Pinot’s Palette Addison’s Tips To Throwing The Ultimate Mardi Gras Party!
Mardi Gras is traditionally celebrated on “Fat Tuesday,” the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, and is the start of ‘Lent’; In many areas, Mardi Gras has evolved into a week-long festival.
This year, Mardi Gras takes place on Tuesday, February 25th!
Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, we’re here to share some information about this interesting celebration; We’d also like to suggest some ideas for throwing a fabulous Mardi Gras Party for those of you out there who enjoy any reason to celebrate!
Check out these ideas, gather your loved ones together, and have a blast at your Mardi Gras event this February 25th!
MASKS
You can’t have a Mardi Gras party without the star of the show: The Mask!
Check out some ideas for making your own:
*No Sew: No Sew
*Pipe Cleaner Mask: Pipe Cleaner Mask
*Printable Mardi Masks: Printable Mardi Masks
*Lace Masquerade Mask: Lace Masquerade Mask
*Handprint Masks the kids will love: Handprint Masks
***Let your guests decorate a mask when they arrive at your party. This is a great way to get them talking and creating and best of all: everyone will have a mask!
BEADS
Equally as important as the Masks are the beads for the celebration.
*Check out this large package of beads that comes with some temporary tattoos, too! Fun for all of your guests!
Put them on, give them out, wear them loud and proud!
All you need to kick your cake up a notch is a mask topper, which is actually very easy to make! Simply buy a blank mask on your next trip to the craft store, customize it to your liking, and glue skewers to it so it stands up straight.
For such a simple project, it really packs a big punch on your dessert table. Mask Cake Toppers
Mardi Gras Photo Booth Props
No party is complete without a themed photo booth! Get your guests to strike a pose in Mardi Gras party mode with these festive props. Photobooth Decorations
No party is complete without a themed photo booth! Get your guests to strike a pose in Mardi Gras party mode with these festive props. Photobooth Decorations
DECOR
Speaking of Photo Booths, hang up some purple, gold, and green mylar streamers and BOOM! You’ve just created a visually-appealing backdrop for your guests to take memorable photos like you see in the picture on the left.
**These can be found on www.OrientalTrading.com. Click here: Mardi Gras Decorations
*** THE FOOD ***
You and your guests can also have some fun in the kitchen on Mardi Gras. Make traditional Fat Tuesday or Creole cuisines like a king cake or Louisiana jambalaya. Prepare a dish such as spicy seafood gumbo that will take several hours to make but will allow you to spend quality time with your guests. Red beans and rice will serve as a nice side and try pralines as a sweet option.
These cinnamon-frosted cupcakes are delicious and *so* adorbs. This simple recipe will leave all your guests wanting more. Mardi Gras Cupcakes
What better way to serve a large group than with an authentic NOLA slow cooker recipe! Simply add all ingredients, let stew for four hours, and voila — dinner is served! Slow-Cooker Jambalaya
Light and fluffy with a coating of powdered sugar, it doesn’t get much better for desserts that beignets. Take advantage of this traditional New Orleans pastry and whip some up to eat, ASAP!
THE MARDI GRAS KING CAKE
Let’s not forget the ever important and very traditional King Cake made of a rich, brioche dough and a wide array of fillings, such as cinnamon, chocolate, and cream cheese. But the rainbow magic is found in the glaze and sprinkles, which are usually gold, green, and purple. Even the colors of the icing (and royal colors of Mardi Gras) have a deeper meaning. Gold represents power, green is associated with faith, and purple illustrates justice. King cake is baked without a center, like your average Bundt cake, except buried inside the batter is a tiny, plastic baby figurine.*
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE PLASTIC BABY INSIDE THE CAKE?
Well, there are two theories. Some believe the plastic baby is symbolism of Baby Jesus because of the religious connection to King's Day. Others, however, believe the popular New Orleans lore, which suggests that an elaborate cake was served with a bean or ring placed inside during the commemoration of the king's ball in colonial Louisiana. Whoever found the bean or trinket in his or her slice of cake would be crowned the king or queen of the balls leading up to the lavish finale on Mardi Gras.*
Rather than a bean or expensive ring, the plastic effigy is mostly used today as an emblem of good luck. Though as history would have it, the lucky individual who scores the piece of king cake with the baby inside is said to gain favor, and they're also tasked with hosting duties and bringing their own king cake for next year's revelry.*
*Thanks to By Michelle Darrisaw and Southern Living Magazine for the great article!
