School Is Out For The Summer Party

We are SO looking forward to Summer!  Tomorrow is the last day of school so we are having some kids over to swim (and/or) play videogames.  So, I set up the back porch for the party.  The pool is 68 degrees, so I think the kids will probably be playing outside and playing videogames. 

 

I used a needle and thread to string balloons and the banner.  The close-up of the letters are below.

I took some card blanks that I found at Walmart and decorated the fronts with letters.  I then put them over the string and stapled them to it.

 

I also made brownie cupcakes with a yummy buttercream icing to which I added extra salt.  It is really good! The recipe for the buttercream is below! I also made some little pin wheels as toppers.  I'm also serving some chips and such.

Here is the set-up for tomorrow.

 

 

  

 

The napkin wrappers are tied with Lifesavers. :-)

 

 

Buttercream Icing

 

Ingredients

 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened... don't melt it though.

3-4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1-3 tbsp. milk

 

Directions

 

Beat the butter with the paddle attachment of your mixer. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar on low until incorporated.  Increase the speed to medium and add the vanilla, salt and 1 tbsp. milk.  Beat for 3 minutes.  If your icing is too stiff, add some more milk.  If it is too thin, add powdered sugar 1 tbsp. at a time. 

 

 

Free Printable Cupcake Wrapper in Stripes!

I thought I would go another way with my free, printable cupcake wrappers today.  I wanted some blues and greens for a pool party I am having, so I decided to do stripes.  I was going to put blues, greens and turquoise on one page, but thought why not put one color per page.  That way, people can choose to print which ever colors match their party color scheme.  I haven't printed these yet, so if you find a problem with them, please let me know. 

If you have a party theme and you need cupcake wrappers, request through a comment on a post and I will try to hook you up with some cupcake wrappers especially made for your party (for free!)

If you need help with downloading and printing, please go here.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh yummy... This soup was soooo good!  Tonight's dinner recipe came from an old Food Network magazine (Nov 2010).  I was browsing it while waiting to pick up my son from school and found this recipe, so I went to the store after fetched my son and bought the stuff to make it straight away!  It looks a little strange in the photo because I used glass noodles (or bean threads) and it was dark out by the time I took the photo, so I had to use my flash.  Not great photography, but great flavor!

The recipe used rice noodles, which are good too and I know this because I had a few rice noodles and used them in my son's soup (which I made less spicy). 

This was so easy and fast that it made a perfect weeknight meal. 

Thai Chicken Soup
30 minutes:  Serves 4

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp green curry paste
6 c low-sodium chicken broth (I used Better Than Bouillon, not low-sodium)
1 15-oz can coconut milk (I used low-fat)
1 Tbsp fish sauce, plus more to taste (because I used a full-sodium broth, I used just 1 Tbsp)
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
4 ounces thin rice noodles, broken into pieces (I used bean threads)
2 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 lb), very thinly sliced crosswise
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
1 c roughly chopped fresh cilantro
my additions:  2 c fresh green beans cut into bite-sized pieces
                        1 dried Thai chili (more or less depending on how hot you like it)

1.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-hight heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and curry paste and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; cover and bring to a boil.

2.  Add the bell peppers and noodles and simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente, about 3 minutes.  Add the chicken and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 more minutes.  Stir in the lime juice and cilantro.  Add more fish sauce and lime juice if desired.

Per serving:  Calories 561, Fat 30g, Sat Fat 22g, Cholesterol 103 mg, Sodium 821 mg, Carbohydrates 36g, Fiber 4g; Protein 38 g

Shop Amazon - Father's Day Shop