Mardi Gras

I wanted to bring the best of New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities to my house so I created a party with purple, green & yellow décor and delicious popular New Orleans cuisine. 

Inspiration: After looking at pictures online with Mardi Gras décor I decided that I wanted to use a black tablecloth because I liked how the black contrasted with the purple, green and yellow. I learned that the purple signifies justice, green signifies faith and yellow signifies power.  I also decided to make the Mardi Gras hats, masks, beads & coins the focal point of the table. I wanted to use the hats, masks, beads and coins because they could double as party favors. These items can also help get your guests into the Mardi Gras spirit. 

Décor: I knew I wanted the Mardi Gras mask to stand out on the table so I chose to put it on a wooden skewer and place it in a square glass container with Mardi Gras coins. I also put some green, purple & yellow beads in plastic champagne glasses. The rest of the beads I scattered around the table. I wanted to make sure there was plenty of light so I placed purple and green tealight candles on the table. I also used some gold glitter votive candles to give the table a little sparkle. Mardi Gras themed paper plates and napkins were also on the table. 

Where I Bought Each Item:

Beads, Hats, Coins, Plates, Napkins, Green & Purple tealight candleholders: 
Party City; www.partycity.com


Mask: 
Party Harty, Westport, CT ; (203) 454-2525


Champagne Flutes: Wegmans, Unbreakable Champagne Flutes; www.wegmans.com

Gold Glitter Votive Candles: 
B&J Florist Supply, NYC; (212)564-6086

Cake Stand: HomeGoods, www.homegoods.com

Square White Plates: Pier 1, Small Rectangle Server; www.pier1.com

Paper On White Plates: http://mambus.deviantart.com/art/Mardi-Gras-Paisley-12x12-Paper-161843990

Menu:

For this menu I chose some classic New Orleans recipes such as New Orleans- Style Chicken, crab cakes and the traditional Mardi Gras King Cake for dessert. Since seafood is very big in New Orleans if you are having a lot of people coming over I would recommend having an oyster bar and would make various oyster dishes such as, Oysters Rockefeller and Oysters Casino. An oyster bar is a fun and special appetizer for your guests. 

New Orleans- Style Chicken Recipe: 
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/New-Orleans-Style-Chicken

Shrimp Creole: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/True-Shrimp-Creole

Crab Cakes: Pre-made from Fresh Market

King Cake:

http://homecooking.about.com/od/cakerecipes/r/blc148.htm (recipe)

http://homecooking.about.com/od/cakerecipes/ss/kingcakesbs.htm (pictures)

* I like how this recipe shows step-by-step pictures, which makes it easy to see how the crescent roll triangles should be positioned on the cookie sheet and then folded over the filling. 

Sandra Lee's Mardi Cocktail: 

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/mardi-gras-cocktail-recipe/index.htm