Laney's 9th Birthday

Hey, y'all - 

Laney is positively cuckoo over this cooking competition show on Netflix called "Nailed It." She's seen every episode and forced Hagen to watch them, too. For her 9th birthday celebration, she wanted to host (and compete in) a Nailed It competition at our house. If you want to host a party based on a reality show, a great first step is to have a mom who produces reality TV for a living. It's like telling a mechanic you want to have a spark plug party. Let's do this. 

Laney invited her two best friends, and I set up a competition pantry - each girl got the same ingredients and an apron. I set up three stations in the kitchen, so each contestant would have her own mixing bowls, spatulas, hand mixer, etc. Because I have a double oven and Sue has an oven downstairs, each contestant would get her own oven. 

The girls drew knives, a la "Top Chef," to determine which contestant would get which cooking station. Ella felt no need to alter her normal daily schedule. 

There would be two rounds of competition - A short decorating challenge, and a longer baking challenge. I interviewed Hagen in his role of Judge to see what his expectations were for the competition:

Each girl could hit a Panic button (I used those little hotel bells) once during the competition and get three minutes of help from a grown-up. Each girl could also hit a "Freeze" button once, which would make the competitor of her choice freeze (and stop working) for five minutes. 

For the "Back to School" -themed decorating challenge, the girls had to decorate sugar wafer cookies so they'd look like pencils. 

Hagen was the "taste judge" for this round, and crowned Amya the winner for that abomination on the left because she included an extra pile of blue frosting "for dipping." On one hand: gag me. On the other hand: she knows her audience. 

The it was time for the main baking event. By this time, my kitchen looked like this:

The girls actually did a fantastic job with their challenge to make cupcakes decorated like owls:

Laney

Amya

Laila

The judging was hilarious. They were being judged in three areas: Taste, Presentation, and a third that I've already forgotten. It worked out that each girl won one of the above, so everyone had a great time, and everyone got to sample about 48 cupcakes.

The aftermath:

For her birthday present from us, Laney got a new grown-up paddle board, because she'd outgrown her tiny kids version.

...And as a thank you for his meticulous judging, Hagen got the cardboard that came with it. 

By dinner time, we'd gotten the kitchen almost back to normal. Please note that Ella hasn't moved.

Super fun day for a super fun girl.

Love,

Mom