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Fat Tuesday: the day before Lent begins. Depending on where you hail from the celebration of food and drink is variously known as Mardi Gras, Carnevale, Carnival, Fasching, etc.. In Detroit Fat Tuesday is known as: Time to make the paczki! Originally made just once a year paczkis are theoretically not just doughnuts. An authentic paczki is made with eggs, flour, lard and grain alcohol mixed into fruit fillings like cherry, raspberry, apricot or – most traditional of all, prunes. They are topped with with sugar – granulated or powdered – or glazed with icing. In time New World flavors...

Here we are – Fat Tuesday, Carnevale, Shrove Tuesday. The final debauchery prior to the Lenten season of penitence and prayer, mortifying the flesh, repentance of sins and almsgiving. So…laissez les bon temps rouler! Back in the day we’d always celebrate at Fishbones Rhythm Kitchen in downtown Detroit where they had the best catfish beignets, oysters Rockefeller, crayfish étouffée and Jambalaya this side of New Orleans.And one year we actually went to New Orleans for the last few days of Mardi Gras, it was crazy and fun and exhausting. It’s the sort of thing you should only do once and...

A popular Washington area restaurant facing a boycott for turning NFL games off because of player protests is getting the support of the nation's sheriffs. The National Sheriffs' Association told Secrets that it is going to pay the check of any law enforcement officer's meal at Fat Tuesday's in Fairfax, Va....

Just a little break from politics....

Toddler among seven people gunned down as New New Orleans Mardi Gras parade descends into violence Seven people were gunned down in a hail of bullets as a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade descended into violence. Witnesses described scenes of chaos in the Garden District as people ran for cover. One of the victims was seen dragging himself along the ground, screaming for help. Police said the people who were shot were a 20-month-old toddler, three men aged 50, 33 and 20, two women 20 and 17 and a 15-year-old boy. Wounded: People help one of the victims who was...

Authentic Polish Paczki MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - On Fat Tuesday, the last day of revelry and indulgence before Lent, many Polish Americans celebrate Paczki Day. Typical paczki contains about 400 calories The centerpiece of the day is the paczki (pronounced "ponch-key"), an incredibly rich and caloric take on the doughnut designed to use up the last of the lard, sugar and eggs in the household before the fasting of Lent begins. Even if most modern celebrators are buying them instead of making their own at home, paczkis pack in all those ingredients in heart-stopping quantities. A typical paczki contains approximately...

NEW ORLEANS – A Mardi Gras parade erupted into chaos on Fat Tuesday when a series of gunshots struck seven people, including a toddler. The child was not seriously injured and two suspects were in custody, police said. The shootings happened near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration, Rex, had ended. A stream of truck floats that follow the parade were passing by when gunfire broke out. "It sounded like a string of fireworks, so I knew it was more than one shooter," said Toni Labat, 29, a limousine company manager. She...

The Day After Fat Tuesday February 21st, 2009 by Matthew Warner The day after Fat Tuesday begins with suffering and self-sacrifice for many people…suffering from a hangover and a sacrificing of much needed sleep in order to make it to work on time. Somehow, I think many of us might be missing the point. For many, Fat Tuesday (English for Mardi Gras) seems to be just another reason to stay out late, drink heavily, expose ourselves, and commit all types of RAI (Random Acts of Immorality). And somehow it’s all excused because hey… it’s Mardi Gras!Nobody likes to poop on a...

NEW ORLEANS – A Mardi Gras parade erupted into chaos on Fat Tuesday when a series of gunshots struck six people, including an infant. The infant was not seriously injured and two suspects were in custody, police said. The shootings happened near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration, Rex, had ended. Hundreds of truck floats that follow the parade were passing when gunfire broke out.

NEW ORLEANS – Six people, including a one-year-old boy, were injured on the parade route in a shooting on Fat Tuesday, according to spokesman EMS spokesman Jeb Tate.

Lisa Mount right, and M.K. Wegmann second from right, wear costumes about Super Tuesday on Mardi Gras in the French Quarter of New Orleans Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. Carnival revelers were greeted with warm weather for Fat Tuesday Straight from the Mardi Gras parade, 'Glo' Gloria Cunningham signs into the Democratic Caucus at the Town Hall in Crested Butte, Colo. with her costume on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. Two revelers wear costumes like senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on Mardi Gras in the French Quarter of New Orleans Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008 R.M. Elfer left, and Judy Weaver wear...

This Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday otherwise known as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday and if you come from Britain Pancake Day. Though all of these names are completely different celebrations and events they also signal one thing the next day is the start of lent. Many years ago in countries considered as Christian countries this meant 40 days of fasting and praying so the day before was the time to eat up all the rich fatty foods before this time of obstaying. Pancakes are ideal foods to be consumed on Shrove Tuesday as they contain fat and eggs which were forbidden...

Three Fresno police officers and a woman bystander were shot and wounded during a Fat Tuesday celebration and the gunman was shot dead after leading officers on a cross-city shooting spree. None of the injuries appeared to be life - threatening, Chief Jerry Dyer said. But a Central District sergeant was grazed by a bullet to the head. Despite his wound, the same officer continued the chase, eventually ramming the suspect ' s car.

Alright, who's going out tonight? Where are you going? What will you be doing? Does your mother know? Remember, Allahtm hates costumes like this, so Bedazzle your bikini, celebrate Catholicism, and flip the bird in a generally eastward direction! According to internet sources:In the Christian calendar, Shrove Tuesday is the English name for the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which in turn marks the beginning of Lent. In many solidly Roman Catholic countries in Europe and the Americas, this is the last day of Carnival. In some historically Francophone places it is Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday; the most...

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the last hurrah before the Catholic season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. It also has links to the Christmas season through the period known as Carnival.Mardi Gras' Catholic Roots Mardi Gras, literally "Fat Tuesday," has grown in popularity in recent years as a raucous, sometimes hedonistic event. But its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the "last hurrah" before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That's why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of streetsweepers pushing the crowds out of the French...

Tradidion declares that this race first run in the year 1445, pancakes at the time being a popular dish and recieving the royal favour.It was run on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, and the whole day was given over to a festival of celebrations and pastimes, which formed a part of the 'last fling' celebrations. (Mardi Gras)One story tells us of a harrassed housewife, hearing the shriving bell, dashing off to the Church still clutching her frying pan containing a pancake. (and the international race was born)Since then Olney has been invaded every Shrove Tuesday by an ever increasing...