Make sure you have festive feathered masks to pass out to your guests as they arrive. These will especially come in handy for those who elect not to come in costume.

Choosing The King & Queen

The Mardi Gras King & Queen will be selected by the eating of King's Cake. If you want to be authentic, you can perform a search on the Internet, for "King's Cake", and several reputable bakeries, will come up that will supply you with the cake in time for your party. However, there will only be one trinket in the King's cake I believe, but that can be easily verified. Or you can do something simple. What we're going to do here, is buy a package of refrigerated biscuits. Cut each biscuit in half, so that you have a half biscuit for each male and one for each female who will be in attendance. In two of the half biscuits, bury a raspberry or blueberry well inside the dough, making sure that the dough is not stained. Place a berried biscuits with each set of divided biscuits. Now, you may simply bake them according to directions, or deep fry them until golden brown and dust with powdered sugar. Remember to keep the biscuits separate, so that you have a set for males and a set for females, each set containing one berried biscuit. The male and female who gets the berried biscuit, will be your King & Queen! Crowns for them can be easily obtained at your local party goods store. With the election of the King & Queen out of the way, the party is ready to begin...and my doesn't the table look beautiful!

~The Table~

Jambalaya

There are several variations of Jambalaya. The more popular versions contain seafood and crawfish. I am finding it remarkable, how many people do not eat fish. So to be on the safe side we’re preparing a meaty jambalaya, based on a tasty recipe from the House of Prudhomme. This is an easy to prepare, delicious, one pot meal , that can be prepared the day before. Modifications for this recipe will appear next to ingredients in parenthesis.

1 T. vegetable oil

1 ½ lbs. ground beef (ground turkey may be substituted)

¾ lb. andouille smoked sausage or smoked Polish kielbasa sausage (turkey kielbasa may be substituted)

1 T. salt

1 tsp. Ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)

¾ tsp. Black pepper

2 C. chopped green bell peppers

1 C. chopped celery

1 C. scallions (green part only)

½ C. chopped packed fresh parsley

1 T. minced garlic

1 16 oz. can crushed tomatoes

7 Cups of coarsely chopped cabbage

4 ¾ C. beef broth

2 Cups uncooked rice (preferably converted).

Place the oil in a heavy, heated 6 quart sauce pot or Dutch oven. Add the beef, and over high heat, break the meat up into small chunks. Add the sausage and cook until the ground beef is browned, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally and continuing to break up the meat chunks. Stir in the salt, red and black peppers and continue cooking for about 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, onions, celery, green onions, parsley and garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes while stirring. Add the tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes. Now add the cabbage and do not stir. Cover pan and cook about 25 minutes, stirring only occasionally after mixture on the bottom of the pan has browned and then scraping the pan bottom well. Stir in 1 ½ cups of the stock, deglazing the pan bottom until all browned sediment is dissolved. Cook uncovered about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally from the bottom. Add another cup and ½ of the stock, stirring from the bottom, add remaining 1 ¾ cups of stock and add the rice, stirring well. Cover pan, reduce heat to very low, and cook about 25 minutes. Check occasionally, to make sure mixture isn’t scorching. Remove pan from heat and let it stand, covered for about 25 minutes, until rice is tender , but a bit crunchy.

Cajun Chicken Fingers

3 lbs. chicken cutlets, cut into 1 inch wide strips

Seasoned egg wash:

2 large eggs

3 T. evaporated milk

½ tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Ground red pepper (optional)

Seasoned Flour

1 ½ C. all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Black pepper

¾ tsp. Ground red cayenne pepper (optional)

Peanut oil for frying

Combine flour ingredients and place in a quart sized zip lock bag. Combine egg wash ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork. Begin to dredge chicken strips through egg wash and then put in the flour bag to coat well. Allow strips to sit in flour for 15 minutes. In a skillet, heat oil, 1 ¼ inch deep, to 350 degree. Shake excess flour from chicken strips and fry until golden brown. Serve with a honey Dijon mustard on the side for dipping.

Mixed Greens

I am unable to get fresh greens all year round in my area, so frozen will have to suffice.

2 boxes collard greens

2 boxes mustard greens

2 boxes turnip greens

2 smoked turkey wings

1 small yellow onion chopped

1 T. peanut oil

In a 4 quart sauce pot, sauté chopped onion in the peanut oil. Add turkey wings, and the 6 boxes of greens and cover with water. Let simmer for a few hours, until the meat falls off the bone. The turkey will add the flavor that ham or bacon would provide, only minus the fat and cholesterol.

Cornbread, Sausage & Jalapeno dressing:

1 package breakfast sausage meat

1 sweet pear, diced

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped

3 packages of Thomas Corn Toasters or 12 corn muffins

Crumble and brown the sausage in a skillet, remove meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the same skillet, saute the pear, celery, onion and peppers. In a roasting pan, crumble the corn muffins and add the sausage and sauteed vegetables. Mix well. Recipe may be made well in advance, up to this point. Bake covered for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees and then uncovered for 5 minutes.
There are some very good meatless or turkey sausages that can be substituted with this recipe

Pecan Pie

After all that work...order from your local bakery! :o)

It's fun to have your guests vote for the best costumes. Have 2 prizes on hand...one for a male and one for a female. Potpourri, candles, a bottle of wine, a paperback book, anything of this sort will make an apprecitated reward and recognition for someone's efforts.

So untill the next party...

To The Wine Cellar

Back to the Entertainment Center

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