Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 12, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE C1 EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! WALK OR RUN! THIS YEAR! NEW! Sunday, June 22, 2014 .. ........ .. ...................... ........ .. .......... .............. PRESENTED BY REGISTER TODAY: winnipeghumanesociety. ca Call 1- 204- 773- 2177 Weekdays Stay for Weekend & Holidays SLEEP & SKI Available as package only see www. jollylodger. com for full details. $ 24.00 $ 44.00 ARTS & LIFE arts@ freepress. mb. ca I WINNIPEGFREEPRESS. COM I MISS LONELYHEARTS C4 I DIVERSIONS C7 I HOROSCOPE C8 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014 C 1 Pick guitar Fill fruit jar and be gay- oh Son of a gun We'll have big fun On the Bayou. A ND with those famous words from Hank Williams ringing in your ears, you'll want to head to the Convention Centre Friday and Saturday with your " ch�re amie- o" for Winnipeg's annual Mardi Gras celebration and jubilant " thumbing of the noses at winter." Winnipeg Mardi Gras is one of those events that mitigates the horribleness of winter. For a couple of nights you get to pretend that you're dancing your way through a street party, complete with crazy characters, purveyors of food, vendors of goodies and warm weather musicians. Last year, chef Quentin Harty and his team presented the usual favourites, including po' boy sandwiches, deep- fried pickle spears, sweet potato fries, gumbo, peel- and- eat shrimp, freshly shucked oysters or sampler platters for the undecided. All of those dishes will be available again, and this year they'll be adding a spicy, bourbon- flamed garlic pepper shrimp and New Orleans Rose farfalle pasta with chicken, spicy sausage and capicola. The bars, which are scattered throughout the " street," will serve the appetizingly named Swampwater drinks and Southern Hurricane. Cocktails feature the flavours you might expect - lots of citrus and spice from brands like Southern Comfort, Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, Jack Daniels and others. Entertainment will be onstage and on the big screens, which will flash the names of people tweeting about the party as well as Mardi Gras- type backdrops. Music will be played by WMG firsttimer Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, straight from New Orleans. You can expect to share the dance floor with painted models, showgirls ( and boys) and you will definitely see Cupid flitting around. This year, two stages will feature continuous entertainment along with the roving performers, the Dating Game and the Mardi Gras Parade, and guests are encouraged to dress the part. Because the first night of WMG falls on Valentine's Day, Friday will be Singles Appreciation Day and Cupid will be firing little arrows into those singles who are wearing their hearts on their sleeves... literally. For the more acquisitive partiers, there will be a number of vendors selling fun and sexy items. Look for Black Raven Mercantile, Mr. Lamp Shop and Vicki's Secrets Passion Parties. You can also check out the Mojo Photo Booth. After dancing and dining After you and your Valentine have danced yourselves silly, go home, kick off your boas, your shoes and your fishnet stockings and get a little sillier with one of these " spiked" desserts. You can prepare all of them in advance and even save the Mardi Gras King Cake for breakfast the morning after the party. Fill Fruit Jar Cocktail Your choice of a variety of fresh and colourful fruit, cut to bite- sized pieces, enough to fill two small ( 250 ml/ 1 cup) Mason jars ( with lids) for a total of 500 ml ( 2 cups) Try: 10 or 12 raspberries 1 kiwi, sliced and peeled 10 or 12 red or green grapes, sliced in half 1 small orange peeled, sectioned and pieces halved 1 small pear, peeled and cubed 1 small banana, peeled and sliced For the syrup: 5 ml ( 1 tsp) orange finely grated orange zest 60 ml ( 4 tbsp) light brown sugar 60 ml ( 4 tbsp) spiced rum Wash and prepare all your fruit. Leave the bananas until the last minute. Prepare the syrup. Dissolve the brown sugar in the rum. Add the finely grated orange zest. Fill the jars with the fruit ( prepare and include the bananas now). Pour half the syrup mixture into each jar. Put the lid on and give a gentle shake to cover all the fruit. Refrigerate. Serve within 12 hours. Shake again before serving. I prepared this and put it in the fridge for more than 24 hours and it still looked nice, even the bananas. Get in the Mardi Gras spirit with sweet desserts spiked with a little something Southern COMFORT Event Preview Winnipeg Mardi Gras . Feb. 14- 15 . 6 p. m. to 2 a. m. nightly . RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, third floor . Must be 18 years of age or older . Tickets $ 16 at Ticketmaster . www. winnipegmardigras. com WENDY KING SCAN PAGE TO WATCH MARDI GRAS PERFORMERS Continued Please see MARDI GRAS C 5 JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SUPPLIED PHOTOS C_ 01_ Feb- 12- 14_ FP_ 01. indd C1 2/ 11/ 14 6: 05: 47 PM ;