Happy Birthday to Tatianna!

 Happy Birthday to my daughter Tatianna today.  She is 18!  She came into this world in a spectacular way 18 years ago and these cupcakes commemorate that special event!!  So I guess you can guess that she wasn't born in a hospital.  Yes, she was born on a lawn en route to the hospital. 

 

 

So this year her sister, Talley, made "Babies on a Lawn" cupcakes to celebrate her birthday.  Her birth announcement read "On a moonlit night, under the stars so bright, Tatianna Larsen was delivered on a lawn, Oh what a sight!"

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Tati!  Life with you has been a grand adventure!

Simple Hunger Games Birthday Party

 

 

My sweet daughter turned 13 this month, and we celebrated with a Hunger Games Birthday Party!  My daughter is a big reader, and we have tended to have book-themed parties in the past.  You can also check out her Harry Potter and Percy Jackson parties.  The Hunger Games or "Hungry Games," as we called it was an easy party to put together.  We tried to highlight food that was mentioned in the Hunger Games and also highlighted a few food items from the second book, Catching Fire.  This was not a complicated party; we concentrated on simple foods.  For the most part, I put it together in an afternoon. 

 

I used the cake as a table decoration.  The cake was an easy cake to make.  I made a triple layer vanilla cake, and frosted it with chocolate butter cream frosting.   I used gum paste, because I already had some, to make the flames and the mockingjay medallion. You could also use fondant.   Katniss was given a Mockingjay pin from a school friend, and the Mockingjay became a symbol of the rebellion against the Capitol.   I found a template for the Mockingjay HERE and cut it out with an exacto knife and added a bit of detail. "How to Cook That's  Mockingjay is so professional; mine is just a quick make.   I used Wilton's Gold Color Spray to get the shiny effect I desired.  The cake was not an original idea by any stretch of the imagination!

 

 

The colors of a Hunger Games party would be black, orange, yellow, and maybe red.  I went with this color theme.

 

For the "Hungry Games" food I searched the Internet and borrowed every idea I could.  I loved the squirrel meat, and so did the girls at the party.  They were just meatballs I picked up at the store.  Katniss, the main character was an excellent hunter.

 

 

One of my favorite "eats" was the Tracker Jacker nest.  This is just a Rice Krispies recipe using Cheerios instead of Rice Krispies.  This was about a five minute project, and I loved how it turned out.  The Tracker Jackers were seriously dangerous insectss.  I already had the chocolate bees as I am always toying around with putting together a Bee Tablescape.

 

 

In the background of this picture is a bow and arrow.  Katniss liked to hunt, and had great skill with a bow and arrow. 

 

We set out some nuts (actually sunflower seeds) and some dried blueberries, also called Nighlock in the book.  The Nighlock takes on great significance at the end of the book --- I won't do a spoiler, just in case you haven't read the book.

 

 

 

We also purchased some Nightlock Muffins.

 

 

We also purchased a couple of artisan breads as Peeta, Katniss' co-competitor from district 12, was a baker.

 

 

 

We also set out some candy coal (didn't get a picture), as many of the men in District Nine worked in the coal mines, including Katniss' friend Gale.  We also made Cornucopia rolls (crescent rolls). not pictured. 

  

We borrowed a few foods from Catching Fire, and included them.  In the second book Finnick, a main character, had a trident he used to fish with.

 

 

Finnick also, oddly enough, would eat  sugar cubes.  This was a fun addition to the eats because most of the girls had never seen sugar cubes before.

 

 

For drink we supplied the girls with Capitol Orange Juice because Katniss went to the Capitol and was exposed to many foods that were not readily available in District Nine.  She had orange juice for the first time and liked it.

 

 

 

We also served Tracker Jacker Nectar (water) in the beehive dispenser.

 

 

 

For games, since we called it the "Hungry Games," we had a contest to see how quickly the girls could eat a set amount of marshmallows.  They also split up in pairs to see how many fish they could catch in their mouths.  The real hit of the "Hungry Games" was the candy bar game.  It is always a fun party game.  You have a pile of candy in the center.  The participants take turns rolling dice.   Sevens, elevens, and doubles means you get to take a candy bar from the center, or steal one from someone else.  The game is done when the candy is gone from the center, or whenever you determine it.  Of course the fun is stealing from someone else.  I edited the photo as I don't have permission to post the pictures of the girls -- you have to be careful these days :).

