Spaghetti Birds' Nests

These adorable, elegant little appetizers made a great addition to the birthday party we threw for our daughter. Not only are they fairly inexpensive to make - one box of spaghetti yields nearly 45 little birds' nests - they have widespread appeal and keep well on a buffet. I found this recipe when Proud Italian Cook posted about appetizers she served at a party. The original can be found at , Foodalogue .

I followed the original recipe but made a few changes. Here is my version of the recipe below. I omitted the bacon and peas in the original, and instead added chopped fresh basil and topped each nest with a roasted tomato half. I thought it just looked prettier than slopping tomato sauce on top. These were a hit at the party and I will definitely be making them again for future gatherings! Enjoy!


Tomato-Basil Spaghetti Birds' Nests


3 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 lbs. mozzarella shredded
8 eggs beaten
1/2c parmigiano reggiano (or locatelli, whatever you use)
1/2c provolone
freshly chopped basil
1 large crate of grape tomatoes
olive oil
s+p
nonstick cooking spray
1 lb. spaghetti

Saute garlic in olive oil until soft. Reserve to side.
Preheat oven to 350. Cut each of your grape tomatoes in half and then place in a small baking dish. Toss with olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Roast until they begin to soften and the skins blister, about 25 minutes. Remove and let cool.
Crack spaghetti in thirds, boil to al dente and drain.
Mix beaten eggs with cheeses, s+p, and fold in garlic and chopped basil.
Add drained spaghetti and mix.
Fill greased mini muffin tins with the spaghetti mixture and top each one with a tomato half.
Bake in 350-375 oven for 10 minutes or until egg has cooked and the cheese has melted. Remove and serve warm. These can be made a day in advance and then reheated to room temperature or warmer for serving. Makes about 45 pieces.

Birthday Cupcakes with Pineapple Flowers

Our darling little baby turned 1 on Sunday! And what a celebration we had.

It was a pinwheel themed party and so my mom and I made a ton of pinwheels in various sizes out of craft paper. We used them to make centerpieces for the tables.



On top of that we made a homemade birthday banner for the birthday girl, since her name is hard to find in pre-fab banners. We spray-painted doilies and used cupcake wrappers for color and then found punch-out letters at Staples that we sponge-painted. It turned out beautifully!! And then we clipped the finished product to a rope with clothes pins.


Favor bags were filled with a pinwheel, customized M&Ms and a bottle of bubbles with a wrap that I designed to match the invites.


It was a lot of DIY work, but so worth it! It was very satisfying to throw such a pretty party for such a beautiful little girl. My husband and I were so thrilled to see her enjoy the day.
Now...on to the food!! This is a food blog after all. Well...The menu was vast! Here's what we had:
Deviled Eggs
Honey Mustard Chicken on Skewers
Taco Dip
Smoked Salmon Dip
Homemade Pigs in Blankets
Store-bought Spanakopita (Yes I cheated here and got some help from the store)
Tomato and Mozzarella Birds Nests (Post to come on these cute little apps!)
Strawberries Stuffed with Cinnamon-Sugar Marscapone Cheese (post to come on these too - they were so yummy!)
Assorted Fruit Tray
Crudite
Assorted Cheese and Crackers
Shrimp Cocktail

And then for dessert we made boxed chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with homemade cream cheese icing and topped them off with these beautiful pineapple flowers!

They are time-intensive to make. Not hard to make, but they do take a long time. I couldn't get the pineapples cut extremely thin since I don't have a mandolin, so that might be why it took me twice as long as this post from Annie's Eats blog on how to make Pineapple Flowers. Her step by step instructions are great and the flowers looks so cute and make a nice organic decorative touch to the cupcakes.

Unfortunately, it was very humid the day of my daughter's party so many of them started to loose their shape after sitting out for a few hours on the cupcake stand. But people were still impressed nonetheless.

So if you have some time, try these out! They are much more unique than jarred sprinkles :) Enjoy!

40th Birthday Party

My wonderful, loving, very young-at-heart husband turned 40 this past weekend. Here's a pic of the birthday boy by his Happy 40th Birthday sign.

I threw a nice little barbeque pool party for him with about 30 of our friends. We had great weather, a friendly crowd and tons of food. With a little help from my mom, I was able to pull off the following menu:

Appetizers:
Homemade Gaucamole
Shrimp Cocktail
Antipasti Skewers (that consisted of marinated artichoke hearts, pepperoni, marinated mixed Greek olives, and marinted mozzarella balls - all store bought and skewered up because people like food on sticks)

Cheddar Ale Spread


Main Course:
Hamburgers
Hotdogs
Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken
Deviled Eggs
Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad
Baby Greens Salad with Mandarin Oranges, Cranberries, Almonds and Shaved Parmesan

Desserts:
Tropical Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting for the birthday cake

Homemade Apple Pie

A Baby Shower

I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Irene who is due in July with their first baby. We had about 40 people and it was probably one of the largest crowds I've ever cooked for. But the entire party was a success! Thanks to the help of many in the kitchen with me as well.

Here's a picture of the menu I created:

Appetizers
Roasted Red Pepper Wrapped Mozzarella Balls

Cheesy Spinach Palmiers
Crab-Filled Crescents (I added some Old Bay seasoning to this mixture. Every single one of these little gems disappeared! So good for a party, and easy to put together too.)

Artichoke Hummus

Giada's Spiced Cocktail Nuts
(These were a big hit! They were spicy and a bit sweet. People were asking me where they could buy them! They looked disappointed when I told them I made them myself so they couldn't be bought. Delicious!)

Main Dishes
Greek Orzo Salad with Feta, Cucumbers, Pepperoncini, Olives and Grape Tomatoes
Mixed Greens Salad with Dried Cranberries, Slivered Almonds, Mandarin Oranges and Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken (I used PW's Ranch Chicken marinade and just eliminated the bacon and cheese topping)
Grilled Sundried Tomato Salmon (This went like hotcakes!)

Dessert
Cupcakes

Cake

Fruit Salad

Here are some other pics:
My Sister-in-Law Irene


The cute favors I found online at Ebeehoney.com .


The cute diaper cake that my co-planner made and a nice shot of the main table.


The party planners and mom-to-be.