Teddy Bear Birthday Party

Here is a great theme for a little girl's birthday party: Teddy Bears! This party would be great for younger kids between the ages of 4-6.

Invite each guest to bring along her favorite teddy bear. The teddies can join in all the birthday fun, from snack time to present opening.

• Set up extra chairs at the table so that each girl can sit next to her bear at a tea party.

• Make hats for the teddy bears using paper cups, crayons, and stickers. Use some stretchy string to put chin straps on the hats so that they stay snugly on the bears. 

• Let the kids decorate teddy bear shaped cookies. Grandin Bakery can make uniced sugar cookies that are ready to be decorated. We can also put together containers of icing in any color you like. Just pick up some candies or other toppings at the grocery store and you're set! Here is a picture of the teddy bear cutter we use at the bakery:

• Be sure to play games with the teddies. One idea is to have a teddy bear race. Split the kids up into pairs and give each pair a tea towel to place their teddies on. Each person holds two corners of the tea towel and together they carry their bears to the finish line. Whichever pair gets there first wins. If the bears fall out of the tea towel, back to the starting line!

• When it's time to open gifts, first have each guest hide her teddy bear for the birthday girl to find. Each time a girl's bear is found, her present is opened. This is a fun way to get everyone involved in the gift opening.

• Having kids over for lunch? Make teddy bear shaped sandwiches. Simply cut bread into bear shapes using cookie cutters and then add cheese or jam. Here are some cute grilled cheese sandwiches that are beary fun!

Nostalgia

I love looking through old photos. It's an opportunity to appreciate where we've been. Recently, I came across these pictures from the bakery, which I'm guessing were taken in the late 70's. Our family has been in the baking business for generations. My husband and his brother were taught how to bake by their dad, who in turned learned from his father. Even great granddad was a baker! It just runs in the family. My husband can't imagine doing anything else. There is something very special about turning simple ingredients like flour and eggs into a hearty bread or decadent pastries.

These photos are from when Grandin Bakery was located in Grandin Mall. We still have many customers that remember stopping in there for treats after dance class or hockey practice when they were kids. And now they are bringing their own children by the bakery for cookies or donuts. We have some pretty great customers. Thanks for letting us help you with your school lunches and family BBQs, with your birthday parties and special occasions for so many years!

  Wow! Cinnamon Buns were 6 for 69¢!

Valentine's Day Goodies

My husband and I have only celebrated Valentine's Day at a restaurant once. That was enough for us. Oh, sure, we enjoyed the food and good company. But the two hour wait for a table, not so much. The restaurant didn't take reservations for Valentine's Day, so we thought we'd just hope for the best. When we found out how long the wait was, we thought about going home, but we were with another couple and had really been looking forward to a night out with them.

So the four of us made our way back to the van and we hunkered down for a couple of hours. I'll admit, we had some fun laughing and chatting together while we waited for our pager to buzz us in from the cold, but mini vans aren't built for cuddling. It's hard to enjoy a snuggle with your Valentine when there's an aisle separating your seat from his!

These days, hubby and I are more content to just stay home on Valentine's Day. We have a nice dinner together (usually with the kids!) and enjoy some cuddles afterwards on our comfy couch. If you decide to stay in this year for Valentine's Day, be sure to share something yummy for dessert. Check out these cute goodies from Grandin Bakery and surprise your Valentine with some sweet treats.

Sweet Potato French Toast Recipe

 
 













I love every opportunity I can get to sneak veggies into my kids' food.

Now, I won't proclaim that this recipe is super healthy. I mean it does have both syrup and brown sugar. But, this French toast does include a veggie and it tastes yummy. My girls gobble these up!

I usually buy canned sweet potato at a health food store, but you can also make your own. Click here for directions on how to bake sweet potatoes. Once they're cooked, you just need to let them cool enough so that you don't burn yourself, then tear off the peels (they should come off easily) and mash.

Here's the recipe:
3/4 cup pureed sweet potato
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, beaten
10-12 slices bread (I use brown)

Preheat a non-stick frying pan on the stove top at just below medium heat. Mix the sweet potato, milk, cinnamon, vanilla & eggs in a shallow dish. Quickly dip both sides of a slice of bread into the mixture and put into the pan (you don't want to let the bread soak in the mixture, just dip to coat). Cook about 2 minutes, flip, then cook for about 2 minutes more. As you take the toasts out of the pan, move them to an oven-safe dish and keep them warm in the oven at 200 degrees F while you cook up the rest of the French toast.

Serve with margarine, a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of brown sugar (trust me, the combination of syrup and brown sugar is fantastic!)

Dinosaur Birthday Party

I love planning birthday parties for my kids. And it always helps to have a little inspiration, so I thought I'd share some of my ideas with you here. Today's theme is dinosaurs!

 1.     

1.       Set the Scene:

•  Let the birthday boy or girl help you draw dinosaur foot prints and hang them around the house. 

• Make a mini dino world to put on the party table. Fill a container with dirt, scatter rocks over top, tuck in a few small branches for trees, and add some plastic dinosaurs.

 Plan Fun Activities:

• Have a dinosaur dig! Buy a bag or two of plastic, toy dinosaurs (you can usually find these at a dollar store) and bury them in a bucket of Lego. Divide the kids into two teams and line them up a few feet away from the bucket. Let the teams race to dig up the dinosaurs. The first person on each team runs to the Lego and starts searching. Once he finds a dinosaur, he runs back to his team and the next person runs over to start searching. The team that finds their half of the hidden dinosaurs first is the winner. In the summer, if the weather is nice, you can play this game in the sandbox instead of with Lego. 

•  Play T-Rex hide & seek: Whoever’s turn it is to seek has to roar and stomp like a Tyrannosaurus Rex while he looks for the other kids.

• Make paper plate Stegosauruses: Buy two sizes of paper plates and cut them into halves. Give each child a small half plate for the head and a large half plate for the body. Using double-sided tape, help them attach the head to one end of the body (the dino will be in profile view). You could always have assembled dino bodies ready for the kids to decorate, if that’s easier. Let the kids use foam stickers to make legs, spikes, eyes and ears. They can also color their dinosaurs with markers or crayons.

 
 Have Super Dino Snacks:

• What's on the menu? How about dinosaur eggs (grapes or jellybeans), dinosaur bones (popcorn twists) and swamp water (juice).

•  Set out some fun dinosaur-shaped cookies. Grandin Bakery makes sugar cookies decorated in any colors you like.

 Happy party planning!