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Rainbow Party, Complete with Rainbow Cake

This sudden warm burst of weather we are having in this part of the country has made me long for spring. Not just wish for it, L-O-N-G for it. Both my kids' birthdays are in the late spring, and last year we did it up for Josie's birthday. It was my first attempt at doing a "theme" for a kids' party, and it was actually really fun!

We chose 'rainbow theme' because at the time, Josie was majorly into rainbows:

The balloon rainbow needed a little tweaking but guests were arriving, so it had to do. You could also skip the helium and hang them from the ceiling in an arc formation. I made the banner from cardstock with 2 holes punched in the top, rainbow themed scrapbook papers, and some twine.

You can kind of see some of the decorations we used on the walls in the background. We got most of our decorations at Birthday Express.

The food was by far the most fun part of the planning! Here are some of the things we made:

Rainbow Chip Cookies, using the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and mini M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. (Yeah, these were gone in no time!)

 

Rainbow Fruit Skewers (strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries and red grapes).

 

Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats. For each layer, just melt 1/2 tbsp butter and 3/4 c. mini marshmallows in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When it's melted together, add drops of food coloring, one at a time, until it is the color you want, then stir in a cup of cereal. Mix until well incorporated, press into a lightly buttered square Pyrex dish using a buttered spatula (or your buttered fingers, which is what I did). Repeat with all colors, spreading each layer as evenly over the last one as you can. Let cool and cut.

 

Rainbow Tinted Ice Cubes, just a drop or two of food coloring in the water, stirred with a toothpick.

 

Rainbow Party Gumballs, 99 cents at CVS for a bag.

 

Rainbow Party Straws. Got these at our grocery store. There was one odd tan straw in there.??

And then, the Piece de la Resistance, THE CAKE. We lit the candle...

... and Josie got nervous and cried. She hates the birthday song.

But she settled down once we switched gears and just wished her a very dry, nonmusical Happy Birthday.

The thing I loved most about this cake is that it looks like a giant, regular old white cake, but the rainbow sprinkles hint at what's inside...

The RAINBOW!!

 
 

Between the strawberries, the rainbow surprise and the sheer size of the cake, Josie was in awe!

(If you would like the actual directions, complete with some indispensible tips on getting a perfect rainbow cake, click on How To Make a Rainbow Cake.)

Our rainbow party was a big success, and really not hard to do with a little advance planning. Give it a try!

How to Make a Rainbow Cake

How to make a Rainbow Layer Cake in 25 easy steps!

Don't be scared, I broke the steps WAY down, that's why there are so many. It's really not very hard at all. But first, a little backstory.

Last year, I  (a terrible baker) pulled off a minor miracle: I made a fancy cake. And made it on the first try.

Two years prior, my daughter Josie's 1st birthday cake cracked down the middle and the icing bled:

Caroline's 1st birthday cake never made it out of the pan. It stuck to the inside and came out in huge chunks. Thank goodness for the grocery store bakery. I did manage a sloppy looking smash cake, made from broken cake remnants:

I didn't even try for Josie's or Caroline's 2nd birthdays, I bought store cakes both times. What can I say, I was feeling dejected from my previous attempts, and at that time in my life, I was tired. So tired. But for Josie's 3rd birthday, I decided to try again. I was determined to make a rainbow layer cake, and I really wanted to say that I had done it. I also didn't want to pay $100 for a cake. So, armed with a great list of tips from my cake baker friend Karen, I rolled up my sleeves, said a little prayer and had at it.

It turned out so puuurty! I was so relieved. I am not a baker, either by practice or at heart. But I wanted to look back and tell Josie that I made her rainbow cake, even if it was a total embarrassment. I have never needed things to be perfect with my kids; just meaningful and heartfelt. To my surprise, this cake turned out to be both!

Here are the instructions, complete with Tips You Shall Not Ignore. Please note: I don't bake. I don't think I have ever baked a cake from scratch in my life and I don't intend to use my kids' birthday cakes as a jumping off point. Hence the Betty Crocker stuff. Feel free to judge and scrunch up your nose at me, it really doesn't bother me. Substitute your own fancy from-scratch recipe if you are so inclined!

