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Epiphany, meaning “to show,” “to make known,” or “to reveal,” is also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings Day, or Little Christmas. It marks the end of the Christmas Season. Epiphany is also the feast of the Baptism of Christ.
Epiphany is celebrated in many countries as the day the Three Wise Men or Magi arrived in Bethlehem and found the Christ child. In Eastern Christian traditions and in some countries, this is the day that people exchange gifts, commemorating the giving of gifts to Jesus by the Wise Men.
Epiphany is also the 12th Day of Christmas. It is the last official day of the Christmas Season and the beginning of the Carnival Season.
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Author: Ronnie Tanner
Mardi Gras actually has its beginnings in the medieval time period of Western Europe, France in particular. For hundreds of years European Christians have celebrated both the 12 days of Christmas and indulged in feasting before fasting began for the Lenten season. It was the combination of both events that ultimately led to the celebration and season of Mardi Gras.
The celebration of Carnival actually begins on January 6, known as Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day, and ends in a culmination of festivities on Fat Tuesday (always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday). With this understanding, one begins to get a clear picture of how the 12 days of Christmas and the beginning of Lent have been combined in to one long celebratory picture.
According to CRIvoice.org, “The season of Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. Originally, Lent was the time of preparation for those who were to be baptized, a time of concentrated study and prayer before their baptism at the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord early on Easter Sunday.”
To understand the timing of the celebration, one must look back and see exactly what January 6 represents. Although most Christians around the world celebrate December 25 as the Christ Child’s birth date. Mainly Catholics have celebrated the tradition of the Epiphany. The Epiphany is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas, January 6, and is said to be the date when the wise men found and worshipped the baby Jesus. Thus the commencement of Carnival begins on this date although the actually Mardi Gras parades may not start until much later, the two weeks that precede the Lenten season to be exact, the Mardi Gras season itself begins on January 6
It is on January 6, that many King cakes are traditionally served for the first time during the season as well; though it can and is served any time during the Mardi Gras season at a King Cake Party. As with other things concerning this period of time, the King cake also has religious origins. The King cake is a celebratory pastry honoring the Kings who came in search of the newborn King, Jesus. Traditionally, a small baby is baked inside the cake to represent the baby Jesus. It is considered lucky to be served the piece of cake with the baby inside and the person receiving that piece is honored with hosting the next party. Unfortunately, the tradition of placing a plastic baby inside of the cake has fallen out of favor in recent years because some felt that a foreign object inside something edible presents a choking hazard. That says much about this day and time.
Because many take reveling and partying to the extremes, Mardi Gras has received a negative image over the past few decades however many devout Catholics still few the time with reverence and seek only to enjoy a time of fellowship with family and friends.
About the Author:
Ronnie Tanner is a contributing writer at Toomey’s Mardi Gras. He writes about Mardi Gras Throws and other industry specific topics.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Religious Facts about Mardi Gras
When planning a New Years Eve party appetizers are one of the items the host spends a great deal of time considering. This is because appetizers, along with cocktails, are one of the most popular food options for a New Years Eve party. Unlike other parties which typically take place during a meal time, New Years Eve parties usually start later in the evening. This makes planning the food for the party a little more complicated. New Years Eve parties may start at around 8:00-9:00 or even later. This is too late to serve dinner but because the party will last at least until midnight it is too long of a time to expect your guest to go without any food. For this reason, most New Years Eve parties feature light food items such as appetizers or sandwiches.
When selecting appetizers for your New Years Eve, it is important to consider the number of guests you will have at your party. While it might be acceptable to allow 4-5 appetizers per person when the cocktail reception is held in conjunction with a dinner, this is not appropriate for a New Years Eve party. Considering the duration of the New Years Eve party, the lack of more substantial food and the alcohol consumption which is likely it is much more appropriate to allow for 12-15 appetizers per person. Considering this large number, you should plan on providing at least five different appetizers for your party to ensure your guests will get to taste a wide variety of items.
When selecting appetizers for your New Years Eve party it is also important to consider the set up of the party. If you will be providing tables and chairs for the guests, it is appropriate to include appetizers which require a fork to eat. However, if you will not be providing seating, it is more appropriate to only include appetizers which can easily be eaten with the hands. You should also consider how convenient the appetizers are to eat. There are many great appetizers which can be quite messy or require elaborate dipping sauces. These types of appetizers are not a great idea for a New Years Eve party where guests are likely to be dressed quite elegantly. Sticking to items which are easy to eat and do not result in a great deal of mess will be greatly appreciated by all of the guests.
It is also important to consider appetizers in a number of different categories when selecting appetizers for your New Years Eve party. In particular you might want to consider serving both sweet and savory appetizers. If you opt to provide both types of appetizers, you have the option of either offering both types of appetizers throughout the evening or offering the savory appetizers for the majority of the evening and then switching to sweet appetizers just before midnight when the New Years Eve party is likely to end within an hour or two. Whichever option you select it is important to plan the number of appetizer according to your distribution strategy. For example if you plan to only offer sweet appetizers in the last hour of two of the party, you should purchase or prepare less of these appetizers than the savory appetizers. However, if you will be distributing both types of appetizers throughout the evening you should purchase or prepare a more equal distribution of appetizers.
Finally, in selecting appetizers, it is also important to consider how the appetizers will be distributed. This is important because if you will have servers circulating with trays of appetizers you can prepare differently than if the appetizers will be left on a buffet table. Specifically if you plan to offer appetizers on a buffet table, you may wish to select mostly items which do not have to be eaten hot if you do not have a method of keeping these items warm. However, if the appetizers will be passed by servers you can serve hot items because the servers bring out only small portions at a time and the rest can be kept warm in the kitchen until needed.
