Showing posts with label Mardi Gras. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mardi Gras. Show all posts
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Mini King Cakes for Mardi Gras and Salt Dough Crown for Lent
It's been a little while since I posted because life is well, life. So I thought I'd catch up on some posts that I have been meaning to publish. I posted about our family's Lenten traditions and we aren't doing all the traditions this year, but many of them.
Just before Lent started, we celebrated Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, with a mini King Cake recipe that we did for the first time this year. I usually make one big King Cake, but the mini King Cakes were easy enough for my 3 youngest daughters to enjoy making and decorating with a few friends.
Using 2 cans of Cinnamon rolls (we bought ours from Trader Joe's), we unrolled them and braided the long dough strands and then shaped them into circles for a crown.
After baking the mini King Cakes and icing them with the can icing, my daughters and her friends used sugared sprinkles to decorate each one.
A family Lenten tradition we have done for years is the salt dough crown of "thorns" (toothpicks). Here are a few of this year's photos with my 2 youngest daughters making the dough before we braided it and baked it.
The crown looks like this after it is braided and baked and each sacrifice that our children make during Lent they pull out a "thorn" from Jesus' crown of thorns. During Holy Week close to Easter this crown is decorated with gold paint and jewels to symbolize all the sacrifices we made during Lent for Jesus as we celebrate the resurrection of the King of Kings at Easter!
I hope you are having a blessed Lent so far!
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Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday: 2016
Today our family celebrated Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (which is French for "Fat Tuesday) which is "the last hurrah before the Catholic season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday."
To celebrate we didn't make masks like last year or even have pancakes and bacon that is a traditional meal for this last day of feasting before the Lenten fast. We did go out to eat with my parents for dinner at Chick-Fil-A tonight savoring the chicken meal before abstaining from meat tomorrow on Ash Wednesday and each Friday in Lent.
As in years past, I did make our traditional King Cake and brought it to our Catholic co-op so all the kids could enjoy the sweet treat!
One of our students at co-op found the hidden Baby Jesus in her piece of cake which traditionally means she will be blessed and I've also heard that the baby finder makes the King Cake next year. :)
(To hide the plastic baby I pushed it underneath the cake after it came out of the oven.)
We will go to Ash Wednesday service as a family which marks the first day of Lent.
Here is a great video by Fr. Mike Schmitz about what Ash Wednesday is really all about:
I really enjoyed this post How to Explain Your Ashes: 3 Methods that gives simple ways to teach yourself and others about what that "dirt" is about all over your forehead. :)
Need any ideas to make your Lent this year meaningful? Be sure to read 25 Simple Offerings to Make this Lent a Time of Growing Closer to Christ. I really enjoyed looking over this list!
As in years past we will spend part of Ash Wednesday making our salt dough crown of thorns and as our family makes sacrifices we will pull out a toothpick. Then at Easter the crown will be painted gold and jewels will be glued to represent our King of Kings!
I will also set up our sacrifice bean jar where each time a sacrifice is made we put a bean in the jar and then on Easter the beans turn into sweet jellybeans! I printed out the Crown of Thorns Printable from Catholic Icing to add to our crown of thorns and bean jar traditions.
After we make our salt dough crown of thorns, we will "bury" the ALLELUIA since we won't be singing "Alleluia" again until Easter. Last year we started this tradition for the first time and here are some pictures from last year's "burial".
For a complete list of our Lenten traditions that we have done in the past you can visit my 7 Quick Takes post that explains all of them.
I'll conclude this post with this fun 2 minute video that creatively explains Ash Wednesday and Lent:
I really enjoyed this post How to Explain Your Ashes: 3 Methods that gives simple ways to teach yourself and others about what that "dirt" is about all over your forehead. :)
Need any ideas to make your Lent this year meaningful? Be sure to read 25 Simple Offerings to Make this Lent a Time of Growing Closer to Christ. I really enjoyed looking over this list!
As in years past we will spend part of Ash Wednesday making our salt dough crown of thorns and as our family makes sacrifices we will pull out a toothpick. Then at Easter the crown will be painted gold and jewels will be glued to represent our King of Kings!
I will also set up our sacrifice bean jar where each time a sacrifice is made we put a bean in the jar and then on Easter the beans turn into sweet jellybeans! I printed out the Crown of Thorns Printable from Catholic Icing to add to our crown of thorns and bean jar traditions.
After we make our salt dough crown of thorns, we will "bury" the ALLELUIA since we won't be singing "Alleluia" again until Easter. Last year we started this tradition for the first time and here are some pictures from last year's "burial".
For a complete list of our Lenten traditions that we have done in the past you can visit my 7 Quick Takes post that explains all of them.
I'll conclude this post with this fun 2 minute video that creatively explains Ash Wednesday and Lent:
Have a blessed Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday 2015
In this post HERE I blogged about our 2015 plans for Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. I wasn't able to do all the "plans" because today was a bit hectic, as most days!
Last night on Fat Tuesday we had a little Mardi Gras celebration with dear friends and for dinner we had pancakes, bacon and fruit. Then for dessert we had a (fat) homemade King Cake for Fat Tuesday.
Here's some pictures of our little celebration and our feast before the Lenten fast.
My oldest Cupcake found the baby in a piece of the King Cake, which supposedly means that she will have to make the King Cake for next Mardi Gras! This is the same King Cake we made to celebrate the Epiphany in January.
We made our salt dough crown of thorns that I blogged about HERE with the easy recipe and got our bean jar ready for more opportunities to make sacrifices. I printed out the Crown of Thorns Printable from Catholic Icing to add to our crown of thorns and bean jar traditions.
