"Super" Dip

I think parties are the perfect platform to try out a new recipe, especially if there are a.) lots of people and b.) lots of people you don't know.  I have found that when you are with a new crowd you can get a more honest representation of their thoughts on your recipe contribution.

Ghoulishly Good

 

It’s almost that time…Halloween!  Mike and I just came up with our costumes last night, which are creative, but I think pretty funny.  After searching for pregnant couples costumes endlessly, and discovering that there weren’t any really, really good ones (there are a couple that were ok) Mike came up with our final decision and I’m pretty excited about it.

As for our party plans?  I think we are headed to a house party at our friend Lynn’s house and I can’t wait to take some of these ghoulishly good snacks.  Don’t be afraid to be festive and have fun!

You can access all of these recipes by clicking on the picture or the caption…and good news, if you just Google Halloween Party Food, there are tons more online!

 

Mummy Dogs

 

Cheesy Fingers

 

Nutter Butter Ghosts

 

Glow in the Dark Concoction

 

Apple Teeth

 

Eyeball Snacks

 

Used Band-Aid Cookies

 

Brain Cupcakes

 

Veggie Pumpkin

 

Bloody Punch

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…

 

IT’S A BOY!

 

Howdy!

I just wanted to share a few snippets from our gender reveal party that we had with my first grade class last Friday.  Although it was fun, it was still educational – even parties can have a curriculum.

Check it out!

This party was a blast and took a bit of planning, but I think it was all worth it.  I tried to incorporate some “learning while partying” and the kids didn’t even seem to notice!

 

• Subject Area:  Social Studies/Current Events

We started the day before by discussing the upcoming election, and what it means to vote.  The kids learned about the election process and all the big words associated with voting (candidates, precinct, opinion, tallying, majority, etc.).

 

 

We set up our own precinct and they got to cast their vote for either boy or girl.  My students were so serious about it and really took their voting rights to heart – it was precious!  I told them that the next day (the day of the party) we would have a visit from the Supervisor of Elections (Mike) to officially count our votes and sign off on our class decision.

 

 

 

• Subject Area:  Art

Kids love using their creativity and contributing to the decorations, so along with our voting the day before the party, each child was in charge of cutting out and decorating their own onesie to contribute to our “clothesline” garland.  Before starting we brainstormed what types of items might be found on baby clothing and then I set them free. 

 

 

 

They turned out so cute!

 

On the day of the party, we actually had four different “stations” set up to help with crowd control and keeping the kids interested in the task at hand.

 

• Subject Area:  English/Grammar

The first station, manned by my room mom (who came wearing her support of “Team Blue”) was all about pronouns.

 

 

This idea (found on Pinterest) used Hershey’s candy bars, which hooked the kids right away, with the idea being to have the kids fill in the letters (using colored Sharpies) to form the pronouns he or she, depending on which gender they thought the baby was.

 

 

**hint – if you are planning to do this with a large group of kids, be sure to put a sticker on the back with their name (before starting), that makes it easy to pass them out at the end of the party!

 

We made a “bar” graph to highlight the results (pun intended).

 

• Subject Area – Language Arts

Visual Discrimination/Matching

The third station involved many language arts skills.  This station was called “Name the Baby” and was one of the favorites. 

 

A few weeks before the party I asked for all the parents to send in baby pictures of their children.  I put them all on a foam board (including one of me and one of Mike) in random order and then numbered them.

 

 

The instructions were to match the number on the baby picture to the name of the student on the list.  I thought this would be a quick and fun activity, but it actually took much longer than anticipated…the kids took this SO SERIOUSLY and were very deliberate with their choices.

 

 

 

I think it helped that they got to use clipboards – they felt like real detectives figuring out a mystery.  So cute!

After they were finished, while waiting at their seats to either go to the next station or start decorating cupcakes, they had a baby word search to work on (don’t look at the misspelled word “botttle”…type-o by the teacher!  Oops!). 

 

Word searches are not only very educational, using visual discrimination and search/find tactics, but the kids enjoy them and treat it like a game.  It’s a win/win!

Another station in our Language Arts subject area was one of my personal favorites – the Name Suggestion Box!  Each child was asked to think of one girl name and one boy name to put in the suggestion box.  I thought they would just put their own names, but that wasn’t the case – there was a lot of thought put into it!

