Pinterest is a great way to get ideas for all your parties--from food and fun names for the food, to games to party favors--it's all there for the "Pinter-lifting"*.  In this blog post, I'll go over the food.  

Setting up the table: A snowflake table cloth, pretty organza and battery operated lights with iridescent tinsel make a pretty backdrop.

Lunch

We Finish Each Other's Sandwiches!

A Subway party platter makes throwing a party easy for busy parents!

All the rage with birthday parties these days is to have a dessert bar.  They look pretty, but do you really want a bunch of 6 or 8-year-olds running around your house in a destructive sugar high?  I know I wouldn't!  So I planned a lunch menu alongside that pretty dessert bar.  For the "main dish," we served sandwiches (We finish each other's sandwiches). My aunt and uncle made it easy for all of us by ordering a Subway party platter--though if you have the time and are up for the challenge, cute tea sandwiches of PB&J are always a kid-friendly and fun lunch option.  

Side Dishes & Snacks

Use mini cookie cutters to cut the cheese into shapes.

For another healthy option, we offered carrot sticks (Olaf Noses) and ranch dressing.  Since my cousin was born in late November, there are plenty of snow and ice-themed foods out at that time of year.  We purchased some "Icicles" (Kristoff's Icicles) from World Market--a white cheddar, crunchy cheese puff snack.  

White cheese puffs for something crunchy.

We also offered cheese and crackers for those that like a healthier cheese snack option (or use it for your child's summer-time party when you can't find white cheese puffs in the store).  I used a mini snowflake and heart cookie cutters to cut shapes out of pre-sliced mozzarella cheese.  I did this the night before and then stored the cut slices back on the papers between the cheese slices.  Just before the party started I took out the cut shapes and put them on the crackers in a serving tray.  I did two layers worth, putting a sheet of parchment paper in between.  

Carrot sticks are a healthy alternative to usual party foods.

Drinks

Serve Hawaiian Blue, Sprite and vanilla ice cream for a dreamy drink.

We made Ice Castle Party Punch with equal parts Sprite and Blue Hawaiian Punch.  We threw in some ice cubes because my aunt hadn't chilled either previously (I would have chilled it if there was enough fridge space).  If you want to make the punch fun, add a few scoops of vanilla ice cream.  It looks pretty and gives the drink a slightly creamy texture.  I'm not one for sugary drinks directed toward kids, but this was actually a pretty tasty drink!

Dessert

Everything but the cake!

Now on to that fanciful dessert bar!  

Cake

Layers of ruffled marshmallow fondant and buttercream frosting in icy hues.

I had wanted to make my cousin a special and elegant tiered cake, but she is young and thinks that it isn't a Frozen cake unless you have those kitschy plastic figurines on it like you get at the big box store bakeries.  I had done a trial run of the cake when my aunt and cousins came over to celebrate mine and my mother's birthdays (our birthdays are about a week apart and 2 separate cakes is too much cake, so we just combine our celebrations--our waistlines thank us for it).  



My cousin hated the cake!  I have to admit, it did hurt my feelings for a while since I had spent two days baking and decorating it.  It was a tiered layered cake, with the top tier full of yummy buttercream and the bottom tier with ruffled fondant.  Boy did my fingers hurt after all that ruffling!  Let me tell you, ruffling fondant takes a ton of time, but it really has a WOW factor.  I even made marshmallow fondant of my own.  


In the end, it is my cousin's party and she would remember it better if she got the cake she wanted.  So my aunt ordered one of those cakes from Target with the edible printed paper. Though on the day of her party, my cousin did ask me where the cake was that I made her.  I had to remind her she liked the store cake better and so her mom bought her one of those instead--she seemed disappointed until she saw the Olaf cupcakes. 

Cupcakes

A huge dollop of cream cheese buttercream frosting and candies make for a cute Olaf!

