Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

There was another word I thought about putting in the title, but since this is a family friendly site, I decided against it. Still, since I’m obviously talking about Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Pancake Day, you should know I am referring to a certain, odd expectation tied to a woman’s reception of cheap, plastic beads thrown down there in New Orleans. Flash! That’s all I’ll say about that. But did you know that, in celebration of Pancake Day, IHOP is giving away free pancakes (a short stack) until 10pm tonight?!? Hurry on over!

But back to the babies! The Mardi Gras revelers in Louisiana have this silly tradition they stole from the French of baking a cake (a King Cake), and putting a small plastic baby inside for you to choke on. Whoever gets the baby in their piece of cake must buy the next King Cake, or throw the next party.

I think it’s a great idea to put small, foreign, inedible object in party food. Particularly parties that have lots of drunken people at them. Twice the fun! Look everyone, Derek is turning blue! He must have found the baby!

In full disclosure, I must admit that my family has a old tradition of hiding an almond in the Sunday dinner pie. If you find the almond you get to choose the dessert for the next week. It was all very exciting when I was younger. Perhaps we could have saved money by using a plastic baby, since I assume you can wash and reuse the baby.

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!