We had Lucia's 4th Birthday Party this weekend which reminded me that I wanted to post some new updates on party menus. We had a full 100% gluten free menu and I don't think anyone noticed. The idea was to keep things quite simple. The food was pitched at both adults and children, but there was plenty of cross over.
The menu was as follows:
Tortilla Espanola- a huge success with the kids and parents. This is a very easy dish to make and you can easily do it the day before the party. It's quite economical too and filling. Recipe for this will follow shortly.
Hot baby baked potatoes- these were new potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt- baked in a hot oven for about 35 minutes. They were hot and crispy and disappeared in seconds.
Blue cheese dip and Baba Ganush (smoked Aubergine with lemon and olive oil) served with a plate of fresh vegetables including peppers, tomatoes and baby gem lettuce.
Hummous and tortilla chips- both store bought
Buckwheat Cheese Straws- the recipe is listed in the recipe section. These were light and crispy and both the adults and kids loved them
A large plate of fresh seasonal fruit including cherries, strawberries and delicious mango
Little jelly shots- two layers of jelly in one little shot glass. Winning combinations were watermelon and lychee, with passion fruit and lime . Also orange and passion fruit topped with sweet cherry, apple and raspberry.
A big bucket of ice creams including twisters, calipos and some milk ices topped with colourful sprinkles which I found in the ice cream section at Sainsbury's
Dalia's lemon bars- always a big hit with grown ups and great served with a mug of hot tea at the end of the festivities. You will find the recipe on page 6 of the recipe section
Tiny little vanilla cupcakes topped with buttercream frosting- in this instance, size is everything. We had these instead of a birthday cake and the kids loved them. The recipe for these is in my book and is called Lovely little cupcakes.
And the one item which everyone requested the recipe for was a pitcher of fruit punch which I made up at the last minute. I think it was equal parts of apple, raspberry juice, cherry juice, lychee juice, passion fruit juice and watermelon juice and a little bit of fresh lime juice and topped with lots of ice. It was really fresh tasting and very refreshing.