M&M; Birthday Party
I put together my son’s 4th birthday party last week. He’s into a lot of things, but nothing in particular stood out as a theme. That is until someone posted a photo of an M&M wedding cake on Facebook. I had my inspiration. My son loves M&M’s in all different varieties. He devours whatever flavored M&M’s I buy to make recipes with. He’s not picky when it comes to his favorite candy. So I researched Pinterest for DIY party decor and kept my eyes open when I was out shopping. I tried to keep it simple because it wasn’t going to be a terribly big party, but I wanted it to be special for him.
I put together my son’s 4th birthday party last week. He’s into a lot of things, but nothing in particular stood out as a theme. That is until someone posted a photo of an M&M wedding cake on Facebook. I had my inspiration. My son loves M&M’s in all different varieties. He devours whatever flavored M&M’s I buy to make recipes with. He’s not picky when it comes to his favorite candy. So I researched Pinterest for DIY party decor and kept my eyes open when I was out shopping. I tried to keep it simple because it wasn’t going to be a terribly big party, but I wanted it to be special for him.
The first thing I had found was 10 inch red plastic M&M dispenser at CVS pharmacy. I used that as my centerpiece. It was too cute to pass up. Then I found a small 5 inch plastic bubble gum machine at Toys R Us that I used as a cake topper.
I wanted the party goers to have a selection of M&M’s to choose from, so I decorated a Archer Farms carton with some card stock I had on hand. I cut out some circles with my Fiskars ShapeCutter Template, then embellished it with little “m’s” I cut out with my Sizzix Sizzlets dies in the Bounce font (which apparently they don’t make anymore, my scrapbook tools are now antiques). I added some circle tags to label the M&M flavors.
I found most of my other supplies at Walmart. I bought plates, napkins, and party hats in all the M&M colors (except brown). I jazzed up the plain party hats with some more cut outs. For these “m’s”, I used my Cricut machine with the Tear Drop cartridge. I was trying to use what I had on hand. If you want the official “M”, you can find it on the Cricut Plantin SchoolBook cartridge.
I used my Cricut machine to cut out these big “m’s” also. This was one of the ideas I found on Pinterest for wall decorations. I used double stick tape to keep them up.
He’s the whole thing all together. Simple, but colorful and fun. It was raining outside, so we played some movies for the kids, but they didn’t care, they ended up going in the pool anyway.
I made all sorts of treats to go with the theme, Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies, M&M Rice Krispie Treats, M&M Pretzel Sticks, and more.
I use the extra “M’s” I cut out to decorate the table. I placed the M&M dispenser on a candlestick holder I had to make him more prominent.
Here are the Candy Coated Oreo M&M’s I blogged about earlier this week. I placed each in matching cupcake liners from Wilton that I had found at Walmart.
This is the cake I made, inspired by this one below. The kids thought it was amazing. Mission accomplished.
Here’s the birthday boy all smiles when he saw his cake. He was excited by all the mini M&M’s pouring down the front. All the kids wanted a slice with the M&M’s on it.
The cake was just two Pillsbury Funfetti cake mixes and two cans of Betty Crocker Fluffy White frosting. I knew I would be spending all my time perfecting the decorating, so I didn’t make the cake and frosting from scratch this time. Plus, I really love Funfetti cake. And if you are wondering if I place each M&M individually on the cake , the answer would be YES! My husband thought I was nuts. He said I should just throw them on there, but I am a type A personality and everything has to be perfect.
For the favor bags, I bought individual packs of Birthday Cake M&M’s and added some bubbles and other candies. The clear bags are from Walmart and the tags I made myself. I put all the kids names on the back. I attached the tags with matching bakers twine I had on hand.
It was a lot of work, but I like being creative. The looks on the kids faces said it all, it was worth it.
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Baked Sweet Potato Fries
I started wearing close-toed shoes a couple weeks ago. If that’s not a sign that fall has arrived, I don’t know what is.
