Molly's Birthday Party

I shamelessly stole the idea for a mashed potato bar from my friend Shannon's birthday a week ago. We were considering having Moe's cater the party like we did last year but we were trying to save a bit of money. Especially since we outsourced the cupcakes this year. A mashed potato bar is a cheap and easy way to bring on mass thrills. I peeled, boiled and mashed ten pounds of potatoes (whew!) and had sour cream, scallions (not as good as Shannon's) and a mixed cheese blend. I was lucky because the sour cream and cheese were leftover from Cinco de Mayo.

I decided to do sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes because I really just couldn't choose between them. The sweet potatoes were made with canned yams. The grocery store I went to did not have Bruce's so I went with a different brand. I strongly prefer Bruce's Yams if you can get them. These were meh. The garnishes for the sweet potatoes were brown sugar, coconut flakes, marshmallows and toasted pecans. It was a bigger hit with the adults than the kids. Especially my pregnant friend, Amy. Even as a kid, I didn't care for sweet potatoes. I love them now but the color put me off when I was younger.

The cupcakes are from Sugar and Sunshine bakery here in Plainsboro. If you have the itch, this is the place to scratch it. They have every kind of cupcake imaginable! Chocolate cake with strawberry icing, cinnamon, key lime, carrot cake and cookies w/cream. They actually make the cookies for the cookie and cream icing! We had "Pick your Nose" cups for lemonade.

The people are really friendly and the prices are quite reasonable. They even gave us coloring sheets for the party which helped to occupy the kids for quite a while!

I also had the girls decorate their own tea cups. We had a slight disaster with the sharpies and now my coffee table is covered in ink. We're going to be test driving the Magic Eraser today!

To top it off, all of the girls got cupcake favors. Michael's had a ton of cupcake themed stuff in their dollar section. I got the napkins, plates, ribbon, stamps and invites. The bigger cupcakes are made of paper and they have stickers inside. The smaller cupcakes have lipgloss. We had one baby attend the party so she got a rubber ducky.

Molly had a great time at her party. I had a lot of fun planning it but I am glad it's over until next year!

Sugar + Sunshine Bakery

6 Market Street

(Plainsboro Village Center)

Plainsboro, NJ 08536

609-936-3777

EDIT: The Magic Eraser worked! We were cautioned not to use it on wood but we tried everything else! The Eraser removed Sharpie from our coffee table. The finish seems a bit irritated but we're going to get some conditioning wipes from Method to soothe it.

Cinco de Mayo....a few days later.

There's a lot of controversy surrounding Cinco de Mayo.  Some Mexicans seem to get all in a huff over the fact that we choose to have our friends over for good eats and drinks on May 5th.  I don't let it bother me.  And they shouldn't let it bother them!  I mean, it's sort of a tribute!  Who doesn't love Mexicanesque type edibles?  It's one of the more vegetarian friendly fares so I never have to worry about starving to death. It also seems to bring out the best in everyone because it's the type of food that just makes people happy!  (Especially my husband!)  I have great memories of taco and burrito night when I was growing up.  It's a perfect excuse to get together and have some fun!  I don't see it as an excuse to drink...I see it as an excuse to EAT! Chris used to work with this Mexican guy at UPenn who never had a burrito in his life until he came to the U.S.  Go figure.

This year, I had a potluck and we had a reasonably large group of people over!  They all contributed something.  I made a big pot of brown rice, a pot of black beans and a pot of pinto beans, some salsa and some guacamole.  I also made a burrito pie from a recipe inspired by an article I saw in Family Fun magazine.  It was a huge hit!  I used vegetarian chorizo in place of beef and each layer had either refried pinto or black beans.  I also sprinkled in some caramelized onions and frozen corn.  

My salsa recipe has not changed much in the ten years I've been making it.  It isn't revolutionary or different.  The list of ingredients is a basic round up of the usual suspects.  I combine them by feel so it's difficult to really jot down exact measurements.  I can tell you that I always make my salsa the day before I plan to serve it because it's always better the next day.

I painted this bowl as a gift for Chris a few years ago when we were dating.  The man LOVES salsa and all of the associated foods that come along with it.  I always joke that if we ever need to spice up our love life, I just need to wrap myself up in a tortilla shell.  

The guacamole is more simple.  I made a huge batch for Cinco de Mayo and it got completely tapped.  The dark spots you see there are the pits.  I keep them in the guacamole because it helps to keep the avocados nice and fresh.  This bowl has ten mashed avocados in it!  I just add juice from one and a half limes along with salt and pepper to taste.  Some people also throw in sour cream but I really love the taste of avocados so I don't add much to it.  It's like the part in Love Actually where the guy is holding up the sign.

Mom and Pop Pizza > Papa Johns

The other night, we celebrated my friend Shannon's birthday. The cool part of the celebration was the fact that it featured all of her favorite foods. Mashed potatoes, mac&cheese, Yoo-Hoo, crumb cake, malt balls and Papa Johns pizza.

The best part was definitely the mashed potato bar!! We saw one at a wedding reception last year and it was a huge hit!! To top it off even more perfectly, the scallions were fresh picked by the birthday girl herself....

Absolutely amazing! I've never piled so many scallions on anything in my life. I couldn't get enough of them!

Let's focus on the pizza. I used to absolutely love Papa Johns pizza but lately, it really hasn't been doing it for me. I think it's the fact that we are surrounded by amazing local pizza places and I've started to get a bit spoiled. I still enjoy it from time to time but the thrill is gone. However, when I do eat Papa John's....I must have the dipping sauces.

Buffalo sauce and the garlic butter sauce. In that order! If you dip it in the butter first, then the buffalo sauce doesn't seem to be able to cling to the pizza as well and you won't get enough. The other way around is a perfect combo. I love buffalo sauce on just about anything. I always have a bottle of Frank's Hot Sauce in my cabinet.

I'm actually craving one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches right now. I also dip it in hot sauce. :-)