Madeline's Birthday Party

The weekend came and went and here we are at another new week.  It's currently Week 3 at school and oh my, it is busy galore.  I've got two midterms this week along with a postlab and prelab to write up.  Not only that, but there is a journal entry to do, which consists of giving a food interview to someone of a different culture or ethnicity, AND, I've got to do research on Central and Eastern European or Scandinavian cuisine for my Cultural Cuisine class.  Whew!  That was a lot.  Since my professor is at FNCE in Philadelphia, we've got the day off from class but I'll definitely be making use of my time wisely.

This weekend was long but fun, too.  We celebrated Madeline's first birthday with a rainbow-themed birthday party.  Her mom seriously goes all out on decorations and has the most fun ideas!  I was honored to help out and make some of the desserts: Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes, Pecan Tartlets, Chocolate Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakes, and Fruity Pebbles Treats.  Yup, I was able to use many of my own recipes :-)  In fact, the Pineapple Coconut Cupcakes were probably my favorite of the bunch.  

It was a fun array of different sweets.  Look at the pretty hot air balloon sugar cookies that Emmy made!

Because of the rainbow theme, I colored my chocolate cupcakes blue and of course, the red velvet cupcakes were red.  The pineapple coconut ones were yellow so I thought, "Ooh, primary colors!"  And then, it seems I was super excited to use the sprinkles; I've never really used sprinkles before and boy, was it fun to watch the transformation of a cupcake with generous shakes of colorful sugar!

The problem now is that I'm finding sprinkles here and there on the kitchen floor... oh well.  They turned out pretty well!

The Fruity Pebble Treats were my rendition on your usual Rice Krispies Treats.  They had a recipe on the back of the box.  They turned out well, too.  I thought they would be a big attraction for the kids but many adults were telling me they were tasty.  Go figure.  Well, I guess we never grow up, haha :-)

Definitely fits the rainbow theme!

Then, Emmy's brother helped her make these beautiful rainbow Jello cups.  How cool are they?  I can only imagine that it took lots and lots of patience to make because you have to let each layer solidify before moving onto the next one.

Super cool.

Look at these cool favors that Emmy put together--they're different colored Twizzlers!  I didn't know Twizzlers came in other colors.  Always learning something new. 

Yup, it was really really red but also really really good.

Wasn't this wonderfully decorated? 

She prepared rainbow-colored veggies as well as fruit.

The party was held in the picnic area of George Key Ranch Historic Park in Placentia, CA.  I'd never heard of it but ooh, what history!  As you walk in, you see many old crates and tools used when it used to be fruit groves over 100 years ago.  Their house is also on the property and you can take a guided tour of it during the hours that are allocated for them.  Check it out!

This beautiful and gigantic tree was just out of this world.  It twisted and was super tall.  I felt like I was in The Shire, haha.

She is just the cutest!  Happy birthday, Madeline!