Little Chefs - Cousins Culinary Cafe Party

THREE COUSINS CULINARY CAFÉ Birthday Bash 2009!      

This year we held a birthday party for my two boys & my niece Alex on Saturday, August 22nd 2009.  The theme was Little Chefs, and it was SO MUCH FUN!! 

I designed a special cartoon logo with a fictitious café name on it to tie all the little details together.     The Invitations were Help Wanted ads printed on news print paper Seeking talented and motivated Junior Chef(s) to begin immediately. We are looking for energetic kids with a minimum of three (3 years) childhood experience for a full-of energy, high volume, ready-to-play environment. These positions offer a sweet benefit package, including excellent opportunities for making a mess, while playing with your food!! JOB DISCRIPTION:  Junior Chef(s) for PATRICK, ALEXANDRA & IAN's BIRTHDAY PARTY LOCATION:  _______________  JOB REQUIREMENTS: Be able to work as a team, Be willing to learn something new, Be creative & Know how to have fun! BENEFITS: Full Uniform provided as part of your Fabulous Party Favors to take home, Compensation package also includes tons of giggles, great memories & plenty of sugar-filled goodies to eat!! APPLY by CALLING Master Chef Kimberly at xxx-xxx-xxxx TO SCHEDULE IMMEDIATE INTERVIEW!! SATURDAY, AUGUST 22ND 2009 3PM-6PM . Dinner Served as part of the Party Festivities

At the party, each child received an Application for Employment" that they filled out… After being hired they were dressed in a real restaurant quality apron and a chef hat.  The birthday kids were also dressed in kid sized chef jackets with their first initial embroidered on the right by the top buttons.

First the little chefs were given a paper tray with a pastry liner (for easier transfer to the cake boxes) and a mini marble cake on it. They started decorating the cakes by spreading a layer of butter cream frosting. Then they were given a small amount of marshmallow fondant that they used their mini rolling pins to roll out. There were many options for decorating; there were stencils assorted candies frosting with fancy decorator tips even textured templates that could be pressed onto the fondant to leave an impression then the favorite was the food coloring paints used to add color and small details. Each kid was given free reign over whatever they wanted to do with their cake. THEY LOVED IT! They each received a white box to take home their creations. The box had a label to write their name on. 

Next we took some pictures of the little chefs. They were all so cute!

By this time the little chefs were all starving. So the menus were passed out to the adults. These menus were made of red textured card stock with the Three Cousins Culinary Café logo printed on the cover. Inside was the logo and the words Patrick, Alexandra & Ian's Birthday Bash  August 22nd 2009  the last page was the Dinner Buffet Items : 

Main Entrées: Deluxe Sandwich Tray Traditional sandwich fixings of deli cut slices of premium ham hard salami oven roasted turkey breast and roast beef  Includes an assortment of  lettuce tomatoes and several different cheeses.  Served on all butter croissants and French bread slices, accompanied by mayonnaise and mustard.  Tortilla Rolls Tray Flour tortillas rolled with cream cheese chopped green chilies, scallions, black olives, ham bits, shredded cheese & Anny's special blend of seasonings. 

Sides: Fresh Fruit Tray; Succulent fresh fruit including strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes and kiwi. Arranged for a perfect centerpiece. Served with our homemade creamy fruit dip. 

Fresh Veggie Tray; Garden fresh veggies including broccoli mini tomatoes carrots  Served with creamy ranch dressing. 

Meat & Cheese Tray; Sliced summer sausage pieces arranged with a variety of cheese slices and cheese cubes with gourmet crackers.  Artfully arranged with a Cheese Ball centerpiece rolled in nuts. 

Salad Medley Homemade salads: American potato Red Skin potato & Italian pasta,  Chips & Pickle Spears  Beverages Fresh Brewed Iced Tea (Regular & Sweet Varieties)  Party Punch   

And the kids were each given a birthday themed placemat and a pack of 4 crayons. The placemats were printed on 8½ x 14 paper. They had the birthday logo on them candle tic-tac-toe word scrambles a maze and other assorted activities for them to color and play with.    Instead of traditional paper plates we used the little red burger baskets with pastry liners. It was a cute touch. The white dinner napkins were rolled around the plastic forks knives & spoons and held in place by a paper napkin ring printed with the birthday logo on it.   

After dinner the kids played Pin-The-Hat on the Chef and then a game where they tossed veggie shaped bean bags (carrots potatoes onions and tomatoes) in to 3 different sizes of stock pots. My littlest niece Victoria kept stealing the bean bags out of the pots!   The next activity was giving the little chefs a baby food jar of heavy whipping cream. A pinch of salt was added and they were instructed to dance around until it made butter they kept asking is it done yet? and check mine!

They were so excited when the cream pulled away from the sides and formed a little ball of butter!   The kids all added their butter jars to the doggie bags along with their little toys & candy earned from the games and their little rolling pin party favors.    The kids had helped decorate the sheet cake before dinner so next came singing Happy Birthday with the cake and ice cream.  While everyone was finishing up the 3 birthday kids opened their presents.    

Overall the kids had a great time! We held the party from 3pm to 6pm thinking it would be enough time. But they had so much fun decorating cakes and making their butter we never got around to playing the musical Hot Potato Game I purchased or play with the edible Candy Clay! But as long as the little chefs enjoyed themselves it was all worth the hard work.  "