Verda Mae Pugh
December 26, 2012
Three silent films, with live music
January 2, 2013
The official bridge between the seasons celebrating intimate gifts from loved ones and the bombardment of gaudy throws from ornamented floats is Jan. 6.
Celebrated locally every year on the same day, Twelfth Night – or Feast of the Epiphany, or King’s Day – honors the conclusion of Christmas. For Christians, it represents the day the Three Wise Men discovered the infant Jesus, and for locals, it is the kick-off to Carnival.
“That’s been the day picked to start Mardi Gras season,” says Melanie Burton, administrative assistant at Plantation Inn, which annually hosts Twelfth Night Rendezvous.
The Rendezvous, a party strictly designed to celebrate the start of Carnival, boasts a food spread and deejay upstairs and a live band, cash bar and hors d’ oeuvres downstairs in the lounge.
Admission to the event is free and open to the public. All local krewes are invited, which results in a large-scale intermingling among some of the area’s more eager Carnival fans, Burton says.
Members of the various krewes’ royal courts in attendance partake in a toast celebrating the dawn of Carnival.
“If we don’t have at least 300 (people), something’s wrong,” Burton says “It is on Sunday night this year, so (attendance) will kind of depend on how many people are not worried about what kind of shape they’re going to be in to go to work the next day.”
While the first local parade isn’t until Jan. 27 (Krewe of Shaka, Thibodaux), parade riders ramp up their throw-collection efforts and local bakeries begin churning out king cakes en masse following Twelfth Night.
Rest assured, there is no shortage of quality king cake in the Tri-parish region. Local bakeries, whether their specialty is filling or dough, are known for shipping king cakes across the globe.
However, the tri-colored desserts can also be condensed into bite-sized treats with a simple home recipe (right), as presented by journalist Caroline Gerdes on her blog www.cgerdes.blogspot.com. The full recipe, with pictures, can be found on her blog.
The recipe can be completed in roughly 30-45 minutes, and a can of eight crescent rolls produces approximately 16 cake balls.
One bite may be stuffed with the precious baby that symbolizes Christ, innocence amid revelry, and the burden of supplying the next Carnival treat.
–editor@gumboguide.com
King cake balls, as made by Houma native Krystal Tipton based on a recipe by Caroline Gerdes, are pictured. The recipe can be found at www.cgerdes.blogspot.com.
