225BatonRouge.com - Blogs

For starters, last week I promised a view of what some 225 folks saw at Spanish Town. You can see as much as we are allowed to show you by clicking here. It's censored, so don't assume I was overreacting when I said it's not a family-friendly parade. Now that you've had your fill of debauchery and plastic bead fun, let's talk about the joys of Lent.

I'm not Catholic, so my understanding of Lent is pretty limited. I know ashes will be on some foreheads all day long Wednesday, which always makes me do a double take. There is something about giving up a vice for the entire 40-day duration, to atone for your sins and torment yourself for all the naughty things you took part in for Mardi Gras (like that Meche's chocolate filled king cake, which is the most amazing thing ever). That Catholic guilt is really rough, so good luck to all of you giving up anything worthwhile.

For the record, I did give up red meat one year in an attempt to test myself with this Lent business. I was very successful, but I didn't go to church or do the fish-on-Fridays thing. So maybe that technically doesn't count. But that's about as close as you'll get me voluntarily participating. Since I'm not going to be adhering to Lent practices, here are a couple things I like about the next 40 days.

St. James Episcopal Church's Friday gumbo. You have a choice of either shrimp or chicken and sausage, and you can eat lunch there or order some by the pint or quart for dinner. You can even buy rice. Yes, I know it's not difficult to make rice, but the easier people want to make things for me, the better. Every Friday last year, I bought the shrimp for myself and the chicken and sausage for my boyfriend. It was the only time that several Fridays in a row, dinner was taken care of without any discussion. But just realize that it's a pretty popular thing, so orders usually have to be in by around 10 a.m. Friday morning. So if you snooze, you lose out on all the okra goodness.

Countdown to when I can officially wear white again without all the old fashion sticklers giving me the evil eye. Yes, I know it's apparently fine to wear white anytime of year now. I read the magazines. But this is an old school town that sticks to traditions, and I do get crazy looks if I break out anything white on my bottom half before Good Friday. Of all the things people could look at me funny about, that's what they choose. Plus, nothing feels as good as breaking out the crisp whites. Especially now that I've discovered the miraculous Tide stick.

Seafood a plenty. I do love me some seafood. And thanks to Lent, everybody's got some. Even Sonic, but I'm not going to try that. Having fish brought out to me by a teenager on roller skates seems very, very wrong and makes me dry heave a little. But pretty much everywhere else is fine. Personally, I'll be partaking in Semolina's seasonal crawfish cakes a couple times before they take them away. There is nothing like crawfish and breading paired with angel hair coated in some delightful cream sauce. It's carb heaven.

March Madness. I usually have issues getting into college basketball, since I love the personalities in the NBA. I'm usually more interested when LSU has a shot to be in the tournament, but it looks like it's just the girls this year. But we're a betting household, so brackets are everywhere and I actually get into the whole thing. The office pools are the most fun, since I decide which one of my boyfriend's co-workers I would like to lose, and go against whatever team they pick. A little evil? Possibly. Does it keep me from wanting to pull my hair out while flipping back and forth between every single game on TV? Yes, it does help. At least I'm not the girl that picks a bracket based on the team colors.