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.
