Sesame Street Birthday Party

When my little one celebrated his first birthday, I decided to go the Sesame Street route - he LOVED Elmo!  Still does!  I have included a few pictures below, certainly not everything we served - but I was most proud of the cake!  I hadn't baked a cake in YEARS, literally, YEARS.  And there was a good reason why - the last one I made for my husband was a disaster.  I deemed myself a cook, and not a baker! 

After having my first son, and then ultimately outsourcing his birthday cake baking for a few years, I started watching a friend make her daughter's birthday cakes - and they were awesome!  She gave me the confidence, that I too, could do this!  She is now officially my Birthday Cake Consultant!

Fortunately, my mom was visiting for this special event (who is an EXCELLENT baker - and cook!) so was happy she was there to help me assemble and decorate this one - it took awhile!  We consumed several bottles of champagne during the process! 

I can't take credit for the idea, I found a similar cake on a blog (that doesn't seem to exist anymore - this was done about 2 years ago) - but definitely wanted a smash cake for my son which was perfect for the top layer!

The Cake

I used standard box cake mixes and made two, full cakes (2 layers each) just different sizes.  I made the cakes two nights before the party, left them unassembled, and gave them all a crumb coat (a helpful tip from the Birthday Cake Consultant!).  Basically, a thin layer of icing to prevent the cakes from drying out and to remove the crumb issue many have when trying to ice the cake. For the icing, I followed the Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe and then made the Pure White Icing (same link as the Buttercream) and added the blue food coloring (definitely recommend the Wilton Gel Formula for the color as it is more concentrated - a little goes a long way!) for the piping....more Birthday Cake Consultant tips......

I bought pre-made fondant in the bright colors and used Alphabet & Number Cutouts from Wilton to decorate the cake.  You can even take it a step further and make a Sesame Street sign on the front of the cake (with yellow and green fondant) and use the child's birthday at the top (instead of the 123) and their name at the bottom (instead of Sesame Street)!

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Abby Cadabby's Enchanting Butterflies and Flowers

Serves 4

Recipe from "C is for Cooking - Recipes From the Street" 

Note:  I added very little broth - it is intended to served in shallow bowls so that the noodles and veggies can be served with a little broth.  I presented it as a cold, pasta salad.

8 oz bow tie pasta

3 carrots, trimmed and peeled

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 oz lean ham, slivered

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water according to package directions until tender, about 8 minutes.

Cut each carrot into 2-3 inch lengths.  With a small sharp knife, carefully carve out narrow, shallow "v" shapes, about 1/4 inch apart, around the outside of each piece of carrot.  Thinly slice each carrot.  (The "v" shape cutouts gives the slices a petal-like appearance.)

Put the carrot flowers into a bowl until they're ready to go into the skillet to cook.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the carrots and cook, stirring often, until almost tender, about 2 minutes.  Add the ham and cook, stirring often, 2 minutes longer.

Add the chicken broth.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes longer, Stir in the pasta.  Divide among shallow soup bowls. 

Sprinkle a little parsley into each bowl.

Grover's Fruit Kabobs

Thread your little one's favorite fruits onto a kabob!  Presto!  You've got Grover's Fruit Kabobs!



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