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We recently had a special 7th birthday party for Violet. She requested a rainbow dash tea party. I am starting to get to the point of just having smaller scale birthday parties. It was myself, the kids and their grandparents. Does anyone else do smaller birthday parties?

Having tons of kids over and having to provide food, activities and party favors for all those people is more stress than I really want to deal with. I liked the smaller party and I think we'll continue that going forward.

I managed to get a few quick pictures but I forgot to photograph a few of the food dishes. Since we are really busy each Friday I made most of the food the day before with the exception of the tea sandwiches since those are best fresh. I tried to have a balance of food that both adults and kids would like to eat.

Not pictured are the big mylar balloons I got off Amazon. If you buy a helium tank at Walmart you can get nice balloons on Amazon for much cheaper than what they would charge you at the grocery market.

Probably the cutest part of the theme were the handmade My Little Pony figurines. I had a custom order done from Natalie at IcyPanther on Etsy. She made a huge collection of figurines. We loved all of them. They are beyond adorable and very detailed for such a low price. Highly recommended if you are a MLP fan, or know someone that is.

Rainbow Dash Tea Party Menu:

• Pineapple Lemonade Punch (We used pink lemonade)
• Pigs in a blanket (Lil' smokies wrapped in puff pastry)
• Artichoke Goat Cheese Dip with baguette slices
• Tea sandwiches: Cucumber sandwiches on buttered bread. Cherry and Pineapple Tea Sandwiches. Smoked salmon with cream cheese. Salami and cheese on buttered bread.
• Macerated Strawberries
• Homemade Chinese Restaurant donuts
• Sour Cherry Scones with two glazes - Cherry glaze and citrus vanilla glaze
• Pastel Tie Dye Layer Cake with vanilla frosting. We used a mix that she had REALLY wanted to try for her birthday. It makes a very short cake with thin layers. The picture on the box is very misleading as it shows thick cake layers. The colors were great, but I would suggest buying 2-3 mixes to make a thicker, most substantial cake.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a reader, commenting, testing recipes and giving feedback. This blog helps allow me to stay at home with my children which is incredibly important to me.

I hope to have another great 10 years to learn more about blogging and myself. My blogging anniversary happens to fall on my daughter's birthday, so we are off having a My Little Pony tea party today. Have a wonderful weekend!  -Ali

P.S. For those that are wondering where the recipe is. The scones pictured are a Tart Cherry Scone mix by Sticky Fingers Bakery. I glazed them twice. The first glaze was a powdered sugar and milk glaze with a tiny bit of Fiori di Sicilia. Then a bit of coarse sugar sprinkled on top. Finally a pink glaze made with maraschino cherry juice, powdered sugar and milk. Turned out incredible!

Recently I posted a recipe for Easy Pumpkin Butter over at Mom Spark. Be sure to check it out!

While this isn't the prettiest dip in the world, it is incredibly tasty. The toasted Pumpernickel bread really takes it to the next level. You can toast them until they are pliable (6-7 minutes), or if you prefer, until they are extra crunchy (about 10 minutes). We tried both and both were great.

One thing that I love about this recipe is that it is flexible. If you have extra Swiss cheese and prefer it to be extra cheesy, toss it in. Extra pastrami? Go for it. I adapted a recipe from I Wash You Dry for my dip, cutting down the cream cheese from 2 block to 1 since we are not feeding a huge crowd here.
Enjoy!

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Recently I posted a tasty recipe at Mom Spark for these Hello Dolly Bars. Be sure to pop over and check them out!

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My family enjoyed this Cheesy Mashed Potato Bake along with some tasty crock pot beef tips in gravy (recipe coming later in the week). I loved this side dish. I had one change to the recipe, only because I misread the instructions. I had added the shredded cheese to the mashed potato mixture, instead of reserving it for the top. I quickly grated some extra Monterey Jack to add to the top. Because of this, I had extra cheesy potatoes but as you might guess, nobody minded.

We used Monterey Jack, but you can change the cheese if you'd prefer. I would highly suggest grating the cheese yourself, as it lends itself to melted much better than pre-grated cheese sold in a bag. Many thanks to The Southern Lady Cooks for this recipe. Enjoy!

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This one is going straight to the Top 25 Recipes of 2014 Pinterest board, no question. I'm going to predict that this will be my #1 dessert recipe of the year. They are that good. The texture is divine. The taste, just incredible.


I used the same base as the Sheet Cake Cookies, but as you can see, they turned out much flatter. My guess is my dough was quite a bit warmer than the sheet cake cookies. The reason for this was I didn't have time to let my butter come to room temperature, so I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds too long and it had just barely begun to melt.

Your mileage will vary depending on if your dough is chilled, not chilled, etc. Regardless of flat or rounded top, they taste amazing. If you love chocolate and orange together, these are your cookies!

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