Pirate Party

If you think Pirate parties are just for boys, think again. We recently threw a party for one of our clients who wanted a Pirate themed party for her little girl. It was a Bake-a-Cake party that incorporated a Pirate theme into it. Take a look at the beautiful party supplies. The room and table were decorated by Devinn Bruce. He did a fantastic job, it was very girly and pirate-y. There were even paper parrots flying around the room! You can find the pirate paper goods here.

A little dab of pink with the pirate theme gives it an immediate girly feel. We love the sparkles in the centre of the table too. And you can't forget the treat boxes filled with piratey treasures.

And we had our own Bake-a Cake table set up with all the ingredients ready to go for the children to bake the very special birthday cake.

The children also colored buttercream and made decorations to go on top of the cake.

There was a very special visit from a Pirate from a far off land who told the little bakers a great story about a baker named Mickey.

The children loved their pirate hats as they enjoyed a slice of pizza.

And last but not least the Magical Jewel birthday cake that the children baked and helped decorate.

Here's a Great Oscar Party Idea

This past march my husband and I hosted an engagement party with our friends Debbie and Bob. So many of the things we did to make the evening so special would be perfect for a last minute Oscar Party! It required very little effort and you can even get the invitations out today!

It was a Tapas & Toast party and the theme was Red and Black. I used Paperless Post for the invitations. They look beautiful, professional, don't cost you a fortune and are very eco-friendly! You can see the one I designed.

They have many different themes and designs to choose from, they  also have Oscar themed ones perfect for your Oscar party.

On the invitation I sent I wrote: Dress in Red and Black.. and that is really all you need for the decoration, allow the guests to dress the room!

As for the food, you can make your own Tapas and Toast or you can get it catered. I partnered with Chef Josh Eden from Shorty's 32  who created a great menu for us.  

For the DIY-ers out there: you can get creative and ask everyone to bring a food item to the party that represents one of their favorite movie stars. Simple things such as fruit kebabs, tomato and mozzarella skewers, mini meatballs can make for simple yet elegant menu items for your party. 

If you want a great recipe from one of my favorite restaurants in NYC: Locanda Verde, it has a very easy recipe for  Sheep's Milk Ricotta that was featured on ABC News. Chef Andrew Carmellini made it very easy for us non-chefs to make this delicious dish!  I tried it and it is fail proof!
My one tid bit of advice is to use a pannini grill for toasting the bread, it will make it much easier and quicker. This dish pairs very nicely with a Dry Champagne. So get ready to burst the bubbly just like the stars do!

Bring out your fancy glassware to serve simplistic items. It makes a very common treat seem like it came from a Top Chef. Or how about buying a box of chocolates and skewering it with some sliced fruit for a very fancy finger food style dessert!

And have you heard about Eleni's Famous cookies? Every year she creates a box of cookies with the faces of the nominees.

And if you want to deck out your table, here are some products we are loving from Plum Party

If you have any great ideas or are planning on hosting your own Oscar party we'd love to hear your comments!

Watch The Bake-A-Cake Party Book Video

If you want a DIY party, take a look at our Bake-A-Cake Party Book Video! It will give you tips on making the best Birthday Cakes with your children, as well as throwing a one of a kind birthday Party. We love to hear from you so share your comments!

Birthday Conference Call Parties

This year celebrates the 25^th year of my “birthday club”.  Membership is just four friends whose birthdays happen to come every 2 months so we all got together five times a year.  Over the past 2 years , our schedules and whereabouts have changed so we started to group together birthdays and now have decided just to wait for the BIG ONES.

 My college friend Maddy was celebrating a BIG ONE this past Saturday and it was impossible to find a date close to the birthday to get together. The technology of a group conference call made it possible for us all to get together to surprise Maddy the morning of her birthday .  It was so easy, required no technical skill.