Rainbow Layer Cake

You will need:

• 3 vanilla or white cake mixes (I have been instructed to only use Betty Crocker)


• 4 containers vanilla frosting (again, Betty Crocker)
  


• whatever is on the back of the cake mix box (usually oil, eggs and water)


• food coloring (I used AmeriColor Gel Food Color 8 Pack Kit)


• your choice of decor
  


• cooking spray and a little flour for the pans
  

Tools:

• 2 Wilton Aluminum Performance 9 Inch Round Pans or the like. Please don't skimp on these and use those cheesy grocery store cake pans. After trying these, I am convinced they were crucial to my success! You can find them at most Michael's stores or here from Amazon.


• parchment paper


• a sharp knife


• a large offset spatula
  


• wire racks for cooling
  


• a 10" cake board
  


• a large silver foil cake board (see note below)
  

Steps:

1. Before you bake anything, put one of the pans on the parchment paper and trace around the bottom with a sharpie. Yes, it will mark up the pan a bit. No, that won't hurt anything. Make six of these circles total.

2. Cut out all six of these circles. These will go into the pans before you pour in the batter. Note: I almost skipped the parchment paper, because I thought it was only for professional baker types. But I am very glad I didn't; I forgot to add the parchment to the bottom of the pan for the orange layer, and it was a little fussy coming out of the pan. Don't skip the parchment!

3. Spray cooking spray on the bottom and sides of both cake pans and coat with flour until the bottom and sides are coated. Tap the excess flour out of both pans.

4. Place 2 of your parchment circles on the bottom of each of the 2 pans. Your pans are now prepped and ready to go.

5. Preheat your oven to the temperature indicated on the cake mix box.

6. Make the batter as directed, then split evenly between two bowls. You don't have to be exact on this, just eyeball it but try to keep it pretty close.

7. In one bowl, add your purple food coloring, one to two drops at a time. Mix and determine the color. My experience is that the color it looks in the batter is pretty much exactly the color it comes out in the baked cake, at least with the Americolor dyes. My friend tells me to use a toothpick to swirl the color around for a minute, then you can use a spoon to finish incorporating the food coloring. This prevents the food coloring from just globbing onto your spoon and staying there.

8. In the other bowl, do the same with the blue food coloring. Basically, you are making the layers two at a time in reverse rainbow order. Transfer the batter into the two pans.

9. Once the batter is in the pans, gently tap them on your counter to work out any air bubbles, then put them into the oven.

10. After 15 minutes, forget what your mother told you about heat escaping, open the oven and turn each pan 1/2 way around. It is fine, I promise.

11. Ok, this next step is muy importante. MUY! Check your cakes with a toothpick stuck in the middle 10 minutes BEFORE the minimum time that is on the box. So if the box tells you bake for 30 - 35 minutes, start checking at 20. If they are not ready, wait 2-3 minutes and check again. You are going for slightly crumbly in the middle. If it is wet still at all, leave them in another couple minutes. My oven does not run very hot at all and I took mine out a full 7 minutes earlier than the box indicated! This way, your cakes will not be too dry tasting and they are far less likely to crack. I did this trick with all six layers and NONE of them cracked -- formerly a huge problem for me.

12. When they are done, take them out and place them on top of the oven to cool for 10 minutes. Leave your oven on.

13. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges.

14. Your cakes will probably have puffed up in the middle. This is bad mojo for a six layer cake. You want a flat top. With the cake still in the pan, take a sharp knife and cut across through the puffed up part of the top, holding the knife as level as possible. Start small so you don't overdo it. Just keep going until it is as flat as you can get it. This was the most challenging part for me; but once I got the hang of it, it was no big deal. Oh and the part you cut off you should totally eat.

