We often do parties that are way too big. You know, there are so many friends from different circles, each with kids around the same age. You can't invite one family without inviting all families, which is great, but when you look at having 30 plus kids at a party, well even I'll admit it gets a little out of hand!
I decided this year was the year to stop the big parties. Make it manageable. Make it enjoyable. Chat to friends. Watch the kids. Eat some good food. Enjoy it!
BUT...
Although I managed to have a small party, I did 2 parties instead. A family party (with 8 kids (4 of whom are ours!!)), and a friends' party (14 kids). So it was probably just as much work, if not a little more, but it was fun. It was manageable, and I got to chat to people :)
A friend of mine had a party for her 3 year old on a Friday, during school hours - what a revelation!!! I'd never thought of it! It meant cutting down on siblings (not that there's anything wrong with siblings, but hey, less people, less food yeah??). I was sold.
But I digress, this is a BLW blog is it not? I should probably talk about food!!!
The food we served at the party (I should have taken pics...)
- Watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, bananas.
- Vintage cheese chunks, homemade hummus and chunky basil dip with organic rice crackers (plain and tamari)
- Homemade ricotta pinwheels (a friend did these, and I really need to get the recipe, because they were awesome!)
- Popcorn (who doesn't love popcorn)
- Plain chips
- Fairy Bread
- A few lollies and
- A Rabbit Cake.
FRUIT
I didn't buy organic berries (although they're party of the Dirty Dozen). I did soak both the strawberries and blueberries in an apple cider vinegar and water solution to remove (hopefully) many of the pesticides that the berries contain.
The bananas can be dipped in a weak solution of either lemon or pineapple juice to stop them going brown and looking unappealing. The same can be done with apples and pears as well, and any other fruits that tend to oxidise once cut.
DIPS
The hummus was made with garlic, chickpeas, tahini, lemon, olive oil, cumin. I think next time I'll add some parsley as well.
The basil dip was made with basil, cashews, parmesan cheese, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper
CAKEThe rabbit cake was made from the 'Women's Weekly Cake Book', and requires 3 cakes!
I made 3 different types of cakes - 2 gluten free cakes as one of the kids is ceoliac, and a 'normal' orange cake made with Kamut (Khorasan) flour.
One of the gluten free cakes was just made with a Basco cake mix, with buttermilk instead of water/normal milk. This helps with the texture of the cake, and makes it more creamy and less grainy.
The other cake was made from the Magic Bean Chocolate Cake from the Thermomix forum.
This is a pretty awesome cake I think! The main ingredient believe it or not is kidney beans!!! (I was amazed, and had never thought of using them in a cake). There are loads of eggs in it.
Even though it's a thermomix recipe, you could definitely make it without. All you need is a food processor.
METHOD FOR MAGIC BEAN CAKE WITHOUT A THERMOMIX
(Ingredients)
420 g kidney beans, canned, drained
1 tablespoon water or coffee
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
70 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon GF baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
125 g butter
5 eggs
180 g sugar
(Method)
1. Blend the kidney beans, water, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth in a food processor
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
3. Add the remaining eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition
4. Add the bean mixture and beat again until combined
5. Add the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt and beat again until well combined
6. Pour into a prepared cake tin (20cm round) and cook in a 160 degree oven for around 40 minutes (this could take up to an hour, but check at around 30min and every 5-10 minutes afterward to ensure it's not overcooked). It is cooked when a skewer is inserted in the centre of the cake and comes out clean..
The cake turned out really well, but was very 'dark chocolate', which some of the kids weren't keen on. I think next time I will reduce the cocoa powder to make it a little less strong.
I know that there's a lot of sugar in this cake, but I think I would be happy(ish) to give this to Olive for her first birthday. I'll be looking into some other alternatives too. I'm also contemplating the watermelon 'cake' for her birthday, but I'm sure I'll cave and go for an actual cake!
It's funny how 1 is the 'magic' number and they can suddenly have cake and lollies and other 'sometimes' foods. I'm still struggling with this, but as Olive is baby number 4, I cave pretty quickly...
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