One tradition that I would like to start at the beginning of Lent is the burying of the Alleluia and I like Nicole's ideas at Children of the Church of the wooden ALLELUIA letters in the box. And Catholic Icing has this post about burying the Alleluia. Maybe I'll start this tradition tomorrow!?! Better late than never right? :)
Tonight my husband and I sat down to read from The Magnificat Lenten Companion together. These short devotions are doable and I hope we can read from it each day together.
I have to share this photo that my 10 year old daughter took in the car with my husband's iPhone on Ash Wednesday evening. This sunset was captured on their way to basketball practice. My husband texted this beauty to me and all I could say was WOW!
May you have many "WOW!" moments as you embark on your Lenten journey!
I'm linking this post to 40 Days of Seeking Him Link-Up
Have a blessed Lent!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday: 2015 Plans
Today our family will celebrate Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras (which is French for "Fat Tuesday) which is "the last hurrah before the Catholic season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday."
We are going to share Mardi Gras with some dear friends and for dinner we will serve pancakes, bacon, fruit and the yummy king cake dessert. (Maybe this year my son will find the Baby Jesus in the cake AGAIN!) Fat Tuesday is also known as "Shrove Tuesday" and a traditional meal for Shrove Tuesday is pancakes. Why pancakes? Great question! Here's the interesting answer! Did you know one day could have so many different names? :)
So what is Shrove Tuesday all about? As stated at About Religion: "Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent in the Roman Catholic Church. "Shrove" is the past tense of the word "shrive," which means to hear a confession, assign penance, and absolve from sin. Shrove Tuesday is a reminder that we are entering a season of penance."
IF I can get my act together it will be fun to print out some of these masks as suggested by Kendra at Catholic All Year.
Our guests and our family will enjoy the delicious dinner and dessert before fasting tomorrow on Ash Wednesday and every Friday in Lent.
A Day of Repentance:
The
distribution of ashes reminds us of our own mortality and calls us to
repentance. In the early Church, Ash Wednesday was the day on which
those who had sinned, and who wished to be readmitted to the Church,
would begin their public penance. The ashes that we receive are a
reminder of our own sinfulness, and many Catholics leave them on their foreheads all day as a sign of humility.
In this article, Ash Wednesday Our Shifting Understanding of Lent, it states the following:
When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember who we are. We remember that we are creatures of the earth ("Remember that you are dust"). We remember that we are mortal beings ("and to dust you will return"). We remember that we are baptized. We remember that we are people on a journey of conversion ("Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"). We remember that we are members of the body of Christ (and that smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too).
Here is a great 2 minute video about Ash Wednesday:
Our family will attend an Ash Wednesday Mass to help us remember that, like the Advent season, Lent is also a time of preparation and a call to conversion. It's funny to have people tell me that I have "dirt" on my forehead after we attend Ash Wednesday Mass. When this is said to me, it gives me a great opportunity to share my faith.
Jennifer at Catholic Inspired has this great Ash Wednesday Printable Activity Page that I hope to do with my own children.
In this article, Ash Wednesday Our Shifting Understanding of Lent, it states the following:
When we receive ashes on our foreheads, we remember who we are. We remember that we are creatures of the earth ("Remember that you are dust"). We remember that we are mortal beings ("and to dust you will return"). We remember that we are baptized. We remember that we are people on a journey of conversion ("Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel"). We remember that we are members of the body of Christ (and that smudge on our foreheads will proclaim that identity to others, too).
Here is a great 2 minute video about Ash Wednesday:
Our family will attend an Ash Wednesday Mass to help us remember that, like the Advent season, Lent is also a time of preparation and a call to conversion. It's funny to have people tell me that I have "dirt" on my forehead after we attend Ash Wednesday Mass. When this is said to me, it gives me a great opportunity to share my faith.
Jennifer at Catholic Inspired has this great Ash Wednesday Printable Activity Page that I hope to do with my own children.
We plan on making our annual crown of thorns out of salt dough and you can find the link at Catholics United for the Faith (CUF). Click HERE to find recipe and other Lenten resources from CUF.
Here is a picture I took a few years ago while my kids' hands mixed the salt dough ingredients:
Each time our children and my husband and I make little or big sacrifices during Lent, we will pull out a toothpick to remove Jesus' thorns from his crown. I would like to add this free Lenten Sacrifice Printable from Lacy at Catholic Icing to our crown of thorns and bean jar.
So many opportunities to think beyond ourselves, hence the many, many, many "thorns" !
Then just before Easter, our children will paint the thorn-less (we hope!) crown gold and glue jewels on the crown to represent that Jesus our King has risen! The decorated crown looks lovely on the Easter table. Above is a picture of our decorated crown a few years ago.
Besides the Lenten Love Links that we did last year, this year I plan to print out this printable Lenten Calendar to help us count down the days until Easter!
If you missed my post with some more of our Lenten traditions through Holy Week/Good Friday, be sure to go HERE.
Have a blessed week!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Happy Mardi Gras!
This afternoon we will be heading to a friend's house to eat her homemade King Cake to celebrate Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, the last day before the Lenten season begins in the liturgical calender. Pictures of my friend's King Cake will be posted soon....
Here is a picture of the King Cake that I found HERE with information about the meaning behind this delicious tradition.
I will be posting our Lenten traditions soon since Lent starts tomorrow with Ash Wednesday!
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I'm Tracy. I love my faith, family and on most days, homeschooling my 5 blessings. When I'm not busy baking cakes for my family or making memories in real life or dreaming I had a housekeeper or professional chef, I enjoy documenting a slice of Smith life in blog land.
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