Spoilers: this was kind of a disaster, but it seemed like a good idea at the time!
Mardi Gras - or some variation thereof - isn't a tradition that's unique to New Orleans, but I think when the holiday comes up, it's the first place people think of. It's another floating holiday, marking the day before Ash Wednesday and thus the official start of Lent, or one of the Christian traditions I've always been really lousy about actually participating in. Since observing Lent traditionally means making some personal sacrifices and changing your diet to something considered simpler and less rich, that means cutting down on things like butter, sugar and basically everything else delicious.
Mardi Gras is a celebration of everything that Lent kind of isn't, and is hugely popular in New Orleans. People go all out with decorations, parades and parties, and pretty much any piece of media featuring the city involves it in some way - even The Princess and the Frog takes place near and on Mardi Gras, and so obviously the two girls from New Orleans couldn't be left out of that party.
I'm sorry to say that this was kind of a culinary disaster, but after the effort I put into making it, I definitely wasn't going to keep my attempt to myself! Let's just say King Cake turned out to be a lot harder to make than it seemed to be.
