Mardis Gras Time .....

It's our "Halloween" this time of year... Mardis Gras or Carnevale.

This year I dressed-up as Alice in Wonderland!

Mardis Gras (Fat Tuesday) is the French-language term for the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, a traditional day for eating rich foods made with sugar, butter and other fats, and meat. This was because it was the last day before the start of Lent, which in Christian religious tradition was associated with ritual fasting. The term has come to stand for related celebrations, which in some areas take place for several days or even weeks before Ash Wednesday.

Carnevale is the traditional pre-Lenten celebration in Italy. This is a time of merry-making, masquerade processions, masked balls, parades, pageants, jugglers, magicians, stilt walkers, elegant costumes and opulent masks, singing and dancing, fireworks, and outdoor feasts in the weeks prior to Ash Wednesday.

Carnevale occurs all throughout Italy, where every city, town, and village celebrates its own traditional customs. Places such as Viareggio, Ivrea, Sciacca, Napoli, Roma, Calabria and Venezia have unique and elaborate celebrations that are world-famous.The festivities of the last days of carnevale are the most intense as they culminate on Martedí Grasso (Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday).

There are traditional foods and dolci (sweets) distinctively associated with carnevale, including fritelle, crespelle, sfingi, castagnole, cenci, nodi, chiacchere, bugie, galani, fritole, berlingaccio, sanguinaccio and tortelli, among others.