It's Almost Party Time

The birthday mascot, with a shot o' Tuaca, the only jalapeno bacon thingie that didn't get bacon, and his beads. Oh yeah, and the rubber chicken (one of my gifts) in the background.

One of the tamer pictures, taken when things were just kickin' off.

I'll be off to the grocery store soon, and the produce market as well. It's time to get all things last minute for my annual birthday party tomorrow night. I've been doing a little cleaning (still have to vacuum the living room --- sad face), but not too much left other than to prep food. Ah, my favorite thing. Happy face. Here's the game plan:

Ham-pickle-cream cheese rollups (stellar!)

Relish tray (I love me some olives, and we have some marinated mushrooms that need to be shared. Buppy and I think they're alright, but to have party-goers help us eat the jar will be a blessing. Shhhh, don't tell them that!)

Pepper jam and cream cheese dip with crackers (something we tried at the Smucker's store in OH, which I didn't think I'd like but did)

Smokey bacon cheese ball with crackers

Pizza meatballs in roasted garlic sauce (never made these before, but an ex-roomie did and said everyone loved 'em; they have mozzi cheese stuffed inside 'em!)

Fresh fruit tray with dip (I thought about doing skewers, but there could potentially be a lot of waste if everyone doesn't like a wide variety of fruit)

Crudites with cold spinach dip

Buffalo chicken dip (a.k.a. crack!), being brought by one of the party-goers

I also really wanna make either hot olive and artichoke dip or chile con queso, revved up. I simply can't decide. They're both Pioneer Woman recipes, which means they'll both be outstanding. I just called Buppy to poll him, but he didn't answer. *nibbles fingernails* I just don't know!

That chicken made the rounds that night.

White Chip Island Cookies

My brother's birthday is today, and since he's such a great big brother, and since he asked so politely, I made him white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies. He's apparently a sucker for Subway's version. Funny story, the first grocery store I stopped at had 2 oz. packages of macadamia nuts for $3.50 or so. Second and third grocery stores didn't even carry 'em. Finally found 'em at Walmart (not a super center, so even though they had limited food in stock, they still luckily had the nuts), 6.5 oz. or so for $5.98. Not the cheapest nuts ever, but at that point I was just happy to have found any at all!

I checked the back of the bag of white chocolate chips, Nestle Toll House brand, and noticed that they had a recipe for White Chip Island Cookies. Since I'm not big into this type of cookie, I called my brother for advice. He'd said the cookies he likes are just like regular chocolate chip cookies, but with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts instead. Toll House's version seemed similar to what I'd expect, but their "island" addition was coconut. My brother figured that since he likes everything else I make that has coconut in it, why not give it a try? So that's exactly what I did.

White Chip Island Cookies
Ever-so-slightly adapted from the recipe found on the Nestle Toll House bag of Premier White Morsels

1 2/3 c. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla-nut-butter extract
1 large egg
2 c. (12 oz. package) Nestle Toll House Premier White Morsels
1 c. flaked coconut
3/4 c. chopped macadamia nuts (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, sugars and extract in a separate (larger) bowl until creamy. Add the egg and beat until mixed. Beat the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Stir in morsels, coconut and nuts. Here's where it got tricky for me . . .

My 1st pan, after dropping scoops of dough onto it and baking per instructions, wouldn't level out. The original oven temp called for was 375F, but the outsides were almost burning and the cookies wouldn't flatten, so the insides were still too raw. I decided then to drop my oven temp to 350F. I also decided that, after all my cookies dough blobs were on the cookies sheet, I'd wet my hands, roll them around and flatten slightly for a more even bake. It worked, and my pans became more uniformly done with no burnt edges/raw insides.

I baked each pan for approximately 9 minutes, rotating the pans after 5 minutes.

I never thought of our oven as being hotter than normal, so the temp and time at which to bake your cookies will ultimately be up to you. Only you know your oven and it's quirks. I do advise somehow squishing the cookies slightly though so you don't end up with burnt edges.