 

 

 

Thanks for dropping by our Hunger or Hungry Games party.  It was a pleasure hosting nine happy, giggly girls.

 

 



It All Started With a Dream of Mint Green Shoes

 

It all started with a dream that my daughter had.

 

In her dream, she bought some mint green shoes..."AND THEY WERE SO CUTE!"

 

 

 

She would have no luck finding mint green shoes in the small village she lives in,  so she travelled to the big cities up north in pursuit of mint green shoes.

 

 

 

Although she looked and looked, her pursuit was in vain, no mint green shoes could be found in the big cities.  She settled for a turquoise pair of shoes'

 

The girl who had the dream had a very special birthday party coming up...she was turning Sweet 16.

 

 

Since she couldn't find mint green shoes, she decided to have a mint green Sweet Sixteen Party.

 

 

 

She and her mother prepared the food with care.  The girl who dreamed about mint green shoes made sure that the cake frosting, the cake pops, and the cookie icing were just the right shade of green...like the green in her dream.

 

 

Her mother tried to make everything "just rosy" for the special girl who had turned 16.  She made a mint green rose cake for the girl who had a dream about the shoes.

 

 

Since the girl couldn't realize her dream of buying mint green shoes, she twisted her dream and had a mint green party.

 

 

And so the beautiful birthday girl with the dream about mint-colored shoes blew out her candles with many good wishes for the future.

 

 

 

And the mint-colored cake tasted very good.

 

 

 The End

 

Posted with the following:

 

MM, Let's Dish, TT 



A Sweet Candy Tower for a "Sweet" 16 Birthday

 

Welcome to Red Couch Recipes where we have been celebrating my daughter Tati's 16th birthday.  A candy tower is a  perfect way to celebrate an event of a "sweet" one in your life!

 

 

 

 

The tower base is just some oasis blocks hot glued together (low temperature glue).  I always keep the plastic wrapping on the oasis.  Then I glue on candy, some balloon weights, "16" candles and some ribbons.

 

 

 The candy tower is reminiscent of My 16th birthday where girls would present the birthday gal with candy ribbons. The candy ribbons were basically a bow with ribbons streaming from the bow and  candy taped on the ribbons. The birthday gal would pin the bows on and all day long other students would pull candy off the birthday gal. Well, my daughter doesn't have this traditon at her school, but this is what I have taken to my children's school when they turned 16.

 

The idea is that students will tear off candy from the tower all day long.  There is a lot of candy here; the tower is actually heavy.

 

 

My daughter is very sweet and I hope she enjoys this sweet birthday surprise.

 

 

 

A couple of years ago, I found this concept on Kim's Cheap Chic Home website.

 

Thanks for dropping by the Red Couch.

 



Fun and Easy Harry Potter Mania Birthday Party

Welcome to Red Couch Recipes and to my recap of the Harry Potter Birthday Party I threw for my 11 year-old daughter Talley.  Before we started making plans for the party, she polled her friends asking them if they would like a Fablehaven Birthday Party or a Harry Potter Birthday Party.  As many of them hadn't read Fablehaven, they voted for a Harry Potter Party.  It also helped that the last Harry Potter movie had just been showing in theaters.  The year before, Talley had a Percy Jackson Party, which, of course, I blogged about.  Click HERE for the Percy Jackson Party.  It seems like we have a "book to birthday party" trend going on at our home.

We started out with a simple invitation inviting each of the girls to Hogwart's Academy.  I printed a black etched picture of the Hogwart's Castle on white vellum and placed the invitation behind the vellum on a white piece of paper.  I used one similar to the one sketched HERE.

I decorated the table with witch hats attached to the back of the chairs and with this scarf and cape my son had for a Harry Potter Halloween Party, oh so long ago.  My son Skyler, now 17,  fell for the Harry Potter mania in a big way.  I remember when one of the books came out, we of course, bought a copy on the first day.  When we were shopping that day he was sitting in the cart reading the newest Harry book.  Another time, we took a  picture of us sitting in a fast food restaurant with a Harry Potter book on the table. 

