Tate is One: The Menu

Having trained as a pastry chef, I think I generally tend to go slightly overboard on food.  For this party though, we kept things pretty simple.   And it was awesome!  So much less stress than rushing around cooking for two or three days before.

We used a hot glue gun to attach labels to seashells so that everyone would know what they were eating.  Zach and I also had a ridiculous amount of fun trying to think of creative ways to tie the food into the theme with some terrible puns.  We love bad puns.

First up: Catch of the Day.  We had goldfish crackers and fish sticks as an entree.

Of course, fish and chips is a natural fit.  But chips aren't quite right when your child is named "Tate", and his most common nickname is, of course, "Tater Tot". So lo and behold:

(Come on, funny right?  "Tate-arrrr tot"? For a pirate party?  We crack ourselves up.)

With all the deep-fried junk food, we needed some fruit in there, didn't we?

Ruby red punch, anyone?

And what would a party be without cake?  On Tate's actual birthday, I made a traditional layer cake, topped with a ship to tie into the coming pirate party theme, as dessert.

So for the party, we decided to go with the easier-to-eat, ultra-adorable, and super-delicious mini cupcakes.  They fit our theme perfectly.

The menu was easy.  It was fun.  It was kid-friendly.  Nothing required forks.  All-in-all, I think the menu worked. 

P.S.  For the parents, Zach put together platters of assorted cheeses, hummus, salami, crab cakes, and a little more "high brow" food.  He also made rum-based cocktails.  My favorite was his rum-and-pineapple concoction, served on ice, in a mason jar.  Yum.