Mardi Gras food ideas

[Mom21]

My dd's bday is March 4. I plan on having a little party (just me, her and my sister) where I will give her the gifts. I am taking her mid-March to Universal--please don't shoot me as it was her request. She doesn't know we are going but we are going while Mardi Gras is still going on. I know it will be past mardi gras but I want to have a dinner that revolves around that. She doesn't like pork. I know there are some special cakes but I don't have time to make one of those, so what else can I make that will be Mardi Gras themmed?

Thanks. Any other ideas for those that know about M.G.? We really know nothing and even at 15 she likely won't "get it", but I at least want to try. I want to tie it in with the hotel reservations at Universal's RPR and her AP I will be getting her. Also, she wants to go because of the Harry Potter thing. She isn't really in to H.P but still wants to see it and ride the rides. We went when they were still building it. Rest of time mean mama made her go to Disney.....LOL. So any ideas? I am not set on mardi gras theme and it will be small but I want to make it fun and give her clues to see how long it takes her to figure it out. When I was married to her father I used to send them on treasure hunts. I thought that might be an idea.

Anyway as you can see I don't have a clue what to do to surprise her. She knows I can't really afford much but my mom and dad are buying her AP and good deal on hotel so I can swing it.

 

[erincon23]

Shrimp or crawfish etoufee, red beans and rice -- for both of these, I think you can buy Zatarain's brand in the grocery store. The cakes you're talking about are King cakes -- they have a little figure (is it a crown or a baby, I can't remember,think it's a crown) -- if you want to do this, you could just make cupcakes and put a little plastic figure in it (honestly, I'd put it on a little chain that you've cleaned well and let hang out from the cake so nobody swallows it or breaks a tooth). You can get a beignet mix at some grocery stores -- kind of like a donut. You could make po'boy sandwiches --- I'm sure you can find a recipe online (they don't seem too tough from what I remember -- fried shrimp on a bun with some other stuff). Maybe you could find some big Hurricane glasses at a dollar store and make a non-alcoholic drink (I can hear y'all say what's the point?). And make sure you have BEADS and BEADS and BEADS!!!! (those are plentiful at party stores).

ETA -- sorry, I forgot to add the rest of it -- we've done Universal's Mardi Gras twice now, the most recent in '09. They set up food stalls and sell all kinds of stuff -- bbq, sandwiches,etc., in addition to the regular restaurants. Then there's a big lighted float parade, which I really enjoy, and they throw beads from the floats. Suggestion for where to stand -- there's a '50s themed restaurant -- we stood near that, and got there early -- I got the place while DH went to get us food from the food stands -- and that turned out to be a really good location. Have fun!

 

[leebee]

Mardi Gras is a carnival, so think that way. Official colors are purple, green, and gold. Our Dollar Tree is full of Mardi Gras stuff, but you definitely want to get her some beads- they are a BIG part of MG. In New Orleans, beads are thrown off the floats into the crowds, and people wear dozens of strings at a time. (There are also "long beads", usually pearl, that "women" in the crowd will lift their shirts for, but we won't go there). You might also want to consider getting some masks that just cover the eyes, although in NO these masks would be decorated with feathers and glitter... search online for ideas, and you might even be able to order some from oriental trading (we buy them in NO for $3 and up).

Foods... look in your grocery store for Zatarain's mixes. YOu could make black beans and rice, or red beans and rice, and have some kind of sausage or kielbasa with them; in NO it'd be andouille, a specific kind of sausage. Zatarain's also makes jambalaya mix, maybe a gumbo mix? Lots of stuff, and if it calls for pork, just substitute chicken and/or shrimp. You'll be authentic. You could also look up recipes for gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, etc. Some of these are pretty easy, just take some time. Another biggie is barbecued shrimp. Now, in NO these would be whole shrimp, right in the shells, or crawfish, but you could just as easily do it with frozen shrimp in the shells. Check a recipe online... basically you just cook the shrimp in hot sauce (not a sweetened BBQ sauce) and butter.

Beignets are a NO treat. They are basically deep-fried lumps of dough that are heavily dusted with confectioners sugar. They are yummy. Shouldn't be too hard to find a recipe, or if you have a fry-baby (or daddy) you could do this with refrigerator biscuits, cut into quarters. I can hear the true beignet lovers crying out in protest, but this would give you the idea without having to make a yeast dough.

