party

It was a fun party. I bought pizza dough from Whole Foods, and each of the kids made their own pizzas. Then D. rolled out the dough and made some amazing pies for the adults. My favorite pizza was topped with spring onions, goat cheese and drizzled with truffle oil.
For drinks I made fruit punch. A while back I bought a punch bowl and glasses from the thrift store for under $10. The glasses are super-thick, so even if they get dropped they don't break. And, everyone gets a glass instead of paper cups. Totally old school, but every party I have with kids I bust out the punch bowl and everyone loves it. I also bought a metal fruit mold from the thrift store and the night before the party I put frozen berries in the mold and fill with juice or lemonade. The next day when I am making the punch, I pop out the frozen fruit ring, and put it in the punch bowl. It keeps it cold, but it also looks really pretty. I usually dilute a bottle of juice with a bottle of sparkling water. Today I tore up some mint leaves and we had raspberry lemonade punch with mint!
If you look closely in the top photo, M's birthday cake was not cake. It was brownies. She requested ghiradelli boxed brownies for her party. I would have made her any kind of cake, but she declined. It was slightly hard for me to fulfill her request and not do homemade, but I did.

Here is my salad recipe for today

Watercress Salad
2 bunches watercress (I buy the hydroponically grown) washed and stems cut off
2 pink lady or granny smith apples cut into 1" pieces
5 endives cut into 1" pieces
1 bunch radishes sliced thin
1/4 head lettuce of your choosing washed and torn into bite size pieces
1/2 cup mint torn into pieces

Dressing
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp mustard
pinch salt
6 grinds pepper
whisk with a fork
toss the salad before adding dressing. Add dressing and toss well.