 

 

Although there were some really goods ones, these were my favorites…

 

 

it’s a good thing we’re not having twin girls, Peaches and Peppermint would make pretty cute names, lol!

 

After finishing all of the stations and leading up to the actual reveal, it was time to eat.  Thank goodness I have awesome parents that came to volunteer (they couldn’t wait to find out either) and donated not only their time, but also the food.

 

 

We feasted on cheese sticks (protein), strawberries (team girl) and blueberries (team boy).  Each child also got to decorate a plain cupcake with the icing color of choice (pink or blue).

 

 

Sprinkles were in baby bottles with the top of the nipple cut off for easy shaking.

 

 

After all of the cupcakes were decorated, Mike showed up to help tally the votes (Math) and sign off on the election results (Social Studies). The boys took the vote 16-13.

 

 

Then it was time for the actual reveal.  I don’t have any pictures of this part (it happened so fast), but I know many of the parents who were there captured the moment, so I will try to get some to share.  One mom even took a video!!!

Anyway, here’s the synopsis:

Everyone was so excited and I was a bit nervous to reveal the answer even though it wasn’t a surprise to me!  To reveal the gender, we each held a cupcake (Mike with blue and me with pink) in our hands and told the kids whomever bites into their cupcake was the “winner”.

The kids were on pins and needles and gave us to the count of 3.  With a little trickery going back and forth between the two of us, he acted like he was going to take a bite of mine and then, he took a huge bite out of his blue cupcake. The kids went crazy and some of the parents even had tears!

It was so awesome to share it with so many special children and parents and I’m so relived I can finally say “he” out loud.  It was torture keeping the secret!!!

 

 

Here’s to all things boy!!!

Goin’ to the Chapel

It seems like there have been so many things to celebrate lately! 

Yesterday we celebrated my co-worker Kristana's upcoming nuptials with a shabby chic/vintage inspired bridal shower.  This shower had been rescheduled two times previously and luckily the third time was a charm. 

Check out the fun decor and yummy recipes below:





First of all, I love glitter and loved the way these poofy dresses turned out.  They were originally part of a garland, but I loved the way they looked standing with the other centerpiece items.

By lightly "painting" on some glue sprinkling with glitter you can add a bit of pizazz to any table centerpiece.

Ball jars with fresh flowers tied with fabric sat atop fun and colorful place mats for a spring inspired look.  Sweet trail mix and advice cards also adorned the tables.

 

Although the bride was registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and received a few registry items (it's always fun to open gifts), our main focus was the "money tree".  My co-workers did this for me when we were getting married and it was a HUGE help! 

The tree had everything from cash to gift cards and even honeymoon excursion donations (they are registered at http://www.honeyfund.com/).





The gift table was topped with candlesticks (personal ones from home) holding up a fabric garland made by yours truly.  I have seen similar garlands on Etsy.com and have always wanted to make one and I'm so glad I did!

It was SO EASY and turned out to be very festive!  I cut strips of fabric to the desired length and just started tying them onto a long strip of grosgrain ribbon and then attached both ends to the candlesticks.  The garland can be as full or spread out as you want.  Play around with it and have fun!






As for the food, that was pretty yummy as well.  My contributions were two new versions of old favorites that were super easy and could be made ahead.  Score.

Mexican Chicken Roll Ups

and

Banana Bread Tea Sandwiches with Pineapple Walnut

Cream Cheese

Mexican Chicken Roll Ups

Print this recipe!

1 10 oz canned chicken, drained or 1 1/2 C cooked, shredded chicken
1 can Ro-tel mild diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
2  8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
2 tsp taco seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
6 large flour tortillas


In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, drained tomatoes, cheese, taco seasoning, garlic salt, and scallions. Mix together until well-incorporated. Add chicken and stir together.
Lay out tortillas and divide mixture evenly in the center of each. Spread into a thin layer leaving the edges clean. Roll each tortilla tightly. Do not fold in the ends like you would with a burrito but leave them free.

Use a sharp knife to cut into 1" thick slices and transfer to a serving platter. (The end pieces will likely unroll a little so just eat the extras). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.


Banana Bread Tea Sandwiches
with Pineapple Walnut Cream Cheese

Print this recipe!