The big Mardi Gras "dessert" is King Cake, which is more of a sweet-cheese filled yeast bread than a cake, frosted with confectioner's sugar glaze and sprinkled with purple, green, and yellow sugars. You could maybe find a cheese danish or cheese turnover, and add the glaze (which is actually dribbled over and not frosted) and sugars. There's always a coin or plastic baby doll (< one inch long) hidden in a king cake; the tradition is this brings good luck for whoever gets the piece with the baby (and this person also has to buy next year's king cake!). You can order authentic king cakes online from a variety of places in New Orleans.

Bananas Foster is another big NO dessert, although not specific to Mardi Gras. Basically it's sliced bananas, simmered in a sauce of brown sugar, butter, and rum, served over vanilla ice cream. It's easy to do, but traditionally the sauce is flamed to allow the rum to burn off and then the flaming sauce is spooned over the ice cream. Another NO dessert would be bread pudding with a vanilla or caramel sauce.

"Real" cajun or creole cooking is wonderful, creative, and time-consuming sometimes, and far more interesting than what's outlined above. However, these are foods that people think of when the think of New Orleans, and could be made at home without too much effort or fuss. Look around on the internet, see what you can find, think about how to adapt them to your cooking style and schedule. GOod luck... and remember Mardi Gras is all about decadent FUN before the long haul of lent!

ETA: apparently erincon and I were typing at the same time!

 

[rnorwo1]

Beignets are a NO treat. They are basically deep-fried lumps of dough that are heavily dusted with confectioners sugar. They are yummy. Shouldn't be too hard to find a recipe, or if you have a fry-baby (or daddy) you could do this with refrigerator biscuits, cut into quarters. I can hear the true beignet lovers crying out in protest, but this would give you the idea without having to make a yeast dough.

The big Mardi Gras "dessert" is King Cake, which is more of a sweet-cheese filled yeast bread than a cake, frosted with confectioner's sugar glaze and sprinkled with purple, green, and yellow sugars. You could maybe find a cheese danish or cheese turnover, and add the glaze (which is actually dribbled over and not frosted) and sugars. There's always a coin or plastic baby doll (< one inch long) hidden in a king cake; the tradition is this brings good luck for whoever gets the piece with the baby (and this person also has to buy next year's king cake!). You can order authentic king cakes online from a variety of places in New Orleans.

I've lived in LA my entire life (except while attending undergrad in PA, which made me appreciate the heat in LA ) There's the typical NO mardi gras and there's the traditional ones that the smaller Acadian ("cajun") towns do, which involves people costuming-up and riding horses all over begging for ingredients to make gumbo, which results in chicken chases and such... all sorts of stuff that you wouldn't want to do, lol! The pp's have given you the basics of the NO mardi gras though... Mardi gras colors, costumes, king cakes and the beads.

There's really not a food that is special to Mardi Gras other than the king cake, but we tend to always have the same types of food for all parties/festivals/games, etc.... and the pp's also mentioned those: jambalaya, red beans and rice, gumbo, po-boys with any fried seafood, muffalettas (an amazing sandwich with all sorts of meats, cheeses and the signature marinated olive dressing ), boudin, boudin balls... I personally detest those boxed mixes, especially when you could make any of those things easily (except for gumbo and boudin, maybe).

King cake is actually much more like a cinnamon roll than a cheese danish... the traditional ones just have a cinnamon filling, but you can get them with other fillings like fruit and cream cheese, pralines (another LA staple), chocolate, etc... There is a baby (baby Jesus) in it and tradition is that who ever gets the piece with the baby has to buy the next king cake...the next day, not next year... and that's how we end up eating king cake for the entire season! You can order one to be shipped to you, I can give you some recommendations on bakeries if you'd like, but you can also make a copy cat recipe using various refrigerated doughs... I've never done that, but I'm sure it would be good enough if you wanted to do that. The cupcake idea is good also, just to have something similar... sorry but to me, it's not mardi gras without king cake, so I would definitely do something like that along those lines.

