{Easy Entertaining} 70th Birthday Party

Like the Bronx cobra, we've been MIA for a little bit.  Unlike Mia (the cobra) though, we haven't been hiding to take a nap.  We've been busy with a number of events - the most important being my husband's father's big 70th birthday. 

I'm so happy that after last week's baking, printing, and paper cutting marathon, the blue and silver party decor and dessert table I created was a big success!  Everyone loved the desserts and the usually stoic birthday boy himself teared up when seeing the '70" photo collage my husband and I made.

My husband's mom dug up old photos from the birthday boy's childhood for me including his baby pictures, first communion photos, and his yearbook portrait.  I scanned many of the photos, while my husband photocopied others. We printed them all in black and white and in various sizes.  Then I laid the photos out to make the "70" shape and taped them all together. We used a mounting putty on the wall to hang the poster.  (I got this easy idea from Martha Stewart.)  This was a very easy, but impactful, party decoration that could be used for any milestone birthday or anniversary.

For the paper decorations, I used the theme of "New York" and "70 years young". I incorporated my father-in-law's yearbook photo onto one of the cupcake topper designs. I baked all of the cupcakes, Oreo truffles, and cocoa PB oatmeal cookies. (You can see my nephew eagerly anticipating dessert time!)

For me, the favorite dessert I made was the Oatmeal Cookie sandwiches.  This was a new-to-me recipe (which I'll share soon) that I made for my husband's 10-year-old first cousin, once-removed. He is allergic to soy, which means he cannot eat foods containing Oreos, vegetable oil, margarine, etc.  After chatting with his mom and reading websites (this one was very helpful) I became more aware of foods and ingredients (including some flours, sprinkles, and many baking mixes) that contain soy.  I also made Vanilla Cupcakes (using his favorite Cherrybrook Kitchen mix because I was worried that the flour I had at home may contain soy) and Cocoa Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies (though he's allergic to soy, he isn't allergic to soy lecithin which is normally found in chocolate).  But it was these Oatmeal Cookie sandwiches that were his favorite.  They were soft, tasty, and completely soy free - he loved them and took the leftovers home.