Alkaline water is slightly less acidic than regular drinking water and contains alkaline minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium. These minerals affect the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of the water which can act as an antioxidant. Animal studies and small human studies suggest there may be benefits but more research is needed.
Increased consumption of minerals that many people fall short on is not necessarily a bad idea when choosing a natural alkaline water, which picks up minerals as it passes over natural rock formations.
More important than the type of water consumed is the amount of water. Listen to your body and shoot for a lack of thirst and pale colored urine.
Southerners LOVE celebrating life and while most places wrap up holiday celebrations on New Year’s Day, in the south, we charge full steam ahead into carnival season. Homes are decorated and Christmas trees stay up, getting converted to spectacular green, gold and purple masterpieces. It also means parties, parades, beads and king cake, especially king cake…at home, at work, in grocery stores, gas stations, and of course, bakeries. Carnival season in the south is not the time for restraint or calorie counting and it all comes to an end next week on Ash Wednesday.
What is king cake?
King cake is a traditional sweet treat associated with Mardi Gras enjoyed by southerners (and thanks to mail order, for southern ex pats!) It appears in homes and store shelves from the Epiphany (January 6) until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.
King cake origins
The cake is named after the biblical Three Kings who visited the baby Jesus on the Epiphany. It is circular or oval in shape to represent the circular route taken by the wise men to confuse King Herod and avoid disclosing the location of the baby Jesus.
King cakes are made of a sweet dough and typically decorated with icing in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: purple, green, and gold, symbolizing justice, faith, and power, respectively. They may be filled with cinnamon, cream cheese, fruit, or other fillings. A new personal favorite of mine is pecan praline, which was brought to a parade pregame at my house last week from Paul’s Pastry Shop.
And the baby inside…?
A small plastic baby, representing the baby Jesus, is often hidden inside the cake before baking (though safety concerns have led to bakeries leaving the baby out for the buyer to hide in the cake.) Whoever finds the baby in their slice is blessed with good luck and is expected buy the next cake. And though people are always happy to bring king cakes to events, no one really wants to get stuck with the baby!
King cake roundup
Most king cake aficionados have their favorite spot to grab one. Along the Gulf Coast a favorite grocery store based in New Orleans has a great following. Read more about how Rouse’s gets them ready year round and ships them anywhere… and not just for Mardi Gras!
A Mississippi Gulf Coast fave that my sister religiously sent me every year on Fat Tuesday while we lived In Buffalo is Sweet Stuff Cake Boutique. They make a flavor for all tastes!
Menu of flavors from Sweet Stuff Cake Boutique (228) 388-8352 [email protected]
Don’t have a large crowd? No problem! Southern Girl Cookies makes individual sized cakes and cookies.
The South also loves their donuts, so of course our local favorite, Ocean Spring’s The Tatonut Donut Shop, gets in on the fun.
Tatonut’s king cake donuts, 1114 Government St, Ocean Springs 228-872-2076
King cakes near you
Fat Tuesday is one week away so now is the time to enjoy this cherished Mardi Gras treat with no guilt. Check out this map to find one near you but if you want to try your own, here is an authentic recipe from @girlraisedinthesouth.
Here are some of my favorite peeps enjoying a lagniappe lifestyle at the Oceans Springs day parade. Happy Mardi Gras, Y’all! Laissez le bon temps rouler!
Dr. Mary Claire Haver discusses the importance of education and empowerment for women during menopause and supporting women and their unique health needs as they age.
Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Analytics cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user\'s experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.
