Planning a Mardi Gras Party for 2020

I’m going to base this off of what went well last year, and make some changes to the menu for the things that didn’t go so well. You can see last year’s Mardi Gras party menu here. The gumbo and red beans were a smash hit. So, same amount of gumbo, and add red beans with sausage, as well as the vegan red beans. The muffulettas didn’t get eaten, so I’m not going to have them. The King cake was a hit, so I’m going to have two of those. While the coleslaw was eaten, the red cabbage dyed the green cabbage, so I didn’t get that nice mix of Mardi Gras colors I was going for. I’m going to try a different salad this time. I’m also going to come up with some nibbles. Shrimp cocktails are always a hit, so they’ll be nice nibbles. I love deviled eggs, and it is sooo nice that they’ve become popular again. The eggs are so easy to make in the Instant Pot, it should be a snap to make enough eggs.

Sites I referenced.

Things to Buy

Groceries

Costco List

Shrimp medium size
Chicken thighs
Big bell peppers
Small bell peppers
Celery
Broccoli
Salad greens
Onions
Garlic
Long grain rice
Eggs
Unsalted butter
Cream cheese?
Sour cream?
Red beans?
Pecans

Grocery List

King Arthur Bread Flour
Sugar
Green, purple, and yellow sugar
Purple cabbage
Parsley
Okra
Cocktail sauce?
Zatarain’s Crab and Shrimp Boil

Penzeys Spices

Cinnamon
Bay leaves

Edward’s Meats

Andouille (If we don’t make it ourselves. If we make it ourselves, then there will be a different grocery list.)

Italian Deli – Deli Italia

French Bread – need to pre-order to make sure they will have enough

Decorations

I have the decorations I bought last year, so I’m going to reuse the hanging decorations, maybe with command strips this time. I do need some things.

Mardi Gras table cloth
Baby for King Cake
Crepe streamer in Marci Gras color

Recipes

Mardi Gras Salad from Chefs menu site
My own gumbo
My own red beans and rice
Deviled eggs, maybe two kinds?
King Cakes from Southern Living

Timeline

Make grocery list and figure out how much to buy based on head count
February 18 – (Tuesday) – Do a head count of people coming
February 19 – (Wednesday) – Put in an order for French Bread
February 21 – (Friday) – Put up decorations
February 22 -(Saturday)
- Buy all groceries except French Bread
- Leave butter out for King Cakes and making garlic butter
February 23 (Sunday)
- Take cream cheese out of fridge (8:00 AM)
- Make boiled eggs in Instant Pot (Start at 8:00 AM)
- Make garlic butter (Start at 8:20 AM)
- Make King Cakes (Start at 9:00 AM )
  - Gather ingredients (done by 9:10 AM)
  - Mix ingredients (done 9:30 AM)
  - Let rise for an hour (done by 10:30 AM)
  - Make cream cheese filling (done by 10:30 AM)
  - Punch dough down and divide in half (10:35 AM)
  - Shape dough (done 10: 50 AM)
  - Let dough rise 30 minutes (done 11:10 AM)
  - Make icing
  - Turn on oven (11:00 AM)
  - Bake 14 to 16 minutes (done by 11:30 AM)
  - Cool King Cakes 10 minutes (done by 11: 40 AM)
  - Ice cakes, decorate with colored sugar (done by 12:00 PM)
  - Let cool completely (Several hours, doesn’t impact timeline now)
- Make dip for veggie tray (9:30 AM)
- Make gumbos and red beans (Start at 12:00 PM)
  - Start roux in oven for gumbos (Finished at 1:35 PM)
  - Clean peppers for all gumbos and red beans once roux in oven
  - Chop peppers, onions and celery for food processor for all gumbos and red beans
  - Chop peppers, onions and celery in food processor in batches for gumbos and red beans (done at 12:45 PM)
  - Mince garlic
  - Devin shrimp
  - For gumbo, start cooking mirepoix at 1:35, when the roux is ready
  - Gumbos should be finished by 3:00 PM
Make red beans (Start at 12:45 PM)
- Start cooking the mirepoix
- Should be finished by 2:00 PM
February 24 (Monday)
- Make boiled shrimp
- Cut veggies for tray
February 25 (Tuesday)
- Buy French Bread (1:00 PM)
- Take King Cakes out to warm up to room temp (3:00 PM)
- Heat up gumbo and red beans (4:00 PM)
- Make Rice in Instant Pot (4:10 PM)
- Make deviled eggs from boiled eggs (4:15 PM)
- Make salad (4:30 PM)
- Set up veggie tray (4:45 PM)
- Make garlic bread and plain toasted bread (5:00 PM)
- Set food on table (5:15 PM)
- Guest arrive at 5:30 PM – Party Time!