Minecraft Birthday Party Planning

It's been a while since I last blogged.  The holidays, family, shopping, kids, and friends have definitely kept me busy.  Now that the holidays are over, a new adventure is ahead and will be here fast.  My beautiful daughter is turning 8 on January 13th and she has asked for a Minecraft themed party. She is an avid Minecraft player and loves all things Minecraft.  She even watches YouTube videos and listens to the parody songs about Minecraft.  She is very good at the game and an even better teacher.  I have attempted to clumsily play with her and she is very patient in teaching me the mechanics of the game, even something as simple as how to move around and not break things.

I was very excited to get started with organizing the party.  Grandma and Auntie are always willing to help with food and the cake.  She chose a Minecraft Creeper cake, of course, and her Auntie is the baker in the family so she was nominated for the design and baking project.   I took on the task of the decorations, piñata, and party favors.  The challenge seemed very easy to take care of at the local party supply store.  After several store visits, I was shocked to find that nobody carries anything Minecraft related for parties.  I saw Angry Birds, Super Mario Bros, even WWE party supplies but nothing on Minecraft.  I was in a complete panic.  I am days away from the party and I have nothing ready.  I quickly turned to my best friend, Google, and searched for Minecraft party ideas and it seems that many other Moms experienced the same panic and hurdles I did and they came up with their own creative and unique ways to throw a Minecraft themed party.  They even provided printables for us desperate Moms.
  

I took ideas from many sources and came up with some fun treats and decorations that will definitely make the party a hit for my 8 year old and her guests. The first thing I tackled was the piñata.  I could not really find many Minecraft related piñatas and one person made their own so I figured, how hard could it be.  My daughter loves Herobrine.  He is not actually a character in the game; he is a made-up character that has become a popular Minecraft community icon.  I decided to go with a Herobrine piñata.  I read up on him since I really don't know much about him on Minecraft Wiki.  He has the exact same build and appearance as Steve but Herobrine has white eyes which makes him creepy looking but cool.

I gathered all of the necessary items to start my very first party item many which were purchases I made at the 99 cent store:


The Herobrine Piñata!

• 3 assorted sized cardboard boxes
• Brown and skin colored tissue paper
• Light and dark blue streamers
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Box cutter
• Tape
• Black marker
• Ruler
• Zip tie

I started out by positioning the boxes so that it would appear to be the head, broad shoulders and torso, and legs.  Once that was done, I cut out the smaller edge flaps of the box and left only the longer edges and taped those back together to make it a little easier to break the piñata when the children hit it but not too easy since there will be 8 year old boys attending the party. I then taped the 3 boxes together to make the body so they would stay fastened during the transport, candy loading, and hanging.  I made sure to make the proper holes on the head for the zip tie to hang it and also an opening in the back for loading the candy.  Before taping the boxes, make sure to put the zip tie through the holes as I forgot and had to remove the tape from the head to insert it.

Once that was done, the tedious part began.  I cut the tissue paper and streamers into squares.  I also used longer pieces and made cuts into them the size of the individual squares but not all the way to the top to create the illusion of many squares together.  Now came the gluing.  I tried to make them as symmetrical as possible to match the 8 bit square graphics in the game. I started with the face and glued the skin colored tissue paper and then the brown tissue paper for the hair.  I worked my way down to the arms with skin colored tissue, and then started the shirt with the light blue streamer squares and worked my way down to the pants with the dark blue streamer squares.  I left a small gap at the bottom for the shoes which can be gray or black.  I did not have gray tissue paper so I used black construction paper and cut up squares for the bottom and sides of the feet.  It took me 2 half days to finish it and the end result was a happy little girl excited about her piñata.  Not bad for my first time making one.  I am still planning on going back to finish patching up the sections where cardboard is visible but for the most part it is completed.