And those biscuit treats sound yummy, but more like the "donuts" you get at chinese buffets, nothing like beignets. There are beignet mixes in the grocery stores where you can just add water to a mix and fry them, they're actually pretty decent for a mix.

I think if you want to be authentic, the most important thing to remember is that anything goes and have fun! So do mardi gras anyway you want to!

 

[Deb & Bill]

My dd's bday is March 4. I plan on having a little party (just me, her and my sister) where I will give her the gifts. I am taking her mid-March to Universal--please don't shoot me as it was her request. She doesn't know we are going but we are going while Mardi Gras is still going on. I know it will be past mardi gras but I want to have a dinner that revolves around that. ....

They are still celebrating Mardi Gras in March??? It's over on Feb 21. There is no partying during Lent.

 

[rnorwo1]

OP, I just re-read your post and better understand what you're wanting. So definitely keep it simple... any sort of cake (a bundt cake will kind of have the shape of a king cake), decorate with the green, purple, and gold icing or sugars, maybe you can put something in it (Just shove it in somewhere and then cover with icing) with a note that has a Harry Potter clue or something. Or it can say "Gimme something mister!" which is the battle cry for getting beads at parades, and then you and your sister can throw beads to her. Or something like "Wizarding World of Harry Potter or bust" which is also something you see all the time on floats, cars, etc...

Something we always do with the kids in classes is have them decorate their own floats using shoe boxes.... so wrap the shoe box and lid in a solid paper, either color it or glue on other decorations in mardi gras colors, put some little figurines on top, etc.... then inside the box you can put the other goodies or clues you want to give her. If you want to do a traditional meal, I would get the jambalaya mix and put chicken in it, it's very inexpensive.

Have fun, we went to WWoHP over thanksgiving and loved it!

 

[MichelleinMaine]

FYI if you have a Trader Joes, they carry andouille. (Our grocery store does too, but TJ's is chicken and less grea.)

Jambalya's pretty easy to make- google for a recipe, but pretty much sauteing veggies and chicken/Andoille sausage. Add broth, spices, and rice and cook til rice is done. Yum!

We all though King Cake looking like a big O shaped cinnamon roll with green/yellow/purple sprinkles. Cinnamon roll with a plastic baby (they sell those at Michaels/etc in the cake decorating section- certainly big enough no one is going to swallow w/o knowing it ) would give the right idea.

 

[Deb & Bill]

OP, I just re-read your post and better understand what you're wanting. So definitely keep it simple... any sort of cake (a bundt cake will kind of have the shape of a king cake), ...

A bundt cake is as much a king cake as an angel food cake. It's a circular cake, yeast dough. Not like a bundt cake at all.

 

[lc1965]

Fun idea!

Do you have a Whole Foods by you? They make a perfectly acceptable King Cake & it evens comes with a baby, but you have to shove in the baby yourself. Don't know if you can get it as late as that, though. My friend once bought an Entenmann's coffee ring cake & put green, gold & purple sugar on it. He bought a baby from the baby shower section of the dollar store. It was good enough!

Gumbo, jambalaya & red beans & rice are so very easy to make & forgiving if you've never made them before.

NOLA is also famous for pralines.

If you want to fake a beignet, you can always buy fat zeppoles from your local pizza joint & cover them w/ powdered sugar. Serve with chicory coffee. You can get Cafe du Monde coffee almost anywhere now, but I prefer Community Coffee.

Absinthe, Sazerac & Hurricanes are always good for the grups. The Times-Picayune has a wonderful recipe section you might want to check out.

And, of course, you'll want to have masks, tacky beads (the tackier the better!), lots of green, gold & purple & a fleur de lys or two or ten. Visit your local dollar store while the Mardi Gras merchandise is plentiful. It will all make sense.

Oh, now you're started me on NOLA. I think I'll make grits for breakfast!

Have a great time.

 

[Mom21]

You guys are awesome. I would like the name of those bakeries if those that offered, rnorwol, don't mind. I think I have our menu almost set now. Thank you all so much.

 

[cajunmommy]

Here are a few bakeries that we love...
Randazzo's https://www.randazzokingcake.com/categories/King-Cakes
Rouse's Supermarket http://shop.rouses.com/s-8-king-cakes.aspx
Haydel's http://www.haydelbakery.com/kingcakes/kingcakes_main.asp

Even though Mardi Gras officially ends at midnight Feb 21st with the start of Lent, these bakeries will sell & ship king cake packages out of season.

