Snow day Buffet

Yesterday Little S and I drove down and picked up his half brother and sister A and H. This is our first morning with all three kids and it happens to be snowing so I decided I would make them a surprise snow-day buffet.

I got out several sheets of blue construction paper and tapped it to the center of the kitchen table. Then I stretched my memory back to grade school and made some snowflakes with white paper adding them on top and using the cut out pieces as added confetti like snow falling.

At first I was thinking I would get out our white dishes but the eggplant of our normal dishes really contrasted well with the colors of the items especially the snowmen.

Reindeer Doughnuts -

Mini chocolate doughnuts
Red M&M's for the nose pressed in slightly
Candy eyes
chocolate covered pretzels (1 for each reindeer) broken in half and stuck in for antlers.

These were places on a plate covered with a sprinkling of unsweetend coconut to look like falling snow.

Snowman Doughnuts:

Mini powdered sugar doughnuts
Orange M&M's pressed sideways into the hole in the middle
Mini chocolate chips pressed tip down into the doughnut to make eyes and mouth - this was the most painstaking process as my mini chips were sometimes two chips in one or were deformed.

These were added to a plate with snowflake shaped peppermint sprinkles.

Close Up of the Snowmen

Cream Puff Snow Balls- 

These were completely in the house by luck. On the way back from picking up the kids I stopped at a special bakery that is only open one weekend every few months and got these as a treat along with M's favorite eclairs.

I placed these on a white serving platter that has a flower pattern on the edges. I covered the flower pattern with squares of a piece of blue construction paper like in the center of the table. I added the snowballs to the platter then added a little more powdered sugar to them and the platter for their snow.

Hot Chocolate Bar:

I set up mugs each with a hot chocolate packet and a spoon - 2 with milk chocolate and 2 with milk chocolate and mini marshmallow flavors.

I also put together a topping selection which included a ramekin of chocolate chips, and a ramekin of mini marshmallows, then I made mini snowman skewers and added them to a Christmas tree shaped plate.

Snowman Skewers:

I sorted through the bag of mini marshmallows for ones of different sizes and shapes and then put three onto each toothpick. I used my food color markers to add blue eyes (Little S has blue eyes so I use blue whenever I make a face) and black for each button. I added a drop of orange food coloring to a dish and added a orange carrot (dot) nose to each using the tip of a chopstick.

I then took a few of my snowman decorations and placed them on the buffet along with some plates and napkins. When the kids all got up I made cheesy scrambled eggs and let them eat breakfast while watching TV in front of the Christmas tree.

You are only a child for a short period of time and as A parent I want to make it memorable. We'll all eat healthier come the new year in a week.