My niece’s Beatles themed 5th birthday was a success! She looked absolutely adorable in her little outfit. My son had a bit of a cold, but insisted on playing outside with all the kids (as long as it was daylight, it was ok for a little while). The immediate family all had “tour shirts” made by my sister which had the dates and themes of Mei-Lin’s past birthdays. The front was a drawing made by our friend Ted who took an old Beatles cartoon and added an image of Mei-Lin in the middle.
My sister and I must love the “rock and roll” themed birthdays because my son’s first birthday was also a music themed. We ordered invites that looked like concert tickets and all of the immediate family had “backstage passes”.
Two of the food highlights were The Beatles cake (made by my sister’s friend Yolanda) and the mini-hamburger cookies. I’ll leave the cake decorating to the professionals, but I can give you the recipe for the “no bake” mini-hamburger cookies. My sister gave me the recipe verbally, so here is how I would follow it:
No Bake Mini-Hamburger Cookies
- 1 box vanilla wafer cookies
- 1 package chocolate covered mint cookies (or grasshopper cookies)
- 1 package shredded coconut
- 1 package sesame seeds
- Green food coloring
- 1 tube red gel icing
- 1 tube yellow gel icing
- Clear gel icing (optional)
Prepare the “lettuce” by adding 1/2 cup of shredded coconut to a plastic baggie. Add food coloring to coconut and shake. Set aside.
Prepare the “top buns” by spreading water (but I think clear gel icing would provide better adhesion) to the rounded side of the vanilla wafer and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Set aside.
To assemble the “burgers”: Add red and yellow gel icing to the mint chocolate cookie for the “ketchup” and “mustard” or “cheese”. Sprinkle green coconut for the “lettuce”. Adhere the “top bun”. Add the “bottom bun” by spreading a little bit of icing to the bottom of the chocolate mint cookie. Adhere the flat side of another vanilla wafer cookie.
Make as many as you can!
Outfits: Tour shirts made by Rholnna Jiao (illustration by Ted Meneses)
On Mei-Lin – Apple Bottom girl’s faux leather vest; Old Navy girl’s skinny jeans; Auntie Cyrillynn’s hat (brand unknown); Payless girl’s boots; “My Melody” stuffed doll by Build-A-Bear
On Dominic – Old Navy loose fit toddler jeans and long-sleeved shirt; Converse sneakers; Target knit beanie