Another shot of the table.  I bought the tablecloth at Zurchers.  It has pictures of each of the three main characters.  I used a black cats, cauldron, and wizard hat from my Halloween collectection.  I love the effect of the well-worn Harry Potter books with the glasses on top,

When the girls first arrived I drew  a lightning bolt on their foreheads -- just to be like Harry.  We also gave them each a pair of Harry-styled glasses that I bought at the Dollar Store.  I have edited the photo because I haven't asked permission from the girl's parents for their photos to be posted on the Internet 

" I wish for Gryffindor!"

The big night arrived and nine girls showed up for the party.  They were greeted with a sign at the door that said "Welcome to Hogwart's."  The first order of business was sorting the girls into the Hogwart's House.  For the sorting hat, I used a Halloween witch hat and drew the house names, Sytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, out of a bowl.  The purpose of this was to divide the girls into teams to compete in a Harry Potter Trivia Contest.

At the end of this post is copy of the Harry Potter Trivia Contest.  I thought it was quite simple, but it did stump most  of the girls.

The girls were given Galleons, Gold Chocolate Coins, for their work on the Trivia Contest.  Of course,
the House of Gryffindor won!   I gave the winning team the most Galleons (6) and the  losing team the least (3).  They used these Galleons to purchase items on their trip to Honeyduke's.

The chocolate frogs were a hit -- Ribbit!

I used the following candy for Honeydukes:

Chocolate Frogs:  Made with Chocolate Chips and a Frog Mold
Dumbledore's Dum Dums:  Dum Dum Suckers
Pop Rocks:  Pop Rocks
Fred and George Weasley's Tongue Taffy:  Tongue Taffy
Pixie Poison:  Pixie Sticks
Lemon Drops:  Lemon Drops -- I used these because Dumbledore 's favorite candy was lemon drops.
Whiz Bangs: Zotz
Hermione's Sour Cubes:  Cubed candy I found at the Dollar Store

Jacqueline, if you are missing a frog mold, you now know where it is!

The trip to Honeyduke's was one of the favorite activities at the party.  I set up my buffet with candy labelled and with a price list.  Limiting the amount of candy they could buy at Honeyduke's by the amount of Galleons they earned from the Trivia Contest, made the trip extra fun for the girls.  It was as if they were really at Honeyduke's making choices with limited funds.  I really did keep their Galleons!


While at Honeydukes we bought some Bertie Bott's Beans.  I found them at the "Candy Barrel" at the nearest mall.  They are still available, but they are not as easy to find as they used to be.  This was a highlight of the party.  I gave the girls an extra Galleon to spend at Honeyduke's if they would just try one -- they all did.

The girls had a lot of fun tasting the beans!  As you probably know,  there are good beans and bad beans.  The bad bean flavors include flavors such as booger, grass, and baby wipes.  All of the girls took the gamble and we had fun tasting them.

Not so sure about that bean!

A bad bean. 

Next we went to Potions Class and made some Rosmerta's Butter Beer.  Surprisingly I liked the flavor.  I say surpisingly because the base of the Butter Beer is cream soda, and I am not a huge fan of cream soda.  I used my sister Jacqueline's recipe (and natch it was good) and unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of  the Butter Beer because you have to act quickly because it fizzes over the cup.  It was a fun  fizzy and bubbly drink.

On the table I had displayed ingredients that were used for the "Potions Class."

I printed the labels and got the ideas off the web HERE,  They are all things easily pulled together around your home, and there are free printable labels.

Every party has to have a cake.

We ended the night with pizza and Birthday Cake.  You may have noticed that "Happy " and "Birthday" are spelled wrong on the cake.  This cake, was to be like the cake that Hagrid brought Harry when they first met.  He misspelled the words Happy and Birthday on the cake.  It was Harry's birthday and he was so touched by the cake, because the Dursley's never celebrated his birthday before, and this was the first birthday cake he ever had.  Of course, Dudley eats the cake and then Hagrid gives him a piggy tale. 

