Theo's 4th Birthday Party

A few weekends ago we celebrated Theo's 4th birthday party. Remember his music-themed 3rd birthday party last year? About four months before his party I asked Theo what kind of party he wanted. He said, "A chocolate party!" Two months later he said the same thing. Admittedly, I was a bit stumped. I mean, how awesome would a chocolate party be!? But then again, every parent would kill me if all I served was chocolate everything. So then I came up with the idea of "Theo's Chocolate Waffle Bar Party" that would incorporate his love for chocolate AND waffles--plus, give everyone different options including savory ones.

Inspired by my trip to Dinette in L.A., I decided to use metal trays lined with a custom kraft liner. The whole look was made even cuter with these bear face party napkins from my friends at Harlow & Grey. I vowed to never cook all the food for a birthday party again (Lucas' round-themed 2nd birthday party nearly killed me) but this waffle bar was pretty easy. I ordered scrambled eggs and popcorn chicken from the Whole Foods catering department in Berkeley, made a few batches of chocolate waffles in advance and froze them, made some syrups in advance, and just cut some fruit and baked tater tots the morning of. Oh, and you know what saved me was this little guy from Amazon.

Ready for a heart melt? Lucas made Theo this birthday hat out of paper, tape and string--one for Theo and another tiny one for Theo's "baby" stuffie.

Organic fruit and syrups with custom labels ;)

Homemade chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I really need/want to take a cake decorating class.

A family tradition!!!

Somewhere along the way Theo transformed into a ninja. Haha!

We hired the best kids band ever Your Song My Song. They were taking requests and Theo wanted "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. So they figured out how to play it! High five!

This is the face of a happy birthday boy!

The party favors were delicious butter waffle cookies from Trader Joe's hand dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with rainbow nonpareils. I packaged them in glassine bags and sealed each one with a custom label.

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Coffee and Donuts -- The Perfect Pair

According to Wikipedia, "Coffee and doughnuts" is a common food and drink pairing in the United States. I would go a bit further to say it's one of the most perfect food and drink pairings--the sweet and tender crumb of a fresh donut paired with a smooth and mellow cup of coffee can't be beat.

Today I've partnered with Williams-Sonoma to show you how the OXO On Barista Brain 9-Cup Coffee Maker makes delicious barista-quality coffee at home. And I've paired that cup of coffee (or two) with a delicious baked donut recipe with two kinds of glazes.

I can't tell you how many Oxo kitchen tools I have and use and love. So when they came out with a new line of coffee makers, I was really excited to try it out. I have loved coffee since my college days, switched to decaf when I was pregnant with both boys, and have been back on ever since. While Nick prefers his coffee black, I personally love an almond milk latte. But I will drink a regular coffee as long as it's not too bitter. And has milk in it. A lot of milk.

The OXO On Barista Brain 9-Cup Coffee Maker makes one of the best coffees at home that I've had. I had no idea how much science was involved in making coffee, but I really can tell the difference between our last coffee maker and this new one. It has a microprocessor that monitors time, temperature and volume from start to finish, resulting in barista-quality handcrafted coffee at home with one touch of a button.

I tested several kinds of coffee including Counter Culture Hologram, Counter Culture Idido, and Stumptown Guatamala Santa Clara (all from Modern Coffee, my favorite coffee shop in Oakland), as well as Philz Tantalizing Turkish.  The Oxo made each one taste like it says on the package.

Aside from making really good coffee, here are a few other things I love about the OXO On Barista Brain 9-Cup Coffee Maker:

• Super quiet
• Sleek and modern design
• You could see the water percolating which I think is pretty cool
• It shows you how long the coffee has been sitting
• The vacuum-insulated lightweight stainless steel carafe keeps coffee at the perfect temp
• Could easily make just one cup of coffee
• Easy to clean

The only con I would give is that I can't see how much coffee is in the carafe. But then again, if the carafe were made of glass, the coffee wouldn't stay at an optimal temperature.

Now on to the donuts! I made baked donuts with a blueberry glaze and also a chocolate one with some crushed pistachios on top. I love any kind of donut except for maple bars. This is the first time I've made them at home--sadly, the first batch tasted like play dough, but the second batch using the nonstick donut pan from Williams-Sonoma was a big hit.

+ Full Recipe for Baked Donuts
+ Donut pan and cooling rack from Williams-Sonoma
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+ Williams-Sonoma generously sent me the Oxo On Barista Coffee Maker to test out. I have received no other compensation for this post. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.