News and information from the New Orleans area
Archive for January, 2012
Times-Picayune King Cake Contest Winners Full of Randazzos
013 years
Gambino's King Cake
- Gold King Cake Baby
The local newspaper has run a little king cake contest this week, and three of the five ‘winners’ have the same last name!
Randazzo, Randazzo, Randazzo, Haydel’s and Sucre made the cut when the votes were tallied. This creates the impression the contest is sponsored by Randazzo’s. I doubt it was, but the impression is real.
In a former Mardi Gras life, I wrote a series of columns ranking king cakes in the New Orleans metro area. I bought a lot of king cakes in those days, as I saw many Metairie, West Bank and New Orleans East parades back then and picked up the cakes while I was there.
Was it a legitimate ranking? Probably not, but I bought each cake I talked about. Less stores sold them in those days, and McKenzie’s was the 600 pound king cake gorilla. They had the first filled king cakes for sale. Back then, the supermarkets and pharmacies and convenience stores didn’t sell king cakes. Only bakeries had them.
Back to the TP’s contest. All the Randazzo locations seem different, though some claim online that their recipe is the family’s. They have their own web sites and Face Book pages. There’s Randazzo’s Camellia City in Slidell, Manny Randazzo King Cakes in Metairie, and Nonna Randazzo Bakeries in Chalmette and Covington.
I had trouble finding any price for a picked up king cake at any of the Randazzo’s web sites. All included shipping that I could find.
To the contest’s credit, five other reader nominated bakeries in the poll were listed as ‘wildcard’ choices. They received at least 300 votes each. These wonderful bakers are Dianne’s King Cakes in Harahan, Gambino’s Bakery in Gretna and Metairie, La Dolce Nola, Metairie, Rouse’s Supermarkets all over town, and Tastee Donuts‘ McKenzie’s around town.
Pecan King Cake from Manny Randazzo's
King cakes are HUGE in New Orleans. From January 6 until Mardi Gras Day, February 21, 2012- All this time is king cake time!! NOLA King cakes feature more sugar than most.
Historically, king cakes have been around Europe for centuries before New Orleans was settled. We had plain king cakes for a long long time in NOLA. Then McKenzie’s Bakeries started filling their king cakes, and charged like $9.95 for a medium filled one. This was back in late 1970s as I recall.
Pretty soon, filled king cakes had created a whole new king cake economic model, based on a more expensive king cake. Then the mail order model was created, and hundreds of thousands of king cakes are shipped worldwide. Haydel’s sells 60,000 king cakes, and that’s how they survive as a top bakery in 2012.
Who makes the best filled and unfilled king cakes in the NOLA metro area? There are a lot of entrants, since the shipping/local markets have exploded over the last three decades.
http://bit.ly/emh7cl is a King Cakes of the World article I found while researching this post. The blog is entitled- A Malaysian in France.
French King Cake
Sucre King Cake
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.
Haydel's King Cake
Louisiana Councilman Proposes Ban on Colorful ‘Mardi Gras’ Like Tombs
013 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in Mardi Gras
It isn’t the statues, the stained glass or even the pillows on the graves at Southdown Cemetery that bother Terrebonne Councilman Alvin Tillman — it’s the colors on the tombs.
He does not like the red one, the yellow one, the soft dove gray or any of the shades of blue that about a dozen of the tombs have been painted. And he says other people have complained about it too.
Colorful Louisiana Tombs
“We want to stop this before it gets out of hand,” Tillman said. “Before you know it you’ll go out there and the cemetery will look like Mardi Gras.”
Tillman wants it to be illegal to paint a tomb anything but white.
He has proposed a law restricting the color a tomb can be painted. The law would also require those who have already painted their tombs to repaint them white.
The Development and Planning Committee unanimously approved sending the proposal to the full council. A public hearing on it will be held on Jan. 11.
If it passes, violators could be charged with a misdemeanor, said Patrick Gordon, director of Development and Planning for the parish.