Harry Potter Trivia Contest

(Caution:  There May Be Spoilers)

1.  Ron and George Weasley are twin  brothers.  T or F (False)

2.  Albus Dumbledore does not like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.  T or F (True)

3.  The cry of a fully grown mandrake can kill you.  T or F (True)

4.  The Dursley Family lives at 4 Privet Drive.  T or F (True)

5.  Harry Potter's wand happens to be the brother wand of Albus Dumbledore's wand.  T or F(False)

6.  Sirius Black,  Harry Potter's Godfather, is an Animagus and can turn into a big, black dog.  T or F
(True)

7.  Sirius Black eats rats while he lives near Hogsmeade.  T or F (True)
\
8.  The name of the candy store in Hogsmeades is Honeycakes.  T or F (False)

9.  Hagrid tried to turn Dudley into horse in the first Harry Potter book.  T or F (False)

10.  Bellatrix LeStrange kills Dumbledore.  T or F (False)

11.  Lord Voltemort's followers are called Death Cheaters.  T or F (False)

12.  Harry's first task in the Triwizard contest is to steal a dragon's Egg. T or F (True)

13.  The Mascot for the House of Gryffindor is the Eagle.  T or F (False)


14.  In the end, Harry marries Hermione.  T or F (False)

Thanks for dropping by my Red Couch , and I hope you enjoyed your visit to my Harry Potter Mania Birthday Party!

Posted with the following parties:

Metamorphasis Monday, Market Yourself Monday, Tablescape Thursday

Aunt Mary's Birthday Cake with Two Cream Frosting

When I was growing up, we were fortunate to live near my Aunt Mary and Uncle John's family.  Aunt Mary and Uncle John had ten children and our family had five children.  We celebrated many birthdays together; we also played countless games of flashlight tag together.  During the game, one could hear "One, two, three I see Joni" or "Olley olley umphrey all home free."  Those of us hiding would taunt the person on goal with noises or calls of "hootie - whoo."   

When we went to Aunt Mary's home (Uncle John died when I was very young), it seemed to me that we would always have a three layer birthday cake.  I always loved it.  Later in life I talked to Jacqueline about Aunt Mary's cake, and she said it was just a three layer cake with whispped cream and bananas.  I have made my  version of "Aunt Mary's Birthday Cake" a couple of times for my family and we love it.  Aunt Mary's cake definitely didn't have a two cream frosting, but this frosting works so well with this cake.

Aunt Mary's Cake makes an impressive party cake.

For the white cake, this time I used a recipe from a Better Homes and Garden's magazine -- it was a delicious, moist white cake!  Aunt Mary always colored her layers:  white, pink, and green.

This photo provides a better shot of the bananas peeking out.

My Version of Aunt Mary's Birthday Cake

You will need three layers of white cake, 2-3 bananas, and a batch of Two Cream frosting.

Recipe for Classic White Cake

The secret is to make sure you don't over bake your cake.  Take the layers out a minute or so before you "think" they are done.

6 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

2-2/3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups buttermilk

Separate eggs.  Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes (reserve yolks for another use).  Meanwhile, grease three 8 x 1-/2 -inch round cake pans.  Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper.  Grease parchment paper and lightly flour pans; set aside.  In medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined.  Add egg whites all at once; beat on medium-high for 3 minutes.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined.  Divide batter into prepared pans. 

Bake in preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted near centers comes out clean.  Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Remove layers from pans.  Cool thoroughly on racks.

Two Cream Frosting

1 cup Whipped Cream

1 cup Sour Cream -- don't use low fat

5-6 tablespoons sugar

Whip cream in a medium bowl and then gradually add the sugar.  Fold in sour cream. 

Assembly of Cake

Place one layer of cake on cake stand; frost top of cake and add sliced bananas.  Place second layer on top of first and frost top of cake and add sliced  bananas.  Place third layer on top of second layer then frost all layers of cake.  For stability, you may wish to insert three to four thin wooden dowels or skewer.

Refrigerate cake two hours before serving.  This will allow the frosting to harden.  The cake also tastes marvelous the next day.  Because of the cream, any leftovers must be refrigerated.

Posted with the following:

Weekend Wrapup, I'm Lovin' It, Feature Yourself Friday