Tomorrow, I will be posting about the table topper signs for the Minecraft food with the printable labels I found on a creative website.  I am also going to be making treasure chests out of paper craft which will serve as the party favor boxes.  I will discuss what I will be using for the party favors and food assortments for the party on a later post.  I hope you enjoyed the making of the Herobrine piñata and hope it helps you if you decide to make your own.  I will be posting more as I make the party goodies. 

Pantry Seafood Soup

It's time for soup making in my house.  It's starting to get a little chilly out plus it's a great source for comfort especially when you're feeling a little under the weather.  Today, I made a seafood soup consisting of red snapper and shrimp which I had in my freezer.  I wanted to make something out of it and thought this would be a perfect fit in a soup.  I dug through my spice pantry and put together a perfect combination for the most delicious flavors and they all seemed to work together.  All of the ingredients were items I had in my kitchen so I am naming it after my pantry.  I am posting the recipe so you can try it out.  I hope it becomes one of your favorites.

Pantry Seafood Soup

Ingredients:

3 red snapper fillets cut into cubes
2 cups of cooked shrimp peeled and deveined
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
1 small shallot clove minced
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tomatoes chopped
4 cups of beef broth (can substitute for chicken or seafood stock)
4 cups of water
2 tsp of black truffle extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp of butter
1/8 tsp of crushed spanish saffron
1/2 dried thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1 tbsp Trader Joe's 21 seasoning salute
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tsp Tony Chachere's more spice seasoning

Method:

In a soup pot, heat the oil and butter over medium heat.  Add butter until melted, then add the onions, garlic, shallots, bell pepper, and tomatoes and stir.  Over low heat, cover and cook for about 6-8 minutes until softened. Turn the heat back up to medium high and add the water, broth, saffron, thyme, white pepper, seasoning salute, garlic powder, garlic salt, and more spice seasoning and bring to a boil.  Then add the snapper and shrimp and turn the heat to medium and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  

Serve hot over cooked white rice and enjoy.  To add some heat, garnish with cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. If you do try it out, please feel free to share your experience.  

Mini lemon cakes recipe

Today, I'm sharing my family favorite dessert treat.  I came across this recipe years ago and after some trial and error batches, I have made it my own by putting my own twist on them.  My husband is the biggest fan of these little treats and often requests them.  My girls love to help prepare them especially because they want to brag to Daddy that they helped make them for him.  It is a funny thing but every time I make these, it seems that our friends smell them from afar because they always seem to show up when they're in the oven baking.  As a matter of fact, one of our friends, who is a huge fan, happened to drop by today right when the muffins went into the oven.  It just always happens that way.  He was pleasantly surprised and was so eager to eat one that he didn't even wait until they cooled and neither did my husband. In fact my husband was fighting for his muffins and made sure our friend only took a couple back home with him to share with his wife.  I love baking these little treats and I am certain they will become your family favorites as well.

Here is the recipe to make 36 mini muffin cakes.

Mini Lemon Cakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 cup of room temperature salted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1-2 Meyer lemon for juice
1 Meyer lemon (zested)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
36 mini baking cups

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder with a whisk or fork.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice with a whisk or fork.
4. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition.
5. Add the flour mixture and the yogurt mixture together in 2 separate batches into the large bowl with the butter and sugar mixture.  Beat well between each addition.
6. Spoon batter into each baking cup in approximately 1/2 tbs proportions
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean from center of cake
8. Cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes

We usually eat these without any toppings or icing because they are the perfect little bites of lemony goodness.  You can top with a lemon icing or for this batch, we used whipped cream and zested a couple of lemons over the cream which added another layer of flavor that was out of this world yummy.

I hope you enjoy them and if you happen to use the recipe, feel free to comment and let me know how they turned out for you.

Taco Salad Bowls

Taco Salad Bowls

While grocery shopping, I found these Ortega flat bottom taco shells and figured I would try them, although, I usually make my own taco shells and bowls but I got them for when I need to make a quick meal, I would have them on hand.  Today for lunch, I wanted something quick and easy that would be appetizing for the whole family.  I had some left over prepared ground beef from a dish I made yesterday so I decided I would start with these 2 ingredients.



