Dish Nephew's 3rd Birthday Party

I took on the task of making the food for Dish Nephew's 3rd Birthday party, as our normal caterer-- Dish Mom-- was busy at work this week. Here's what I served!

Mixed olives

Crostini with eggplant caponata (left-- please note the little spreader knife with the eggplants I chose hehe)Crostini with herbed ricotta (store-bought ricotta, and then I added chopped fresh thyme, oregano, parsley, and rosemary).Spicy Pumpkin Seeds (1 cup raw, green pumpkin seeds, tossed w/ 2 Tbsp EVOO, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper-- bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes)
Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with almonds and goat cheese (my all-time favorite fall/winter hors d'oeuvre)
Pigs in a blanket lollipops! These were a big hit with both the kids and the adults. This recipe is a little lighter than the old classic because they're made with puff pastry. Yum! Meatball sliders! This recipe was adapted from The Little Owl restaurant in NYC, courtesy of the amazing Deb at smittenkitchen.com:
Meatball slider, up close and personal...
Apparently I failed to take a photo of the roasted sweet potato and pears as well as the escarole, red leaf, and fennel salad with cider vinaigrette...Dish Gal FAIL. In any case, Dish Mom actually prepared those anyway ;)

And for the grand finale!

He seemed to like the icing the best...
So was the party a success? I'd say so, just based on this huge grin! That's all that mattered to me, at least =)