The prince's 3rd birthday recap 2 { all about the yummies }

As I promised in my first recap of the prince's birthday party...

a post all about the yummies we served for lunch { smile }

I had originally planned to make all of the yummies that I mentioned here, but reality kicked 

in a few weeks before the party and I decided that 

{ one } it would have been too much food, what with the pizzas I was planning to also serve 

and 

{ two } it would have taken way too much time to make all of it.  

Enough background, here's what I decided to make and serve...

{ first }

anti-pasto skewers

And... this is an actual picture from the party.

{ thank you, Heather }

I got the idea from here and made a few changes, some of them on-the-fly...

{ left out the tortellini }

{ used plain/unmarinated mozzarella balls }

{ served artichokes & pepperoncinis (mild Greek peppers) on the side }

{ second }

guacamole

(picture & recipe to come in a future post)

But for now here's a run-down of the ingredients that I use...

{ avocado }

{ garlic }

{ shallots }

{ jalapeno }

{ tomato }

{ fresh squeezed lime juice }

{ salt & pepper }

{ third }

watermelon salad

Picture & recipe via FoodNetwork.com

Again, I made a few changes to this recipe

{ used blackberries instead of blueberries- it's what Costco had available }

{ did not add the additional lemon zest & mint leaves as pictured above }

This salad was DELICIOUS and I will be making it as much as possible while all of these ingredients are in season.

Seriously you've got to make this one!

{ fourth }

brie tarts

Picture & recipe via Plain Chicken

These were AMAZING!  

I was told to give these a very high rating on Pinterest!! { they were that good }

Again... AMAZING!!

You've got to make these, too!

{ fifth }

the drink...  strawberry lemonade

Picture & recipe via scjohnson.com

Use whatever berry you prefer or have on hand in the recipe...

strawberries at Costco are much more budget friendly than raspberries.

AND...  instead of making my own lemonade with the simple syrup mentioned in the recipe

I used Newman's Own Lemonade.

Another "you must try" recipe!

{ desserts }

In yesterday's post I listed the desserts that I made, but here are the links to the recipes 

{ in case you want to try them yourself }

{ cherry vanilla cupcakes }

{ chocolate chip cookies }

{ train sugar cookies*** }

*My inspiration for the look of these cookies.

*I used this recipe for the sugar cookies this time, but have also used this recipe.

*Royal icing recipe.

And before I forget...

a big THANK YOU to those who helped pull this party together.

Mom Woods { for letting us use your beautiful home for the party }

Mom { for helping put together everything the day of the party }

Hubby { for making sure we didn't settle for non-Thomas balloons & marking the route to the party }

Dad { for lightening up the mood in the car when stress levels were high }

Lacey { if it wasn't for you those brie tarts would never have been made }

Have a wonderful Saturday, and trust me you've got to try these recipes!!