Need suggestions to go for a "New Orleans" themed graduation party
 

For my son's high school graduation party, we've come up with a New Orleans French Quarter theme for the food, because he plays the saxophone in jazz band, and he's taken French for 4 years.

So, any suggestions for things that would work well for an open house buffet? I have some ideas, but I'd love to hear suggestions!

ETA: Pardon the typo in the the title...the food isn't "to go"!

Beignets for dessert! You could do a King cake with a mini grad cap inside, too.

One can never go wrong with a crawfish boil.

If you are trying for a French Quarter theme, food try muffaletta, poor boy sandwich, snow balls,(they are like snow cones, but much better). If you are ambitious try gumbo. Red beans and rice is an option. Look up the menus from Antoine's Jazz Brunch, Tujaque's and /or Dooky Chase's for ideas.

Gumbo and jambalaya! Little muffalettas!

Mardi Gras beads in green, purple, and gold.

Dirty rice. Rice and beans.

Since it's a high school party, Virgin Hurricanes:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/virgin-hurricanes
(maybe also real Hurricanes for the adults if you have someone trustworthy minding the bar)

You should also cook up some 'Lil Smokies and tell everyone they are alligator sausage.

Candy from Laura's https://www.laurascandies.com/
cake from Haydel's Bakery https://www.haydelbakery.com/site.php

LOL..my son LOVES alligator, so he'd know the difference. ;)

These are all great ideas!

Pralines? Those may need to be purchased unless you have a lot of experience making candy.

I am a New Orleanian. If you want pralines, Southerncandymakers.com. We don't really do king cake outside of Mardi Gras. It's just. NOT. done.

For an authentic New Orleans party, you would have seafood. But, it can be hard to have a crawfish boil outside of Louisiana. Texas doesn't do them right, even though they will say they do. I speak the truth. You can do shrimp and boil them in Zatarain's spice mix. Add lemons.

Red Beans and Rice, but you serve them in separate dishes, they aren't mixed until people make their plates. Also, gumbo. But, if you can't make a roux then you should get it from gumboshop.com.

Zapp's potato chips. 1-800-hotchip

You must have either tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce on the table for people to add to their beans and gumbo as they wish.

French bread.

Popeyes chicken and biscuits.

Mufalettas are good. If you can make them minis use a little slider sized bun but it has to be an Italian bread not a hamburger bun. Get your olive salad from centralgrocerynola.com

Smoothie king started in NOLA, so I always recommend smoothies at a party for kids.

Hope his helps!

Cajun Grocery- http://www.cajungrocer.com you can order all kinds of authentic food including live crawfish-- I agree with whoever said can't go wrong with a crawfish boil :-) (and congrats to you and your son!)

Jambalaya is one of my specialties, so I'll probably make a big crock pot full. You all have some great suggestions.

A shrimp boil would probably be easier to arrange than a crawfish boil, and shrimp would be easier to eat at a open house type setting. My mouth is watering just thinking of either one!

Love the beignets idea...I had that in mind already.

Trying to decide if the Hurricane mix will work in the beverage dispensers I bought for our daughter's graduation party...might have to go pulp free.

No suggestions, just a Congrats! Where is he going to college?

Red Beans & Rice are my dead favorite, with jambalaya coming in almost neck to neck. But you have to have po'boysl

I second this.

For a fun and interesting party game, you could have people flash for beads.

Or perhaps not.

Where I teach. ;) His choice, which is good.

Yes! on the Southern Candymakers. Though pralines are very easy to make.

First batch - in the trash. Second batch - fending off husband and son from eating too many before the party tomorrow!

Final menu:

Muffaletta salad (Emeril Lagasse recipe -- delicious)
Jambalaya
Johnsonville "New Orleans" andouille sausage brats on the grill
Grapes and watermelon
Pralines
Beignets
Decorated SHEETCAKE
Virgin Hurricanes/with rum for the grown ups

And just to keep things interesting, we lost power last night when a bad storm came through. Turned on the generator this morning...it worked fine for 6-7 hours. While seemingly still running fine, no power is coming to the house. Power company estimates restoration at 4 pm tomorrow. Party starts at 6. At 3:30 today, it came back on and there was much rejoicing. An hour went by, and it just went out again....

Oh no! Here's hoping it comes back sooner rather than later!

It's back on! I hate to jinx it, but I think we're good...fingers crossed!

THe power loss made it more like NOLA!

Good point!

Thanks to all for your suggestions! The virgin hurricanes were a big hit (as was the spiked variety). The muffaletta salad was also very popular, with several recipe requests.

Odd coincidence -- we had a house corp board meeting today, and the president of our Loyola-New Orleans chapter stopped by the house to meet the members and get a tour (the house stays open for the first summer term for sisters taking classes). She's on campus for an ODK conference. She was quite excited to hear about the party I'd had the night before! And, I'll see her again at Convention next week!