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LARGE DINNER PARTY
Decorations
Purple, Green, and Gold are the colors of Mardi Gras. Decorate
your home, backyard, or other party location with balloons, streamers,
and beads in these colors.
Make street signs from famous French Quarter locations such as
Bourbon Street and Jackson Square to hang throughout the house.
Over the bar or drink station, hang a Pat O’Brien’s
Sign and serve hurricanes,
cyclones, and daiquiris.
Center Pieces/ Table Decorations
Baskets filled with New Orleans goodies such as Chickory
coffee, Cajun spices,
beads, Mardi
Gras cups, feather masks,
and/ or balloons. These can double as door prizes or awards!
Flower bouquets of purple, yellow, and white flowers with ferns
to add some green!
Sprinkle purple, green, and gold confetti
on the table
Seating cards
Insert names into feather masks for seating assignments and costume
entertainment
Or
Decorate seating cards by gluing doubloons or confetti to them.
Sample Menus
Desserts
Bananas
Foster
Recipe courtesy Wayne Harley Brachman, author, Retro Desserts
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
4 bananas, peeled and cut lengthwise into halves
1/4 cup dark rum, preferably Jamaican
Scoop the ice cream into chilled bowls and set aside in the refrigerator.
In a large saute pan, over medium-high heat, stir the butter and
sugar to form smooth syrup. Add the bananas and baste for 1 minute.
Carefully pour in the rum. If it does not burst into flames spontaneously,
ignite with a match. Gently swirl the pan and baste the bananas
until the flames die out. Place 3 quarters of a banana around
each ice cream scoop and spoon sauce over top. Serve at once.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 0 minutes
King
Cake
BREAD
PUDDING WITH SOUTHERN BOURBON SAUCE
Recipe courtesy Barbara Garett
3 cups stale French Bread, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup white raisins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place stale bread in a bowl with
milk and squeeze the bread with your hand until well saturated
with milk. With an electric mixer on high speed in a separate
bowl, beat eggs with sugar until thick and pale. Stir in the vanilla,
cinnamon, nutmeg, butter and raisins to the egg mixture. Add the
soaked bread cubes to the egg mixture and stir well. Let stand
for 10 minutes. It is important to allow enough time for the bread
to absorb the egg mixture or the bread cubes will float to the
top during baking, leaving a layer of custard on the bottom of
the dish.
Transfer the mixture to a greased baking dish. Bake until firm,
or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean, about
45 to 50 minutes. Let it slightly cool in the dish.
Bourbon Sauce:
2-egg yolks
1 stick butter, not margarine
1-cup sugar
1/3-cup bourbon whiskey, to taste
Meanwhile, near the end of the baking time, make the sauce. With
an electric mixer, beat egg yolks until thick and pale. In a saucepan,
melt the butter and sugar. Pour the butter and sugar mixture over
the egg yolks, beating constantly with the mixer, until well thickened.
Stir in bourbon by hand. Serve the pudding warm with vanilla ice
cream if desired. Pass the hot bourbon sauce separately.Activities
Music and dancing (http://www.mardigrasstore.com/catalog/music/index.html)
Let the music set the stage for your event. Playing an assortment
of zydecco, jazz, cajun, and Mardi Gras tunes will have your guests
singing and swinging into the New Orleans spirit!
Hand out beads as guests arrive and/ or play a trivia game asking
guests questions about New Orleans and Mardi Gras and award beads
for correct answers!
Other activities: scavenger hunt for Louisiana goodies around
the house or yard, competition for best costume, karoke, or dance
contests. Beads, masks, and doubloons can be used for prizes!
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