Thursday night we celebrated Joseph's birthday by throwing him a little picnic party in the living room. Gabe and I spent the entire day running around gathering supplies and making lots of finger foods to nosh on. We made these cute little caprese salad bites, toasted ravioli with marinara sauce, coconut shrimp, bacon wrapped shrimp, beef skewers, cheese and crackers, and strawberry margaritas. We moved the furniture out of the way and layed everything out on a big blanket and set to work devouring as much as we could. Later we cleared the way for cake and games. The cake was yummy, but the games were the highlight of the night. We had a little baby pinata and we let Gabe take the first few swings and we nearly fell on the floor laughing because of how cute he looked. I was really amazed by how well he could hit that swinging hat full of candy. I was also delighted by his reaction to Joseph breaking it open and seeing snickers bars fly out of it. He started laughing and he actually ran to collect candy, which was sooo funny.
Coconut Shrimp with Orange Marmalade Dipping Sauce
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
1/2 c flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c shredded coconut (I ran this through the food processor to make it a little finer.)
Dust shrimp with flour. Dip each shrimp in the beaten egg and then dip into the coconut. Fry in small batches in peanut oil heated to 375 degrees.
Marmalade Sauce
5 T orange marmalade
1 T Grey Poupoun Harvest Coarse Ground Mustard
1 T Horseradish Sauce
Mix all ingredients and serve with coconut shrimp.