Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Set aside. Place 8 pretzel squares on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 20 seconds to warm the pretzels.

Mardi Gras parades are known for featuring colorful plastic bead necklaces, but here's the surprisingly deep meaning behind it all.

After Galveston's Mardi Gras celebration, all the beads go to a good cause. ... Prices vary from $50 for a bulk bag of 50 dozen beads to between $3 and $10 per specialty-bead necklace.

Throws, as the parade trinkets are known, date back to the late 1800s, when candy, peanuts and sweets were tossed from floats, Mr. Hardy said.