I always love an excuse to throw a party! Well, this time it wasn't much of an excuse, it was my kitten Penny's first birthday party, and being the adorable little furball she is, I wanted to make her day special. You know how 1st birthdays are mostly for the parents since the children have no awareness at that point? This is the same idea!
We went with the Safari theme since Penny is adventurous and no little sugar plum. We did all the works, the food, the decorations, the balloons, we even had Safari hats for the guests! I invited some of my close friends who had met Penny on some of our Pennsylvania trips.
Since discovering customized water bottle labels I've been dying to use them. I made a set of mini pod water bottles with Penny's 1st Birthday written on them. I used different mismatched serve ware and regular kitchen plates to serve the different assortment of food. The labels are what really brought everything cohesively together.
I made 'Jungle Juice' which was really sangria for the adults. I served it in an apothecary jar, I love the unique look it gives the table. If you want to make your own version, I added 1 bottle low quality red wine, 1 bottle prosecco, 1 cup black currant concentrate (substitute with grenadine), and lime margarita mix. Add 2 chopped up apples and 2 oranges and let soak overnight! It's not too strong of a beverage but it's refreshing!
I made the food labels sound very wild and jungle-y and mostly items that Penny likes. There was Fishy Mush which was really Fish Terrine, Penny's Favorite: Mix 2 cans of tuna and 2 cans of salmon, mix with 5 eggs, some sauteed onions and tomatoes, bake in the oven in a waterbath and chill overnight before unmolding. It's as easy as it sounds!
Chocolate chip cookies were my Albino Ladybugs, a little sweet munchie before the cake was cut.
Snake Eyes were my deviled eggs; Penny always tries to eat my husband's eggs in the morning so it's on her top favorite list. I made them the night before and to beat off that little crust that they formed on top of the yolk, I put them in the oven right before the party. Great trick in case you ever have a crusty problem!
We also had Safari Mix which was trail mix served in a little green bucket: Penny typically plays soccer with my trail mix, Green Moss which was green pea dip, Giraffe Spots which were an assortment of tortilla and pita chips, Ant Hills which were duchess potatoes, and my absolute favorite, Monkey Poop which was turkey meatballs in a delicious tomato sauce, a little more time consuming to eat but Penny loves them!
And of course no party is complete without some cake. It was a pistachio cheesecake with some buttercream decorations and fondant safari animals. I wanted something different, no regular vanilla cake with buttercream for this party! We sang Happy Birthday to the birthday kitty and she ran away right after, leaving the adults to the sugar high.
I was thrilled that the adults wore the safari hats, very festive!
It was a great party,but Penny's little brother, Toby, was quite exhausted from all that partying!
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