I thought the party post might get long, since I am my mother’s daughter and constantly worry I might run out of food, so I made it its own post. I made too much food, but it worked out well for everyone, I guess. I didn’t get a picture of the table, but several people walked in and said “whoa!” 🙂

Having a dessert party was the perfect excuse to try out some baking recipes. I did have a few savory options as well, homemade pico de gallo, some lentil bean chips, and a small cheese tray. I didn’t have a pickle tray because it was a dessert party, but my Dd got my Mom to call and offer pickle recipes, just in case I needed one. The pickle tray has become a running family joke and comes up for every party, so I’ll give you the back story for when it comes up again.

A year or two ago, I was preparing for our annual Epiphany party and was struck by the sudden, uncontrollable feeling that I needed a pickle tray, despite never having wanted one before. My Mom always made sure to have one on the table at parties and it must be a Midwest thing, because I don’t know that it’s a thing elsewhere.

So, I posted about it on Facebook and tagged my Mom, blaming her for my late night pickle run. All sorts of people chimed in, including my cousin reminiscing about the pickle trays at family parties. My Mom jumped in, shocked that I was not holding up the family tradition of a lovely pickle tray. A lovely family friend, Pauline, tried to reassure me that it would be fine and that the family parties were always so nice, and suggested I take a rest. My loving, though sometimes sarcastic, Mother then commented “She can rest when she has a pickle tray.” Of course, I laughed hysterically and made the darn pickle tray.

Have I mentioned that I love my family? Truly, I do. (The way you know they like you is if you get teased.) So now, whenever we have parties, one of my parents will call to find out if I have the pickle tray ready. Last year, I bought my Mom a couple of different kinds of pickles just so she would have to serve them.

Anyway, random family history aside, I did use six new recipes and I made pico de gallo, which is one of the only ways the Husband will eat tomatoes. I think at some point I had a recipe for the pico, but I have no idea where I got it from, so now it’s something I just make. I’ll try to get approximate measurements the next time I make it.

1- Giant Easter Egg Cookies from M&M’s Fun Stuff Cookbook. Section: Party Time

Modifications: I didn’t decorate them and I made them a bit smaller. They were a sugar cookie dough and were pretty good. The Husband liked the second recipe better. I would make these again. The Husband got me this cookbook for our first anniversary for a paper present. No pictures, they went to work too fast.

2- Kid’s Favorite Chocolate Chippers from the above cookbook.

Modifications: None! I actually made these for the Husband to take to work, as his coworkers had been requesting treats. They were well liked, the tin came back empty. I’m not a fan of plain chocolate chip cookies, but these were pretty good. They are the Husband’s favorite kind of cookies though and I sometimes make someone else make them for him. No pics of these either.

3- Tempting Truffles from The Lady Had Seconds. This cookbook doesn’t have sections. There are about five more recipes at least that I want to make.

Modifications: No mods, but I accidentally made toffee bits with the caramel. It has you melt down the sugar until golden and then add the cream and butter. The sugar seized up and made hard caramel when I added the cream and butter. I managed to melt most of it down though, so they just had crunchy bits in some of them. I rolled them in blue sanding sugar, gold and silver sugar, and gold edible glitter. They were so pretty!  And they tasted good too.

4- Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes from Food Network Magazine. Jan/Feb 2017, v. 10, n. 1

Modifications: My strawberries went bad, so these didn’t have the chocolate dipped strawberries on the top. Also, I’m not a fan of white chocolate, couldn’t find my piping bag nozzle, and was running out of time, so only made dark chocolate frosting. I also used homemade chocolate strawberry jam for the regular preserves. They were divine! The frosting had melted chocolate and was a buttercream. It is so smooth and delicious. The cupcake also turned out very fluffy and light. I would make these again in a heartbeat.

5- Carrot-Walnut Cupcakes from the same Food Network. This issue has a year of cupcakes, one for each month and I want to try them all.

Modifications: I used pecans instead of walnuts. These were also delicious. Fancy was extremely excited that I was working with carrots. She kept inching closer and closer to me. I finally peeled a carrot so the peels fell directly on her head and she thought it was the best game ever! It was pretty cute.

These had a cream cheese frosting and really, I think they may qualify as breakfast food… I read somewhere that cupcakes are just “muffins with hats” and I’m pretty sure this means I can eat them for breakfast. 🙂

6- Blood Orange Bars off of a Pinterest find. https://www.bakedbyanintrovert.com/blood-orange-bars-recipe/

Modifications: I omitted the food coloring, so they aren’t as vibrant as the picture. They have been on my list since last winter, but I keep missing the blood oranges. These were good. Just like lemon bars except a little more pudding like, I would say. Lighter flavor than I was expecting too, but my oranges were maybe not all as juicy as they could have been.

My friend Kayla brought a delicious chocolate cheesecake and if we are very lucky, maybe she’ll share the recipe. I just had a piece for dessert tonight and it made me very happy.

The tablecloth under everything is one my Grandma Shirley made for me for my 16th birthday, I believe. I had a tea party that year, so it is all tea party foods and menus. I was excited to use it again. It’s so pretty and springy that it seemed to be the perfect fit.

My serving dishes are a mix of old fancy serving plates and new ones. We use Fiesta-ware every day, so the party table should be colorful and fun as well. Mom gave me the flamingo tray for Christmas and the Rose plate is from my Grandma Shirley. It’s fun to be in a place in my life where we need fancy serving plates.

So those were my party recipes. Some people were surprised that I chose to bake my own birthday treats, but for me baking is stress relief and a way to connect with people. It brings me great joy, so why wouldn’t I share it?