I went with yummy taco salad bowls. The ingredients were items I already had in my kitchen.  I spiced up the ground beef to fit a taco dish and I chopped up the lettuce, tomatoes, and prepared my special yellow chile pepper relish which is my key ingredient in most Mexican cooking since it naturally adds spice to the dishes.  I will share my recipe for this delicious meal.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.


Taco Salad Bowls

Ingredients:

1 lb browned ground beef (browned with onions, garlic salt, and pepper)
Ortega flat bottom taco shells
2 cups refried beans
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 cups sour cream
1 cup finely chopped lettuce
1/2 cup of sliced cherry tomatoes
1-2 cups Mexican blend cheese
4 yellow chile peppers - deseeded and minced
4 large garlic cloves - minced

2 shallots - peeled and minced

1/2 small onion - peeled and minced

1 Meyer lemon or lime 

Pink salt crystals or sea salt - I use Trader Joe's Himalayan Pink salt crystals

Method:

Taco meat preparation:  Brown ground beef to your preference and set aside. In a separate pan, heat olive oil and add chili powder and garlic powder. Lightly scorch and simmer, then add the tomato sauce.  Stir ingredients and simmer until lightly brown.  Remove from heat and pour into the ground beef pan with low heat and stir until the sauce is mixed in.  Set aside.

Yellow chile pepper relish preparation:  Mix the chile peppers, garlic, shallots, and onion in a bowl.  Squeeze half a lemon or lime juice and add the pink salt to taste. Combine all ingredients and set aside.


Layering the taco salad bowls:  Add a thin layer of refried beans on the taco shell, then the ground beef mixture.  Add a moderate layer of cheese and top with a generous layer of lettuce.  Top with sour cream and tomatoes.  Serve with relish, lemon or lime wedges, and whole yellow chiles on the side.

Dish up and enjoy!

Beach Life

It's December 27th and the Christmas madness has finally subsided.  My gmail is flooded with the very tempting after-Christmas sales which I will choose to delete instead of even attempting to look at them since I have already gone over budget with Christmas shopping for the kids.  This also leads to some serious soul searching as the year comes to an end and I reflect on the many things for which I am thankful and more importantly, what I did not accomplish since the last new year's resolution.  Now it's time to plan for those dreaded new year's resolutions and find creative ways on how to stick to them, but I will save this subject for a future post once my soul searching is done.  As things wind down, you get to thinking of the cold weather outside while you cuddle up near the fireplace, drinking your Starbucks Peppermint Mocha in your warm PJ's and fuzzy socks that your Mom gave you for Christmas. My girls all got the winter jackets, beanies, and gloves for Christmas so they're ready to face the cold season.  The summer clothes are being cycled out for the long sleeve shirts, sweat suits, pants, tights, and sweaters.  Also time to dig up the family favorite soup recipes.  Since my husband and I love to cook, this is an especially fun task as we find both old and new recipes to perfect and enjoy. Winter is officially here and we're ready for it.


To our pleasant surprise, as we check what the weather will be like for the day, this is what greets us.A sunny 66 degrees with clear skies.  Our plans quickly revolve around hitting the beach with the family to enjoy the sunny weather in the middle of December right before the new year.  Suddenly the thoughts of sitting around the fireplace quickly fade. It's time to find our shorts and tank tops and head to Starbucks for a Frappuccino to cool off.  Maybe even convince my hubby to fire up the BBQ to grill up some his famous (to us and our friends) chicken and steaks.

I will admit that our beach life is good to us.  While many find themselves struggling with severely inclement weather with temperatures reaching the low 20's, we are blessed with this beautiful weather in Huntington Beach. I'm happy to put away the fuzzy socks until it is our turn for the rainy, cold season.  In the meantime, we are drenching ourselves in sunblock and hitting the outdoors.

 Image courtesy of Surfline.com