ABCs baby shower

First rule of party planning: if you make something with peanuts in it, you should always warn guests with food allergies. I learned this the hard way this past weekend during a baby shower my friend and I were hosting when I almost sent the grandmother-to-be into anaphylactic shock. I happened to mention the peanut butter I used in the sliders as we served the food. YES, peanut butter. Trust me, they’re delicious. Luckily I spoke up at the right time and avoided catastrophe. Grandma was able to spit out her mouthful of food. Live and learn. The peanut butter incident aside, everything turned out pretty well. The theme was reading and ABCs. We asked the guests to bring their favorite children's book in lieu of a card to help build the baby's library. I always use any leftover invitations as part of the decorations whether it be a printed menu or a sign, and the ABC invitations were a perfect addition. Instead of the traditional guest book, we had guests write their wishes for the baby on note cards and place them in a keepsake book shaped box. We created one long table and used a roll of hot pink wrapping paper as a table runner (it was only $1 at Target). For centerpieces, we stacked hot pink children's books we borrowed from the library and placed potted flowers with pink bows on top. A maternity picture of the mother-to-be was featured on the wall and there was a slide show of her other maternity photos playing on my iPad. Winners of the shower games received Barnes and Noble gift cards in Dr. Seuss card holders. Guest brought home white chocolate covered Oreo pops with pink and white sprinkles. We served sparkling pink lemonade, sparkling limeade and blood orange Italian soda in miniature wine glasses. The menu included roasted redskin potatoes, pasta salad and caesar salad. We had a make your own sliders bar with lots of toppings to choose from. For dessert, there was cake and cheesecake stuffed strawberries. If you've never had a cheesecake stuffed strawberry, they're amazing and a must try recipe!

Sliders recipe

Found on Favorite Family Recipes

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

1 tablespoon peanut butter (don't forget about those food allergies!)

1/2 cup milk

Small buns

6-8 Cheddar cheese slices

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, Lipton onion soup mix, peanut butter, and milk. Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet with a lip and press into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes. The meat will shrink. Take it out of the oven and put the diced onions all around the edges to flavor the meat. I also carefully drained the fat. Place back in the oven for 15 minutes. Take it out of the oven and spoon the onions onto the meat. Add the cheese and put back in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Using a pizza cutter, cut into bun size squares. Put the tops of the buns on the meat and bake for another 5 minutes. Using a spatula, place the burger and top bun onto the bottom bun and serve.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries recipe

Found on The Sweets Life

Ingredients:
1 lb large strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
graham cracker crumbs

Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove tops and clean out with a paring knife. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mixture to a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. Enjoy!