Birthday Buffet

The white cupcakes were at my Mom's 75th Surprise Birthday party and the multi-colored cupcakes were at my Sister-In-Law's 75th Surprise Birthday party. The "7" has 42 cupcakes and the "5" has 54 cupcakes for total of 96! You can arrange cupcakes in any number to fit the age for the birthday party you are hosting. Serving cupcakes cuts out the need for someone to cut and serve a cake and no need to have plates and forks! Just put out the napkins.

For my Sister-In-Law's 75th Surprise Birthday party my husband, daughter and I prepared a salad buffet for 100 people. Packed it in coolers and hauled it 100 miles to the location. So the menu had to be something that could be hauled and served as easy as possible. We had to do lots of planning to make sure we had enough bowls, serving trays, etc. We used dollar store aluminium roasting pans to put on the table and then filled the with ice. We covered the aluminium pans with the table cloth and then set the salads and trays on top, so the salads would stay cool during the luncheon.

Our menu included: Dinner Rolls, Bagel Chips, Focaccia Sticks, Mexican Pinwheels, Little Smokies in Pineapple Chunks, Cubed Cheese (3 kinds), Pepperoni Slices, Canadian Bacon Slices, Black Olives, Carrot & Celery Sticks, Mixed Fruit, Pasta Salad, Three Bean Salad, Potato Salad, Blackeyed Pea Salad, Mexican Corn Salad, Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Pasta Salad with Cupcakes for dessert. Tea, water and lemonade were also served. Out of all these wonderful salads my favorite was the Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Pasta Salad.

SWEET POTATO and RED PEPPER ANGEL HAIR PASTA SALAD:

8 ounces angel hair pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil (or regular oil) divided

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 cups shredded, peeled sweet potato

1 large red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 cup diced cherry or small tomatoes

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped chives or other fresh herb you like

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

you can also use crumbled goat cheese, but I leave this out

1. Cook pasta until just tender according to package directions.

2. Place 1 tablespoon oil and garlic in a large skillet. Cook until garlic is sizzling.

    Add sweet potato, bell pepper, tomatoes and water and cook, stirring occasionally,

    until bell pepper is tender. Remove from heat and keep warm.

3. Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot.

    Add the vegetable mixture, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, parsley, chives, lemon juice,

    salt and cheese if you use it. Toss to combine. Add the reserved pasta water, 2 spoons at

    a time until you reach the consistency you like.

This was a fun event and we even made cards with the various salad names on them, so people would know what they were eating. But, the most fun about having SURPRISE birthday parties for both these ladies was the fact that it truly was SURPRISE to both of them. AMAZING no one let the cat out of the bag!      

Share your party ideas or ways you have been creative with cupcakes....