For the banana bread, just prepare your favorite version as indicated on the recipe and let cool.  Cut into thin slices and form an assembly line.

For the cream cheese spread:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can crushed pineapple

1 tsp brown sugar
2 to 3 tbsp. chopped walnuts

Blend together and chill. (If you wish a smoother spread, add a little pineapple juice.)

Spread cream cheese mixture onto the banana bread slices and top with dried cherries (if desired).  Top with another piece of banana bread and cut in half or into thirds for bite size sandwiches.  Refrigerate until needed.  Best if served at room temperature.

Next time I might even try to add a bit of fruit preserves or jelly as another layer of flavor.

A happy day for a happy lady! 

Congrats Kristana!

Giddy Up!

 

I love weeknight parties!  Especially weeknight parties with flannel and cowboy boots.

This past Thursday we headed over to our friends, Kamrin and John’s house, to celebrate their son’s first birthday.

Here’s the recap…yeehaw!

 

 

We were there to celebrate this guy (see below).  Palmer was turning 1 that day and was so excited about his cowboy themed party.

 

 

His nickname is Duke, and Kam ended up creating a spectacular dude ranch just for him.

 

 

His sister, Keltin, is my Goddaughter and my favorite 3 year old around!  She was definitely in party mode with her hat and bandana and ready to celebrate.

 

 

Luckily the rain stayed away and the outdoor details stayed in place. The weather was quite “touch and go” for a bit before the party started. 

There were bandanas for everyone, chalk board tables, bubbles for the kids and even a game of horseshoes.

 

 

Everything was so festive!

 

 

I was asked by Kamrin to prepare and cater the food for the event.  I, of course, said yes and was so honored that she asked.  This was the first official catering gig since the whole “Grocery Lane” idea popped in my head and I was so excited.

I would have been at the party anyway, but loved playing an integral part in making it extra special for the birthday boy.

 

 

 

The cowboy-esque menu was both kid and adult friendly and featured the following items:

• BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders
• Napa Salad (the favorite)
• Potato Salad
• Watermelon
• Tater Tots
• Carrots w/ Ranch Dip
• Corn Bread Muffins
• Collard Greens (courtesy of Winter Park Urban Farm)

Kamrin’s husband and our friend, John, is the founder of the Winter Park Harvest Festival, Winter Park Urban Farm and is the owner of East End Market (coming soon).  The farm is actually located on the side yard of their house and is filled with delicious homegrown veggies.  To learn more about this local foodie movement and for more information check out www.alocalfolkus.com and follow @johnrife on Twitter.

 

 

After dinner, it was cake smashing time for Duke.  He had no clue the fun that was about to happen!

 

Smash-o-rama!

 

 

He wasn’t quite so sure about the whole thing at the beginning, but after a little support from his big sis, he dug in and ended up eating almost the whole (very large) cupcake!

 

 

 

 

Apparently something better was happening on the side that peaked the interest of K and P. This was the best family pic we could get, but still precious even without everybody looking.

 

After Palmer finished his dessert, the rest of the kiddos were treated to ice cream sandwiches in the shapes of cowboy hats, boots and sheriff stars.

The chocolate chip cookie base with cookie dough ice cream was a hit.  They were gobbled up and gave a nice reprieve from the humid temps.

 

 

Although the adults were a bit jealous of the ice cream sandwiches, they weren’t left out.  Homemade banana pudding was on the menu for the “big” kids.

This textural and just sweet enough dessert definitely hit the spot and made for a great ending to a really fun night.

 

 

After dessert, there was just enough time for a little bit more “coloring”, baby clean-up and ghost tours before it was bedtime for the little ones.

 

 

The party favors were the last treat of the night.

The goodie bags, which consisted of s’mores making materials, were labeled and adorned with the cutest lantern stamps.  They were almost as cute as all of the little bitties at the party.

 

 

After the kids left, it was our turn to have a little fun with the party trinkets as well. 

Can you say, “Stache-o-licious”?

 

By the end of the night we were all pooped, especially Murphy, but it was worth it.  The party was a huge success with lots of love, laughing and really yummy food. 

 

The resident party “animal”:  Murphy.  Can you say done?

 

Happy 1st Birthday Palmer Duke!