“We don’t want to see it get out of hand,” Gordon said. “I mean, what if someone wanted to paint their tomb LSU colors? I don’t think purple and gold would be appropriate there.”
The law would apply only to the three public cemeteries in Terrebonne Parish.
To be buried in one of the public cemeteries, the family must pay $10 for a permit. They do not get a deed to the plot, which is just big enough to hold one of the vaults that goes about 3 feet into the ground, and rises about 1 foot above it, Gordon said. Unlike the family tombs in many Louisiana cemeteries, where generations are buried as the bones of the dead are moved over to make room for the recent dead, these tombs are for single burials. If a second person is to be buried, a small separate tomb is added to the top of the old one, Gordon said.
Angie Green, executive director of the New Orleans organization, Save Our Cemeteries, which is dedicated to restoring and preserving Louisiana’s unique cemeteries, urged the council not to prevent the painting. In a letter to the editor of the Houma Courier, Green pointed out that “historically, the limewash used on family tombs was colored in shades of yellow, ochre, pink, gray and red.” She said white paint has only recently been used on tombs.
Southdown Cemetery is a very personal place.
You can see it in the way people treat the tombs there.
A half-dozen toy cars are lined up atop the tomb of a 2-year-old, and a worn teddy bear perches atop another.
Religious statues, stained glass ornaments, even pillows adorn many more of the raised tombs crowded into the cemetery.
At Community Funeral Home, which does many of the burials at Southdown, company president James Mathews said there have been no complaints about the colored tombs.
“I haven’t heard a word from anyone about them,” Mathews said. “People haven’t said they were upset about it or not upset about it. They haven’t said anything.”
Ora Poindexter, whose late husband Donald is buried at Southdown, said she wanted to paint the tomb his favorite color, yellow.
“But my children said not to,” she said. “I thought it would be nice, but they said keep it white.”
Aver W. Francois said her sister painted her mother’s tomb yellow.
“I don’t know why she did it,” Francois said Thursday. “I liked it better before, but it looks OK.”
2012 New Orleans Mardi Gras Forecast pt 3, 12th Night Edition
013 years
by NewOrleansMusicMan
in BCS Championship Bowl, Carnival, Carnival New Orleans, French Quarter, Krewe de Jeanne d'arc, Louisiana State University, LSU Tigers, Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras Music, Mardi Gras parade, Music, New Orleans Carnival, New Orleans Saints, Orleans Parish, Phunny Phorty Phellows, Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints
This is the biggest 12th night weekend in the history of NOLA, there’s no doubt about that. 12th night is always a bit of a big deal, it’s the true launch of the Carnival Season. Add the Saints big playoff game against Detroit tomorrow and the HUGE BCS Championship Bowl on Monday in the Super dome featuring #1 undefeated LSU against #2 AL, with 1 loss against LSU 9-6.
LSU Tigers
That makes this weekend the biggest 12th night in memory!! We are not done with the huge night, the Phunny Phorty Phellows are New Orleans only St. Charles Streetcar based parade.
PPP on the streetcar on 12th night!!
Add to this the next parade, the 45-member Krewe de Jeanne D’Arc parade rides and strolls in its fourth annual parade to honor the Catholic saint.
Krewe de Jeanne D'arc leading her own parade
PARADE BEGINS AT 6 P.M. AT CONTI AND DECATUR STREETS (BIENVILLE STATUE)
- THIS YEAR JOAN AND HER SWORD WILL BE BLESSED IN FRONT OF ST LOUIS CATHEDRAL BY MONSIGNOR KERN AT APPROXIMATELY 6:15 P.M.
- CITY PROCLAMATION ISSUED BY KRISTIN GISLESON PALMER’S OFFICE WILL BE READ BY AN ACTOR PORTRAYING THE FOUNDER OF NEW ORLEANS, JEAN-BAPTISTE LE MOYNE, SIEUR DE BIENVILLE, BEFORE THE PARADE DEPARTS
- SIX JOANS ON HORSEBACK: OUR MAID OF HONOR, OUR WARRIOR JOAN, OUR “JOANIE ON THE PONY” PORTRAYED BY KRISTIN GISLESON PALMER, AND THREE ADDITIONAL JOANS ON WHITE HORSES WILL HONOR JOAN’S 600TH YEAR!
