it, it’s the day before the 40 days of Lenten fasting and penance begin, so it is definitely a time to celebrate. Here are some tips on how to live the day… with food!

What should I eat today?

Pancakes! For dinner! Or lunch! You can make it a little fancier by trying your hand at crepes with some fun toppings — berries, mini chocolate chips, marshmallows, peanut butter. Or if breakfast foods aren’t your favorite, try a Cajun dish. An easy Jambalaya recipe is as follows: Add some chopped celery, a chopped green bell pepper, some chopped onion, a large can of stewed tomatoes, two cups of stock, a couple of bay leaves, some cooked chicken pieces, some kielbasa pieces, salt, pepper, some Cajun seasoning, along with a cup of rice, to a large pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Then simmer for 20 minutes covered. And enjoy!

Even easier, grab a bag of red rice and beans at the grocery store and eat that tonight. And while pancakes or Cajun cuisine are the traditional foods to eat on Fat Tuesday, any kind of comfort food or celebratory fare will do. If you’re Polish, or live in a Polish community, today’s the day for the doughnut-like filled cakes called paczki. Honestly, I’ll probably eat cheesecake for dinner and dessert. And have your favorite cocktail! Or a glass of wine!  Or a beer! Pile on the extras. It’s a day to feast.

Should you eat dessert today?

This should not be a question. It’s Fat Tuesday! Yes! Most definitely, yes. If you do nothing else to celebrate all day, at least treat yourself to dessert.  King’s Cake is the traditional dessert treat for Mardis Gras.  There may not be any big, boisterous crowds on Bourbon Street in New Orleans this year, but one thing is certain: Even during this odder-than-ever Mardi Gras season, there will still be king cake.

While king cakes have a long history and come in many forms, most people in the U.S. know them as doughnut-shaped cakes topped with icing and generous handfuls of purple, green and yellow sprinkles, the colors of Mardi Gras. They’re eaten during the Carnival season, which begins 12 days after Christmas, on Epiphany, and ends several weeks later on Fat Tuesday, which is always the day before Ash Wednesday. (In other words, the first day of “legal king cake season” began on Wednesday, as Food & Wine pointed out.)

Happy Fat Tuesday, and enjoy the day!

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Photo Credit:  Lynne Ann Mitchell / Shutterstock.com