GRAYSON TURNS 1
Wow I cannot believe I am writing this right now, and that an entire year has flown by already. Grayson turned 1, how?! Theres no doubt this last year has been the craziest of our lives. Welcoming a new baby into the family is already a huge adjustment, and then trying to do it during the pandemic made it so much harder. Grayson was born on the day the pandemic was declared, meaning we didn’t know much about what the future would hold for us. There were a lot of experiences we missed out on this last year, and having a big party for Graysons first birthday was one of them. This is something I’ve dreamed of for so long, and it did not end up quite how I imagined. Despite the very strict restrictions placed on us at the time, we made it work.
PARTY
We decided to throw an outdoor “drop by” party for our closest friends and family. We got really lucky and it was double digits outside, which is huge for YYC in March let me tell you. It was like after a dark cloud hanging over us for an entire year, we got our ray of sunshine. Since it was so nice out, we were able to have quick visits with everyone who stopped by on our front lawn. It was very special to us as we haven’t been able to visit with a lot of our friends and family for quite some time due to restrictions and it being so cold out in the winter. We decorated the front porch with a balloon arch and monthly photos from Graysons first year (I got so busy I forgot to take photos of this part). Overall it may not have been the big party I imagined, but it was everything I could have asked for with the circumstances. Happy Birthday Baby Gray.
CAKE SMASH
After the drop by party we did a virtual cake smash for those who couldn’t join. Graysons cake was my healthy smash cake recipe with you can find here, topped with melted unsweetened chocolate (this was mostly just for aesthetic, it was very bitter so we pulled off the top layer once he started smashing into it): https://modernmunch.com/index.php/2021/03/08/healthy-smash-cake-refined-sugar-gluten-free/
The #1 topper was bought at Superstore and the Mickey Mouse cutout was hand cut (it’s just paper).
GOODIE BAGS
Something that I always look forward to when entertaining is food. Obviously food is my passion in life, and I love getting creative and serving at big events. Unfortunately that wasn’t going to work well for this party, we had to tone it down and decided to make small party favours for our drop by guests. In true covid fashion, I pre packed goodie bags for them to take home. In the goodie bags I made Mickey Mouse sugar cookies, and Mickey Mouse cookies and cream cupcakes. The sugar cookies were premade dough from Pilsbury, and using a cookie cutout I’ve had since I was a child.
Cupcake recipe:
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk of choice (I used almond and it worked fine, that’s all I had at the time)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- Preheat oven to 350
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, use electric beater to mix on low for 1 minute
- Add eggs, milk, vanilla, vegetable oil and beat on medium for 2-3 minutes (make sure to scrape down the sides so it mixes evenly)
- Pour in boiling water and mix on low until combined (batter is very thin, that is normal)
- Line cupcake pan with liners and pour batter into each liner 3/4 full
- Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
Icing:
- 2 cups unsalted butter
- 7 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs
- 1 bag mini Oreos for topping (to make the ears)
Can’t wait for next year!
