Thursday, August 25, 2011

Kitchen Playdates...

Recently I bought the book Kitchen Playdates by Lauren Bank Deen and was extremely disappointing. It was poorly organized and really read like a giant disorganized run on sentence. I am glad that I didn't pay full price and instead paid maybe $0.75 because the store was going out of business. However it did inspire me. I haven't been able to find a book or blog that gave me everything I wanted for playdates and parties.

Today my son has his first kitchen playdate with a friend. We are making pizzas and I am going to have Birthdaycake dip for dessert.


What you Need
Birthday Cake Dip
  • 1. 8 Ounce Package of Cream Cheese
  • 2. 8 Ounce Package of Cool Whip
  • 1 package of Birthday cake from Serendipity Dip Mixes  or Funfetti  Cake Mix or any random cake mix you have on hand + sprinkles


Then take the ingredients and mix together well with an electric mixer. Place in the refrigerator and let chill until it is time for dessert. Serve with Animal Crackers, Graham Crackers, Nilla Waffers etc. 




Pizza Play-date



This play-date is geared toward three year olds. 

What you NEED
1. Frozen Pizza dough  ( most grocery stores make it and sell it cheap) 
2.  Cooked Pizza crusts in case your dough doesn't unfreeze in time 
3. Pizza Sauce
4. Cheese
5. Toppings ie peperoni, mushrooms etc. 
6. Pans or plates for each child to make their pizza
7. Small containers to distribute supplies to each child ( I use the small Pyrex containers)
8. Spoons for each child per each item. 
How you do it.
  1. First have the children wash their hands. 
  2. Distribute the dough.
  3. Instruct the children to make it flat 
  4. Give each child a small container with some pizza sauce 
  5. Instruct them to spoon the sauce and spread it with the back of the spoon
  6. Give each child a small container with cheese
  7. Instruct the children to spread the cheese on their pizza. 
  8. Then give them the variety of toppings and encourage them to make patterns or shapes.  

Don't be afraid to try new things. One thing I have learned is children will eat almost anything on a pizza. One of my child's favorite foods is a garlicy seafood pizza from a nearby pizza place.


When we have play-dates I also like to keep a plate of fruit and or vegetables in easy reach of the children. For the adults I provide  either a dip that goes with bread or crackers. The children also often enjoy the "adult dips"


* Side Note. I made an adult dip from Serendipity Mixes and the children and adults devoured it before I could get pictures.  Run here to try their Sundried Tomato Dip. I paired it with a small baguette from the grocery store and it disappeared instantly! 

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