Mardi Gras Tea Party

Even though it is a bit late, I finally got to have my Mardi Gras tea party!

Because of snow I had to push it back, but I'm so glad that ya'll can finally join me!  I thought I would start with a bit of background.  Mardi Gras  has its origins in the last large meal before the start of the Lenten season (thus the name Fat Tuesday in English).  This year it was on February 17.  In the U.S., when we hear Mardi Gras, we immediately think of New Orleans.  So join me on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter

for a Carnival celebration!

  

So here is a touch of New Orleans in my dining room, down to the green, gold, and purple theme of this table, the official colors of a New Orleans celebration, carnival masks, and lots of beads! 

Purple stands for justice, gold for power, and green for faith. 

A Mardi Gras would not be complete without some Cajun/creole goodies and good old fashioned southern cooking, so there is a special themed meal for this tea.

(jambalaya) 

(cornbread, chicken creole bites, and shrimp canapés with a bit of a Cajun flare)

(bananas foster scones with clotted cream)

(king cake and assorted lindt chocolates  on my great grandmother's footed depression glass cake plate)

King cake (sometimes known as three kings cake after the three magi that visited the baby Jesus) is the traditional dessert of a New Orleans Mardi Gras.  This dessert is typically a large sweet cinnamon filled bread in the shape of a circle that is iced and covered in colored sugar (green, gold, and purple of course!). 



In a traditional king cake, a baby is hidden inside the cake granting whomever finds it luck.  I want all my tea guests to have luck though, so I have placed a baby on top of each individual mini-king cake!  I also couldn't resist serving these frogs with their gold crowns.

And of course I've skipped the tea part of the party.  I placed my pansy teapot on my teacart so I could serve tea along with a pitcher of water (some of the food is a bit spicy!).  I have a black tea called Carnival, so I knew it would be the perfect fit! 



I also have a few additional decorations sitting around including these two masks purchased in New Orleans by my father a few years ago:

And here is a closer picture of my chandelier, which was also decorated in gold, purple, and green:





Now just a bit about the dishes for this tea.  Aside from the teapot, this tea is served entirely on glass, most of it inherited.  The gold dishes are elegant glass that belonged to my great-grandmother on my Dad's side (Thanks Jill @ Woodberry Lane for suggesting they are elegant glass!).  Elegant glass is higher-end depression era glass that was sold in department stores and jewelry stores.  The green bowls with jambalaya belonged to my grandmother and the green depression glass cake dish was my great grandmother's (this time on my mom's side).  The two tiered gold glass tray I found in an antique store and I have no idea what it is.  The plate I served scones on I found in a thrift store.  It is a reproduction of the Federal Madrid pattern issued in 1976 to celebrate the bicentennial.  It's pretty much the same color as the elegant glass and is a perfect serving plate to go with this set.   Finally the bowl for the clotted cream is Federal Patrician depression glass that I found in an antique mall.

Later this week I will be posting recipes and ideas from this tea.  I hope you can check back in!



Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Letting the good times roll at these tea parties this week:

Tea Cup Tuesday ~ http://www.marthasfavorites.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea~ http://www.antiquesandteacups.info/

Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea 

Rose Chintz Cottage's Tea time Tuesday and
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Updates:
Savories for a Mardi Gras tea
Bananas Foster scones recipe