Zaynah Mayna : Z's1st birthday party

Still can't believe she is already one, it seems like yesterday when she was born, anyhow back to the post.. I wasn't sure if I wanted to celebrate her first birthday, I kept on thinking she is not going to remember it so what's the point of it all, but after sometime I came to a realisation that she will ask me about it later. Even then I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I asked my husband if he had any ideas, but he was more excited about an upcoming overseas trip we had planned for a month before Z's first birthday (a family reunion for his cousin's wedding...hence the excitement). So we finally decided to celebrate Z's 1st birthday on our way back to Sydney. And it was a big party (sadly i still missed out on inviting some dear friends :( ...) once we agreed on the date and venue there wasn't much time left for decor planning, but I managed to do as much I could within 2 weeks. It was definitely an exhausting and exciting experience. I told myself, I am not going to do it again, but now that I think about it, it was really fun planning it even in such a short time.

My initial idea involved a lot of effort and some wood work, (might do it for her next birthday ;) .. ) since I didn't have sufficient time (plus it was my first time throwing a big party) I wanted to keep it simple. It won't be fair not to mention my lovely sister in law; I was really inspired by her while planning the event, she always throws amazing parties. I'll have to ask her permission to show you guys some of the photos. But for now I hope you guys enjoy the photos from Memsaab's birthday party - that's what we call Z at home ;) (In Hindi, Memsaab is a title for a woman in a position of authority), well you guessed it right .....she is the boss ;). xxx

These lovely photos are courtesy of Hassan Qureshi

These cakes were Ah..mazing, left one is orange and pistachio, right one is rosewater and pistachio. Made by my lovely cousin.( follow her blog for delicious and unique dessert recipes).

I got the tutorial for tepee from this amazing blog, it is

in detail so you can't get it wrong.

This paper flower wall I made is inspired by Chanel's fashion show, on a little more research I found out that these walls are super popular for the wedding decors, you can buy a paper flower wall starting from $500 or more, but you can always make one under $25 with a little effort and patience;) I didn't make it super big because I will be hanging it in Z's room (don't need a big one there) but they definitely look amazing in the larger size. you can use a couple of poster boards for the back support - i used 1200 x 900mm corflute sheet, its made up of plastic. You can get it from a hardware store, I got mine from bunnings. Plus some A4 size papers in a colour of your choice and a hot glue gun is all you need to make this wall. :) i can post a few flower patterns if anyone is interested.

A lot went wrong on the day..sighs.., these pretty giant balloons deflated a bit, and i couldn't set the table with everything before the guests arrived, hence the cake and peanut butter pots are missing in the photos. :(

Since i love Instagram, I had to get this prop for the event, you can buy it here.

I got the fake grass mats along with giant balloons from little booteek .

I wanted the dessert to look like a flower pot to go with the indoor garden party theme, so me and my cousin (who made the cakes) came up with the recipe of peanut butter pots.

Peanut butter pot recipe:

serves 20

peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets (i bought a jar from costco)

chocolate cookies crushed (you can also use chocolate brownie or chocolate cake crumble instead)

peanut butter 1cup

powdered sugar 1cup

sea salt 1tsp

vanilla essence 1tsp

cream cheese 8 oz

heavy cream 1/4 cup

condensed milk 1 can

Crush the peanut butter filled pretzels and pour it at the bottom of the cup for first layer. beat the peanut butter and cream cheese until smooth, beat / blend heavy cream, condensed milk, sea salt, vanilla essence and powdered sugar,(blending makes it so much easier to mix all the ingredients.. trust me!), layer it on top of the crushed pretzels. crush some chocolate cookies for soil at the top. voila..you are done.

Ferrero rocher flowers

The food table: we had a taco bar, the idea is big in US, we got inspired on our recent trip to the west coast of the US and everyone from our friends and family in Sydney loved the idea, maybe more because its different from usual desi (indian cuisine) that we normally have at our events.

Taco bar table

I had bought few taco seasonings from costco

jar of olives

sour cream (I whipped it a little)

Guacamole

Red chilli sauce

Green chilli sauce

jalapeños in vinegar

shredded mexican cheese mix (I bought it from costco)

shredded iceberg lettuce

black beans (sadly i couldn't find black beans, i had to use refried black beans. bought the tins from costco)

tomatoes, corns, spring onions, capsicum, coriander (i mixed it all together with some lime, salt and pepper)

Rice

minced chicken

minced beef

soft shell tacos

hard shell tacos

nacho chips

I had also made tuna pasta salad and beetroot mint salad. plus chicken nuggets for the little fussy eaters.

Guacamole recipe

avocados

lime

mint

green chilli

salt

yoghurt

Blend it all together and you have delicious homemade guacamole!

Red chilli sauce

fire roasted red pepper in sweet vinegar (I bought the jar from costco)

diced pomodoro tomatoes (I bought the tin from costco)

jalapeño jar

salt

coriander powder

cumin powder

paprika powder

Blend it all together, you can add the quantity of ingredients depending on your taste.

Green chilli sauce

parsley

basil

jalapeño jar

lime

salt

coriander powder

cumin powder

Blend all the ingredients together with heaps of lime juice in a blender (I make this every week now, its a delicious condiment).

Rice

recipe for 2 cups rice

rice 2 cups washed and soaked for 30 mins

spring onions chopped 1 cup

salt 2 tbsp

oil tbsp

garlic and ginger crushed 1 tbsp

water 3 cups

Heat the pot, add oil, add crushed garlic and ginger, saute it until its golden. add 3 cups of water, add 2 tbsp of salt to it, drain the water out of the soaked rice, once the water on the stove starts to boil add rice and spring onions into it. cover the pot with a lid, let it cook on a low heat until all the water is gone and the rice is soft.

Minced chicken

I made almost 7kg of minced chicken, and 7kg of minced beef way more than i needed, and there was heaps leftover.

I reckon 5kg of each is more than enough to feed 60-65 people.

minced chicken 5kg

garlic and ginger crushed 3 tbsp

pomodoro tomates (I used the tin)

red chilli powder to taste

salt to taste

coriander and cumin powder 3 tbsp

Heat the pot, add oil, add crushed garlic and ginger, saute it until lightly golden brown add minced chicken and cook it for few minutes, add salt, chilli, coriander and cumin powder and tomatoes to the minced chicken cook it until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Minced beef

minced beef 5kg

garlic and ginger crushed 3tbsp

onions chopped 3

coriander chopped

salt to taste

zata'ar mix 3 tbsp (i know its not mexican, but i just love the flavours with beef)

chilli powder to taste

Heat the pot, add oil, add onions, saute until golden brown, add minced beef, cook it until most of the water is dried, salt, chilli powder zata'ar and crushed garlic-ginger, mix it well, cover the pot with lid, let it cook on a low heat until the beef is cooked thoroughly, add coriander before serving.

Refried beans

I added olive oil, salt, pepper and lime to refried beans.

Tuna pasta salad

mix the following together :

cooked macaroni pasta 1 packet

chilli tuna 3-4 tins

sour cream 1 cup

chilli sauce 1/4 cup

salt to taste

pepper to taste

spring onions chopped

tomatoes chopped