For T’s first birthday, we wanted to have a small intimate celebration with all of his toddler buddies and some ‘mum-made’  food. We’d planned a pool party with inflatable pools set up in the balcony. The water baby that he is, he was the first one in and the last one out, making it quite a  fun ‘splashy’ first birthday!

 

The menu was fairly simple and everything on it was as much for the adults as it was for the babies.

On the menu:

• Strawberry yogurt smoothie
• Sour cream, spinach and onion dip
• Nachni/Raagi (finger millet) chips
• Cheesy potato and onion bake
• Strawberry, kiwi and feta cheese salad
• Cheese and chocolate spread sandwiches
• Cream cheese and whipped cream frosting double layered chocolate cake

Here are the recipes to a few of the items on the menu:

A) Sour cream, spinach and onion dip (Thank you Ramya Kapadia for this wonderful recipe!)

• Home made sour cream
• Blanched spinach
• Diced onions
• Salt and cracked pepper
• Mustard powder
• Olive oil

Method:

• Finely chop the spinach and the onions, then sauté them in olive oil
• Once cool add the mix to the sour cream
• Add salt, pepper and mustard powder to taste
• Serve cool

Sour Cream:

Method:

• Take liquid whipping cream or fresh cream and bring it to room temperature
• Heat the glass jar in which you will make the sour cream for about 30 seconds in the microwave
• Add a spoonful of yogurt to the jar and then pour the fresh cream into it
• Cover with a muslin cloth and let it set for about 24 hours
• The sour cream you could get will be a little runny, though the dip should set well once you pop it in the fridge

B) Raagi Chips (Thank you Revati Jathar for inspiring me to make these!)

• Raagi flour
• Wheat flour
• Olive oil
• Water
• Salt
• White and black sesame seeds
• Oregano leaves or powder

Method:

• Prepare a dough with the wheat, raagi flour, salt, oregano, water and olive oil
• Make small balls with it and roll each one out with a rolling pin sprinkle the sesame seeds on top and gently roll over
• Careful not to embed the seeds too deep
• Once done cut into desired shapes and bake them in the oven at about 220ºC for about 15 minuets, keep a watch intermittently so as to make sure they don’t burn
• Store in a air tight container

C) Cheesy potato and onion bake

• Potato chopped into small cubes
• Onions chopped small
• Fresh oregano
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Cracked pepper
• Mustard powder
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Fine bread crumbs

Ingredients for the sauce

• Shredded Cheddar cheese
• Wheat flour
• Cracked pepper
• mustard powder
• Olive oil
• Milk

Method:

• Par boil the chopped potato cubes
• Sauté the potatoes and the onions in olive oil until the onions turn pink
• Add in the salt, pepper, mustard powder and the oregano
• Prepare separately the white sauce

The sauce,

• Sauté the wheat flour in a little olive oil and add milk
• Whisk vigorously so that no lumps are formed. Alternatively you could mix the oil, flour and the milk and bring to a boil. Don’t forget to keep whisking
• Once it starts to thicken a bit add the shredded cheddar cheese and all the seasoning
• Add milk if required to achieve a slightly runny consistency

The dish,

• In a bake dish add the veg and pour out the white sauce on the top
• Top it off with more cheese and bread crumbs
• Bake for 20 minuets on 220ºC or until the cheese and crumbs turn crisp and brown
• Serve warm

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