- KING CAKE CEREMONY FOLLOWING THE PARADE WITH SPEECHES IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH BY KREWE KING DAMIEN REGNARD AND KREWE MAID AGGIE BELL AND KING CAKE DONATED BY SUCRE (BUT AS ALWAYS, THE PUBLIC IS ENCOURAGED TO BRING KING CAKES TO EAT AND SHARE!)
The 4th installment of the 2012 Mardi Gras Forecast will be forthcoming in the next few days, after the super exciting weekend!
2012 New Orleans Mardi Gras Forecast!! Part 2
013 years
The past year has seen a few upheavals in the topsy turvy world of Carnival. Blaine Kern Sr was knocked out of action by his son in the Louisiana Court of Appeals, you can thank Sr’s new bride for much of Mr Mardi Gras’ problems.
It doesn’t appear that any of the Kern’s major Mardi Gras float building accounts have moved on. Rex, Bacchus, Orpheus, Muses, Alla, Endymion are all built by Kern enterprises for decades.
Traditional Jester Float of REX, the King of Carnival!
The traditional Boeuf Gras float of REX, the King of Carnival!
Jefferson Parish began the slow process of upgrading their parades. This is a very good idea, as their parades had slid considerably since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
For 2012, Gretna loses their most historic Mardi Gras Day parade, Grela, the West Bank’s only local celebration on Fat Tuesday.
Gretna stopped funding Mardi Gras in April when officials had to choose between paying for Mardi Gras activities and giving money to the Gretna Heritage Festival.
Yes, Gretna Fest has grown into a really nice festival, but Grela is Jefferson Parish’s oldest Carnival krewe. Gretna Fest has a huge budget with the dozens of bands that play the several day festival. They have corporate funding, charge a cover charge to enter the Festival, and sell a lot of food, drinks, and beer. They certainly could have covered the $30,000 much much easier than Grela could, and this is an obvious fact the Council should have seen a mile off.
Therefore, a Carnival Jeer goes out to the Gretna City Council for backing the total wrong horse with this poor decision in April 2011. The krewe was founded in 1947 as a men’s club, but it changed its name to Grela, an acronym for Gretna, La.
Earlier this year Rhea, another Jefferson Parish krewe, called it quits. Rhea was formed in 1969, making this parade over 40 years old! It began as an all woman parade, but became coed in later years. Rhea was the first Jefferson parade to roll down Veterans Boulevard, and the one of the few Jefferson parades to hold their ball in the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans.
One relatively new, local, and all male marching group, the 610 Stompers, marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Wow! The Stompers’ over the top dance routines flabbergasted Matt Lauer and Al Roker, it was a real New Orleans moment in New York City on national TV. They also appeared on the Hoda & Kathie Lee Show. That’s a lot of national attention for our homegrown group, and it’s well deserved!
From whereyat.com’s article on the Stompers-
What makes these men so special is not only their uncanny ability to entertain crowds, but also the motivation behind the uniforms. What started as a plan to start an all male dance school to help pay for their Saints season tickets in their namesake section 610, has turned into an incredible medium to have fun while help others. Underneath those mustaches of manliness lie men with hearts larger than most. Since their formation in 2009, the 610 Stompers have raised and donated over $100,000 to charity. They were asked to be this year’s “Corporate Chair” of the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Louisiana and Mississippi, released a Stomp Out Breast Cancer video with Touro Infirmary, and have partnered with over 13 local and national foundations where their dance moves have helped those less fortunate. They have mastered having fun with making a difference. At this year’s 610 Ball they gave $610 to each of over 20 local charities, which at first glance doesn’t seem like a lot. However, these grants more often doubled the charities’ operating budgets making a profound impact on our citizens and local community.
