Fat Tuesday, and other bloggers' thoughts on Lent

Mardi Gras!

Some interesting things about Lent from the web this week:

This post about clothing and evangelizing culture, using Lent as an opportunity.
http://femgenius.com/skirting-up-lenten-challenge/

And this response to it
http://clan-donaldson.com/2014/03/going-out-with-a-bang/

I don't agree with either of them 100%, but I need to think more about it.

I think this post from Catholic Catalogue is great. Since our children 'bury the alleluia' in their
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atria, 
we like to get in lots of alleluias at this end of ordinary time! I like the reference to heaven as a 
celebration that we need to work towards!
http://thecatholiccatalogue.com/misc-bury-the-allelulia-throw-a-fat-tuesday-party/

This incredibly delightful YouTube:
http://youtu.be/CQo2FJPLeQk
looks like a taste of heaven to me!
These babies remind me of our little Bilbo, five months old:

How' bout some photos of Mardi Gras celebration here? Our homefried doughnuts. Once a year decadence, fried up in *bacon fat* and dusted with powdered sugar!

I pipe these into the wok, and some of them turn out wonky. But so good. The kids and I are allowed to eat as many as we want. And then no one wants more than a little fruit for lunch, for some reason... (They are gluten free, made from a recipe in Bette Hagman's book More from the Gluten Free Gourmet).

And how about a King Cake? Hermione made this all by herself using store bought bread dough and giving it the deluxe treatment, inside and out. It turned out awesome.
Since I am gluten free by necessity, and wheat flour worries me like other people would be worried by iocane powder all over their kitchens, I like to let kids enjoy the delights of dough without making it from scratch.

Here are Haldir, age ten, and little Leia enjoying paczkis. A South Bend Polish tradition.

One more good post on lent from my dear, dear Auntie Leila:
http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2014/03/a-suggestion-for-lent/

And another from Kendra, whom I admire so much:
http://www.catholicallyear.com/2014/03/how-to-win-at-lent.html#more

I am not putting much original content here this time! But, since I have resolved to stay off facebook this lent, in order to use the time for prayer, reading and other important things, I hope to reflect and post more on here.
Happy Fat Tuesday! Gonna go eat some roast lamb. Here's a poor photo to give a glimpse of the deliciousness: