How To Throw A Themed Tea Party: A BREAKING BAD PARTY

This blog contains a theme of an adult nature - So as not to offend! 

Before you read this "How To" guide, I want you to get into the mood, check out my Spotify account with my very own "Breaking Bad" playlist to get you in the right mindset. 

What is "Breaking Bad" I hear you ask? 

It's a TV series about a Chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal cancer, so he quits his job (in awesome style I might add!) and decides to team up with an unlikely partner in an ex student (a low life who will surprise you as a viewer, without giving away too much!) to cook up Crystal Meth (yep, this isn't my normal afternoon tea ramblings, no apologies provided, I like to get my geek on from time to time!) which will support his family financially once he pops his clogs - That pretty much sums the story line up without spoiling it!

Of course, along the way, he gets into all sorts of japes and bants with drug lords, his family, police and even a local fried chicken restaurant owner. I can't tell you any more than this, you have to get addicted to this like we did to find out more - it's sheer brilliance. 

Yes, I truly get THIS geeky when I plot a themed event, the music has to set the scene... ; ) 

I spent hours on Google looking for food ideas for a "Breaking Bad" themed party for a birthday party a few months ago and it took a lot of very geeky research to realise that there
were so many food ideas, both for a "TV Party" with friends, but also as a tea party, so I was in my element planing & plotting a secret themed party for this evening. 

This was to rival all parties and I don't usually enter into "Themed" parties for family, but this 
was at the time that we were well on our way to finishing our Season 4 Box Set of the hit TV Show "Breaking Bad" - So it seemed right! 

And he LOVED it just as much as I loved plotting it. 

I dreamt this menu up purely for the love of our fave Series --- If you love "Dexter" or "Sons of Anarchy" then you will love this show!... I have my lovely colleagues at the time to thank for getting me into this as it was driving me crazy wondering what on EARTH they were waffling about over my head every Monday morning (It didn't take me long to realise just how fab this series actually is!), yes boys, you know who you are ; ) 

Even Edible (Sweet) Crystal Meth was lovingly made for this unique Party!  Simply made from crushed up Fox's Glacier Mints, using a rolling pin and a zip lock bag and a teaspoon of liquid blue food dye... no pansying about making coloured sugar blocks, it's very simple ... and minty fresh too hehe. It looked just as good as some other homemade *Edible* Crystal Meth that I had found recipes for online, so British readers, take note ; )  

So. 

How to throw a Breaking Bad themed tea party. 

These are simply my thoughts on how to do this... but make it work for you and more importantly, have fun with it! 

Once you have your music on, guests are invited and you have a stress on to get creative, start with the basics. 

What food can you bring from the show to your table? 

My first brain wave was "Heisenburgers"...

Minced Steak, mixed with salt, pepper and made into tennis ball shaped burgers, cooked on 
the Lean, Mean Grill to drain the fat. I served these with seeded rolls and a stake through the burger with a "Heisenburg" cartoon sign on them for comical effect. 
They were easy and great fun on the table!

Los Pollos Hermanos Fried Chicken...

I made my fave Chicken Goujon recipe, served with ketchup as well as making up a sweet chilli dip with mayo & sweet chilli sauce, placing the dip in cute little baby food containers to bring in the "baby" element of the show to my table. 
I labelled up my chicken bags with the "Los Pollos Hermanos" logo and just dreamt that Gus himself was there serving us, a girl can dream!

I also had Cheesy Puffs (couldn't get Cheetos in my local supermarket!) on the table for nibbles, in honour of Jesse's fave snack!
Without being in the US, I also couldn't get hold of Funyons, so these were the next best treat! I guess the next best thing would be normal Onion Rings in the UK... 

As well as cooking up my own edible Crystal Meth, which I placed in little pyrex beakers as an ode to Walt and his crazy lab, I surrounded it with "Breaking Bad" style paraphernalia such as yellow gloves, Hector's bell and a pink teddy bear. I tried to blowtorch the bear to get the desired effect (again, watch the series ; p ) but it didn't work this time! 

