Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Being from Louisiana, it is very disappointing moving to a state where Mardi Gras isn't a key part of the culture this time of year.  When Shane and I moved here we had no idea how home sick we would be when Mardi Gras rolled around.  Wait... let me be more specific.  Shane is from Texas.  I lived in Louisiana my ENTIRE life and I had no idea how home sick I would become.  Last year at this time I wanted fleur de lis in my life, I wanted cajun and zydeco music in my life, I wanted cheap plastic beads in my life, I wanted parades with floats that threw hot dogs, I wanted king cake, man, and most of all I wanted good cajun food.  Gumbo.  Jambalaya.  Beignets.  Shrimp & Grits.  Dirty Rice.  Abita .  Okay, you caught me, Abita isn't technically food.  Whatev.

So, I'm a Louisiana girl stuck in the land of cowboys and indians, literally... there are fleur de lis in random places but most people have no idea what they are... there is no cajun or zydeco music... cheap plastic beads cost a fortune... parades with floats that throw hot dogs are just plain non-existent... king cake is scarce and dry... and good cajun food isn't even on radar.  Not to me anyway.  What can I say?  When you've lived in Louisiana your entire life nothing else can compare.  It isn't until you move away that you realize what an awesome culture it truly is.  And you miss it.  Bad.

So a year ago we decided to start a tradition.  It was our goal to bring a little piece of Louisiana to Tulsa, OK.  Ha!  So we decided to host a Mardi Gras Brunch.  So we decided to make a little gumbo, beignets and coffee & chicory.  So we decided to have about a dozen people over and it was fun.  We got our gumbo fix and people thought we were cool coming from this foreign land of amazing food and music....

This year was a completely different story!  This year neither one of us knew just how many people we've grown to know over the past year.  Every day I would come home and talk about another group of people that was coming to the party.  So Saturday morning, about 3 hours before the first guests were to arrive we realized there could possibly be about 50+ people in our tiny 1,200 sq. ft house!  Ahh!  Could it be?  Had we over done it?  Lemme answer that for you... HECK NO!

We started with shrimp & grits and beignets with loads of powdered sugar, as that's the only way.  Libations included mimosas, bloody mary's, and whatever people brought.  We then moved onto the dirty rice.  Shouts of joy (literally) arose when the gumbo made it's debut.  Then just as people were getting a little full, we brought out the bread pudding and the king cake!  Guests also brought different dishes... shrimp & jalepenos, vegan dirty rice, and sausage and egg casserole... they were all quite tasty!  I think people finally understood why they were here and what this whole Mardi Gras business was about.  It's about the food, cher!  It's about the good food and good friends.  It's about "Laissez les bons temps roulez!" Yep, it's about letting the good times roll....

This get together is an annual thing.  So if you missed it this year, you gotta come next year!