If you are planning a New Years Eve party, you might want to consider requesting your guest wear formal attire to the party. Although this is not necessary, it can make the entire party appear more elegant and formal. It can also help to create a more formal atmosphere for the party. When hosting a New Years Eve party in your home, the predominant reason for requiring formal attire is to set a particular mood or atmosphere. However, if you are hosting your New Years Eve party at another location such as a catering hall, there may be other reasons to necessitate formal attire. Some restaurants or catering halls have their own requirements regarding attire. If you opt to host your party in one of these locations, you have to ensure your guests adhere to these requirements.
There are some important aspects to consider when you are planning to request formal attire for your New Years Eve party. One factor to consider is whether or not your guests will object to this requirement. This is an important consideration especially if you have guests will opt to not attend your party because of this requirement. Although this is not a likely scenario since most people already consider New Years Eve to be a formal situation, it should be considered carefully if you believe it will affect attendance at your party. Again, if the party is hosted in your home, there will not likely be ramifications if a guest does not wear formal attire to the party because you will likely still allow them to attend. However, it is important to note that if the restaurant or catering hall where you will be hosting your New Years Eve party is implementing the dress code for your party, your guests may be turned away if they are not dressed properly.
When requesting formal attire at your New Years Eve party, it is important to note the attire guidelines on the invitations to ensure all guests are aware of how they are expected to dress for your party. One of the most popular ways to do this is to create one line on bottom of the invitation which states the attire requirements. Popular language for this statement includes, “Formal Attire,” “Black Tie Event,” or “Cocktail Attire Required.” Most guests will be familiar with this type of verbiage and will understand they are expected to dress formally for the occasion. If you are hosting the New Years Eve party in your home and there are no ramifications for guests who do not follow the attire recommendations, it is sufficient to state the attire guidelines on the invitation. However, if you are hosting the New Years Eve party in a restaurant and catering hall and they are enforcing the attire guidelines it might be worthwhile to make sure each guest understands these requirements. This is important because it could result in your guests being denied entry to the party.
There are a couple of ways you can help to ensure the guests understand the attire requirements. One way to accomplish your goal is to follow up your invitations with a phone call to each guest. During the phone call you can explain the attire requirements and make it clear guests who do not adhere to these guidelines will not be admitted. Another way to make sure guests are aware of the situation is to include a card in the envelop which explains the policies of the restaurant or catering hall and makes it clear that guests who do not follow these guidelines will not be allowed to enter the party.
Since you made the decision to host a New Years Eve party, in which guests will be required to dress formally, you have the responsibility of ensuring the event reflects the attire. For example it would be inappropriate to require formal attire and then serve foods which are difficult to eat and likely to result in a mess.
Preparing food for a New Years Eve party can be a great deal of fun or it can be a great deal of stress. It can even be a combination for the two. Those who are experienced at throwing parties may be able to plan a menu for their New Years Eve party and execute their plan with ease while still enjoying the party. However, those who do not have a great deal of experience hosting parties may have difficulty planning a menu and may feel a great deal of stress on the day of the party. In either case, it is wise to begin planning the food for your New Years Eve party in advance to ensure your guests enjoy the food at the party. This article will offer some tips for preparing food for a New Years Eve party.
Whether you are an accomplished chef or a novice cook, preparing food for a New Years Eve party can be quite a challenge. One of the first decisions you will have to make is what kind of food you will like to prepare for your guests. You may opt for offering a sit down dinner early in the evening and light snacks and desserts afterward. Likewise you may opt to offer a dinner buffet early in the evening and snacks and desserts throughout the remainder of the evening. Alternately you may choose to skip dinner because the party will likely start late in the evening and simply offer an assortment of sweet and savory appetizers throughout the evening. Once you have selected one of these options you can make other decisions such as what types of foods to offer and how much food to prepare.
Regardless of the types of foods you decide to offer, you will also have to make decisions regarding the preparation of the food. The simplest, but also likely the most expensive, preparation option is to have the party catered. In this case you pay a caterer to prepare and deliver all of the food. They will also likely provide the methods for keeping the foods hot or cold if necessary. This is an excellent option for hosts who do not want to spend a great deal of time preparing food for the party and who do not want to have a great deal of responsibility related to food preparation on the evening of the party.
Another option for preparing food for your New Years Eve party is to prepare all of the food ahead of time. With a little research you will surely find a large number of recipes for items which can be prepared ahead of time. These recipes can include items which can be served chilled, room temperature or hot. For items which should be served hot, you will only have to worry about reheating the food on the night of the party. Preparing the majority of the food ahead of time is a great idea and will really help to enable the host to enjoy the festivities on the evening of the party.
Still another less popular option is to prepare all of the food during the party. This helps to ensure the food is all fresh and is served at the appropriate temperature but it is also a great deal of work for the host. The host will not likely have a great deal of time to socialize with the guests because she will likely spend a great deal of time busy with food preparation.
When planning a New Years Eve party, you can also consider hosting a potluck event. This greatly simplifies the food preparation process for the host. If you opt for a potluck, it is important for the host of the party to coordinate with the guests to determine who will bring what to the party. This is important because you do not want everyone to bring a dessert. Likewise you don’t want everyone to bring an entrée either. Ideally a couple of people will prepare entrees and the remainder of guests will bring side dishes, salads and desserts to the party.