King Cake

So what is a King Cake? Well those of you who know about Mardi Gras, know what a King Cake is. We lived in Louisiana for several years, and we learned all about how they do things down there. Crawfish, jambalaya, Tony's, the cooking trinity (green pepper, onion and celery),  gumbo, and Mardi Gras to name just a few. Hmmmm, most of that is food, maybe that's why I gained weight while I lived in Louisiana...

Today, I am going to tell you how to make a King Cake. I found a really easy recipe, but I changed it up a bit because some of my kids don't like fruit or cream filling.

For this recipe you will need frozen bread dough; flour; cinnamon; white sugar; melted butter; and green (symbolizes faith), purple (symbolizes justice), yellow sugar (to symbolize gold to symbolize power).

First, thaw the bread dough and let rise according to directions. You might want to spray your cookie sheet and the top of the bread so it won't stick.

Once it has risen to double the size, you are going to want to roll the dough out on a floured surface. You will need to roll it to about 
10 X 18. 

It takes a little while because it will keep springing back on you. Roll it out some, then let it rest some, then roll out some more til you get the desired size; and if it's a little smaller, that is fine. I got impatient, and it was a bit smaller. If you would like to see the original recipe and and a video of how they did it click here.

Once you got the dough rolled out then you brush on lots of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (this is where I changed the recipe up a bit).

Then you roll it and put it back on your baking sheet in the shape of an oval. Try to press the ends together. You may want to use a little water to get them to stick. After you have your shape, lightly brush it with butter or spray with cooking spray, cover and let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Then pop it into the oven at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. Take it out and let it cool.

Oh WOW! I should have made the hole in the middle A LOT bigger. Oh well, glad I didn't make this the first time for my party. It really didn't seal too well either. I'll have to work on that too.




Now comes the fun part....

I made a glaze using about 1 1/2 cups powered sugar, and 3 Tablespoons milk, 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla, and a Tablespoon of the left over melted butter I had for the middle. It was soft, but not melted.

Drizzle this on top of the cake and then sprinkle the purple, green and yellow sugar on top (I believe that is the proper order. I didn't do them in the proper order). I was very lucky to be able to find these colors. I actually found the sugar in the craft department at WalMart. I'm sure though if you went to an actual craft store, you might be able to find the more vibrant colors that are usually seen at Mardi Gra.

I added beads from a King Cake I had last year. If you do this, make sure you wash your beads very well, as you never know where they have been.

I did not put the baby into the cake as is tradition, but if that is what you want to do, then you need to do this before you glaze it. I just put him on top. 

What is the baby? The baby represents the Baby Jesus. The King Cake is made in honor of the Three Kings. You can read all about by clicking here. This website has all kinds of fun information about Mardi Gra. 

Well, hope you try this. It was actually pretty easy. Not sure how it taste yet, but it sure smells great! I will serve this one today during the Superbowl which is being played in New Orleans. If it tastes as good as it smells, I will be making another one next week for a gathering we are having at my house with some couples from church. 

HAPPY MARDI GRA!

SWIMMING!!!

Swimming is probably one of the best work outs, as it works your entire body, plus you get your cardio. From everything I have been reading lately, cardio is the best way to loose that belly fat. 

Belly fat is one of the hardest things to loose, and it is also one of the worst things to have. If your waist is larger than 35 for women or 40 for men, then you are at a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and breast cancer. 

If you have access to a pool and can swim, I highly recommend this form of exercise.   Personally, when I swim, I like to switch it up a bit. I don't just go back and forth doing free style. I do free style, breast stroke and side stroke. Treading water is also a very good work out. 

For Christmas my husband got me some water gloves. I really like them because they not only allow me to swim faster, but also give me a much better upper body work out. 

They are kinda funny looking, but I love them. One thing I don't like about them is that they draw attention to me. I'm not one that really likes a lot of attention like that. It is positive, though, and most people ask where I got them. I have a feeling I might be seeing more of these at the pool. I'm thinking about even trying them in my water aerobics and water walking classes. Sure I will get more of a workout by using them in those classes too.

Back to the swimming as a form of exercise. Like I said, I highly recommend this sport, but with other forms of exercise. Just swimming will help you in your journey to loose weight and get healthy, but you do have to do other forms of exercise too. Swimming is good for cardio, flexibility, enhances joint mobility, builds muscles, and strengthens your lungs.---but is not a weight bearing exercise.  Weight bearing exercise is done on your feet, working against gravity. When you swim, you really don't work against gravity. Personally, once I started swimming again, that is when I started seeing the numbers on the scale go down. I believe swimming was the "icing on the cake" in my road to loosing weight.

Hope some of you will add swimming to your exercise repertoire. And those of you who are just beginning, well swimming would be great for you, especially if you have injuries or other problems being able to move. Once you get stronger, then you can add some of the other forms of exercise I've talked about in previous posts. 

The Pink Hat--Foto Friday

The photography club I am a part of has a challenge going on...365 days of photos. For the month of January, the theme has been a hat. With the same hat, take a picture everyday. I chose a pink ski hat I bought while we were living in Louisiana. This pink hat and I have been through a lot this past month:

January 31 The Pink Hat at Pilates

January 30 The Pink Hat at Yoga

January 29 The Pink Hat looking out for storms that are coming our way

Oops, I forgot to do January 28, so there are two January 29's.  The Pink  Hat waiting for a movie

January 27 The Pink Hat doing some drumming

January 26 The Pink Hat styling some handmade jewelry done with recycled materials

January 25 The Pink Hat playing video games

January 24 The Pink Hat hanging out at the family photo gallery

January 23 The Pink Hat has a new friend

January 22 The Pink Hat loves family history

January 21 The Pink Hat

January 20 The Pink Hat reading scriptures

January 19 The Pink Hat hanging out in Waverly, TN

January 18 The PInk Hat hanging out with the deer

January 17 The Pink Hat enjoying the weather with the flamingo

January 16 The Pink Hat waiting to play some pool

January 15 The Pink Hat on the wrong end

January 14 The Pink Hat

January 13 The Pink Hat

January 12 The Pink Hat wondering where all the snow is

January 11 The Pink Hat and Sox

January 10 The Pink Hat with  some family members

January 9 The Pink Hat helping out with the cleaning

January 8 The Pink Hat

January 7 The Pink Hat helping to take down Christmas decorations

January 6 The Pink Hat...glad to be home from a long trip

January 5 The Pink Hat somewhere in Nebraska

January 4 The Pink Hat helping Ben to settle down in his new dorm room

January 3 The Pink Hat playing in the snow in Idaho

January 2 The Pink Hat somewhere in Wyoming helping to melt the ice in our bottles

January 2 The Pink Hat...had to do two January 2 since Bill was such a sport to model the hat

January 1 The Pink Hat visiting some dogs

Seems like The Pink Hat took on her own personality. I noticed the other photographers who joined in with this challenge had some wonderful pictures, some of their hats also took own his or her own personality.

For the month of February the theme is  

LOVE 

and it is my plan to photograph things I love.