A Vintage Circus 1st Birthday Bash- Part 1

I received various emails regarding a previous Blog post regarding my son's first birthday party. Anyone who has planned an event, even an intimate one, knows that both organization and preparation are key. The obvious first step in planning a party is deciding on a theme or color palette. After some pondering, I decided on a vintage circus theme/color combo. The circus theme for a child's party is a popular one. The bright color palette, animals, and fun games are a child's dream! I chose to do a less common vintage spin for my son's Birthday circus. For me, it was the beautiful aqua color, combined with vibrant red and accents of yellow. Enjoy!

 (Below: The invitation.)

Though I did not get a pic at the time of the party, these extra large red pinwheels (Shown Right) accompanied by a single balloon greeted guests and lined the way to the event.

Stay tuned- more to come later!!!

Christmas Meringues

This recipe came from my mother-in-law. After a few tweaks to make it our own, here is the result...enjoy!

You will need:

2 pastry bags
2 XL star pastry tips (I believe size 6B)
red and green food coloring
cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 c fine sugar or Baker's sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla or desired flavoring
1 c finely chopped pecans


Preheat oven to 200 F with rack in center of oven (note oven temperatures vary.) Beat eggwhites on low speed for 10 minutes or until foamy.  Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar slowly and continue beating on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla extract. Fold in pecans.

Seperate into two even batches. Add red coloring to one batch and green to other. Pour batches into seperate pastry bags with star tips attached. Pipe cookies to desired size (about 2 inches in diameter.)

Bake at 220 F for 2 hours. Meringues are finished baking when they are pale in color and crisp. After baking, turn oven off and allow meringues to cool in oven for 1 hour or until crisp. They can be stored for several days in airtight container.