recipes

It's time for this week's edition of The Hungry Games, where we bake off several variations on a single recipe and declare just one ultimate victor.  This week, it's all about classic carrot cake.

It's a big day for Tikkido!  It's the first birthday of the Tikkido site, AND the first birthday of Festivities Magazine!  What better way to celebrate than with a basic vanilla cake edition of The Hungry Games?

We've been making a serious effort not to eat out/take in food recently.  It's not good for the budget or the waistline!  Unfortunately, I'm the only one who cooks in our house, so I've been trying to make it easier on myself by doing a lot of planning ahead and making my own convenient freezer food.  My husband can manage, at least, to heat things up by following directions written directly on the wrapper.  ;-)

Caramel corn and Kool Aid popcorn are sweet and tasty, sure, but I'm more of a salty fan.  I know I'm not alone, so I wanted to make something savory and fun for the Firefly Theater popcorn bar.  Something beyond just basic buttered popcorn.  The perfect choice?  Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn.

Yeah, we've all seen this all over Pinterest.  I pinned the recipe myself.  And when I was making grape, strawberry, and fruit punch popcorn for the Firefly Theater party for Festivities magazine, I initially followed this recipe (the one I pinned) faithfully.

Mmm, cookies and cream.  One of my favorite flavor combinations.  So when I was creating the popcorn bar for the Firefly Theater outdoor movie night for Festivities magazine, I knew I wanted to play with those flavors and make a popcorn version.

I love trifles.  Those layers of fruit, cake, whipped cream, pastry cream...whatever you want to add, really.  They're so pretty, so fresh, so downright delicious.  And the awesomeness factor is increased exponentially when you make miniature trifles.

The Mother's day/spring garden party was so much fun to develop, because I got to work so closely with my girls.  They always love assisting me, but sometimes I have to turn down their sweet pleas to "help" when it's something I need to look just-so.  It was fun not just to let them be involved in every project, but indeed, to be in charge.  

The spring Mother's Day garden party I created featured all projects that the kids can do without any (or much) help from parents.  My girls loved helping me create and test the recipes, and I really did make them do the work!  (Easiest Party Ever--Why did I not think of this before?)  They love helping me in the kitchen, measuring, chopping, mixing.  I created my recipes with their abilities and interests in mind.

I've said it before, I'll say it again:  I LOVE PIE.  Any excuse to make pie is a good one, and celebrating pi day (3.14, get it?) is a particularly good excuse.