15. Spray your wire racks with a quick shot of cooking spray, put the racks face down on top of the cakes, then flip. If the cake pan seems to be sticking, lightly tap on the pan with your hand and it should come right out. Carefully remove the parchment paper and toss it. Let these two cakes cool while you make the next two layers.

16. Mix up the next cake mix as directed, split into your two bowls and dye them green and yellow, respectively. You don't need to wash the cake pans. Just spray and flour them again and line the bottom with your next two parchment circles.

17. Pour into the cake pans and bake -- don't forget to start checking it early! Repeat steps 12-15.

18. If you have enough wire racks, go ahead and make your last two layers, the orange and red layers. If not, they will have to wait while you free up some racks by transferring some of your layers to the cake board. To do this, flip the purple cake back into one of the cake pans. Place the cake board, shiny side down, onto the cake and center it. Then flip over again and remove the pan. Easy!

19. Frost the purple layer on just the top, not too thin and not too thick, just medium. Don't worry about the crumbs. Spread it almost to the edge.

20. Now, the second layer. This is one of those times when you have to have faith in yourself, because you will be picking it up and placing it on the purple layer. Have them right next to each other. Don't totally rush it but be quick and confident about it. It should not crack because it is pretty thin but just in case, don't overthink it or hesitate too much. You got this!

21. Frost the top of this layer just as you did the purple layer. Repeat with all the other layers until you finally put the red layer on top. Don't frost the red layer yet.

22. Now, the crumb coat. Yet another priceless tip!! A crumb coat is a super thin layer of frosting that catches all the crumbs you will encounter. Your "pretty" frosting will go on top of the crumb coat after it has set. To crumb coat: start with some frosting on the top and spread it very, very thin. THIN, people! Continue down the sides, being careful not to shift the cakes. Be gentle!

23. Once you have the crumb coat done over the whole cake, place it in the fridge for a half hour to set up.

24. After the half hour is up, use fresh icing to frost the rest of the cake. Start at the top middle and work out. Don't be stingy! Work your way down, then wipe around the bottom to clean it up.

25. The final look of the cake is totally up to you. I kept mine as smooth as possible, then added some shells around the base and swirls with strawberries on top as decoration. Some people have asked about the oversized nonpareils I used... I didn't think regular old tiny nonpareils would "hold up" to the size of the cake, so I got some Festival brand Grande Nonpareils at Hobby Lobby. If you don't have a Hobby Lobby, a comparable product would be the Wilton Jumbo Rainbow Nonpareils.

I then put a small dollop of icing on my large foil cake board and carefully - oh so carefully -- placed the finished cake (which was on the smaller cake board) on the center of it. This will hold the smaller cakeboard in place so it doesn't totally slide off your large foil cake board, taking the cake with it. Cause that would be bad, yo.

A note about cake boards: for my money, I would not skimp on the large foil cake board. That cake will be HEAVY. Having that big silver sturdy cake board will pay for itself by not only looking nicer, but by giving you a more solid base when you carry that bad boy out to your waiting crowd. They aren't very cheap, so if you'd like to save it to reuse, you can do what I did and use a smaller cardboard cake board under the cake to cut the cake on so the silver foil one doesn't get ruined from the knife. I hope that makes sense!

So there you have it, a no-fail, six-layer, very yummy rainbow cake! It was a little time consuming but not difficult, and it made a huge splash at the party, which is what you want from a giant rainbow cake I am assuming! Happy baking!

Let's Eat: Tex Mex Casserole

Sometimes I cook. Sometimes I slap a bunch of junk together and call it cooking. This is one of those times.

Tex Mex Casserole was born out of a burning desire for a casserole dish, but a lack of a desire for 99/100ths of the casseroles that are out there. There were always a couple ingredients in the ones I found online that I scrunched my nose up at. At first I was going to take Macaroni & Cheese and jazz it up with taco seasoning and other stuff, but that seemed too unhealthy. In reality, I don't think I did much better with this number, but it turned out good and I only used one powdered product!

