Mardi Gras Destination Potluck

Destination Potlucks are back! And we've started with an easy theme/destination: New Orleans. With Mardi Gras in full swing, I decided we would do our own little Mardi Gras party. As a reminder, everyone brings a dish (or more) or beverage, and dress up if they like. We then all eat and learn about our destination. In this case, we learned facts about Mardi Gras.

I hit up my local dollar store and bought a ton of beads (because what is Mardi Gras without beads?) and both decorated with them and handed them out to people. I also picked up masks and boas. 

I also bought some fun street signs and banners, because I really wanted a party vibe. It's not a bead-laden
tree in Nola, but that's okay. I think I did a decent job of doing it on a smaller scale.

You know I don't have destination themes without backdrops. This one was used in our last New Orleans date night, but it gave the best Mardi Gras feel, because of the balconies. This is up high, because I wanted everyone to be able to see it when we were all sitting and milling around. Also, balconies are up high.

I also ordered a Steamboat Natchez backdrop, because the river is one of my favorite things. I pinned it up behind the table. 

I got a lovely green tablecloth, added my streetlamps that I purchased for another DDN, covered them in beads, and then added some foil strands from a curtain I bought and then didn't really use as intended. 

I have taken to skipping paper plates and just purchasing the plastic plates from Target that are just $.50 each. They're pretty great, dishwasher safe, and reusable. I usually buy a dozen or so and that works for smaller parties, but you can also mix-and-match. (Despite this picture, they're actually gray. I also like that they have a lip, so they're easier to hold onto and harder to spill.) I did gold cups and utensils and found these adorable napkins. Now, let's talk about food:

Now, you can't go to Nola and not have a muffuletta sandwich. It's basically, prociutto, salami, mozzarella, provolone, and an olive spread. In order to make this for a crowd, I opted for the pinwheel version with croissant dough. I cheated and bought olive bruschetta spread. With so many heavy foods coming, I wanted a veggie and did this maque choux, a Cajun corn dish.

I'll tell you what: if you have any sort of southern feast and it doesn't include cornbread, did you even eat southern food? Our friend, Linda, brought both spicy and regular cornbread. Yum!

Our friend, Nicole, brought pecan pie (on the right) and these amazing deep-fried Cajun deviled eggs. Our friend, Robyn, brought jambalaya (which you can see at the top). Our friend, Kara, brought gumbo in a crock pot. 

When in New Orleans, you'll find quite a few hot sauce "bars", which are shops that only sell hot sauces, but you can try all of them before you buy. I did a mini hot sauce bar here with 4 popular Louisiana sauces. The Slap Ya Mama gives some really good heat and the Tabasco jalapeno one is my favorite, but pretty mild, so if you can't handle too much spice, this one is for you.

You gotta have some cocktails and other drinks, so I made coffee with chicory, and an alcoholic and non-alcoholic batch of mint juleps. To add to the party atmosphere, I bought these flashing drink cubes, which are liquid activated. Everyone thought they were super fun.

It's traditional that King Cake is served for Mardi Gras. It's a basic yeasty cinnamon cake, which can be kind of bland, so I made mini ones with cinnamon rolls and then used colored sugar to make them festive. 

 

As always, you gotta have a baby inside your cake. The person who finds it in their slice (or, in this case, mini cake) will have luck and prosperity for the coming year and they pass it on the next year by throwing the next party and/or baking the next cake. You can also use a coin or a bean. Just make sure your guests know it's a possibility, so they aren't surprised.

Obviously, we had to get in the spirit of things. I purchased shirts for myself and Eric, and also head boppers from the dollar store. Even though I didn't get any photos, our friends also did a bit of dressing up for the theme with Mardi Gras colors. 

I like people to learn things when they come to our house. I printed out some fun facts about Mardi Gras food, history, and parades and pinned them up around the kitchen and living room. We'll be trying to do a trivia game for our next one to see if that works even better. 

I love to start the party before people even come inside. Swamp tours are prevalent in Louisiana and we saw alligators on them, but also just out while driving through the state. I got this great inflatable gator and added a caution sign near him and beaded up my front bench. You can see a daytime shot that I did with the dog on my Instagram.

