News and information from the New Orleans area
Food
King Cakes, King Cakes, more King Cakes
015 years
I remember when I moved to NOLA, only plain King Cakes were sold in a few bakeries, especially McKenzie’s Bakeries around town. No groceries sold them. All King Cakes were plain. These were the dark ages of King Cakes. A number of years later, McKenzie’s introduced the first filled King Cakes, and there was no looking back. Now, every grocery and bakery in town wouldn’t consider not selling King Cakes- they bring in shoppers. New Orleanians cannot get enough King Cakes! We live in the enlightened age of King Cakes, with a zillion flavors available to anyone in the world with an internet connection.
To show just how far filled King Cakes have come, here’s the list from Rouse’s Supermarkets current circular of the various fillings and flavors they sell:
Almond
Apple
Apple Cream Cheese
Bavarian Cream
Blueberry
Blueberry Cream Cheese
Caramel
Chocolate
Coconut
Cookies & Cream
Cream Cheese
Heavenly Hash
Lemon
Pecan
Pina Colada
Pineapple
Praline
Raspberry
Strawberry
Strawberry Cream Cheese
That’s a lot of flavors, and even more exist. Pick a flavor, and someone makes and sells that flavored King Cake!
I conducted an unscientific poll among my facebook, twitter, myspace, and nola.com Mardi Gras forum ‘friends’. The overwhelming choice of most for the best King Cake in the metro area is Haydel’s Bakery first and Randazzo’s second.
In the Christian faith, the coming of the wise men bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. This is known as the Feast of the Epiphany or Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night. This is a time of celebration, exchanging gifts and feasting. Today, the tradition continues as people all over the world gather for festive Twelfth Night celebrations. A popular custom was and still is the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings called a King’s Cake. In these early cakes, a pea, coin or bean was hidden inside the cake. Now, King Cakes contain a tiny plastic ‘baby’. The person whose piece contains the baby has to throw the next King Cake party. King Cake parties are enjoyed by the young and old all over the region and the world via the internet.
Domainer Mardi Gras Announces Dates & New Location for Their 2010 New Orleans Conference
015 years
After a successful debut this past February, organizers of the Domainer Mardi Gras conference announced today that they will be back in the Big Easy for round two in 2010. The show will run February 11-13, at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel on Canal Street in the French Quarter, just steps from Bourbon Street. The Marriott is a new venue, replacing the Westin Canal Place. The conference secured an exceptionally low room rate for Mardi Gras season at the Marriott – just $179 a night.
The show will conclude three days before Fat Tuesday (February 16), which is the final day of Mardi Gras festivities that run for approximately two weeks with dozens of nightly parades highlighting the celebration.
The Executive Director of Domainer Mardi Gras, Michael Ward, said “Domainers stated that the inaugural show (2009) was a hit and wanted to see it happen again. We listened and are moving forward with putting together a larger than life domainer extravaganza. In addition to quality industry panel sessions, and plenty of networking opportunities, Domainer Mardi Gras will also provide over the top entertainment, all during Mardi Gras, that combined will make for an unbelievable experience.”
Domainers, publishers, registries, registrars, investors, domain parking companies, members from the ICANN community and others are all invited to attend the event. The theme and agenda for Domainer will be announced in the coming weeks.