home party for the dude
We had our little home birthday party for the dude today. Only a couple of the girls from our other baby group were able to make it (as mentioned before, our prenatal group already had a joint party last weekend) so the majority of people attending were adult friends of ours. We hadn't seen a few of them for a while, so it was a good excuse to get together.
I'm exhausted. I did a lot of food prep for this, starting on Friday with the brownies and the cake (more on this in a moment), Saturday doing a second, smaller cake and cheese puffs, then this morning doing umpteen toddler-friendly sandwiches, puff pastry goat cheese/ red onion/ argula toddler-unfriendly things, fruit cutting, etc. I kept myself sane cheated by bringing in an army of frozen pizzas as a 'main', but I felt it was the best way to make sure I didn't run out, while being able to concentrate on things I do better anyway. As it was, people responded wish surprise when they found out I'd made a lot of the items. I expect too much of myself sometimes, I think!
We bought an inflatable ball pit/paddling pool for the dude, in the shape of a race car. We did some furniture re-arranging to fit it in, and the 200 balls we'd purchased barely covered the bottom of it. With impeccable timing, someone posted on Freecycle that they had a couple of large bags of the things, and in no time we had the car full (for free!)
I wanted to post because I needed to note/share the two recipes which really were a success. Both were commented on by everyone, and I'll definitely be making them again.
The first- tres leches cake, a version from the Pioneer Woman site. I think you could use any version of this cake to be honest, most recipes are similar or the same. I made sure I baked it and set it to soak a day in advance, per suggestions I'd read elsewhere online. In addition, I was a bit more thorough with my soaking, eg poking holes over the entire surface, and using a spoon to get right up to the edge with the milk. So I didn't run into the issue where she suggests trimming off any hard edges. I had edges when it was baked, but by the time we ate it, the cake was uniformly soaked and lovely. VERY rich. It would probably be perfect with some ripe strawberries in the summertime.
The second- cheese puffs! which were recommended by a cook on my Facebook flist. These were easy to make, and the effect they give is impressive. It looks like you've made a proper pastry, very fluffy, but crisp on the outer shell. Much like a savoury profiterole. I used thyme but I'd happily use my preferred herb, rosemary, next time. (next thyme?)
What didn't work as well- yogurt-marmalade cake. It was a tiny bit dry, probably my fault. The flavour was good, but unfortunately, I think it suffered by comparison to the nectar of the gods cake above. I'd make it again, probably for my in-laws who like cakes which seem healthy. :)
I'm exhausted. I did a lot of food prep for this, starting on Friday with the brownies and the cake (more on this in a moment), Saturday doing a second, smaller cake and cheese puffs, then this morning doing umpteen toddler-friendly sandwiches, puff pastry goat cheese/ red onion/ argula toddler-unfriendly things, fruit cutting, etc. I kept myself sane cheated by bringing in an army of frozen pizzas as a 'main', but I felt it was the best way to make sure I didn't run out, while being able to concentrate on things I do better anyway. As it was, people responded wish surprise when they found out I'd made a lot of the items. I expect too much of myself sometimes, I think!
We bought an inflatable ball pit/paddling pool for the dude, in the shape of a race car. We did some furniture re-arranging to fit it in, and the 200 balls we'd purchased barely covered the bottom of it. With impeccable timing, someone posted on Freecycle that they had a couple of large bags of the things, and in no time we had the car full (for free!)
I wanted to post because I needed to note/share the two recipes which really were a success. Both were commented on by everyone, and I'll definitely be making them again.
The first- tres leches cake, a version from the Pioneer Woman site. I think you could use any version of this cake to be honest, most recipes are similar or the same. I made sure I baked it and set it to soak a day in advance, per suggestions I'd read elsewhere online. In addition, I was a bit more thorough with my soaking, eg poking holes over the entire surface, and using a spoon to get right up to the edge with the milk. So I didn't run into the issue where she suggests trimming off any hard edges. I had edges when it was baked, but by the time we ate it, the cake was uniformly soaked and lovely. VERY rich. It would probably be perfect with some ripe strawberries in the summertime.
The second- cheese puffs! which were recommended by a cook on my Facebook flist. These were easy to make, and the effect they give is impressive. It looks like you've made a proper pastry, very fluffy, but crisp on the outer shell. Much like a savoury profiterole. I used thyme but I'd happily use my preferred herb, rosemary, next time. (next thyme?)
What didn't work as well- yogurt-marmalade cake. It was a tiny bit dry, probably my fault. The flavour was good, but unfortunately, I think it suffered by comparison to the nectar of the gods cake above. I'd make it again, probably for my in-laws who like cakes which seem healthy. :)