Laurent's 5th Birthday

February 28, 2006

This past weekend we had the honor of celebrating Laurent's birthday. Sunday was the actual day but we had a party on Saturday. In the past I've done theme parties and planned related games, activities and food. This year we took an easier route and treated Laurent and a group of little friends and their daddies to Jump City, an indoor playplace in our city. They went and played for a couple hours and then came back and we had cake, ice cream, snacks etc... This winter has been terrible for getting outside and being active. First it was cold and rainy and now it's just plain cold - with no snow. We've only gone sledding once! So, the birthday party was in part a response to this and a means to get out and be active in spite of the weather.

My big crowning achievement of the party was the Rainbow Cake the kids and I baked the day before. Baking it was a day long project but it was worth the effort. Seeing as I'm not a cake, cookies or dessert baker (my specialty is muffins) I was very pleased with the results. Although the coloring is artificial, everything else was real - eggs, butter etc. and it tasted very good. Kids and adults alike thought it was a hit. I also baked brownies , more in line with our usual eating style and cut up platters of fresh veggies. With 12 kids and 8 adults at the party it was all eaten!

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becky on Feb. 28, 2006, 11:25 p.m.

Hi Laurent,

Happy Brirthday! We are so happy to hear that you had a great birthday! Thank you for sharing your pictures with us!

We were behind in February Birthday Cards, so if you haven't got your card yet keep checking the mail.

Love and miss you Laurent,

Uncle Zoltan, Auntie Becky and
Ja-ira

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melanie on March 5, 2006, 4:23 p.m.

Renee, I am so impressed with your rainbow cake! I have never seen anything like that. The party looked like it was a lot of fun, wish we could have been there. Now, may I ask why brownies is your usual favourite? What kind of icing did you put on the cake?

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- renee on March 5, 2006, 10:43 p.m.
  
  I said the brownies were more along our usual eating style. By that I meant I used ingredients that we normally eat - whole wheat, tofu etc... We don't usually eat butter and eggs which were in the birthday cake. The brownies are linked to the recipe - I recommend it if you're looking for a healthier recipe. I use 100% whole wheat pastry flour when I make them and I also cut the sugar in 1/2 to 1/2 cup of sucanat - a very natural, unrefined sugar.
  
  The cake icing is called fluffy icing and you make it with egg whites and corn syrup. There is also layers of butter icing in the cake.
  
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  - barbara on March 7, 2006, 8:14 a.m.
    
    I am very surprised to hear that you used this ingredient! Can Damien eat something made with corn syrup, now? I thought he was allergic to anything with the word 'corn' in it. Maybe he didn't eat any cake? It looks lovely. How did you make the layers? (Or is that a 'family secret'!) I have a recipe for 'rainbow jellied salad' if anyone is ever interested in more 'rainbow' recipes. Thank you for posting pictures.
    
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    - Anonymous on March 7, 2006, 11:27 a.m.
      
      The cake also had eggs, milk, and oil in it, all stuff we usually avoid. On special occasions we have special food, and we don't worry about what's in it, we just have fun. It's not like I am violently allergic to corn, I do eat it on occasion, it just aggrevates my eczema. I have found that consuming it on occasion does not really affect me significantly.
      
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    - renee on March 7, 2006, 5:55 p.m.
      
      I linked to the the rainbow cake recipe in my original post. It's a Canadian Living recipe. To create the layers you make one batch of batter, divide it into 3 and color each bowl separately. You do the same with the butter icing. That way you have 6 separate colors. Red (cake), orange (icing), yellow (cake), green (icing), blue (cake), violet (icing). It's not technically correct as a real rainbow has indigo between blue and violet smile.
      
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