Happy Second Birthday!

The Girl just turned two!  I will dispense with the “oh my how did this ever happen” and “they grow up so fast.”  But really.  Two? All signs of babyness are gone.  She is smart, strong, and sweet, and most definitely two.

Last year we had a very sweet and simple party.  Being the inveterate party-planner that I am, I really wanted to do something nice this year.  I know she’s only two, but I really wanted to throw a party, which I haven’t had the opportunity to do in a while because, well, I had a baby.

The Girl loves tea parties, so I decided to throw a tea party brunch.  I started cooking on Thursday for the party on Sunday.  The Girl helped roll out the pastry for the quiche.  She’s actually quite good at it.

I tried to keep the guest list small, but with my Tribe growing bigger every year, the guest list grew to 37 almost instantly.  But it all went without a hitch.

Mushroom mozzarella quiche, broccoli cheddar quiche, cheese and crackers.  (My first ever quiche, and it was so good!)

Granola, fruit salad, yogurt, banana chocolate chip muffins and raisin walnut bread.  There was also a pot of winter squash and kale soup, and hot apple cider on the stove.  All of it lovingly made from scratch.

Lots of tea to choose from, as well as coffee.

Nigella’s buttermilk birthday cake recipe (doubled) with some chocolate chips thrown in for good measure.  It was delicious.  The cake was so huge, the topper of my cake stand smashed the frosting when I put it on.  (The coloring in the pink icing was made by juicing some beets, then cooking down the juice until thick.)

It was a lot of work, and everyone had a great time, especially the birthday girl.