A Sweet Party

For my momma's birthday this year, my sister and I decided to throw her a surprise birthday party. I am happy to say that we pulled off the surprise.

Since we wanted to enjoy the party too, we decided on little bite-sized desserts with a side of dancing, two of my momma's favorite things.

As good sisters do, we divided the tasks according to our talents. I was in charge of invitations and food. She was in charge of paying for the building, paper goods, and drinks.

I like to bake, but a caterer I am not. I ended up delegating some desserts to the Aunties who were more than happy to help. Big special thank you to Auntie Judy who decorated the tables and helped us focus.

I wish that there were fabulous pictures from the party, but I got all caught up in the excitement and dancing and eating, that I forgot to take pictures. These shots were all post-party. These are some of the easy desserts that we used.


Key Lime Tarts This was the first time that I had used phyllo tart shells. This was an after-party picture. These were on a tray with lemon curd tarts (put homemade strawberry jam in the bottom, lemon curd from a jar, strawberry garnish).



Tuxedo Brownies (Another after-party picture.) This recipe calls for making the brownie mix according to the "cake-like" directions. I would make the regular brownie recipe and bake at 350 for a richer chocolate flavor. Bake for about 12 minutes. The filling was good! My momma's name starts with an "s" so I made little chocolate "s" from melted chocolate.

Mini Fruit Pizzas This was an after-party picture but it was while we were cleaning up. The party was in a barn - it IS the place to host a party in our little hometown. I used individual sugar cookies to make the little pizzas.

Little Lemon Drops You would think that I would make tested recipes, but I wanted to try something new. Don't mine look like the picture at Woman's Day? (Not even close.) These are easy to make. I would say that my silicone pan worked the best for getting a pretty yellow color and for ease in removal from the pan. Also, don't fill up the muffin cup with too much batter. They were delicious, even though they looked a little sad.

Doing all desserts allowed us to do all the prep work ahead of time. Fifteen minutes before the party, we set it all out. We had multiple tables around with duplicate trays so people could mingle and eat. It was lovely.

Happy Birthday, Momma!