Audrey Birthday Party Recipes...

I love throwing parties because I love to cook. It gives me an opportunity to try out new recipes too.

Here's some links to some of the food that was served:

The rainbow cake was found on Whisk-Kid here. Who doesn't see the rainbow cake and not want to taste it or try and make it. I knew the instant that I saw it, it was going to be the cake I would make for Audrey's first birthday (when I was pregnant with her)! So the theme of her party was "rainbow" in honor of the cake. I'm sure no one noticed, but the veggie plate and fruit bowl were laid out in order of the colors of the rainbow... dorky I know! So anyways, I encourage you to make the cake too! It's yummy. There's a joke going around that it will taste like a "rainbow" because it's so pretty.

Instead of doing the Whisk-Kid recipe, I used the recipe from the famous cupcake shop Magnolia that's in NYC. I made the vanilla cake and frosted it with the vanilla buttercream. Recipe found here. I also made two dozen cupcakes and dyed the frosting with each color of the rainbow!

Thanks to Grandma Linda for making the delicious QUINOA TABBOULEH. The kids and I could eat this everyday!

Also, the garlicky bean dip with sesame wonton chips I made were a hit, and they're not bad for you either! It's from my Weight Watchers "Hit the Spot" cookbook. It's so easy to make. I took a photo of the recipe for you-

I made iced coffee in mason jars based on the New York Times recipe here.

The frozen bananas I made were just melted semi-sweet chocolate chips that I dipped the bananas in, then Edison dipped them in sprinkles and froze them. It was that easy!

NEXT: I need to get around and post my obsession with making grilled pizzas on our barbecue this summer!

Do yourself a favor and cook something new this summer! I'm trying out a recipe tonight I read and fell in love with... roasted asparagus and cherry tacos!