This last weekend we had a birthday in our family. One of our children was celebrating a birthday and as I like to entertain and throw a little party every now and again, I decided to take on the challenge of having a few friends and family over and serving food that is healthy and nourishing.
I knew that I needed to rethink the usual crowd pleasers like chips, baked goods, a candy dish, and of course - the cake! I also wanted to keep things simple, with things that could be prepared before hand. Party favors also had to be rethought, I didn't want to send kids home with candy or bubbles (nothing wrong with bubbles, but we have a lot and I didn't want to bog any one's home down with more).
I started with the cake. I decided on a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from Nourishing Traditions and planned enough ahead to do a test run the weekend before the party. This was good because I found there were a few things I opted to do a little differently, mainly boosting flavor, and changing the sweetener from honey to agave/maple syrup blend in the frosting as this was more baby friendly. The actual cake for the birthday turned out well, and because the cake was really for the young one, it was nice to have an excuse for not serving an overly sweet grocery store cake! The frosting was delicious and I luckily have a little left over in my fridge that seems to be disappearing little by little...
Next I worked on the menu. Due to budget, space restrictions and nap times, I decided to have an afternoon party, but not at a main meal time. This worked out well and here are the things I served.
- Chicken wings. I found a nice looking recipe that had the wings marinading the night before and simply baked the next day. They were mild enough for children but had a nice, complex flavor that the adults enjoyed.
- Tropical fruit tower (it was a jungle theme) with pineapple, bananas, kiwi.
- Veggie tray with Roquefort dip. The dip was easy to prepare, the base was creme fraiche I made a day ahead and then added cream, Roquefort cheese, salt and a little fish sauce.
- Mango/Passion fruit gelatin. This was a much more delicious and nutritious option than Jello-o. It was made with simply juice, a little honey and gelatin. Easy and yummy.
- A friend offered to make a dish and she made potato salad - even the mayo was homemade which made the salad very nice and nourishing!
- Favors for the adults were packs of tropical trail mix - with cashews, macadamia nuts, dried tropical fruit and coconut. Healthy and colorful.
- For drinks, I wanted to think outside the Coke/Pepsi cans and found some natural sodas that were mango flavored as well as some natural root beer. No one mentioned the lack of traditional sodas! I also served passion fruit iced tea sweetened with some of the juice I used for the gelatin.
- The kids favors were not edible, but cute, budget friendly and useful. While at the goat farm last week picking up some yogurt, I noticed some soaps molded as a lion. They were perfect for my jungle theme, and all natural, gentle and they were even on sale that day!
So all in all, it was a successful party and I am convinced it is possible to entertain making traditional food while still pleasing many palates.
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