I'm not sure I'd make this recipe again. The cookies taste good and I'm sure my brother will appreciate them, but . . . I'm just curious now if I'd have better luck and less hassle with a new recipe. We'll see. Anywho, happy birthday to my wonderful brother! Enjoy!

*This post is linked to Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap (URS) for 3/3/11, Freezer Friendly Recipes. Check her blog out for more ideas!

The Ultimate Indulgence

Tomorrow's theme at Life as Mom’s Ultimate Recipe Swap is birthday cakes, so I thought I'd finally post what I made for Tiny Tot #2's birthday in 2009.

The story begins with his favorite food at the time: cookies, chocolate chip specifically. My idea was to make a cake for him that appeared to be a cookie. I thought about a giant decorated cookie, but in the end went with the cake idea. So incredibly happy I did. And so was Buppy's family. I think that cake will live on in all our minds and taste buds until a.) we're old and can't remember anything anymore, or b.) I make another one. 'A' might be the more likely thing to happen, but you never know.The cake wasn't complicated by any means, although we did struggle with the frosting tinting until my sister saved the day. Here we go . . .

I purchased 2 boxes of Ghirardelli brownie mixes and baked according to package directions in round baking pans. Then I basically made a sandwich out of them with Hoffman’s ice cream, which I've learned is some of the best ice cream I've ever had. Hoffman's is local, so don't get your hopes up, but still, any ice cream you choose to use [think peanut butter to go with the chocolate!] will be spectacular. The party was in late Feb., so I decided to use their peppermint. I kid you not, that stuff is amazing. Wonderful. Yummy. Delish. All their ice creams I've had thus far have been good, but their seasonal peppermint stick just rocks my socks. In a major, major way.Once I've got the sandwich made, I stick it back into the freezer to firm up. Hmmmm, now how to make it look like a chocolate chip cookie? I'd decided I wanted to use whipped topping as frosting, but how to tint it brown? I tried food coloring with very unsuccessful result. Buppy and I thought and thought and thought. And then we thought some more. Then I called my sister, who is an artist, among other things, and therefore much more creative than I am. Her response when I told her my conundrum? "Uh, so you don't want to use cocoa powder?" Sheer genius my girl! I knew I called her for a reason! Apparently she told the story to my dad, and even before she told him what her suggestion was, dad made the same comment: why don't they want to use cocoa powder? Because neither Buppy nor myself thought of it! How we didn't, I'll never know, but I'm happy someone could point me in the right direction. I did as suggested and used cocoa powder to tint the whipped topping a light brownish color, then sprinkled chocolate chips all over it.

This was honestly love at first bite. John's nieces asked me to make their next birthday cake. Everyone present loved this. The simplicity of it still baffles me, but I'll go with it. Brownies, local peppermint stick ice cream, whipped topping and chocolate chips. Sometimes I amaze myself. Please-please-please try this out if you haven't before. You won't regret it, promise! And if you'd like to see more birthday cake ideas, head on over to Life as Mom’s blog. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and once upon a time, I made a train cake for Tiny Tot #1's 4th birthday. I was pretty proud of this one since it was my first-ever attempt at making a birthday cake!

Menu Plan Monday - March 1, 2010

This week will allow me plenty of wiggle room as I'm home alone 3 nights, one night is my birthday/appetizer party at home and another night we're going out for my birthday and I have no idea if we'll eat at home first or catch dinner out. This is gonna be one fun weekend! But first, the menu plan:

Monday: [Bugaboo home alone, Buppy at work] Natural casing weiners that were sent to me for Christmas by the 'rents. I can't find them here, so they ship 'em from Wisco. I freeze most and pull out a few when I get the urge. Not healthy but oh-so-tasty. I'll try to throw in some raw veggies for good measure; I think we have carrots in the fridge.

Tuesday: [Bugaboo home alone, Buppy at work] Breakfast for dinner, a sandwich, tuna --- I've found that it doesn't really pay for me to try to nail down what I'll have for dinner when I'm home alone. We have so many options and I know I won't go out to eat alone, so I just eat whatever I feel like that night. Hard to predict what I'ma want!

