Harry Potter Party...Food and Invitations

 This year D wanted a Harry Potter party for his birthday. We based his party mostly on things that happen in the 1st book. Since all but 1 kid at the party had seen the movie we showed the movie at the end of the party.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out to theaters in 2001 so I couldn't go to Party City and pick stuff up. This party was really fun to put together. It took a lot of research and Pinterest ideas.  

 I knew I wanted to mail the invites. I found free Harry Potter font to download. I wanted to use Harry Potter phrases but I knew if I went overboard our guest wouldn't know what I was saying.We attached train ticket to the invitations. I was so happy that all the kids brought their train tickets. We had a drawing using the tickets and the prizes were glass jars filled with candy. I found Harry Potter stamps at our local postoffice. I bought the wax stamp at Michaels. I didn't mind buying the stamp because I was able to use it for invites and decorations. 

This is the easiest cake I've ever made! It is the cake Hagrid brings to Harry on his 11 birthday. His cake was pink and green but we love chocolate.

Using the same font as the invites I made up labels for the food. You can get real creative and come up with crazy names, we called tortilla chips Dragon Scales. 

I printed these labels form this website I found on Pinterest. I wrote on the bottom what the actual drink is, Cactus Cooler, Root Beer and Strawberry soda.  

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cake

 Taste the rainbow

I made Duff's tie-dye cake from a box. The mix comes with tiny food coloring packets. The cake is really soft…I don't know how to describe it. It was on the delicate side so it was hard to frost. I'd like to try making the cake from scratch and doing the food coloring trick and seeing how that turns out.

13 candles

This weekend F.W. turned 13! Every birthday we take F.W. and his friend to the Corvette Diner.

2006

2013

 F.W. wanted a strawberry cake made from a box and store bought frosting! I was kind of bummed he didn't want a grander cake.

13 Candles

What I wore Sunday:PacMan Party

Our church is getting ready for Vacation Bible School. The VBS theme is Kingdom Rock.  I am helping create fun snacks for the kiddos.

What I wore Sunday

Dress:: Gap

Sweater::JC Penny

Clutch:: Target

Check out fine linen and purple for more What I Wore Sunday, there are a lot of cute outfits this week.

We celebrated D turning 6 with a PacMan party. It was great having family and friends over. We even had a surprise guest when our nephew from North Carolina showed up! It was a great weekend.

The birthday boy making a PacMan face.

Playing crack the egg with the boys

Pac Man Party

How to have a Pac Man party in 2013...

To make the invites I got blank cards at Michael's. I got bright yellow card stock paper to cut out Pac Mans. I used a pencil eraser as the stamp for the dots.

 To make the banner I got yellow and black poster paper at Target, which was .60cents. I downloaded Pac Man font on to my computer and printed out the alphabet. Then I traced the letters cut them out and glued them onto the Black poster board.

 Pac Man walls

The cake was fun to make.

A birthday party isn't a party without a bounce house.

Happy Birthday America

 I made a Flag cake for the 4th of July. I used Ina Garten's recipe. I should have used a sheet cake pan but my oven is too small. So the cake was pretty thick almost like a frosted pound cake...but it was yummy. The cream cheese frosting was delicious.

 I used raspberries and strawberries for the stripes of the flag.

 I saw this spatula in Martha Stewart Living magazine & I thought it was SO cool. I'd love to surprise the hubby with this. 

4th of July wouldn't be complete without a walk on the Monkey Bridge.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Independence Day.

Fiesta de Mayo

 Blondies

 Mustache cake

 Four boring yet yummy cakes.

Busy baking week. Instead of an open house D's school has a Fiesta, every grade preforms a different dance. I made 5 cakes for the Cake Walk. I made the Blondies for the Bake Sale.

Mustache Cake step by step

 Bake a round cake and cut it in half like a Ying Yang

 I used a fork to give the mustache texture.

I used the Buttery Cake recipe from The Dahlia Bakery cookbook. This cookbook is great because it gives VERY specific directions.

Buttery Cake

 Angus hoping D will drop a bit of frosting.

 D's school is having their Fiesta de Mayo celebration. I was thinking of making a mustache cake for the school's cake walk. I'm also baking something for the bake sale. I tried making a mustache cake. This is my test run. I plan on using chocolate frosting on the next cake. 

Texas Sheet Cake and Cinco de Mayo

 Cinco de Mayo is my birthday. I didn't want a party or anything crazy. I just wanted to bake a cake, eat  the cake and relax. I made the Texas Sheet cake again. You've got to have chips and salsa on Cinco de Mayo. We had a lot of running around to do on Sunday but we were able to relax together as a family. Which is always nice!

Corvette Diner is always fun for birthdays.  We went there for milkshakes. The waitresses all dress in 50's attire and sing Happy Birthday to you.  I think I gained 5 pounds this weekend.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

I only iced the top of the cake so it resembled a pint of Guinness. It is so delicious that it doesn't need to be St. Patrick's day to bake this cake. Guinness cake would make a great 21st birthday cake. 

This is a wonderful chocolaty cake! You'll want a glass of milk or a warm cup of tea to wash it down. Next time I make this I will frost it heavier on the top.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

(recipe from “Feast” by Nigella Lawson)

Ingredients

Cake:
-1 cup Guinness stout
-1 stick unsalted butter, sliced
-¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-2 cups superfine sugar (i used granulated)
-¾ cup sour cream
-2 eggs
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 ½ teaspoons baking soda

Icing
-8 ounce cream cheese (cold)
-1 cup confectioners’ sugar
-½ cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add butter and heat until melted. Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar. In a small bowl, beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla and then pour into brown, buttery, beery mixture and finally whisk in flour and baking soda.

3. Pour cake batter into greased and line pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour (Check at 45 minutes for doneness, poking a skewer in center.). Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

4. When cake is cold, gently peel off parchment paper and transfer to a platter or cake stand.

5. Place cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl, and whip with an electric beater, until smooth.

6. Add cream and beat again until you have a spreadable consistency.

7. Ice top of cake, starting at middle and fanning out, so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint. Since you are not icing the side of the cake you can be a little heavy handed with the frosting. 

Smith Island Cake

Making the frosting 

 Each layer is about the thickness of a pancake.

For the Super Bowl Sunday I made Maryland's state cake. I wish California had a state cake! Maryland's state cake is the Smith Island Cake. It is a 10 layer yellow/vanilla cake with a delicious rich chocolate frosting. Everyone really enjoyed the taste of the cake and it looked beautiful with it's 10 layers. I think a Smith Island cake would be so cool for a child's 10th birthday. I will differently make this cake again.

I looked at a couple different recipes but this is the one I used.  http://www.grouprecipes.com/45284/smith-island-treasure-ten-layer-cake.html 

Red Velvet Cake

 This weekend was my Hubby's birthday. We celebrated at home with a yummy dinner. I baked a Red Velvet cake. I used a recipe from Cook's Country cookbook. The recipe calls for buttermilk that gives it a tender crumb. This cake really melts in your mouth.

 Make a wish 

I didn't get a good picture because it was eaten up so fast.

 Red Velvet Deliciousness