I like to bake off my cupcakes early and freeze them.  I let them freeze on a cookie sheet and when they are nice and hard, I put them in a gallon baggie or in an airtight container to store until I'm ready to use them.  I just made a simple white cake box mix (I am all about the semi-homemade factor).  It doesn't take long for cupcakes or cake layers to defrost so I took them out of the freezer as soon as I was ready to decorate them.  I also pre-made my favorite homemade cream cheese buttercream frosting.  I piped out a huge dollop of frosting on the cupcake then placed on all the candies to create Olaf's face.  I pre-cut and shaped the orange taffy into his nose a few days before the party and cut the black licorice for his hair previously as well.  I used a piece of Eclipse gum for his tooth and Wilton candy eyes.  


Using a very thin tip, I piped out his smile with some black frosting.  You can either get a small tube of store bought black decorating frosting or reserve and color some of your cream cheese buttercream frosting for the black since you don't need very much, but I had some leftover black frosting from my Halloween party and the recipe was absolutely amazing.  Three words:  Hot Fudge Sauce.  Yup.  Hot fudge sauce was used in that frosting.  The recipe is from Sandra Lee. 

In the end these cupcakes weren't too shabby for my first stab at making faces on a cupcake.  I was having to work fast since I showed up at my aunt's house and assemble the cupcakes there.  If it were at my own home I would have taken more time and assembled them the night before.  I think I need to work on piping facial expressions--some of my Olafs look angry or mischievous!  I got the idea from Kristen of Spoonful--her Olaf faces look much happier!

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Oreos dipped in candy melt are easy and pretty.

I admit, I love these things (Elsa's Frozen Oreos); and not just because eating an Oreo brings me back to my childhood but because they are so stinking easy to make!  My aunt bought 2 packages of Oreos so that kids could take some home in treat bags.  I highly suggest the Mint Oreos for two reasons:  they taste yummy and have a Frozen color on the inside!  I bought two bags of the Wilton light blue candy melts and working with half a bag at a time, melted and dipped Oreos using a fork.  Let the excess drip off and then place on a wax paper lined baking sheet to set.  Before it sets, you can decorate with various blue and white sprinkles.  I even had a box of Wilton's pre-made royal icing snowflakes.  If you have enough time, you can order some of those fancy transfer sheets online with a snowflake print.  UpCountry Olio has some lovely examples of these.    

Powdered Sugar Donut Tree

Another easy but pretty dessert!  Well at least easy when you can find powdered sugar donut holes.  My aunt went to several stores and couldn't find any so she bought mini donuts.  I cut them in half and used a toothpick to stick them to an aluminum foil covered floral foam cone.  My aunt didn't buy enough so she had to go back to the store the day of the party and pick up more, and wouldn't you know it, she found donut holes! So I added a few to the top like a tree topper.  

Cake Pops

What children's party these days is complete with out those pretty balls of cake and frosting on a stick?  If you haven't tried making these yet, don't try making them for the first time for your child's party.  Cake pops (Anna's Snowballs) are easy with practice.  The most common problem with them is the candy coating cracking due to temperature changes.  If you dip your cake ball when it is too cold, the candy coating will crack as the cake inside warms and expands.  You can find tons of tutorials online by searching Pinterest or Google.  But the gist of the recipe is:  

A blue interior with a white exterior gives a WOW factor to these cake pops.

• Make a cake--doesn't matter if it's from scratch or from a boxed mix and it doesn't matter what the pan shape is (though I prefer a 13x9 pan since I cut off and discard the harder edges and a 13x9 pan has less edges than two or three 9" circle pans). 
• Once the cake is cooled, start crumbling it up in a bowl.  Discard the harder edges for a smoother cake ball.  
• Once it's crumbled into super fine bits, add about 1/3 of a can of store-bought frosting.  It's always better to add less here--if your cake balls are too moist, they will fall off the sticks even after adhering them with candy coating.
• Mix until well combined.  You should be able to form a golf ball-sized ball without it falling apart.  
• Chill for about 20 or 30 minutes in the fridge.  Take out and reform the balls if needed.
• Melt candy coating, dip the end of the stick in candy coating and stick halfway into a cake ball.  This helps the ball stay on the stick!
• Dip cake ball, lightly tapping to get excess candy melt off.  
• For setting, I like to use floral foam.  Some people use colanders turned upside down. I've also used tall glasses.  
• Before it sets, decorate with sprinkles if you wish.  Or drizzle with other colors of melted candy coating after it sets.  

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