Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let the good times roll! Happy Mardi Gras everybody! It is Fat Tuesday, and it’s the last time to live it up large before you make the sacrifice of Lent. Of course, that really only applies if you’re catholic and practice it. I’m not one of those people…but I’m also one that is always looking for a good excuse to have a great time and a great party. Unfortunately New Orleans is a good bit away, and the crowds are a little unbearable. Universal Orlando will be having it’s annual festival celebrating the day for the next few months, but that does us no good on Tuesday, does it? So here are a few ideas to bring the party home!
Some of the main ingredients in a good Mardi Gras party is of course, the drinks, the food, and the music. So here’s a run down of some of our favorites that you can make at home.
Drinks
The signature drink of the Big Easy is The Hurricane. You can’t go anywhere without one, and if you try to go with one, you usually end up on your face…or in some cases with your pants around your ankles in front of a bar full of people…but we won’t go into that!
Traditional Hurricane Recipe:
(Courtesy of Foodnetwork)
- 12 ounces light rum
- 12 ounces dark rum
- 10 ounces grenadine, or passion fruit syrup
- 10 ounces fresh orange juice
- 10 ounces sour mix, or fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons superfine sugar, or more to taste
- 1 large orange, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
Mix all the ingredients in a tall pitcher or large pot and stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour into a punch bowl and add the ice cubes and orange segments. Serve in tall glasses over ice with straws.
Of course not everyone can enjoy the rum soaked goodness of a Hurricane…so here’s the non-alcoholic version:
- 3 oz orange juice
- 3 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz sweet-and-sour mix
- 1/2 oz grenadine
In Hurricane glass or tall glass, pour juices over ice.
Top with grenadine syrup.
Garnish with fresh pineapple and orange slices.
Food
So many ways to go here, so let’s go with a traditional dish of Jambalaya. Jambalaya can have pretty much any kind of meat, from chicken, sausage, fish, shrimp…you name it, it can go serve as your meat. Traditionally, it’s made with shrimp and sausage
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 8 ounces kielbasa, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups uncooked white rice
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
King Cake
This is a must have for all Mardi Gras parties. At parties people stuff coins, beads and a baby (plastic) into the cake. The tradition says that whoever gets the baby makes the next King Cake and hosts next year’s Mardi Gras…it’s pointless at our house since I always do the cooking and everything anyway. I use a simple recipe that uses canned cinnamon rolls.
- 2 cans Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls
- cream cheese
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp confectioners sugar
- 3 separated 1/2 cups of sugar
- red, blue, green and yellow food coloring
- Rockin Dopsie Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters-Feet Don’t Fail Me Now
- Buckwheat Zydeco-Ma Tit Fille
- Jo-El Sonnier: Jambalaya
- Fats Domino-Mardi Gras in New Orleans