Oh, and it's "Throw me somethin, mister!" or "Hey Mardi Gras!" - NO lifting of shirts required!

 

[Maddies Mama]

Mardi Gras is hands down my favorite time of year. I'm on the MS Gulf Coast and our tradition here is moon pies - they are not my cup of tea, but if you like them, get a pack of them. That's what's thrown off the floats here. Don't think they do that in the LA parades.

Do yourself a favor and splurge for a Paul's king cake. I will never pay for a king cake anywhere else ever again except maybe Haydel's that another poster mentioned above because I hear they are the best in NOLA. Paul's is simply THE BEST in all of South MS and they ship year round. http://paulspastry.com/index.php/products/king-cakes/

 

[rnorwo1]

A bundt cake is as much a king cake as an angel food cake. It's a circular cake, yeast dough. Not like a bundt cake at all.

Those were almost my words exactly, it's a similar shape. As you can see from my first post, I'm born and raised in LA and am quite familiar with all of the traditions, and have consumed more king cakes than I care to discuss. But OP said she didn't have time to bake a king cake and it may be too expensive to have one shipped. I think all she's wanting to do is to have a party to give her daughter clues about the Universal surprises, so my point was just do anything with the colors and general ideas, if time and money are real factors.

OP, cajunmommy gave you some good ideas for bakeries. Two others in the baton rouge area that have good ones also and who ship are Ralph's (ralgphsag.com) and Baums Bakery (baumspastries.com). Many people will talk about gambinos bakery, but stay away from them... I have had many very dry king cakes from them.

Oh, and I second that Whole Foods has a pretty decent one too, and that would be much more affordable than having one shipped... not quite as good as these, but still decent given how much you'll save. They may make one specially for you since it'll be after mardi gras.
Lots of luck and have fun with it!

 

[lc1965]

our tradition here is moon pies ... That's what's thrown off the floats here.

I LOVE this. Do they throw the minis as well? I'm from NYC originally & moon pies are not easy to get there, but when I moved to FL, they're everywere in every conceivable flavor.

I also vote for Rouse's, but shipping can be pricey.

I hope you have a great time planning & throwing this party. It sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[NotUrsula]

Holly Clegg has created an easy "cheater" version of a King Cake that is very good, here is the recipe: http://www.hollyclegg.com/printable.cfm?id=722 (It uses canned crescent rolls instead of traditional brioche dough.) That one has cream cheese and cinnamon streusel filling, but you can use a different filling if you prefer, or just triple up on the streusel to be more traditional. If you can't find a baby you can use a raw dried bean instead.

Another "traditional" food is Cowboy Cookies; oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, sometimes with pecans. They are known in Louisiana as Cowboy Cookies because people bring them along to give them to children to keep them happy while waiting for the parade to start. (The first thing you see in any parade are the "cowboys" -- a mounted unit carrying the state and US flags.)

Many families picnic while waiting for parades (because it is necessary to get there early to get a good spot in many cases), and IME, the most traditional food for that is takeout fried chicken and rice dressing.

So, some Popeyes' and a king cake, and you have yourself a traditional Mardi Gras meal.

PS: No, no moon pies in Louisiana Mardi Gras parades; nothing edible, actually except perhaps some hard candy at suburban parades. The only parade where you will get food is the Hibernians St. Pat's parade in NOLA; it's traditional to throw cabbages, potatoes and onions, though I've heard that the Moon Pies have begun to turn up in that one on occasion. Standard Mardi Gras parade throws in Louisiana are beads, aluminum commemorative doubloons, commemorative drink cups (the lenticular kind are particularly prized), small stuffed animals or balls, and the occasional plastic toy, such as the plastic swords my kids caught last year.

FWIW, "flashing" for beads is a recent thing that has only turned up in the past 20 years or so, and most locals do NOT do it -- float riders who have a crude sense of humor will try to get tourists to do it. (I've had a few taunt me to do it, and I've universally found that refusing tends to gets you a better throw. My favorite response is, "You know your Momma would slap you for that, right?")