Cupcakes, Cookies & Crackers

Recently, we hosted a 50th Birthday Party for a friend of ours.

It was a picnic style party with hamburgers, hot dogs, and enough baked beans and potato chips to feed a small army.  (I didn't want to risk running out of anything)

Since it was more casual, I made chocolate cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  They both turned out really well.

For an appetizer, I made a Southern Living recipe (from the issue that kept me up half the night a few weeks back).  Pimento Cheese Cracker Spoons!  A fun and novel idea.  Teaspoon shaped crackers, which I made out of pie crust and teaspoon cookie cutters, with homemade pimento cheese spread piped on to the spoon part.  I made at least 40 and they all disappeared!

I had never made anything like that and it was fun.  The pimento cheese recipe is really tasty too!  I will use that one again.  It made quite a bit of pimento cheese spread, so I used the extra to make grilled cheese sandwiches - wow - delicious!

I wanted to have some sort of "Happy 50th" decorations without going crazy with black.  I found some napkins that had "50" all over them in red, lime, blue, purple....  They were black, so I picked lime colored napkins to alternate with them.  I had lime colored dessert/beverage napkins, and the dessert plates were a stack of black alternated with lime.  I put a lime and white flower arrangement on the counter with these items and it all flowed nicely.  The cupcake wrappers are brown, not black, and matched the cupcakes perfectly.  We did have some black candles on hand, so I used one for the guest of honor's cupcake.

The party was fun and everyone had a good dose of chocolate for dessert!

Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Cupcakes

Party Set-up

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pimento Cheese Cracker Spoons