Mermaid or Pirate Desserts

Last month I hosted a baby shower where the gender wasn't known yet.  With summer in full swing, we went with the fun theme of Mermaid or Pirate.  I've been posting about this for a few weeks, and next week I'll post the whole thing, but here were the dessert offerings.  Since it was summer, I had more time to bake....and I did.  

 First off, I made mermaid tail sugar cookies.  I bought the cookie cutter on Amazon, and I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe to put these together.  These can be done in advance, so that helped!

 Amber's husband loves cake balls, and even though he wasn't in attendance, I made these so we could ship some home.  I just dipped the cake balls in white chocolate and to make them look like pearls I served them in little seashell cups and then brushed on some of the Wilton's luster dust.

I posted about these cheater cupcakes last week.  Again, I bought cupcakes at the store and then used a kit from Wilton to dress up my cupcakes.  

 I definitely made too many desserts, but....too many and the word dessert are welcome words to string together any day in my book!

Easy Pirate Cupcakes

 I recently hosted a baby shower.  The theme was mermaid or pirate.  I wanted to do a mix of both themed desserts, so for the pirates-I saw a kit from Wilton with all the pieces you need.  I knew I would be busy right before the shower, so I decided to buy the cupcakes and then just slip them in the liner and add the decorations.

I picked the color closest to 'flesh', and man I'm glad I cheated.  1)  Sam's makes a fine cupcake 2)  This saved me a lot of time and dishes.  In my old age I'm learning that sometimes it's OK to cheat.  So this is my confession tip-buy the plain cupcake....then decorate them up the way you want.  

Crockpot Meat Balls

I recently hosted a party at my house and one of the things on the menu were meatballs...or....canon balls (it was a Mermaid/Pirate themed party).  I've done a lot of different versions with jellys and sauces, but I decided to try something new, so I went to the internet.  These were commented on and well received at the shower.  It'll definitely stay on the rotation for future parties.  The original recipe (from familyfreshmeals) even suggested serving them over rice for regular ol' weeknight meals.
So, if you are in need of some canon balls....try this one out.

Honey Garlic Crockpot Meatballs

Ingredient:  1/4 c. brown sugar, 1/3 c. honey, 1/2 c. ketchup, 2 T soy sauce, 3 cloves garlic (minced), 1 (28 oz) bag fully cooked, frozen meatballs (I used some from Trader Joe's b/c I read they were the best...and the internet never lies).  

Instructions:  

1.  In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic.  

2.  Place frozen meatballs in a 3-4 qt crockpot and pour sauce over the meatballs, stir until all the meatballs are coated evenly.  

3.  Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.  

(I actually put them in the crockpot the night before and put the ceramic inside in my fridge and then just lowered the time by about 30 minutes the day of the shower since the meatballs had thawed some, but it saved me a few minutes and a sink of dirty dishes during the shower).  

 I recently hosted a Mermaid or Pirate? themed baby shower.  I wanted a blue punch, but a lot of them called for ice cream....and living in Texas in the summer I was worried about it melting too swiftly.  I found a recipe that just used two bottles of Sprite (or some sort of clear soda) and blue Hawaiian Punch.  You freeze the Hawaiian punch in advance, then just pour it into a bowl with the Sprite.  It melts and turns the punch blue.

I served these in little glass fish bowls I bought at the dollar store with little mermaid tail straws I made.

Mermaid Tail Straws

I made these simple little straws for a shower I hosted this month.  The theme was mermaid or pirate. I decided the drinks would be a mermaid theme.  I had the blue straws already, and I decided that instead of buying an svg file, a tail would be easy enough to cut out.

 I made a template and bought some green sparkle paper at Hobby Lobby.

 I raced my tails and cut.

 I ran some glue along the straws to attach them. The straws are paper, so it doesn't melt them.  My plan was to serve these in small fish bowls I bought at the dollar store with a blue drink inside. Stay tuned....a full set of details to come.