Little Blue Truck 2nd Birthday Party

There might have been a pandemic surge around here, but that’s not why this post is late. No, wasn’t Covid. We all got the stomach bug that was circulating through school. (UGH!) Then my 5 year old broke her arm and had to have emergency surgery (with an overnight hospital stay). Then there was New Year’s to plan, host & share about, then my Dad’s birthday followed by my husband’s birthday. Then just the night before my son was supposed to start a part-time preschool program, the class had a positive case and closed for a while. Which is all to say, my son’s birthday post is now OVER an entire month late!

Due to the pandemic, I wasn’t planning on having many guests. And I know they say “go big or go home,” but I’m already home so… why not both?

Picking a theme was easy. His favorite book, that he basically reads to me every night, is The Little Blue Truck! While he can’t read it yet, he recites ALL the animal sounds, ALL the ‘beep beep’s”, counts ALL the “pushes,” (1, 2 3), and the last word of every sentence. (As one of his gifts, he got a wooden Little Blue Truck that he played with for most of the celebration!)

I love to cook but I am NOT a baker. (I’ve always said “cooking is an art, baking is a science” which I think explains it nicely!) This is why I’ve had most of my kids’ cakes made by my friend Yvonne. But she’s no longer doing custom cakes (soooo sad about this!) so I stepped up to the plate.

My criteria is: vegan, gluten free, naturally colored and naturally sweetened – he’s only 2 after all! He’ll have treats full of sugar and toxic food dye as he gets older, I’m sure, but when I can make better choices I will.

This is the vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream recipe I used. I added naturally colored vegan & gluten free green sprinkles for the grass. I got some sugar Little Blue Truck animals from Etsy, but they were just for decor!

In addition to the cake, my girls helped me make vanilla cupcakes (with Little Blue Truck cupcake toppers my dad made).

We also made ‘bales of hay,’ a.k.a. my healthier version of rice crispy treats. (They are naturally sweetened, with nut butter for added protein and sprouted organic crisped rice cereal!).

It was a brunch party so I had

Gluten free FRESH bagels (in rustic crates)
Kite Hill vegan plain & chive cream cheese
Carrot lox from Orchard Grocer in NYC (although I have made my own in the past)
Tomatoes
Lettuce
A JUST Egg frittata I made with roasted butternut squash, caramelized red onions, fresh thyme and roasted zucchini
Vegan mac ‘n cheese with wheel pasta for ‘truck tires’
Farm-fresh veggies (in cute wooden pint boxes).
A vegan cheese board made with almonds, sun dried organic peaches from the Farmers Market, fresh organic pear slices, dried organic figs, Yvonnes‘ goatless cheese from Riverdel Vegan Cheesemonger in the Essex Street Market in the LES and assorted crackers

All displayed on a fun farm-themed blue checkered tablecloth.

For the fun the kids played pin the party hat on Little Blue Truck! It was easy and so cute. I got the idea from the back of the Little Blue Truck book (they have a site to go to for party ideas and print outs!). My son also opened his gifts… more Little Blue Truck books, regular truck books, wooden trucks, and… a big AND little Little Blue Truck. He was in HEAVEN!