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I hope this helps you to throw a fun Mardi Gras party in the future or gives you inspiration for a different destination potluck. This is a fun way to travel without traveling and include all your friends as well. You can trade off whose house you meet at and come up with cool games in order to learn more about your destination, play some thematic music and/or make a YouTube playlist to play in the background.

How do you celebrate Mardi Gras?

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Apps to Celebrate and Support the Black Community

I don't know about you, but I try to support and learn about local businesses in my home city and wherever I travel. I want small businesses to succeed and in particular Black-, Asian-, and women-owned businesses are at the top of that list. At home, I frequent 2 Asian-owned coffee shops quite a lot, not just because they have stellar coffee, though that doesn't hurt. 

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

For Black History Month, let's talk about the apps that can help you find Black businesses, learn more about Black History, and celebrate Black culture:

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

EatOkra

This app features Black-owned restaurants and eateries. It's how we've found amazing places to eat near home and also close to accommodations when we've traveled. It's not exhaustive, but it's pretty good and worth the space it occupies on my phone.

Photo by Ben Ostrower on Unsplash

Adventurely

The app that helps travelers connect with others to share experiences while out in the world. While you can use it to find others who want to do the same tours or museums as you, there is a whole section called Global Black Diaspora History and Culture collection that allows you to learn more Black History on your travels and share those experiences with others who are also traveling at the same time.

Photo by Ricardo Resende on Unsplash

Babbel

If you're hoping to travel to other countries to learn history and culture, you may want to learn the language spoken there. Limited to some of the most spoken languages in the world, Babbel can help you prepare for your trip. For example, there are lots of countries with large Black communities that speak Portuguese as a the official language. Just a few of these are Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde.

Photo by Adam Kring on Unsplash

More Than a Mapp

Wherever you go, you can find points of interest and historical markers for Black history. Set you location in the app and then you can use the interactive map to point you to important places and then learn about what makes them significant through words, links, photos, and videos.

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

HopStop

This app, by Chinedu Echeruo, a Black innovator, helps you navigate transit by using GPS and real-time data, allowing users to get where they need to go on time on public transportation. Save your favorite trips for future use, get train schedules, and estimated taxi fares. It is available for over 600 cities around the world, though you can get travel advisories if you live in New York City.

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

Black History Quiz

Got some time to spare? Test your knowledge and expand what you've already learned through quizzes. You can't move on until you get the correct answer, so you can easily learn what you don't know. What a great way to "waste" time.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

The Root

Support Black writers by exploring the day's news in all genres, but also listen to podcasts, watch slideshows and more, right from your phone, all by prominent Black journalists that may give you a new perspective of current stories.

Photo by Trevor Vannoy on Unsplash

Honorable Mentions: National Parks App

While this app doesn't explicitly give you Black and African American historical information, the National Parks have been preserving Black history and stories for visitors. With over 400 parks, each having a rich backstory featuring Black culture and notable points in history, you can get outside and also learn more about this country's past with elevated multi-generational Black stories. Learn more on their website.

The podcast Fanti

Not an app, but part of an app you probably already have on your phone to listen to other podcasts you love. Fanti is a pop-culture podcast run by Black hosts who talk about fandom and other relevant topics that they enjoy, but effect the Black community and fans in an entirely different way than it's white audience (i.e. when you love the art, but the artist is problematic, or vice versa). The episodes are great for downloading and listening on long plane/train/car rides.

I hope some of these will help you travel more easily, plus educate yourself while having fun traveling. I know that they can really be a great addition to trips and help you fill in time with something educational, important, fun, or tasty.

Share your favorite travel apps with us. Bonus points if they are Black-created or celebrate Black culture.

Learning Black History Through Travel

I learn things better when I'm immersed in them, especially history. Some of the best things I've learned were through tours and museums while on vacation. If there is a museum where I can learn more about Black History, I will try to make it there, whether it's traditional history or art, I find it's important for soaking up more culture. One of the best, and most heartbreaking, museums I've visited was the tiny Museum of Slavery in Nassau, Bahamas. If you feel as if your education was woefully lacking in Black History (hint: it was), then here are 10 cities in the U.S. to visit:

You can read as many books as you want, and I highly encourage you to, as well as talk to your Black friends, but never turn down a chance to learn more history about oppressed and marginalized people. It gets you one step closer to becoming a more accepting and well-rounded individual who can empathize with those that have a different life than you. What are some of your favorite spots for Black culture/history?