When we decided to do a Dolls and Doughnuts party, I was most excited about breakfast foods. I love breakfast and brunch, so I knew it would be fun and easy!
Of course, a 9:30 am party needs coffee, milk and orange juice. We also had cold water with orange slices floating and this yummy banana punch.
I wanted a variety of sweets and protein for everyone. I also think it is important that kids' parties have foods that kids will eat and love. All this went into the menu for the party.
I found this recipe for Bacon and Egg Muffins on Pinterest. These were wonderful and super easy. Mine ended up being pretty dry, but I think it was because I made them the night before. I would recommend cooking them the morning of.
Every toddler I know loves mini pancakes. So, I made 2 boxes of them on a big cookie sheet in the oven. When done, I put three of them on a toothpick with a blueberry. This made the presentation better and easier for people to grab them. Depending upon your party colors, you could add a mint leaf, a raspberry, green grape, lots of options!
The party's fruit cups were displayed in these little baking cups. The had my blue, red and pink so I couldn't resist them. I had blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, apples and raspberries in the little cups.
Finally, we picked up sausage and cheese kolaches and doughnut holes from the neighborhood shop the morning of the party. We had about 40 people and I ordered 10 dozen doughnut holes. They were gone! It may have something to do with them being in reach of the birthday girl!
The final item on our menu was Jan's Gourmet Potatoes. Jan is the mother of a friend of mine and I heard she is famous for these potatoes. They were really good, but they did not end up being as much of a hashbrown casserole as I had expected. They were more like twice baked potatoes and actually tasted just like the baked potato casserole from a local bar-b-que restaurant.
Jan's Gourmet Potatoes
8 medium potatoes, boiled with skins on
2 c grated cheddar cheese
10 T butter
1-2 cups sour cream or half and half
1 onion, diced
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
Boil potatoes until done. Let cool, peel and grate.
Saute onions in butter then add 1 cup of the sour cream or half and half, salt and pepper. Mix into the potatoes and add grated cheese. Pour into casserole dish. Add more half and half if needed to make the mixture moist. I used 2 full cups of half and half. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. Indulge yourself and add a little more cheese on top during the last 5 minutes.
This whole casserole can be made the night before and then baked. It would be great for Thanksgiving lunch.
Finally, we had birthday cake! I didn't want a traditional cake, so I did a giant rice krispies cake, found on Martha Stewart's website. You essentially make a big batch and then fill 2 8" round cake pans with the treat, saving a handful aside in tupperware. Once cooled, the cakes are removed from the pan and stacked on top of each other. The extra you saved can be used to fill in the holes from merging the two.
In keeping with the birthday theme, we added Trix on top with the number 3 and a border. It was an unexpected twist and fun for kids and grown ups alike.
