by Belinda Mooney
Tired of the same old hotdogs, cake and ice cream at your birthday parties? Here are some ideas for change of pace but oh so simple birthday party goodies.
Pick a Theme
The first thing you might want to do is consider a theme – then ordinary foods become extraordinary treat. Green Kool-Aid becomes – Intergalactic Space Fuel, Bug Juice or Pond Slime. Strawberry soda becomes Royal Ruby Punch, Strawberry Delight or Miner’s Refresher. Sloppy Joes inside pita bread can be a Fly Saucer Sloppies or Burger in a Boat. Get creative! Often a new name to an old favorite can often add some spark to a party.
A New Twist on Cakes
Now try changing the cake into something besides an everyday sheet cake or expensive store bought deal. Bake a dirt cake or a kitty litter cake. Make a cake from cupcakes or even back cupcakes in ice cream cones. Put out small bowls of toppings and let the kids decorate the own cakes.
You can avoid them time consuming chore of dipping out ice cream by making ice cream balls ahead of time. Dip out a scoops of ice cream, roll in coconut, chocolate chips or sprinkles and freeze on a cookie sheet until hard. Then individually wrap them or place in a large sealed container in the freezer until serving time.
Serve Up Some Punch
Kids and adults love punch and it is simple and easy to make. Any Hawaiian Punch type drink will work. Just pour 1 gallon of fruit flavored punch into a large punch bowl, add a 2 liter of ginger ale and float a container of sherbet in the middle. Delicious!
Another drink that works well are equal amounts juice and clear soda. Apple juice is great for this. Float frozen chunks of fruit cocktail in the punch.
Simple is Best
Keep foods simple. Pizza is a favorite at parties but instead of ordering purchase already made crusts and let the kids make their own. You add the sauce and they choose their toppings and add the cheese.
Or try individual servings ready to go. Have a “bagged” lunch where everyone is handed a lunch sack, small basket or even a Frisbee for a plate with everything they need on it. Sandwich, individual drinks, carrot sticks and snack size bags of chips. These are great with a picnic, miners or outdoor theme.
Most of all think kid friendly and simple when planning your party. Easy to make and easy to clean up means more time with the kids and less work afterwards. It doesn’t have to be expensive, time consuming or even something totally new to be fresh and fun.
Cake in an Ice Cream Cone
28 flat-bottomed ice cream cones
1 box of cake mix your favorite flavor
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
decorations – sprinkles, M & M’s, etc
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Wrap a small square of aluminum foil around the base of each of the ice cream cones, and stand the cones in ungreased muffin baking pans. Set the pans aside.
- Mix the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well blended. Spoon the batter into each ice cream cone, filling it no more than halfway. Place the pans in the oven.
- Bake the cones until the cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 30 minutes.
Dirt Cake
1 package Oreo cookies or other brand of chocolate sandwich cookies
3 1/2 cups milk
2 packages instant vanilla pudding
1 container Cool Whip
1/2 stick butter, softened but not melted
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
- Clean flower pot – You can use 1 very large flower pot or several smaller ones
- Grind cookies to look like dirt. Next take a clean flower pot and line the bottom with foil. Put half the ground cookies in the bottom.
- In a bowl, mix together milk and pudding until thick. Mix in Cool Whip and stir gently. In another bowl, mix together butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth. Then add that mix to the milk and pudding mixture and stir together. Pour on top of the ground cookies. Put the rest of the cookie crumbs on top. Cool in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Add fake flowers in the middle. Cover the “dirt” with colorful gummy worms. Serve it up with a plastic shovel. Serves 8.
