I would estimate that I receive between 2-5 requests each week, throughout the year, to provide birthday party cooking classes. Honestly, I could do that full time and have a real business…that is until those requesting find out the cost of such a party.

The real problem with the cost is not that a cooking class is about $50 per person. Most parents are fine with paying $50 for their child to participate in a 2 to 2  1/2 hour cooking class. But when they realize that they will not just be paying $50 for their child, but for at least 9 of their child’s “closest” friends, to the tune, of at least, $500 (the minimum for a private class is 10 students – or party-goers, in this case). Now that is a different story… trust me, I understand!  Four hundred and fifty dollars is a heck of a lot to pay for a birthday party.  But, if you are willing and happy to pay that amount, I will happily work with you to find a mutually agreeable date, put together a menu, and get your party on my calendar. Or… if you, like me, think that’s too much – then I have some helpful ideas on how to “Host a Cooking Birthday Party” of your own, with some “ crafts help” from Family Fun Magazine. Major Disclaimer: I am not crafty – so even I was to do your party for you, well, the crafts – you are on your own – I am a cooking teacher, not an art teacher – not by a long stretch!

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As previously mentioned, yesterday was my darling friend, Anne’s birthday. So, of course, Peggy, Anne, and I celebrated the joyous occasion together. They came over after classes today and I made a new summer cocktail which we enjoyed and were so happy to be able to have “girl time” together.  We called Connor downstairs to take our picture…and although he took about a dozen, not one of them came out clear, so I used an artistic touch called Fresco in Photoshop to “enhance” it a bit. Believe it or not, it is less blurry now than it originally was! I know, that’s hard to imagine – but true all the same. It’s all good because after a couple of these drinks we couldn’t tell the difference anyhow. Happy Birthday, Anne – love you dearly! xoxo

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Today is my baby’s 19th birthday! We’re spending it in Turks & Caicos on our family vacation.

Our suite includes butler service and our butlers, Minto and Ellen, made the day extra special. While we were out getting spa treatments, they hooked up our room with a full-blown party.

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My beautiful sister, Sloane, celebrates her birthday today.  As mentioned in the “forgiveness” post of last week, she is my little sister and was at my mercy during our childhood years. That’s what the six years of age difference will do for you, a distant older sister with the adoring younger always hanging around. Thankfully, we are long past those days and I can not begin to express my love, eagerness to share and be with, appreciation, and admiration for my best friend who also happens to be my sister.  This chocolate overdose dessert is for her. One component of it is our Aunt Connie’s Mint Chocolate Pudding, a delicious ode to our childhood days. I love you, Sloane! xoxox

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Finally, this is the last of the Easter brunch recipes. Hopefully, this past week of posts has given you a nice repertoire of brunch, breakfast, and spring recipe ideas.

I’ve mentioned my love for Nutella before, so how about a little “history of Nuttela” this time?  This comes straight from the Nuttela website, “Nutella® spread, in its earliest form, was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. At the time, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing. So Mr. Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy, to extend the chocolate supply.” There you go, a little history with your breakfast!

I served this at the Saturday office brunch last weekend and have some “do-head” tips for you. The brioche can be sliced, spread, and sandwiched together a day ahead. Place in an airtight bag or container and refrigerate until ready to cook. And the cereal-brown sugar mixture may also be ground together ahead and stored in an airtight container. Unsliced loaves of brioche can be found at Trader Joe’s.

Lastly, a shout-out to my girlfriend, Lorie, in Los Angeles… I couldn’t decide which old picture to choose, so I put up both of them.  Happy Birthday, Lorie! xoxo

Lorie, Sloane, Dave, and I at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 1998

Anne, Peggy, Lorie, and me about to board a private plane to California in 2005… good times!

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So you may recall that back on December 1st, for her birthday, we gave Marissa a gift certificate to go skydiving. You may also recall that part of the gift was that I would dive with her… well today was the day. The fact that I am posting this lets you know that we survived and in fact thrived! It was a blast and we have photos, t-shirts, and certificates to prove it.  One thing I will say though-  the g-forces put upon your face when you are free-falling are not kind to faces over 30, as evident in my photo compared to my 22-year-old daughter’s young, tight, sweet, and gorgeous face! Love you, Marissa!!!

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So, before we get to today’s recipe – how about that picture above? Those are just 3 of about a dozen cool cocktail napkins I have which have fun riddles for parties to work out. When using them, it is best to have guests try and solve them before too many beverages are consumed –  just a helpful little FYI.  Study them and leave me a comment if you figure out all three! (And just in case the top one isn’t completely visible – it reads, “52 C in a D +2 J’s”). Plus if you are a fan of the Les Petites Gourmettes Fan page on Facebook, you already know something special, so put on your thinking caps and comment as soon as possible!

