An afternoon at the “Races”

Training: Mountain Biking 17km

Hi there! Yup I am still here...just recovering from a busy weekend. The star of which was, of course, the big birthday party to celebrate my parents (in-law) turning 70!

Fact: My father-in-law loves horse racing and even has quite a few race-day hopefuls down at his farm.

So, when looking for a theme for his 70th birthday party, 'a day at the races' theme immediately sprung to mind!

Which meant…most importantly......race fashions! Frilly dress and fascinator??

Don’t mind if I do ;)

There was a great turnout at the local Bowls Club (that we had hired for the afternoon) as over 100 people arrived to join in the celebrations.

And, in the spirit of the day, there were so many wonderful hats / dresses and fascinators.

 

Adorable!

But sunshine, fun and fashion aside, we had over 110 mouths to feed! And while the guests had the beany beetroot dip...

And roasted capsicum hummus to nibble on at the start....

It wasn’t long before we had to set the salad table , the idea being that the the guests could load up their plates before heading out to collect some meat being cooked on the outdoor BBQ.

And what a spread it ended up being.

Tamari rice salad...

Pesto pasta salad (recipe to follow)...

Dijon Coleslaw (recipe to follow)...

Roasted pumpkin and beetroot salad....

Also added to the table was a greek salad, and a cranberry and apple green salad...

Finished with a potato salad (unfortunately un-pictured)

The salads disappeared quickly and surprisingly we had very little left. And, not long after clearing up the salad bar, it was time to re-stock it with the sweet stars of the show.

We actually made 3 birthday cakes - all of which just barely survived the warm car trip to the venue (eeeeeeek!). The main cake was a layered black forest cake, with cherry brandy cream and maraschino cherries....

(Sadly ending up with a car-travel –induced crack…..!)

And chocolate shards to decorate the outside....

(which  sadly also struggled to survive the warm car ride to the venue)

And topped with an edible icing image of Mr BBB's parents' first winning horse!

(An “in progress” picture to show it without the car-induced crack!)

On the side, we also had his and hers "70" cakes. Both were vanilla, topped with lemon buttercream. One decorated with smarties….

While the other was decorated with mini marshmallows.

While I was unable to partake in the cake eating (only cake making) as they were not wheat free, there was barely a slice leftover so they cant have been too bad!

Overall, it was a fun afternoon spent 'at the races', and a testament that prior preparation and planning can make catering for over 100+ people not too stressful.

Car rides with melting cakes on the other hand…..

I will be posting my thoughts on the planning process very soon, but right now this filly is having an early night :)

What about you? Have you ever been to a theme party?

Happy Baking :)