I just went online and searched for conference calls. I came upon the website http://www.conferencingforless.com/  I signed up by calling 888-218-5287 (and actually got a live person!) and set up the time that would work for everyone. We all called into a specified number, as well as my friend's fiancé Paul who did the call in for Maddy.  She was called to the phone  and while we did not have a physical gathering, we all had a chance to catch up and celebrate her day together.  All for $8!! What a bargain!

The Sweetest Thing Wedding

Photos courtesy of Josh Wong Photography

One of our partymakers, and owner of Stardust Cakes, was recently married, and decided to throw together her own reception party. We just loved the decoration ideas and the magnificent centre piece.. the wedding cake she made herself.

She used colorful Chinese take out boxes to hold utensils and napkins. She used paper flowers, whirly pops and twizzlers inside colorful cups to add an extra sweet look. She is a Pastry Chef who loves dessert so the party reflected her interests in every single way possible... we can't really say that about the groom but he was happy to be represented by his fondant figurine on the cake.

Colorful Jelly Bean candies scattered around the table gave it a confetti-type effect, and added to the colorfulness of the party.

The cake had the bride and groom's favorite flavors, Carrot Cake and Chocolate.

This party idea works well for Birthdays and even Easter which is coming up shortly. Choose a variety of candies and display them on your table as the decor. And if you can't find or make paper flowers, bunch up a few pieces of colorful tissue paper for the same effect.

Search for the Best Foie Gras in NYC

My husband Bill and  I were the surprise dinner guests for my friend Maddy's birthday Celebration. We set up to meet her before dinner and wanted to bring one of her favorite foods: Foie Gras. Bill and I spent time in France this summer and came to love the taste of foie gras.

I went online and searched for the best Foie Gras in NYC. I found Chowhound with an excellent message board. Mentioned were 4 of the Michelin star restaurants in NYC, but also mentioned was a small French restaurant in Chelsea called Gascogne, whose owners are from Southwestern France. I decided to pursue this lead. 

We went downtown for a delicious brunch at the restaurant and told the owner of our experience in France and our desire to bring the best foie gras to our friend's birthday celebration.  He recommended that we take out his tasting selection with three variations and rather than champagne suggested a sweet Italian bubbly  wine called Prosecco a delicious suggestion and just 29.95 a bottle!.  

What a surprise for our friend when she saw us. We were able to enjoy a touch of France and Italy in NYC with her.

Bon Appetit!

Share with us any great finds that you've come across in NYC. Just comment on our blog post!

100 Year Celebration

My father-in-law would have been 100 years old on February 18th. This was a perfect excuse to bring our family together to share our memories and thoughts about Emanuel Kaye. We searched through videos and found the perfect excerpt that characterized his personality.

The table was decorated with items that he had given us from his house. The antique plates added an extra touch to his memory, as well as the photo of him at the end of the table. It was truly like having him there with us to celebrate his birthday.

 Each Family member was aked to bring any special pictures to share. We also ordered a reprint of the New York Times front page from the day he was born. The NY Times store can provide reprints as far back as September 1851. It was a great reminiscing experience.

Deciding on the menu was the next step. There is a famous soul food restaurant Sylvias located in Harlem, NYC. With a play on words, I thought this would be the perfect meal to serve to selebrate the soul and memory of my father-in-law.I knew Bedilia, Sylvia's daughter as she was one of the caterers that I brought in for the Bloomberg Picnic in 2000 on Randalls Island.

I wrote the menu on this blackboard. It's a great item to have, instead of printing menus every time you throw a party. Very eco-friendly also!

I planned the menu with Bedilia and ordered everything  from Sylvia's except the cake.

The cake with the design of the number 100 served as the centrepiece for the table. The cake was designed by Sara from Stardust Cakes, a talented and creative cake artist.

My father-in-law played the violin, so we searched our CD collection to have violin music play throughout the dinner. We selected his favorite violinist Jascha Heifetz and Beethoven's Violin Concerto.

Though he is not here to celebrate with us, it is a great time to share our family memories.

Happy Birthday Emanuel Kaye!

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