Fast on the heels of Saint Valentine's Day (Feb. 14th) Mardi Gras arrives on February 17th. Be ready.

No time for Winter blues on the day after Saint Valentine's Day. Pack away the hearts, and next get started on your Mardi Gras plans. What we do is a good model. All Valentines are gone on February 15th from your wreaths, etc., and replaced with Mardi Gras beads, King's coins, and anything else appropriate goes up on the 15th as the hearts come down. After your decorations are in order with your Wintertyde wreaths and your Wintertyde tree, make plans for Mardi Gras food and music. We fix Zararain items such as Jambalaya or red beans and rice:

http://www.zatarains.com/Zatarains/New-Orleans We use pepperoni sausage for the meat. Incredibly delicious. Search your bakery for a King's cake for dessert:

www.raisedonroux.com We accompany King's cake with Cafe du Monde chcikory coffee: http://shop.cafedumonde.com/ For music try Pete Fountain for Dixieland and the Neville Brothers for traditional second line.