Try a few twists to celebrating birthdays

Come to my party next Saturday
at seven

The fun will start early, so don’t
dare to be late

Although it’s my birthday the
surprise is for you

To learn what I’ve planned, come see
what we do.

Kristen’s birthday invitation was a bit unusual but then, so was her birthday party idea.

She wanted to do something different for her first double-digit birthday (10). She had plans to invite her friends, who had already been to dozens of parties and were on the verge of outgrowing the usual birthday games. A trip to McDonald’s or the bowling alley crossed her mind, but that really wasn’t it. There had to be something new, something no one else had done before.

There was– and she had it—a great idea!

Kristen would have the first, “Decorate A Cake On MY Birthday Party.” All the girls had seen and eaten decorated birthday cakes, but how many had decorated cakes of their own? The rest was easy!

With the help of her Mom, Kristen made a list of everything she’d need.
A cake for each girl. With frosting, several tubes of frosting gel, candies (such as gummy bears, peppermints, licorice, sweet and sour tarts, chocolate, animal cookies, coconut colored with food coloring, anything and everything.
They would set up each treat in bowls set out on a table beforehand, and it would be up to each girl to see what she could create.

And create they did! Amidst munching, giggling, and chattering, Kristen made her cake in the shape of a bunny head with licorice for whiskers. Jenny frosted her one-layer cake and placed animal cookies in pretzel cages for a circus cake. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Here ‘tis the recipes for homemade birthday cake and frosting.

TOO Easy-Z LEMON CAKE
One box of lemon cake mix.
Add one package of Jell-O instant lemon pudding.
Bake cake as directed on the package. Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes.
Now for fun: Poke holes in the cake using a chopstick or skewer. Now we will make icing that will pour into the holes. This adds a great flavor plus a fun look when sliced.
Be sure not to add the icing to the top. Let’s save that for another frosting.
Whisk together 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar and one cup of lemon juice for the icing.

FLUFFY WHITE FROSTING
½ cup light corn syrup
One egg white
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
l teaspoon vanilla
Bring the syrup to a boil over medium heat in a small saucepan. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg white and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Gradually heat in hot syrup and continue beating for about three minutes or until stiff and shiny. It makes about 2 cups