I told you... unless you have watched this show, none of this will make much sense!
Although I hope you enjoy this all the same hehe. 

In fact, I love this website where you ring Hector's Bell virtually 
- Even more geeky than me! Give it a go... 

Drinks were various coloured vodka shots, poured into test tubes for my lab-esque table. 
No "Breaking Bad" party is complete without a bevvie or two, so we toasted the birthday celebrations in true BB style. 
(You could even use this as a fun BB drinking game, should the mood take you!) 

If hosting your own "Breaking Bad" themed party, why not ask your guests to dress up in their fave get up, be it Walt, Jesse, Walt Junior, Skyler, Hank, Gus, Marie, Saul, Mike or any of the other awesome characters, you will be sure to chuckle amongst yourself if 
you go the whole hog - boiler suit an' all! 
This would be about one of the only parties that you could tip up in a pair of white pants, a scruffy shirt and a fake pistol in hand... It's perfectly acceptable here ; ) 

Ricin Lights...

As decoration for this table, there needed to be a few odes to this series, one of which was a pack of faux smokes with a picture of walt and a nod to Ricin. 

Yep, I did warn you there were some dark and adult themes to this blog post... I promise no smoker was harmed in the enjoyment of these treats ; ) 

- they were simply fake candy smokes from the sweet aisle in Morrisons... I didn't have time to make up some fake ciggies, but a russian roulette game would be fab here 

( NB - make the one off a chilli chocolate filling, not a toxic one, please note!) 

I'd also added my vintage till to the table, as a nod to the superb resignation scene in the car wash... I couldn't resist! 

The Fly...

I couldn't resist adding the fly to the table. Walt becomes obsessed with one in an episode during season 3 and I won't ruin it for you, but I had to make a cake with flies adorning it, as no party is fit for purpose without cake... naturally. 
I made a vanilla & caramel layer cake with sugar paste flies to sit on the buttercream swirls on the very top of the cake, it got the right geeky laughs, so it worked well, hurrah. 
This, washed down with a cup of strong coffee after our meal was the perfect way to end the party, snoozing around the table as we did - the old timers that we are!

The sunset over Cambridge on this evening was also one to rival any sunset seen in the Mexican Desert!... It couldn't have made for a more perfect setting for the event, it's rare to see a sight so beautiful in this region, so what a treat in itself.       

Other Suggestions...

I had originally wanted to host this as a *Civilised* afternoon tea, however it didn't work time wise on this occasion. 

If I were to do this again in the future, I would include Jam and peanut butter sandwich, crusts off - It wouldn't be an afternoon tea without them!

Perhaps even a pancake stack for breakfast, Walt Junior wouldn't have a birthday treat any other way! 

Or how about purple cupcakes as a tip of the hat to Marie, the purple-loving, tiara stealing sister in law - she's my fave BB woman! 

  
I also love the fact that Aaron Paul (Jesse) and Bryan Cranston (Walt) are notorious for going a bit crazy when it comes to the wrap parties at the end of filming each series... they have been known as dressing up as each other, as well as other characters, such as Skyler and Jane (their better halves throughout the series) on one occasion - I just love this and can imagine people throwing their own parties and going just as weird in their dress sense - if you do, send me pictures haha, would love to see them!

Are you a big fan of "Breaking Bad" too? 

- Do share your own BB party ideas in a comment below!

Miss Sue Flay

PS - You can see my full Facebook Photo Album for this event here. 


If you enjoyed this how to guide, why not take a look at my other party ideas?: 

How to host a "Tarantino" inspired tea party - Click here. 

How to host a "Jubilee" themed tea party - Click here. 

How to make the perfect cucumber sandwich - Click here. 

How to make the perfect egg mayo & cress sandwich - Click here. 

The not so glamourous side of being an Afternoon Tea Hostess - Click here.