Food for 1st birthday party

[Bessie123]

I know everyone says that a 1st birthday party is more for the adults than the children but...

it's my pfb's 1st birthday and we are having a party for her. There will be a lot of babies/toddlers there and their parents. There will be a few but not many adults on their own (ie without children). I want to provide some food but dd and a lot of her little friends are quite mischievous and so i don't want to have anything that is bad for them or that they can get hold of and hurt themselves with. For example, i do not want cutlery because one of the babies tried to stick a fork in his eye last week. For the same reason, i don't want food on cocktail sticks or skewers. i also don't want any meat products (for ethical reasons, not safety).

ideally, i would like food that adults and babies/toddlers can eat. so far, i have only come up with sandwiches, cupcakes and birthday cake. i suppose i could make some biscuits too, but i would like to provide some food that is not too sugary. i was thinking about making fruit salad on the basis that it must be quite difficult to hurt yourself with a spoon.

Does anyone have any ideas?

oh, i forgot to say, there is no fridge or oven where we are having the party. we can bring food there but obviously, hot food is not possible.

sandwiches are perfect

and lots of wine for the grown ups

for my DS's 1st birthday i also did home made scone with jam and cream which went down very well

Fruit salad is good but make sure there aren't any chokey bits (eg whole grapes).

Otherwise you won't go far wrong with sarnies, crisps and biscuits. You could have some carrot/cucumber batons with hummus, but really I wouldn't worry too much about making it healthy -- it's a birthday party!

Pizza? Quiche? Homemade if you want to be (relatively) healthy.
You could even do mini-pizzas and make faces etc for the toddlers

For my DS first birthday I did tiny marmite sandwiches (mix the marmite and butter up with a mixer), Instead of birthday cake I did tiny fairy cakes, a fruit platter, steamed vegetable sticks, cucumber sticks, pita bread and humus.

I am planning to do pretty much the same for DD first birthday too! So looking at this thread for inspiration! I have just looked at a nigella recipe for cheese straws looks simple.

dips and vegetables always go down well, maybe some pitta too - much quicker than sandwiches to prepare.
Quiche/tortilla is really easy too - just need eggs, milk, cheese, pre-cooked mushrooms/peppers/leeks/spinach etc and some seasoning thrown into a dish and baked. Cut it into squares to serve (with a spoon!) hot (or warm) or cold and can be eaten with fingers.
Alternatively you could serve pizza slices.

Fruit salad for dessert sounds good - or you could even just make a platter of fruits which can be eaten as finger foods.

thanks so much. i had been thinking of making a kind of wholefood pizza (70s style - cheesy, wholemeal base etc) but it would have to be served cold, do you think that would be disgusting? my friend thinks so although i would eat it.

oooh yes, i will also make a quiche and a tortilla, and those scones sound like a fab idea.

get me, supermum

supergluebum - i'm going to look for the cheese straws recipe now. when is your dd's birthday? mine is on sun

My DD birthday isn't until April, I'm just thinking ahead!

I'd eat cold 70's style pizza , but I love food like that!

The cheese straws are in how to eat in the childrens section. If you don't have it I'll go and get it!

i've only got her feast book - is that the wrong one?

It's a first bday party I would'nt worry too much about it being overly healthy, parties are a time to let go a bit

How about -

Cheese and tomato, tuna, egg mayo, plain cheese, chicken and sweetcorn mayo sarnies

Bread sticks and soft cheese dip

A few bags of crisps

Cubes/sticks of cheese, carrot, celery and cucumber with dips

Fruit cocktail

Animal biscuits

We also had yoghurts at DS's 1st party as we have a very fussy eater

Cold pizza is good cut into squares

She sometimes repeats recipes in different books,b ut here it is just incase.

50g self raising flour
pinch cayenne
25g softened butter
80g finely grated red leicester
20g freshly grated parmesan

mix either by hands or food processor, it might look crumbly, knead it all together.

Roll it out on a floured board, quite thin according to her. Put on a non stick, greased or lined tray in the oven. Pre heated at 200deg/mark 6 for 10 minutes. But she says to look at them after 8. She has used star cutters for hers, but I would try strips first!

so many good suggestions.

thanks v much for the recipe, supergluebum