Wednesday: Baked chicken & cheese casserole, steamed broccoli [I really want to try roasting it as I've found several tasty-sounding recipes lately, but I don't think you can roast frozen broccoli, can you?]

Thursday: Grilled steaks [since we have lots in the freezer from the 1/4 cow we purchased a few months ago], savory rice blend [Light & Tasty recipe; if it's good, I'll blog about it]

Friday: [my birfday!] Appetizer party at my house! Here are some possible contenders:
Buffalo chicken dip
Chicken enchilada dip rollups
Cold spinach dip
Bacon & cheddar dip
Shrimp cocktail dip-thingy
Crazy tasty pretzels
Clam dip
Taco [7 layer as some might call it] dip
Ham-pickle-cream cheese rollups [these are like CRACK!]
Some type of fruit dip
Ring-tum-ditty [Buppy's recipe, which is pretty darn tasty]
Hot spinach-artichoke dip
Warm pizza dip
Pico de gallo

I know two of our friends are bringing Swedish meatballs and a bourbon grilled salmon [hmmm, I think they're grilling it at our house, but note to self: find out for sure]. Anyone else have any suggestions to toss my way? I'm always on the lookout for new appetizer recipes.

Saturday: I know we're going out for some fun in Bmore, but we're still not sure how many people will be in our posse, which means we're not sure if we'll eat at home first or have dinner at a restaurant. If it's dinner at home, I'm thinking some grilled up marinated pork loin chops. Mmmmm.

Sunday: [my day of recovery home alone since Buppy will go into work mid-day] Something easy, like I usually do when I'm home alone. Sammy, eggs, soup --- or some meat lovers PH pizza if I'm really hung over!

Once again, there we have it. Man I love food!

Another Birthday Party to Plan

Buppy's oldest child's birthday is coming up in early November, and while I realize that it's about 2 months away, I want to start thinking about what we want to do for his party. We haven't had anything huge yet and I don't think we will this year either. However, Buppy's parents and his brother's family (6 in that family) come up from VA to celebrate, so there are at least 12 of us in the house for the celebration. I love having them up since we don't get to see them overly often, and I love planning the menu and cake. It's fun!

For his birthday last Nov., Buppy made stuffed shells (he has a really good recipe), garlic bread that's dipped in this wildly tasty (and a bit spicy) butter mixture before being broiled, and we had green salad. For his cake, I bought a Wilton train mold and made him a strawberry cake. It was a white cake with chunks of strawberries and strawberry Jello in it; he specifically asked for it, but it's not something I'd make again. It was alright, and very cute, but not something to repeat. (My first attempt ever at making a birthday cake!)

For the youngest's birthday in Feb., we did a sandwich buffet with all the trimmings. We had 2 different breads, slow cooker Italian beef, cold cuts, different spreads/condiments, veggies, chips and potato salad.For the cake, well, that blog is still to come. I invented the most wonderful cake ever. Well, maybe not ever, but it was still really good. Now it's time for another birthday. He'll be turning 5 . . . what do 5 yr. olds like? He's had a train, a tiger, Elmo and Pablo the Penguin from the Backyardigans. Maybe it's time for a fire truck since daddy's a firefighter and all. I guess I'll ask him and see what he has in mind. His suggestions will be taken more lightly than last year though (because of the whole strawberry cake issue). I'll peruse Wilton's website and see what they have. Oh, maybe Bugs Bunny. He loves Bugs Bunny; Buppy owns the entire Golden Collection and they're watched often in our house.

Besides the cake, what type of meal to serve? To be honest, Buppy and I keep talking about how we want to have a strictly dip (or appetizers in general) party, but I'm not sure that would fly with his family, mainly his parents. A roast? Grilled foods? Kabobs? Pasta? Buppy and I will have to talk it all over. I'm open to any ideas from visitors on here!