VRC: Mardi Gras

It was a quieter week for VRC this time around. It does seem a bit strange to celebrate Mardi Gras while folks are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, but I think it really shows the true spirit of NO that they are carrying on with parades and a celebration in spite of everything.

One of the reasons that I think DH and I latch onto Mardi Gras is because it's an excuse to have a party in the middle of a long winter. Most people have had it with winter by the middle of February - so close to spring and yet so far since we all know perfectly well that while March can bring milder weather, it can also bring blizzards. Mardi Gras is loud and colorful and spirited - the perfect remedy for the winter blahs. Except preferably without the naked part. We give our beads out freely, no strings attached. It's too bad really - about the whole flashing for beads thing. There's having fun and then there's turning a spirited celebration into Girls Gone Wild.

For this week's installment of VRC, we have.......

Mickey from Kitchen Inferno brings us a New Orlean's inspired dish
that they served for Valentine's Day - Chicken Rochambeau

Susan from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen, is from Southeast Louisiana, so she is certain to know a few things about this theme. She submitted a yummy-sounding recipe for
Real Louisiana Red Beans and Rice.
Susan also posted a recipe for Chickpea Gumbo over at Alanna's blog
A Veggie Venture.

Michele of Chef Michele's Adventures bring us two recipes from
her repertoire. A Smoked Sausage Jambalaya and a classic, Red Beans and Rice.

Erika from Tummy Treasure submitted a recipe for Jambalaya.
Great comfort food - sausage and seafood and rice, nicely spiced.
Tami (a new-to-me blogger with gorgeous photos)
from Running with Tweezers chimed in with
a festive and delicious Bloody Mary/gazpacho-like/seafood soup -
Bloody Mary Soup with Crab.
Just look at those delectable lumps of crab.....I'm drooling.....
Patti from Adventures in Food and Wine submits another Jambalaya recipe.
Jambalaya varies so much from recipe to recipe - it's so interesting to see
all the different ways to make this versatile dish.

Another new-to-me blogger, Fuzzbean, at Fuzzbean.net adds some sweet toh the savory Mardi Gras fare shown here so far with a delicious-looking King Cake, and a great sense of humor.

Yesterday I whipped up our favorite recipes ever, Cajun or otherwise.
It's a recipe hailing from one of New Orleans premier chefs, Chef Paul Prudhomme
Cajun Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Smoked Sausage.

And last, but not least, I need to announce next week's VRC theme. Since the less complicated themes seem to attract the most participants, I'm going to keep it simple. If that doesn't work in attracting more participants, I may go back to the once a month format.

This month it's something that everyone has a recipe for, somewhere in their recipe files, if not many, many recipes. The theme for next week is ITALIAN FOODS. Anything Italian - main dish, side dish, dessert, it's up to you. So send in your links - remember, it can be a link to a recipe that's already been published on your blog - you do not have to actually cook the recipe this week. For more information on how VRC works, check out this FAQ page. In order to give folks ample time to try out a new recipe or to get around to sending a link, I will be posting the roundup on Mondays. This will give everyone a whole weekend. So, look for the VRC: Italian roundup on Monday, March 6.

Tags:VRC, VRC:Mardi Gras