Joyeux Mardi Gras!

     So Mardi Gras has been going on for awhile, but I usually just celebrate it with the kiddos on Fat Tuesday.  It's a day with beads, masks, purple, green and gold, yummy food, and festive treats!  I usually make the traditional Red Beans & Rice, Gumbo, Dirty Rice, Okra, yadda yadda.... but this year I wanted to do something a little different.  So, I went on Pinterest and found some yummy new recipes to try out on the family.  They are awesome and got the thumbs up!  These were definitely blog worthy!

Here's the Mardi Gras lunch I came up with for Liam 

Purple, green & yellow Gold Fish,

PB&J with sanding sugars,

Grapes & Apricots,

and a King Cake Bar (I made)

While Liam was in school, Kinley and I dressed up!

For dinner I made some finger lickin' Cajun BBQ Shrimp

and some Bacon Collard Greens!

For dessert we enjoyed some King Cake Bars

and Bourbon Pecan Pralines!

Hope you had a fun festive Mardi Gras....

now that we filled ourselves on Fat Tuesday, it's time to fast for Ash Wednesday for Lent!

Cajun BBQ Shrimp

Recipe from The Catholic Foodie

What you need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 onion (finely chopped)

1 TBsp dried rosemary

1 TBsp dried oregano

4 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley (minced)

4 to 5 cloves of garlic (crushed)

kosher salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

cayenne pepper to taste

Louisiana Hot Sauce, to your preference, optional

2 to 3 TBsp Worchestershire Sauce

extra pats of butter

4 lbs large/jumbo shrimp (16/20) count 

warm French bread (for sopping up the juice)

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

In a large frying pan, melt the butter together with the olive oil.

Add the onion, rosemary, and oregano, sauté until the onion is translucent (about 8 to 10 minutes).

Add the garlic, sauté for an additional 2 or 3 minutes.

Then stir in parsley, add in the salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

Remove from heat.

Rinse the shrimp and arrange them in rows in a shallow baking dish.

Pour the sauce over the top and put the pats of butter on top.

Put the dishes in the oven and bake 30 minutes, making sure to stir the shrimp up every 10 minutes.

Serve the shrimp immediately in bowls with some warm French bread.

ENJOY!