Unfortunately, I’ve been in something of a denial about the season up until now, mostly revolving around the (very very bitter) fact that I didn’t get my fill of summer produce (seeing that most of the season was spent eating Trader Joe’s-branded cereal). I wanted to be a glutton come summer, you know?
Eat way more tomatoes than my stomach could possibly bear, stuff myself with watermelon, incorporate corn and zucchini and eggplant into every single meal. That sort of thing. Because that’s what you’re supposed to do when nature presents you with all this amazing stuff ONCE a year. No, I don’t feel I reached my potential.
What turned me around in the end was these. Did I ever mention how much I love fall fashion? I’m pretty certain everyone loves fall fashion, but in my case, a beautiful pair of boots is enough to get me excited about the chilly days ahead.
I’m also deliciously contemplating a new coat, the excuse to whip out leather gloves, and woolly socks! Don’t get me started on how much I love my woolly socks. I also can’t wait to head upstate to see the fall foliage (which was beautiful last year), take brisk walks through Central Park (so quintessentially New York, no?), and sip on cups of hot apple cider while strolling through the farmer’s market.
I’m also finding myself drawn to using my oven once more. It’s funny how something as innocent as the temperature of the air can dictate one’s desires. I couldn’t have imagined anything more unpleasant than turning on the oven just a couple months back—like NO foods were worth it, not even cookies—and yet, here I am, craving oven-baked sweet potato fries.
My head is a jumble of half-thought-out recipes, but before we get to the aspirational ones, let’s focus, for once, on what I actually eat pretty regularly, or rather, started eating pretty regularly (well, until summer hit, ha) after Amy laid out the steps to the best baked sweet potato fries half a year ago.
There is so much discussion on the web about how to achieve that Platonian ideal of the faux-deep-fried sweet potato fry. I’m actually more opposed to the mess caused by deep-frying than anything else. It’s a proven fact that oil spatters rise (or else explain to me why the things I store above the cabinets are perennially covered in a layer of grime), and I try to make it easy for my better half (better because he does the cleanup, you see) so I’ll save deep-frying for things like, I dunno, donuts? Churros? They’re worth the grease-stained stovetop.
Anyway, I got a taste of this raging debate after Googling the topic. Let me tell you, it is clearly the heyday of the sweet potato fry. People have thought of everything! To the mushy fry, space them apart while baking, to the soggy fry, rinse and let them dry before tossing them with oil and seasonings, to the burned fry and the undercooked fry, cut all your fries the same size. And most importantly, coat them! Coat them with a thin layer of corn starch or cornmeal or semolina, which tricks your tastebuds into believing you’re actually eating something really crispy and, therefore, fried, even if you’re not. Honestly, I don’t have much more to add. Just follow Amy’s advice. Although I do love the cornmeal/semolina coating just as much as the corn starch because it creates this texturally pleasing layer that crunches inside your mouth.
Now that I feel I’ve finally made peace with fall, I’ve got some season-appropriate recipes to start planning!
P.S. Yogurt + honey + a pinch of cinnamon makes a damn good dip.
BAKED SWEET POTATO FRIES
Adapted from The Moveable Feasts
Serves 1, generously
Ingredients:
1 sweet potato, washed and scrubbed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp corn starch, semolina, or cornmeal
salt, pepper, and other spices (paprika, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cumin, etc.) to flavor
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice the sweet potato into sticks that are about the same in size (I aim for more than 1/4″ but less than 1/2″ square cross sections). Rinse them in a bowl of water and lay them out to dry. When dry, toss the fries in olive oil, corn starch/semolina/cornmeal, salt, and whatever other spices you’re using. Lay them out on a baking sheet in one layer (I don’t bother with parchment paper or anything), leaving a little space around each one. Bake about 30 minutes.
Simple dipping sauce: 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, 1 heaping tsp honey, a pinch of cinnamon
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