A Meatloaf & A Tart

We had our first dinner guests over to the new house last week. I don't entertain as much as I'd like, but when I get to--it makes me so happy! I made a new meatloaf recipe, which was scrumptious! The homemade bbq sauce-which accompanied the loaf- had an interesting mix of spices such as cumin, allspice, cinnamon, chili powder, garlic powder & cayenne pepper. The recipe is from a book by Sara Perry called "Weekends With the Kids". It's full of activities, crafts & recipes--all sorts of ideas for family fun!


But the exciting part of the meal was dessert! Isn't it always the best part? Here's the recipe. The strawberry & cream cheese tart looked so beautiful in the picture. How could I ever duplicate THAT? Well, in no time I was dancing a happy hostess jig when MINE came out looking rather dandy too!



Iwas so proud that I took TOO many foodie photos I'm afraid. Look at that pretty baked round of goodness!


There was enough excess dough to make a tiny-sized tart too. Look at the little finger marks left from a wee one that helped me. Oh, so cute!


I prepared the ingredients--except for the strawberries, the night before. I love "do-ahead" recipes. Saves so much time! The creamy spread was a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar & crystallized ginger. One note about crystallized ginger: Holy spices & herbs Batman! That stuff is super expensive! A little regular spice bottle full of crystallized ginger was about 13 bucks. I cringed. SO, I rolled my squeaky-wheeled grocery cart on over to the bulk spice area & there was my crystallized ginger---for 12 bucks LESS! Yes people. I paid a dollar for the same amount as was in the pre-packaged spice jars!






The mixture spread so smoothly on top of the giant cookie-like round. And the strawberries topped it off perfectly!



My wrinkly table cloth totally kills the mood here.



Here's the tiny one that got eaten by tiny teeth the next day.

Strawberry Party Madness!

No, not a 'Strawberry Shortcake' party--as in that cute little doll with other fruity friends. But a plain ole "strawberry" party. My niece turned 3 this week & requested this theme as a party after seeing this cake in a Mary Poppins book. My sis-in-law, Carolyn, had me decorate a flag for the cake. On the oppisite side of the flag I glued 3 cute little plastic strawberries.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE it when people ask me for ideas for an event they are planning. Carolyn asked me for ideas & so I unloaded all my cutest & strawberry-ish ideas. One of which were these adorable strawberry balloons, decorated with paper tissue leaves & black marker seeds. The kids took them home after the party. These were my favorite part of the party. They looked so cute clustered together!

I also suggested she fill these plastic fruit baskets with goodies for the kids. Well, the grocery stores around here had ZERO of them. She managed to round up a few from her mom & filled them with various candies & treats to scatter on the table for guests to munch on instead. One produce guy said, "Why don't you ask someone at a fruit & veggie produce stand?" Um....hello? Do you know how freakin' cold it is outside & seriously--have you seen any produce stands within MILES of here this time of year??????

I love using ALL the senses at a party & so candles are a big deal to me. And these strawberry scented candles were perfect!

The guests sipped on strawberry lemonade & after pizza & a game of pin-the-leaf on the strawberry, everyone enjoyed strawberry milkshakes! Carolyn even snipped the ends off of licorice (strawberry twizzlers she'd have you know!) so the kids (& me) could slurp it up like a straw!

Kids parties are for the adults as well, & I love giving the adults party favors too. While the kids took home goodies wrapped in red cellophane--such as red fingernail polish & strawberry lipgloss--the adults all took home a handful of chocolate dipped strawberries wrapped in equally festive cellophane. They were yummy! I ate mine immediately when I got home after the party! One adult at the party was allergic to strawberries. How random & ironic is THAT?

My niece had a great time & her strawberry party was a burst of fruity-flavored fun!