610 Stompers on Mardi Gras parade route
The first new full-fledged Carnival parade in Orleans Parish since before Hurricane Katrina, Nyx won approval from the City Council on a 6-0 vote to amend the 2012 calendar and schedule Nyx after the Druids parade on the Uptown route the Wednesday before Mardi Gras.
The city’s last new parading krewe was Morpheus in 2002, a year after Muses and the Knights of Chaos made their debuts.
From their web site:
“Three native New Orleans women always loved the traditions, pageantry, and fun of Mardi Gras. For years they admired the floats and loved the bands. They enjoyed how much the kids’ faces would light up when they caught stuffed or beaded treasures. The women adored how the crowds screamed to the riders “Throw me something!”
2012 forecast will continue with part 3 in the near future.
2012 New Orleans Mardi Gras Forecast!! part 1, Sports Influence
013 years
Carnival 2012 ends February 21, 2012. By that time, one hell of party will take place. There are developments in the sports world that will help build the crescendo that occurs on Fat Tuesday.
LSU is playing for all the marbles against hated rival Alabama, whose butt they already kicked, 9-6! That’s why LSU is rated number 1, and Alabama is rated number 2. Next, the Alabama coach Lou Saban, used to coach LSU, before he left to go to AL. AL’s only loss this season is to LSU, and LSU is undefeated. That creates a lot of excitement for the BCS championship game in the Superdome January 9th. I predict LSU will win this game.
The New Orleans Saints are on a bit of a roll themselves. Quarterback Drew Brees beat a 27 year record for most yards thrown in a single season (completed passes only). The great Dan Marino held that record.
The Saints are finishing the season very, very strong. Both the offense and defense are rolling over each team, game after game as the regular season finishes up. The team’s superior conditioning is paying off with less injuries and a higher level of play as the season winds down.
A couple of seasons ago, when the Saints won the Super Bowl, they won their division early and lost the last few games of the season. They earned the extra week off (bye week) and played at home. The rest was very important, as was playing in the Super Dome. This year, because they lost a few games in the beginning of the season, they probably won’t earn the bye week and home field advantage.
Drew Brees, Sean Payton and Super Bowl Trophy!!
All this adds to a huge Who Dat Nation push and buzz added to Carnival 2012.
On Sunday, Jan 23, the NFC Championship game will be played at 3:00 p.m. and the AFC Championship will be at 6:00.
Super Bowl XLV (45) will be at 6:30 p.m. ET on Feb 5 in Indianapolis. Mardi Gras is Feb 21. If we make it to the NFC Championship game, it’s within a month of Fat Tuesday.
I remember the year we won the Superbowl, Mardi Gras was as much a tribute to the Saints as could be. My number 1 parade that year was the special Saints Victory parade, which was so unique and traditional at once, it was a once in a decade parade experience.
Super Bowl Champs N.O. Saints Super Parade AP
I march with Krewe du Vieux in early February with the Krewe of Underwear, and I remember screaming that Super Bowl victory season Who Dat to the World!! and high fiving everyone as I passed them. KdV rolls Saturday, February 4, with the Super Bowl Sunday February 5.
Chances are with the way we are playing, we’ll make it the Championship Game again. The team has won 9 in a row, and they are setting records game after game.
Today, for the last game of the season, on January 1, 2012, the Saints won 45-17 over the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers scored 17 points in the first half, and zero points in the second. The Saints are on a major roll, and we have the home field advantage for the first playoff game. Here is the 2012 playoff schedule for January 7 & 8:
Saturday, Jan. 7
AFC: No. 6 Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) at No. 3 Houston Texans (10-6), 4:30 p.m. ET (NBC)
NFC: No. 6 Detroit Lions (10-6) at No. 3 New Orleans Saints (13-3), 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
Sunday, Jan. 8
NFC: No. 5 Atlanta Falcons (10-6) at New York Giants (9-7), 1 p.m. ET (FOX)
AFC: No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) at No. 4 Denver Broncos (8-8), 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS)