Birthday Cake & More Celebrating Through Food

Birthday Cake & More: Celebrating Through FoodBY LAUREN SEPHTON

Struggling to come up with snacks and sweets for an upcoming birthday party? Well, we’ve got you covered! These recipe ideas are fit to satisfy a crowd, keep within budget and will help you spend more time celebrating your loved ones versus being stuck in the kitchen.

Kids Under 5 Party Food Ideas

These birthdays are some big milestones, especially when it’s your little one’s first birthday. And, while the little guests may not be too interested in a fancy party spread, here are a few ideas to keep the adults energized as well as some simple finger foods for the young children to enjoy.

FOR THE ADULTS: • Tea Sandwiches • Crostini • Loaded Nachos • Mini Cheeseburgers • BBQ Chicken Sandwiches • Stuffed Mushrooms • Deviled Eggs • Spinach-Artichoke Dip

FOR THE CHILDREN: • Sandwiches, sliced into small squares or quarters • Vegetables, thinly sliced with ranch dip • Fresh Fruit • Macaroni & Cheese Bites • Mini Quesadillas • Chicken Nuggets & Ketchup • Bagels • Muffins

Birthday Party Savory Ideas for Older Kids

For the older kids, those mini muffins and chicken nuggets might not cut the birthday party standards. And, while all eyes will stay ready for the cake slicing, we’ve compiled a short list of some savory appetizers to hold them over until then.

• Fried Mac-N-Cheese Bites (Recipe Below) • Buffalo Chicken Dip • Slow-Cooker Flank Steak Fajitas with Fresh Salsa • Fruit Platter with Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Fluff for Dips • Chicken Parmesan Slider Bake • Focaccia Sandwiches • Brie Puff Pastry Bites • Pigs in a Blanket (Beef & Cheddar or Apple & Gouda) • Homemade Pizzas (can be a fun party activity, as well) • Smoked Pimento Cheese & Bacon Crostini • Mini Spaghetti & Meatball Cups • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake • Fried Ravioli on Skewers with Marinara Dipping Sauce • Guacamole, Salsa & Chips • Turkey Sliders with Sweet Potato “Buns” • Mediterranean Hummus Nachos • Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders Bake

FRIED MACARONI & CHEESE BITES

Servings: 12 | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Freezing Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

INGREDIENTS: 3 cups Macaroni & Cheese, homemade or store-bought 2 large Eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups Panko Breadcrumbs 2 T Fresh Chives, chopped Salt & Black Pepper, to taste 2 cups Frying Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Stir the chives into the macaroni & cheese, then allow it to cool down until firm in the fridge for about 3-4 hours, or in the freezer for about 30 minutes. (This is an important step to forming the balls.) 2. Using a small cookie scooper, roll the macaroni & cheese into about 1 1/2” balls. There should be enough to form 12 balls.

3. Roll each ball in the panko breadcrumbs bowl, then the beaten eggs bowl, then back into the breadcrumbs.

Set on a pan or plate lined with parchment paper.

Repeat with remaining macaroni & cheese. Freeze for 20 minutes.

4. Heat up the frying oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat to 400F. 5. Working in batches, fry the macaroni & cheese balls until golden brown and crispy, about 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer each to a wire rack lined with paper towels to help drain excess oils. 6. Serve warm with fresh chives as a garnish. Enjoy!

Easy Appetizers for Adults

And last, but nevertheless, comes finger foods to satisfy a crowd whose palate may be a little more fine-tuned.

• Crispy Fried Calamari • Spinach Artichoke Zucchini Bites • Loaded Cheese Ball Bites • Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts • Goat Cheese, Honey & Thyme-Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon • Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks with Marinara Sauce • Mini Shrimp Tostada Bites • Fried Pickles • Cocktail Meatballs • Mini Caprese Bites on Skewers • Mini Antipasto Bites on Skewers • Stuffed Mushrooms • Cranberry Brie Puff Pastry Bites • Strawberry Balsamic Bruschetta

From reimagined classics to new appetizer recipes for an exciting twist, we hope that you’ll find something you and your guests will love!

The Ever-Evolving Birthday Party

BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

There are plans for annual occasions and events that park themselves at the roadside of every parent’s brain. Vacations, journeys to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, holiday gifts, athletic seasons, and the inevitable birthday party are all on the radar of every parent as the years roll along.

The first birthday party for a child always seems to be about having a few friends and acquaintances over to celebrate how resilient the parents are and how adorable the child is in that first year of life. The parents of the newly born all gather, perhaps in a living room or playroom, to swap stories of nighttime routines and feedings. They console, encourage, and wearily support each other, as if to say, “Oh, isn’t it the truth?” to myriad parenting topics. Meanwhile, all the parents work to keep the young attendees vertical and happy. The candles are blown out by the host’s parents and there are invariably two cakes— one for the honored guest to grab and smear and fling, and another more pristine dessert for the adults. The birthday celebration for the preschooler is more centered on who is arriving at the party to dazzle and delight the little ones. Perhaps a magician will confuse and entertain everyone. Perhaps a Disney character will saunter in at just the right moment to send a shudder of electricity through the gathering. The preschooler’s birthday party is a chance to turn over the entertainment to another. It is a chance for the parents to seem like proverbial heroes because they were able to secure the amusement for the guest of honor and their like-minded friends. It might even be said that it allows the parents to take some peer pride in setting the bar for what constitutes a great party, replete with imported entertainment.

Shifting into the elementary school years for birthday parties, it becomes all about the featured activity. So many possibilities abound for the birthday-party-goers now that their sense receptors and eye-hand coordination have evolved. One can plan parties for the bowling alley, at the riding stables, at the arcade, and every place in-between. You can even have the activity come to your house, with elaborate mobile arcades, where the attendees can wildly compete while donning protruding virtual-reality goggles, thereby transporting everyone to far away makebelieve kingdoms and battlefields. What kid doesn’t enjoy jousting with another noble soldier, all without a single trip to the emergency room?

As a parent for this age, one is always just trying to create an experience that will put the child on a pedestal with friends. You want the attendees to leave the party saying, “That was the most rad party ever!” or whatever your typical 4th grader might say these days to express delight.

Once the middle school and ʼtween years arrive, the birthday party becomes a new entity altogether. Parents now shift into cajoling their child into committing to an answer to the question, “What shall we do for your birthday party this year?!” In-between YouTube videos, your child might glance up long enough to say, “Oh, I don’t know.” The parents toss verbal suggestions over the opened laptop, hoping something will land that is enticing. It is now that any parent yearns for the day when a colorful cake and a rock-climbing wall was all it took to make the day easily memorable. Like so much else at this age, parents are proud of the people their children have become and simultaneously wish just a little for the days of yore. There are moments now at the ʼtween age where it is bittersweet and so very tempting to keep them young at heart.

And so it goes. We, as parents, carry valiantly on to keep our children entertained, safe and grateful. Parents from every walk of life all strive to spin unforgettable memories for the annual celebration of the child whom we have created. Each year, a celebration commences to commemorate the ignition of memories and experiences both joyful and heartbreaking. Birthdays, however celebrated, are a savored and revered time.