Last night I had two of my very best friends, Peggy and Anne, over for a little happy hour to celebrate Peggy’s upcoming birthday, which is actually on February 26th. Happy Birthday, Peggy-Sue! Now that all of our kids are teenagers (and beyond, in Marissa’s case!) – we just don’t get together as often as we used to or anywhere near as often as we would like. So when we do – men and children, be forewarned -watch out! As the aforementioned kids know, all too well, we love to be together! I made these spicy little empanadas, crab cakes (that recipe is to be posted tomorrow), and grapefruit-cranberry martinis … love you, girls! (and even with all the love I have for you both – you may not comment on the riddles – although I would still love to get a comment of any other sort!) xoxo

Birthday Girl Peggy, me, and Anne with delish pink martinis plus a camera with a timer – what more do you need?!

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Six months, 185 days, 180 posts, 175 recipes! That’s right, today is my 180^th post in the past 185 days (which is 6 months) and during that time, I’ve put up 175 recipes – wow, I have actually kinda impressed myself! To celebrate, I’m having chocolate pudding with only 6 ingredients. OK, there is a pinch of salt that I am not counting as an official ingredient, although you do need to put it in, to punch up the chocolate, so don’t leave it out just because it’s not part of the ingredient list. I mean, we both know you have salt in your pantry!  And then there is the optional whipped cream and shaved chocolate… but, they are optional, so again, I’m not counting them! To add to the symbolism of it all, I’m using 6 tablespoons of both the cocoa powder and the cornstarch – but if you want to be a party-pooper and you don’t want to play along – you can just use 1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons of each, it’s the same thing.

I not only chose chocolate pudding because of the six ingredients but also in honor of my dearly departed Aunt Connie, who was the best cook I knew when I was young and who was a major influence on me in the kitchen. Aunt Connie is my dad’s older sister and she and Uncle Paul would invite our family of six to dinner every other month or so. I cannot remember a time that we did not have her made-from-scratch Chocolate-Mint Pudding for dessert. All four of us kids looked forward to that pudding the moment our parents told us we were going over for dinner. The minute that dinner was finished, we would ask to be excused and race to clear the table, wash, and dry the dishes so we could get back to the dinner table and have dessert. So as I dig into my pudding, I shall toast myself with the martini glass we are serving it in and say, “To my lovely and talented Aunt Connie. To another six months, and beyond!”

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we’re friends and we’re neighbors! Lori, Ronnie, Amy, and me

Before you even look at this recipe, disclaimers all around! This is not an original recipe, this amazing cake was inspired by a recipe in the December 2007 issue of Bon Appétit. Since it was already not expensive, time-consuming, or impressive enough; I added in the toppings of vanilla pastry cream, whipped cream, and fresh berries!

Do you want to know what is really crazy– I made this cake 5 times! I needed to make a total of four cakes for two separate cooking classes that I taught back in December (four cakes so I would have the various stages of the cake for each class). I used two of those cakes to actually serve at the classes, two as prizes for students who visited my blog, and finally, the fifth one was for my dear friend, Ronnie’s, birthday. Unfortunately, the pictures do not show the cake with its toppings because I was too tired, broke, overbooked, and overworked to put those on Ronnie’s cake. Although, even without the extra work and calories of the toppings,  it is truly a showstopper and undeniably delicious too!

Ronnie not only got gypped by not getting the cake toppings but also was ripped off on my blog when I didn’t even mention that it was her birthday! You see, her birthday is December 23, so I’m sure that all her life, she’s felt slighted in the birthday department -always being upstaged by Christmas, and here I did it to her again. Sorry, Ronnie, I love you and dedicate today’s blog to you! xoxo

Consider making this cake for the next big birthday in your house or maybe even for Valentine’s Day, as long as there are at least a dozen of you celebrating together (kinky!) because, boy oh boy, is this thing rich!

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Another December birthday for another important person in my life. Today is Cyndi Greening’s birthday. Cyndi is a filmmaker, teacher, writer, webmaster, and my dear friend!  I first met her when we worked on a fundraiser for Phoenix Children’s Hospital called the Beach Ball, some Without Cydni, there would be no Les Petites Gourmettes blog! I’d had my website for about 10 years and was itching to turn it into a blog. Thanks to Cydni, that became a reality and 125 posts, and nearly 4 months later, here we are. Cyndi, thank you, and Happy Birthday! xoxo

Love this picture of Cyndi as a kid – she’s in the kitchen! So cute!

Way back on September 16, Cyndi made a comment about a mango and chicken recipe she had gotten from me years ago. I’m not quite sure if this is the recipe she was talking about, but it’s a great appetizer and can be either passed or be used as part of a buffet at a Christmas or New Year’s Party. It is also perfect alongside a salad for a light lunch or dinner. So in honor of Cydni, I shall share it here today.

For the chicken meat, I purchase a rotisserie chicken and use the breast meat for this and the dark meat for something else, maybe chicken salad sandwiches or stir-fry.
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