Pros: pretty cheap, husband liked it, 2 year old ate half her portion, high protein, high fiber, mostly real food, leftovers

Cons: not super healthy, lots of dishes to wash, leftovers

TEX MEX CASSEROLE

Ingredients

• some ground beef (I used about 2/3 lb.ish)


• 1 small onion


• 1 can black beans


• 1 can petite diced tomatoes


• 1 envelope taco seasoning


• half a box or so whole wheat pasta


• bag o' shredded cheese (I used Mexican Blend, whatever that is)

1. Preheat your oven to 400. Boil up some water for the pasta. Cook it according to the box directions.

2. While that's working, dice up your onion. By the way, on Lifehacker I got this little gem of advice:

That if you chew gum while you cut onions, you'll have no tears. GENIUS!! LIES!! Dude, don't even bother. I cried like a 9 months pregnant lady at a Sarah McLachlan-narrated ASPCA commercial.

So anyway, chop your onion.

3. Sauté that in a little olive oil until it is mostly cooked. Use a pretty big skillet if you have one. Oh yeah, you need a little olive oil too.

4. Slide your onions to one side and add ground beef. Brown it up.

5. Add 1 can petite diced tomatoes to the pan. I didn't have the petite type so I cut up some regular type diced tomatoes.

6. Drain the black beans and toss them in. You should be stirring at various points during this.

7. Stir in the taco seasoning. You can just choose your own spices if you're fancy like that, or use this Make Your Own Taco Seasoning recipe, or buy a premade packet and throw it in if you're lazy like me.

8. Your pasta should be cooked by now. Drain it well and stir that in too.

9. Add a big handful of cheese and stir it in.

10. Spray a square (9x9?) Pyrex dish with cooking spray and then put your mixture in it. It will look like this:

11. Put some cheese on it. You can be conservative or just use the rest of the bag. I was somewhere in the middle.

12. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Done!

You could also make 2 of these and freeze one of them for later (just cover it very tightly after step 11), but I don't know how to tell you to cook it. Maybe 350 for an hour or 400 for 45 minutes? Either way, we did really like this and it was very affordable and easy!

Great Children's Books for Valentine's Day

Yes, I was gone for a while. I apologize for that. I needed a break and to refocus. But I am back, with a ton of new ideas and stories to share with you!

I'd like to start with Valentine's Day. I have always liked Valentine's Day, whether single, married up, kids or none. It's a fun and sweet way to remind the people you love that -- well -- that you love them!

Each year I like to get my kids a little Valentine's gift, the star of which is a Valentine's Day book for each of them. Last year it was I Spy Little Hearts (with foil) and Clifford's First Valentine's Day. The girls still read them a year later. There are a lot of junky books out there that celebrate holidays; I feel like publishers/authors just churn them out to make a buck. But there are also some good ones, and here are some examples you might want to check out:

Where Is Baby's Valentine?: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Karen Katz. If you have a toddler or smaller, Karen Katz has a whole huge series of lift-the-flap books that are a lot of fun. We have bought many of her books; books about Mommy, Daddy, parts of the body, going potty, you name it. This one looks really cute!

 

The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond (who also wrote the If You Give a Mouse a... series). A cute tale of a rainy day that turns into a love fest full of surprise valentines to send!

 

The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting. Eve Bunting is one of our best children's books authors, and this is no exception. This story uses nature as its backdrop and tells a sweet tale of two bears who work to make the holiday extra special.

 

The I LOVE YOU Book by Todd Parr. This is a very cute and simple story of a mom's unconditional love for her baby. A bonus is the bright, bold colors that shy away from the traditional pinks and purples of the holiday. Great book for babies and toddlers!

Amazon has LOADS of Valentine's books, both in print (our preferred version) and for the Kindle. Browse through Amazon's wide selection of kids' Valentine's Day books here! If you are on a strict budget and you have a Ross or a Marshall's near you, they usually have holiday books in their children's sections as well. The selection is slim sometimes, but you might get lucky and find a high quality book for a low price!

Check back soon as I will be talking about fun Valentine's Day crafts and projects to make with your children!

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