1st Birthday Party Food

Though, lets be real, it wasn't food FOR the Birthday Girl! Other than trying her first piece of cake, she was content with rice crackers and yooss (juice for those not in the know!). And as we don't know loads and loads of people in London and most of our friends are yet to take the leap into parenthood, there was a grand total of 4 children at Baby M's party. So, it was mostly about play for the kiddies and food for the big kids. 

I had a lot of fun planning the food for this party and definitely more fun eating it! I made a mix of gluten-free and regular food, and decided to throw caution into the wind and eat a piece of White Chocolate Birthday Cake, to hell with the consequences (as an aside, I did suffer for the following 4 days, but hey, it was my baby girl's first birthday cake and I was determined that I was going to have a piece with her).  

The photos I took were in a huge flurry of activity, so they aren't perfectly composed/exposed etc but here are the photos that I did take of the food we served on the day. I will do a post with some specific recipes too, but thought it would be fun to show a little of the delicacies we indulged in to celebrate our little lady. 

The Birthday Cake. I wanted to do an M and this was okay, but I was so rushed getting it iced and finished in the end (I was doing the stripes as guests were arriving) and so I wasn't entirely happy with how it looked. 

But however it looked, it tasted delicious!

Salted Caramel Popcorn with gold glitter

Raspberry Creme Brulee with gold leaf (Recipe to come, it was a bit ridiculous!)

Watermelon, feta and mint stacks

Smoked salmon with cucumber rounds (I just couldn't get GF sweet potato blinis to work, so decided the cucumbers were a thousand times easier, still GF and equally as tasty).

Sliders. Who doesn't love sliders! Well I didn't get to have one, but the fact that they all disappeared within about a minute tells me these were okay. They were lamb, with a tomato relish, jack cheese and gherkins.

Musk sticks. Of course these are an Australian treat, they're a little odd. It was funny when we offered these around and some of our American friends were having such a hard time figuring them out and what they reminded them of. I'm not sure, but I always loved them growing up, and thought they were more like a decoration that you can eat than anything else!

Drinks time! We served Jansz sparkling rose, which is very special to us because it was the bubbles we toasted with on the afternoon that Mr M proposed to me, 4 years ago in Byron Bay. We visited the small(ish) vineyard when we went to Tasmania one year and were stoked to have found it in London. 

We also served two different cocktails. Mr M made up a pomegranate concoction that was fresh and zingy, and then we also served White Russians....but of course they were pink!

We were properly all pinked and glittered out by the end of the afternoon, but it was so much fun making this party as pretty and tasty as could be. Who knows, I'm sure a two year old will be able to tell me "no" next year. And then she'll break my heart and hate pink..... sigh. 

Other than the Creme Brulee, let me know if there are any recipes in particular you would like to see!!

Chicken and apple balls

Sounds interesting doesn't it!

The thing is, I got this recipe out of a baby book!! The Annabel Karmel's New Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner, has loads of meal ideas and guides on what your baby can eat at each stage of their development. After getting bored of serving Baby M the same 3 variations of meals for weeks on end, I usually consult this book for a new idea to throw in the mix. Today's was a winner. For me anyway...

It usually takes a few tries for Baby M to get used to a new texture/flavour, but while she takes her sweet time doing that, I couldn't have these go to waste (or go cold...). 

These tasty little balls are sweet from the apple, fresh from the parsley and filling and hearty thanks to the chicken and breadcrumbs. You could adapt it in so many ways too, and it really took a total of ten minutes from concept to plate, and that is so often a winner even if it tastes a little so-so. 

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped

1 apple, peeled and grated (or cut into chunks for the food processor)

2 large chicken breasts

1/2 T fresh parsley

2oz/50g fresh breadcrumbs (I used GF bread)

Plain flour for coating (again, I used GF)

Method:

1. Saute half of the finely chopped onion for 3 minutes until cooked but not brown. 

2. Put into the food processor the chicken, apple, onion (both the cooked and uncooked halves), parsley and breadcrumbs and pulse until the chicken is minced and all well combined. 

3. Roll into small balls and coat in the flour. 

4. Shallow fry until lightly golden and cooked through, which takes about 5 minutes. 

Delicious! Definitely not just a snack for the little ones!!

On the menu tonight

Did I mention this is the menu for and 8 month-old for the evening!!! I don't want to nurture a fussy eater, but a budding foodie is okay!!! And what, you mean to tell me that you eat pears that aren't French?? Shocking!

So I guess I don't often put on recipes on how to puree food, but my world has changed somewhat,  and if I had to learn it, others must have to as well, so I figured why not!!

I did my online grocery order this week and put a few fruits and vegies in for me to make Madeleine's meals, and justified to myself that not buying them from the fruit shop down the street was made okay if I bought organic produce online. And the only organic pears available, were French. And this is how they arrived....

Both Madeleine and I were amused by their little red wax tips too!

For young babies, you are meant to cook the fruit and veggies until they are soft and mushable.

I think pears and cinnamon is a winning combination and so far seems to be Maddie's favourite fruit as well. Simply peel (roughly as some skin provides great nutrients) the pears and put slices in a pot boiling with water and cinnamon sticks. I'm sure you can use ground cinnamon too, but I like using the sticks so that it flavours the water, but then can be removed.

It is only necessary to boil for about ten minutes, but you can leave it for about half an hour if you want (or forget....).

I then drain the water but keep it aside to add back in once it has been pureed. I have so far been using a stick blender to puree food, but have a new member of the kitchen family to introduce now, so I suspect the stick blender will fall into obsolescence! 

I will often add the pears to porridge  (oatmeal)  or serve it as, either way, she loves it! 

To prepare the baked sweet potato with rice, I use the same method of oven baking the sweet potato for an hour, as per my Sweet Potato Gnocchi. 

For 3 medium sweet potatoes I added a little over a cup of cooked white rice. Next time I will be using brown rice, but white was all I had on hand at the time. I am finding the rice really helps fill Madeleine, without causing her any tummy troubles, which we experienced with pasta or other wheat-based foods. 

Blend until sufficiently pureed. A 7 month old doesn't need for the food to be completely smooth as they need to start learning to chew soon, so a little chunky is ideal. 

I got a few of these Annabel Karmel food trays and they are awesome! I freeze whatever I have made and then pop them into freezer bags to use the trays again and which makes grabbing a few frozen portions simple as can be when it comes to dinner time. 

Sweet potato, so delicious.