The Fairy Party - Food

Being a bit of a foody myself, the party food is one of the best things to me about having a birthday party! But all to often it is just to easy to bulk buy crisps and sausage rolls from Tesco and call it a Birthday tea... But no more! Here are some fantastical fairy-like food ideas for your child's party.

Firstly work out where you are going to set up the party tea.  Opt for the traditional long tables and chairs and decorate these with fairy themed table cloths and bows. Or for something a little more exciting, set up a fairy woodland space and have a picnic / tea party sitting on toadstools or rugs and surrounded by trees (real ones or cardboard cut outs), fairy lights and streamers. If you are blessed with  good weather, try adding canopies and bows to trees to create a lovely backdrop to the fairy tea party.  

Now for the food... Personally when I think of a fairy tea party, I think of old fashioned English afternoon tea (think cucumber finger sandwiches and scones) mixed with a good handful of sparkles and magic (pink jelly, cupcakes with glitter and cute cakes).  Don't forget fairies love colour, so firstly I would make sure to add lots of vegetable crudites and a big fruit salad to add a splash of rainbow to the day.  

* Use cookie cutters to turn sandwiches, cookies and cakes into the shape of fairies, wings, butterflies and hearts

* Cut star shapes out of fruit and vegetables and put onto skewers to make fairy wands

* Sprinkle cupcakes with edible glitter

* Make a fruit punch bowl and float flower petals on the top

* Freeze orange, apple, cranberry and blackcurrant juice in an ice tray and add to the fruit punch to make floating jewels.

* Fill meringues with berries and a bit of cream for a different dessert idea

* Use a skewer and alternate ripe red strawberries with fluffy white marshmallows

* Make or buy mini quiches and vol-auvents, scones and savoury wraps

* Try adding jars filled with jelly sweets for a colourful and tasty table centrepiece

* Finally, use vintage looking tea cups, plates and pots to make a truly fairy like magical tea!

Try serving the food on layered cake stands and be sure to add ribbons and table decorations, flowers and streamers... Add edible glitter, cupcakes and teeny tiny sandwiches and you have got yourself a perfect party tea!

Recipe 2: Fruit Stick Ideas

Chocolate, sweets, ice and candy-floss ALL taste better on a stick (according to children anyway!) so why not choose fruit stick recipes to make with the children, either at a party or in my recipe take home gift book that I discussed a few blogs back!

Not only is fruit super healthy, the array of colours, shapes and sizes make fruit a kid friendly ingredient and there is no need to do any actual 'cooking'! I hope you will find joy in the recipes below:

Blingy Bananas

Ban boring bananas from the kitchen and instead jazz them up with some colourful sprinkles and all round yumminess...  Simply freeze some bananas on a lolly stick and then let the kids decorate them by rolling the frozen banana in their favourite chocolate sauce, sprinkles and nuts!  

Frozen Fruit Kebabs 

Fresh, sweet, juicy and refreshing... Get with the frozen fruit trend NOW! These frozen fruit kebabs are a proven hit with kids and so easy and healthy.

Use any fruit but a favourite of many is frozen grape and frozen berries.  Simply pierce fruit onto the skewer (cut the ends to make them child friendly and not to sharp) and freeze for a couple of hours - perfect for Summer days!

Chocoholic Fruity Treat

One sure way to get kids to eat more fruit is to add chocolate to the mix! Simply cut up an array of tasty fruit, add yummy chocolate sauce, a couple of skewers and get dipping! Children and adults alike will love this treat, and there won't be a single piece of fruit left over!

Recipe 1: Yummy Ideas for Home-made Take Home Cook Book

As promised, I have compiled some of my favourite easy peasy recipes that you can include in your home-made, take home cook book after a cooking party!

Whirligigs

Delicious hot or cold, sweet or savoury.  Other fillings can include cheese and tomato, chocolate spread or peanut butter!

For cheese and Marmite whirligigs you will need:

- 9 ounces puff pastry (pre-made)
- Marmite - more or less depending how much you love it!
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 ounces cheese, grated (cheddar, red leicester)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 220 degrees/Gas 7. Line baking sheet with non stick paper
2) Roll out puff pastry to about 15x10 inches
3) Spread Marmite thinly on the pastry, leave a 1cm border
4) Brush the edges of the pastry with a beaten egg
5) Sprinkle cheese evenly over the Marmite
6) Roll up pastry as if it is a swiss roll for a whirli effect, starting from the long edge. Brush the outside with beaten egg.
7) Cut the roll into thick slices and place on baking sheet.
8) Cook for 12-15 minutes until pastry is risen and golden.
9) Enjoy hot or cold!

Tip: These also make a great addition to any event including children's parties, picnics, entertaining guests and canapes!

Cheap Party Idea and Take Home Gift for Older Kid's

Wouldn't it be nice if children could stay at those magical ages of 5 and 6, where they are easily pleased by traditional parties and everything is exciting and new for them... But sadly they don't, so you  have to get more creative. Here is a party idea for slightly older children (7+) which should keep them well entertained and best of all, combines the entertainment AND the party food!

I am talking about a cooking party!

There seems to be a bit of a trend for baking and making at the moment, but for a fun party I would recommend keeping it simple - we are talking more decorating rather than flambéing!  Personally, I would opt for pizza and cupcakes, as both pizza bases and cupcake bases are easy to buy and would suit a tight budget.  

For the pizza you will need the following:

- Pizza bases

- Sprinkling cheese

- A large variety of vegetables

- Tomato pizza sauce

- Tuna

- Olives

- Different meats

- Onion

- Whatever else you can think of!

For the cupcakes you will need:

- Plain individual sponge cakes

- Frosting

- Edible glitter

- Sweets (dolly mix, jelly tots)

- Edible decorations - go to any baking section in a supermarket!

And then let the children create their own foodie masterpieces, encouraging them to add their favourite ingredients to the pizzas and cupcakes and challenging them to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible! 

While the pizza's are baking, you can play some party games with them, or send them on a scavenger hunt around the garden or your house (or both!), and then sit down to a lovely party tea.

A great idea for a take home gift that goes well with the cooking theme is a home-made recipe book.  Put together some yummy and simple recipes that children can make with their parents. Google or check out my next blog for some great ideas.  Get the birthday child to design the front page and then copy and print your pages and bind them, staple them take them to a copy shop to get them bound professionally.  

For some great recipe ideas to put in your cook book, check out my next few blogs!

For some great scavenger hunt ideas, keep reading my Once Upon A Time Parties Blog!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x