A Birthday Celebratory Feast

Anna was one this week and we had a little party to celebrate the occasion. Some of my family came over on the day and we spent the time basking in the gloriously warm April sunshine and eating. And eating. I always cook way too much, this was no exception…!I decided to tie in this feasting with a competition Glenisk are running, as main sponsors of the Irish Parenting Bloggers Awards. I have often mentioned Glenisk on this blog: they really are probably my favourite Irish food producers. Everything they produce is a taste of how good Irish food can be. You can really notice the difference: the milk, Crème fraîche, cream and yogurts: so rich, flavourful and creamy. As I was planning the menu, I somewhat shocked myself at how much I use dairy products, but frankly, if I am going to use and feed my family dairy, I try to ensure it is the best, organic, grass fed dairy I can find. It is a little more expensive, but I real feel it is worth it. The deliciousness pays dividends in the end product!

So, the menu. I wanted to make a buffet lunch that everyone could eat as much as they wanted, and of course, the most important part: the little birthday afternoon tea.

I started the day before, I baked a large ham And two huge organic chickens. I made the birthday cakes and fairy cakes and left the breads and quiches for the morning of the “do”. 

The first cake we made was the birthday cake, which I blogged recently about. I stuck with the three layers as it is so tall and impressive, especially sandwiched with lavish amounts of Glenisk cream and fresh strawberries. I had made jam with fruit from our freezer, and spread some of that on each layer too. I waited until the morning of the party to assemble it all together (which was truly a group effort of whipping cream and chopping strawberries)Next, we made the Lemon Yogurt Cake, a variation on the Buttermilk Cake I posted here. I made lemon curd a few days previous, using this recipe.Hindrance help making the Lemon Yogurt CakeWe also made these delicious fairycakes the day before, and iced them in the sweet and creamy frosting the morning of the party!(the best bit about baking according to Grace is playing with the flour and sugar, making designs in them and weighing them. Soooo creative… and time consuming…)On the morning of the party, James and I set to work making the quiches and soda bread:Quiche is one of my favourite dishes. Such a crowd-pleaser and uses up any bits and pieces you have in the fridge: meats, veg, cheeses. I love the addition of Glenisk crème fraîche: the delicious tang it adds makes for a moreish pie.I more often than not have natural yogurt in my fridge rather than buttermilk, so this is what I make my soda bread with. Hot with butter… a meal in itself!Liam made this next bread, truly, the easiest bread ever: just two ingredients! It’s a super and easy recipe for kids to make, and works brilliantly flattened out and bakes as a pizza base.I added some sundried tomato and basil to made a deeply flavourful, tasty breadAlong with the above we had a Pavlova with generous amounts of Glenisk cream and fresh fruit, sliced meats (ham and chicken cooked the day before), homemade sausage rolls and ham and cheese rolls, herby potatoes and a chicken curry (with rice) made with the not-so-beautiful bits of meat from the chicken: the legs and whatnot. I added in a good dollop of Glenisk Greek-style yogurt which thickened it up and added wonderful flavour.

For me, celebrations are about food and good company. And good food always depends on the quality of your ingredients. Thanks to Glenisk for providing vouchers packs, and encouraged me to sample some of the yogurts I normally wouldn’t have tried!

(Want to enter this competition to win a €200 Holiday Voucher?

How to enter!

We at Glenisk realise the importance of teaching our children about where their food comes from, teaching them about nutrition and kitchen skills. Starting out young is the best way to get the little ones comfortable in the kitchen!

We want Irish Bloggers to share a family-friendly recipe featuring Glenisk. We urge you to get the kids into the kitchen with you for this and enjoy! Recipes can be sweet or savoury and the more pictures to illustrate the experience the better!

To help you along we are providing Glenisk vouchers packs so you can get some Glenisk to experiment on us! To claim your Glenisk coupon pack, email win@glenisk.com with your postal details and we’ll send the pack out to you.

The competition is open now and will close on Friday, April 17^th with the winner being announced on the night of the Irish Parenting Blog Awards! Don’t forget to tag @Glenisk and @ParentBlogsIE on Twitter with the hastag #IPBawards when you’ve published your post so that we know that you’ve entered)

• 2-ingredient bread,
• Birthday feast,
• celebration,
• Fairycakes,
• Lemon yougurt cake,
• quiche,
• recipe,
• soda bread,
• Victoria sponge cake