***FESTIVE DRINKS***
How yummy does this Mardi Gras-rita look? To get the drink’s layered look, use pomegranate, mango, and lime-flavored marg mixes. Yep, it’s as easy as that.
Fat Tuesday is the perfect excuse to try out a Jell-O shot recipe. Cake-flavored vodka gives a king cake taste, making these the perfect Mardi Gras shot. They’ll have your guests feeling like they’re partying on the streets of New Orleans.
This green-and-purple cocktail may be inspired by a super-villain, but it’s the stuff of Mardi Gras DREAMS. The rim is lined with sugar that’s been dyed purple with food coloring, while the drink itself is made with Midori sour, rum, vodka, and simple syrup.
— Check out these 16 Purple, Green, + Yellow cocktails: Mardi Gras Cocktails
***GAMES***
Gold Coin Treasure Hunt
Design three Treasure Chests (cardboard boxes – one painted gold, one green, one purple) and fill them with costume jewelry, play money and candy gold coins. Hide the boxes throughout your party space and write three sets of clever clues (bonus points for rhyming!). Divide your guests into gold, green and purple teams and give each the first of their set of clues. Solving it will lead each team to its next clue and so on. First pair to find their treasure chest wins bragging rights!
Mardi Gras Musical Chairs
This party game isn’t just for elementary school carnivals! Set up chairs (one chair less than the number of players) and play the Mardi Gras tunes (Zydeco and swing bands are excellent choices). Assign someone to start and stop the music and let the crazy fun begin.
Find the Baby (Again)
If you’re serving King Cake, ask the guest who finds the “baby” in his or her slice to hide it in the party room. The hider can encourage party guests with hints of “you’re getting hotter” and “colder, colder!” to lead party guests to finding that baby a second time.
Games need prizes, so reward your winners with fun Mardi Gras trinkets such as gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins; feather boas; gold, green and purple strings of beads; mini bottles of favorite Mardi Gras spirits such as rum (age-appropriate, of course); and costume crowns.
***The History Of Mardi Gras***
It’s a tradition that dates back thousands of years to Pagan celebrations of Spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia.
When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate these popular local traditions into the new faith, an easier task than abolishing them altogether. As a result, the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras season became an introduction to Lent which is the 40 days of fasting and penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.
Along with Christianity, Mardi Gras spread from Rome to other European countries, including France, Germany, Spain and England.
Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means “fat.” In France, the day before Ash Wednesday came to be known as Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday.”
"Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, merrymakers would binge on all the rich, fatty foods—meat, eggs, milk, lard, cheese—that remained in their homes, in anticipation of several weeks of eating only fish and different types of fasting.
The first American Mardi Gras took place on March 3, 1699, when French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville landed near present-day New Orleans, Louisiana. They held a small celebration and dubbed their landing spot Point du Mardi Gras.”
Through the decades that followed, New Orleans and other French settlements began celebrating the holiday with street parties, masked balls, and extraordinary dinners. However, when the Spanish took control of New Orleans, they abolished these rowdy rituals (*the bans remained in force until Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812).
On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students donned colorful costumes and danced through the streets of New Orleans, emulating the revelry they’d observed while visiting Paris. Ten years later, the first recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that continues to this day.
"In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit Mardi Gras procession with marching bands and rolling floats, setting the tone for future public celebrations in the city.
Since then, krewes have remained a fixture of the Carnival scene throughout Louisiana. Other lasting customs include throwing beads and other trinkets, wearing masks, decorating floats and eating King Cake.”
[Note: Detailed quotations taken from History.com]
We hope you have enjoyed this! Be sure to check out our latest class calendar: https://www.pinotspalette.com/addison/events
PINOT'S PALETTE - ADDISON
5290 Belt Line Road, Suite 122B
Addison, TX 75254
469.248.6347
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