Julia's 1st Birthday Party

We served spaghetti and meatballs for the main dish.

Oh wait, did you notice that isn't really spaghetti? It's spaghetti cupcakes. They were a huge hit and man were they delicious!

On with the show. . .

This is how all Clark babies approach cake. It's a cross between "What in the world is this?" and "Why are you looking at me all giddy-like?"

But this is a Clark first.

Elena just stared at her cupcake. She didn't want to get dirty. Ditto that with Chloe. Lydia just bawled when we placed the cupcake in front of her!

But Julia? Oh no! Not Julia! She dove right in.

Good grief, big mouth!

Kyle got a little concerned at what big bites she was shoving down the gullet, but I was having too much fun to worry over potential choking hazards.

It really is a blast having a kid actually eat their birthday cake.

There were no broken noodles left on that tray when she was finished. It was spotless.

And I was laughing my head off at my budding sweet tooth.

Spaghetti Cupcakes

taken from Hello, Cupcake!

Make vanilla cupcakes according to directions on box, but use 4 eggs instead of what is called for on the box and use buttermilk in place of the water.

Bake vanilla cupcakes in pale yellow muffin cups. Place them close together on a platter.

Make a batch of buttercream frosting (or use a can of store-bought) and tint it w/ 1/4 tsp. cocoa powder and 3-4 drops yellow food coloring.

Spread a little frosting on top of the cupcakes.

Put remaining frosting in a piping bag or ziplock bag w/ small corner cut off.

Pipe icing all over the cupcakes to look like a big pile of spaghetti.

Mix Ferrero Rocher chocolates with a jar of low-sugar strawberry preserves. (low sugar preserves have the best color)

Place one chocolate on top of each cupcake and spoon the rest all over the icing noodles.

Then grate white chocolate on top for Parmesan.