Bring the flavor of New Orleans to your home on Fat Tuesday with these party plans.
It's
easy to turn your house into a family-friendly French Quarter for Mardi
Gras with a few decorations and most importantly, some Cajun cuisine.
Traditionally, Mardi Gras is a three-day celebration prior to Ash
Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The final day of Mardi Gras is known
as Fat Tuesday. It serves as the last big chance to "live it up" before
forty days of fasting.
Here are a few ideas to make your party the hit of the season:
- Send out paper masks as invitations to a masquerade ball. In New
Orleans, invitations, not tickets, are distributed for attendance at
Carnival balls during Mardi Gras season.
- Use bright colors and shiny flatware for your table or buffet. The
official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. Lay aluminum
doubloons or shiny chocolate coins around your table interspersed with
sparkly, colorful beads and masks.
- Bring the party to Bourbon Street by setting the mood with a little
Zydeco, Cajun or Jazz music. Bands like the Funky Meters, Buckwheat
Zydeco or Preservation Hall Jazz Band are sure to set the tone.
- Pass out feathered masks or inexpensive paper masks and beads to
guests as they arrive at your party, then ask the guests to add their
names to an elaborate Mardi Gras-themed hat. Crown a king or a queen
for the day by picking names out of the hat, then have the king and
queen wear the hat for the rest of the party.
- Bake your own King Cake—a ring of twisted pastry or bread topped
with purple and green frosting or colored sugar that contains a plastic
doll hidden inside. The person who finds the doll is supposed to have
good luck for the year and is crowned the "King of the Feast." To make
your own King Cake, try adding colored frosting to our Swedish Tea Ring, Cinnamon-Swirl Coffee Ring, Cinnamon Pecan Ring or Cherry-Nut Tea Ring or use one of these recipes from TasteOfHome.com readers.
- Have children follow a parade route through the house conga
line-style. Give them colorful beads and doubloons to throw to the
adults at the party, or vice-versa.
- Read more at Taste of Home
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