In our family, there are many springtime birthdays. It is a great time of year to celebrate because everyone is feeling refreshed. Each year I try to make these days full of fun, leaving special memories.
At our most recent party, a group of parents got talking about how difficult it is to come up with new and simple ideas for children’s special days. The result is this party column.
Check out some easy food ideas from “It’s celebration time” at www.kraftcanada.com/birthday. This website includes sensational recipes for birthdays, weddings, graduations and more. Read on and enjoy.
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Sweet fruit dip
4 ounces cream cheese, 125 g
softened
1 cup cranberry sauce 250 mL
1 cup whipping cream or 250 mL
whipped topping
Beat cream cheese and cranberry sauce with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping; cover. Refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to serve. Serve with strawberries, red and green grapes, pineapple or kiwi, cut into bite-sized pieces for dipping.
Veggies and dip
1 cup ranch dressing 250 mL
6 cups cut-up fresh vegetables, carrot
sticks, sugar snap peas 1.5 L
Pour two tablespoons (30 mL) of the dressing into each of eight plastic or glass cups. Place 3/4 cup (175 mL) of the vegetable sticks in each cup. Serve.
Club quesadillas
8 slices precooked bacon
8 slices turkey breast
4 large (10 inch/25 cm) flour tortillas 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup chopped lettuce 250 mL
1/2 cup shredded cheddar 125 mL
cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise 60 mL
Spread one tablespoon (15 mL) mayonnaise on each tortilla. Place two slices of each bacon and turkey on top of each. Top evenly with tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. Fold tortillas in half. Cook each quesadilla in a large skillet on medium heat two minutes on each side or until crisp and golden brown on both sides. Cut into wedges. Serves four.
Pizza calzones
1 can (235 g) refrigerated crescent
dinner rolls
16 slices pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella 250 mL
cheese
1/3 cup pizza or 75 mL
spaghetti sauce
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Unroll crescent dough; separate into four rectangles. Place on lightly floured surface; press perforations together to seal. Roll out each piece of dough into a rectangle with rolling pin.
Arrange four pepperoni slices on each dough rectangle, leaving a half inch (one cm) border around all sides. Mix mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce; spread evenly over pepperoni. Fold each rectangle in half; seal edges with fork. Place on baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool five minutes. Serves four.
Variation: Prepare as directed, substituting eight slices shaved smoked turkey breast for the pepperoni and cream cheese spread for the pizza sauce. Add 1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded carrots to the filling.
And of course … the cake
As far back as my flickering memory goes, I always had an angel food cake for my birthday. Angel food cakes are versatile and look lovely when presented at a table.
Mile high topping
1 box (15 oz.) frozen 425 g
strawberries, thawed
1 cup sugar 250 mL
1 tablespoon lemon juice 15 mL
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
2 egg whites, unbeaten
Combine and beat together until very stiff (about 15 minutes). Set aside.
1/2 cup whipped cream 125 mL
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
Whip cream with vanilla. Fold into berry mixture. Drizzle over cake and garnish with fresh berries, if desired.
Lemon topping
2 packages lemon pie 113 g each
filling (not instant)
2 cups whipping cream 500 mL
2 cups fresh strawberries 500 mL
or raspberries
Prepare lemon pie filling according to package, but use only 11/4 cups (310 mL) water per package. Cover and let cool to room temperature. Whip cream until very thick and stir a large spoonful of cream into pie filling to lighten. Fold in remaining cream. Drizzle over the cake and garnish with fresh berries.
Black Forest cupcakes
1 package (two-layer size) chocolate
cake mix
8 ounces cream cheese, 250 g
softened
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar 30 mL
1 can (19 oz.) cherry pie 540 mL
filling, divided
11/2 cups whipped cream 375 mL
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Prepare cake batter as directed on package. Mix cream cheese, egg and sugar until well blended.
Remove 3/4 cup (175 mL) of the cherry pie filling for garnish; set aside. Spoon two tablespoons (30 mL) cake batter into each of 24 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Top each with one tablespoon (15 mL) each of cream cheese mixture and remaining cherry pie filling. Cover evenly with remaining cake batter.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centres comes out clean. Cool five minutes; remove from pan to wire racks. Cool completely. Top with whipped topping and reserved cherry pie filling just before serving.
Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator for up to three days. Makes 24 cupcakes.
Party know-how dos and don’ts
Here are some tips for throwing a successful party for your child.
- Don’t invite too many kids. Avoid this common error by using the plus-one rule: invite the same number of kids as the child’s age, plus one. When it comes to a sleepover, you may want to limit the numbers to five or six.
- Do be specific on the invitation. Tell parents if they’re invited to stay or if they’re free to hand off their tot to you. Tell them
what type of food you’ll be serving – just snacks and cake or an actual meal? And let them know if their child should wear or bring something specific such as warm clothes if they’ll be playing outside.
- Don’t hand out invites at school. Unless you intend to invite the entire class, this practice causes hurt feelings.
- Do involve the person who is having the birthday. Your party is sure to please the birthday child if he helps with the planning. Discuss themes and games he likes, and shop for party favours together. The day before, let him help stuff goodie bags and decorate.
- Don’t let the party go on too long. Timing is everything when it comes to kids’ parties. The best time for kids aged four and younger is midmorning, when they’re most rested. An hour-long party should be sufficient for this age group. Any later or longer and they’ll get cranky. For children aged six and up, 1 to 3 p.m. is a popular time, and older kids can handle a couple of hours. Kids older than six may also be ready for a sleepover.
- Do enlist help. Ask friends or hire your regular babysitter to lend a hand and provide an extra set of eyes.
- Don’t be caught off guard. A guest arrives with a little brother in tow; rain ruins an outdoor party; the talent doesn’t show; several parents are late for pickup. The solution? Make up at least three extra goodie bags so everyone goes home happy. Plan extra activities so you’re not scrambling. And have a couple of movies on hand to keep kids occupied while they wait. Deep breaths help, too.
- Do play it safe. Have parents write down cell phone numbers on a single sheet of paper when they drop off their kids – post it on the fridge for easy access. Be sure to ask about food allergies on the invitation. And always have a first-aid kit on hand for the odd scraped knee or bumped head.
Easy decorating ideas
Hang a banner on the porch; drape streamers from trees; or tie balloons to the back gate to let everyone know where the party’s happening.
- Create an arch of balloons for the entrance to the party room.
- Paste snapshots of the birthday boy or girl onto paper plates and hang them around the party space.
- Cut shapes (stars, circles, triangles, alphabet letters) out of cardboard or heavy construction paper and hang them from the ceiling to create mobiles.
- Suspend several balloons above the party space, using a white sheet. Near the end of the party, release the balloons.
- Buy a paper tablecloth for the party table and let your kids decorate it themselves.
Awesome activities
- Let kids decorate their own goodie bags. Provide brown paper bags, stickers, sparkles, paint and markers.
- Decorate a birthday shirt. Get guests to bring an old white T-shirt and provide fabric markers and paints.
- Play musical chairs – with a twist. When the music ends, the person left standing draws an animal name out of a hat and acts out the animal for others to guess. Repeat until all the chairs, and animals, are gone.
- Set up a scavenger hunt. Hide candies, party favours, toys or other treats around the house or garden. Each guest has to collect a list of items. Then divvy up the treasure.
- Hold a mini-Olympics. Set up teams and conduct relay races, obstacle courses and tug-of-war in the park or backyard.
- Play Who Am I? Have the person seated next to you write the name of a famous person on a scrap of paper and pin it to the back of your shirt. Take turns asking questions aimed at guessing your secret identity.
Jodie Mirosovsky is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
