It’s that time of year! Mardi Gras is next Tuesday, so it was time for our party. We had it a little earlier than usual because of scheduling conflicts with next weekend, but it’s all good in the end.

We had a good lineup of food, but then again, whenever we get together – there is a lot of food LOL!

John made vegetarian red beans and rice (from scratch).

These were very good. I’ll have to have him post the link to the recipe because I don’t know what it was.

Top: Shrimp and grits. Cheese grits topped with shrimp cooked with bacon. From Bobby Flay. This was really good.

Left: Tabasco biscuits (from my sis). Recipe here. Nice and spicy!

Right: Baked chicken with a creole sauce.  I did the chicken and sauce separate in case John wanted some sauce with his meal. Here is the recipe for that.  It’s really good and chock full of veggies.

There was game playing, although I didn’t partake this time because I was finishing up the dessert. Bread pudding.

On one of our first trips to New Orleans, I took a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking. It was a fun class and we got to eat at the end! I loved the bread pudding recipe and it’s the one we always use. You can customize it 10 ways to Sunday with different flavors like chocolate, peanut butter, pineapple, etc. This time, the raisins and coconut were omitted (I don’t think we have ever put in raisins) and it was just the basics. This dessert is so worthy. Hello pound that I lost last week, but I don’t even care  😀

Masks are fun, but they are kind of scary at the same time.

Any favorite cajun/creole dishes you like?

We were luckier with Nemo not to be measuring our snow in multiple feet!  We did have to dig out on Saturday, though.  I know our driveway is somewhere under here.

We got mostly the lighter weight snow up here, so at least shoveling wasn’t the ‘heart attack’ snow.  Now we have a nice clear driveway and John is now pulling snow off the shop roof here.

Kudos to the county for getting the roads cleared fast. They really do a good job and worked all night. The sun came out and it was clean and beautiful.

Cold, though. I spent Saturday working on the bathroom.  I’ll update that progress tomorrow because there were more important things happening on Sunday, like our Mardi Gras Party!  John and I don’t celebrate Lent, but we love celebrating Mardis Gras.  A lot of you know how we love New Orleans. Our secret (or not so) dream is to rent a place there for part of the winter.

We love our family get togethers.  Got out the bead stash.

I put some beads on Pixie and she was less than thrilled (but it serves her right for getting on the table where the beads were – I couldn’t resist!)

John was the pensive reveler today.

On today’s menu?  Meat pies.  These are really supposed to be filled into pastry and deep fried, but I did want to lighten them up a little bit. These are little phyllo cups.

Jambalaya with chicken and andouille, (of course):

We have *so* much of this leftover.  Some was sent home with everyone, but we still have a ton left.  John made a lot :D  I wonder how it freezes?

My sister and family brought red beans and rice.

Delicious!  We did have steamed vegetables, as well as some cheddar biscuits, also made by my sister.

Can’t forget the pralines!

After dinner, it was game time!  We tried Tribond.

That wasn’t  as fun. You are given 3 things and have to figure out the common thread between them.  Really hard!  So – it was time to get out Telestrations.  I gave myself a New Orleans name.

And yes, it must be said with the exclamation point!

I am quite the artiste – my word was “Can of Worms”

This game makes us laugh so much that our faces hurt!

After games – dessert time!  John made up some bananas foster – complete with flambe:

And yes, we do have a fire extinguisher for the kitchen!  This went up really high, too. It was only 1/4 cup of bourbon, which is less than called for. Good thing we didn’t use more.  It was fun to do.

Served over ice cream

It was –10 when we woke up this morning (-23 Celsius). Makes it more appealing to winter down south.

I can’t believe the weekend is over already!

Time for our annual Mardi Gras Party!

We used to hold on Mardi Gras itself, but it is easier on a weekend than a weeknight.  More time to par-tay!

We put the flag out.

I dug out my personal bead collection.

All of this acquired on our various trips to New Orleans.  A couple bought, but most were thrown to me, but I always kept my shirt on 

Can I also just say that I am liking my haircut.  It’s so easy.

Masks arrived!

Dinner was

Chicken Cornbread casserole:

Barbecue Shrimp (served with rice)

Mardi Gras vegetables (courtesy of my sister’s family):

Plus a fruit tray. (courtesy of the parents)

Very, very good!  The shrimp was so good and so easy, too. If the large shrimp weren’t so expensive, I think we would eat this more often.

Jenga and wine – a good combo or not?? You be the judge.

I played guitar some, along with one of the nieces.

Then it was time for dessert! Bread Pudding – White chocolate  chips with rum sauce.  No raisins in our bread pudding because as we say, raisins are *always* optional!

So good!  I love really good bread pudding.  It is never as good in a restaurant as what we make at home with the exception of Red Fish Grille in New Orleans.  Theirs is amazing.

More games:

This game is basically guessing true or false on statements.  It’s just makes it more fun to yell out that it’s crap!

Ladies in masks.  The guys didn’t wear masks (or want to be in pictures, the party poopers).

Even Pixie got into the spirit with the beads.

Okay, she didn’t really like the beads LOL!

Always a good time – and there are still 2 days left to party!