1st Birthday on the Farm

Recently we celebrated my son's first birthday with a party on our relative's cattle farm. I made some delicious barnyard cupcakes. The cows and chicks were vanilla cake with white icing and the pigs were strawberry. You can get the full recipe from the Disney Family Fun website.


These super cute animal balloons were bought at the Joy Shoppe in Commerce, Georgia. We had a whole farm of chickens, ducks, cows, dogs, horses, and pigs! All of the children took them home as favors.


I bought these cute animal plates at the grocery store. Silverware was stowed in pots for plants.


I tried to keep the menu farm-y so we had: bunny food (carrots and peppers with dip), fresh fruit, deviled eggs, moo-tastic meatballs, chips and fresh salsa, chickpea hummus, farm animal cupcakes, and I meant to also do pigs in a blanket but just didn't get around to it!


I made little tags for the food out of scrapbook paper.


I made a coordinating banner out of scrapbook paper, string, and die-cut letters. Thank goodness for being a teacher and having the die-cut machine handy!


When it came time for the birthday boy to blow out the candles, I took off his cute birthday shirt so it wouldn't get cake on it. The little girl in the red dress exclaimed, "The baby is getting naked!"


We gave him plain strawberry cupcake (no candy on top) and he was like, "What the heck is this?" He hadn't really had any sweets up to that point.


"Mommy it may taste funny to me, but it's fun to smash up!"


My two favorite guys in the whole world!




Everyone wanted some lovin' from the birthday boy!

Circus Baby Shower

This weekend I helped throw a baby shower for my dear friend Julia. It was a circus themed shower using her nursery room colors: red and light blue. The party was held at the church where Julia is a children's pastor. Aren't the decorations cool? (Thanks to my co-hosts Shannon and Amanda). They were inspired by some of the links above.

Amanda made these cute little circus tags for all the food with circus stickers.

Strawberry, Nutella, and Vanilla cupcakes with animals on top.

These are so easy and yummy to make: cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and a little balsamic vinaigrette on top right before the party.

The pretty pregnant lady: Julia Goolia!

Our craft activity was to have everyone make a quilt square for a crib quilt. I cut flannel into 8x8 inch squares and the ladies traced stencils and die-cuts into shapes on fleece. Then they pinned them to their quilt square.

A few finished squares. I'll post the finished quilt when it is done.

Guacamole, Artichoke dip, Italian Skewers

Fruit salad, cupcakes, cookies, lemon blueberry trifle

To make the Lemon Blueberry Trifle:
For the lemon mixture: Mix two 3.4 oz boxes lemon Jello pudding powder with 2 1/2 cups milk and three 6 oz. containers lemon yogurt
Layer 1 inch cubes of angel food cake, then lemon mixture, then blueberries. Repeat two more times. Top with Cool Whip and blueberries.


Tissue paper flowers

The guests filled out wish cards for the baby.



I just love this silly lady and can't wait to meet her baby!

Orange Jello Salad

There aren't very many times when I'm cooking that I feel the urge to lick the bowl clean. But when I'm making Orange Jello Salad, it's definitely one of those times. I don't know whether it's the tangy orange or the fluffy marshmallows or the creamy cool whip, but I can't get enough of the stuff. It is one of those recipes I always asked my Mom to make for me for my birthday as a kid. Then one day I realized that it is so easy to make, I could do it for myself!

Maybe you'd like to whip up some of your own fluffy goodness.

Orange Jello Salad:

6 oz. pkg. Orange Jello powder
16 oz. carton of reduced fat sour cream
8 oz. carton of lite Cool Whip
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 small can crushed pineapple (squeezed out)

Mix Cool Whip, sour cream, and jello powder. Add fruit and marshmallows. Mix and pour into dish. Refridgerate overnight. Makes about 8 servings.

Granola Bars

I came across this recipe for Do It Yourself Granola Bars and decided to try it out this week with my friend. It was really easy to make, wholesome, and very tasty. The only thing I would change about it is they were a little crumbly so next time I would add more honey and almond butter to make them stick together. You can find the recipe here. We made two different kinds. In one kind we put mini chocolate chips and dried cherries. In the other we put assorted dried fruits. Yum. Yum.

Tutorial: Food Face Plates

Here is another great idea from At Second Street. She drew family member's faces on ceramic plates with Pebeo Porcelaine paint pens and baked them in the oven as directed on the package. When they were complete, she dressed them up in some yummy food. Looks like a great gift idea for kids!

Allie's Wedding Shower

My little sister, Allie, had her first wedding shower this weekend (that's me on the bottom left and Allie is next to me). The food was SOOOO YUMMY, especially these lemon cookies that my Aunt Kathy and cousins made.

Here is the Lemon Cookie recipe if you want to try it yourself:

Cookie-

2 c. butter blended with 2/3 c. powdered sugar until soft
Add in 2 c. flour and 1 1/3 c. cornstarch.
Mix well. Drop by small dab after forming in hand. Place on ungreased cookie sheet one inch apart. May need to flour hands while rolling them. Bake 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Icing-
6 T. butter

1 box powdered sugar

Lemon Juice (about 2 T.)- I actually use at least double what this recipe says. I like it tart and creamy!

Carrot Cake Muffins

I am in love with my new cookbook called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld's wife). The book is chock full of recipes that teach you how to hide pureed fruits and vegetables in everyday foods. It's great for families with picky kids (or picky husbands!)

I made these carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting this morning and my husband and I have been chowing down on them. They actually have cauliflower puree, carrot puree, chopped apricots, chopped prunes, and orange juice in them (among other things)... and they are actually really good!

The book also has some other great recipes that I've tried from mac and cheese (butternut squash puree), french toast (pumpkin puree), meatball soup (carrot and sweet potato puree), peanut butter and jelly muffins (carrot puree), and chicken nuggets (spinach puree). This is the first cookbook I've ever had where I think I might actually try all the recipes.