I was talking to my six year old, who is turning seven, about her birthday party and how to decorate for it and what activities we will have. She said she wanted to have a story time. I thought that was cool. Then we picked out a book to read before going to bed called PEACE by Todd Parr. The book is a series of sentences starting with "Peace is....." My girl said it would be neat to have a peace party. We decided to make little signs to hang up saying all the different things peace is and decorate with peace symbols. I am so excited. It is the coolest theme. I think I have her talked into having a raw cake. We have been looking a pics. but I am not the best cake maker. Before raw my cakes were not great to say the least.

That is wonderful pakd!

for some reason it reminds me of how Mother Theresa said she would never join an anti-war movement, but she would always join a pro-peace movement. A peace party is such a great idea for kids. Very cool post!

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

that's great! your book reminds me of a book i read to little this summer, one of my mom's treasures, that is about feelings. each page starts with a little affirmation like that "peace is...", lovely. my wee man will be 7 at the end of march too, we're going to the detroit science centre again this year. we went to see the body exhibit for his bday last year and ended up buying a membership, he absolutely loves that place!

here's what i made for one of little's parties, everyone loved it all and no one even noticed that it was all raw...

guacamole and salsa with fresh veggies for dipping, a big fruit platter, fresh juice punch with sparkling water.
and for dessert, frozen bananas run through the blank plate on the juicer but i think you could whip them up in a food processor to make "ice cream", do it directly before serving, or if you need to do it in advance test it out before hand to make sure that it stays creamy and doesn't just turn into banana brick!
i drizzled chocolate sauce on this made of blended dates and cocoa powder but it would have been just as good without. sprinkled with shredded coconut and/or chopped dried pineapple would put it right over the top!

i made a carrot cake once for a potluck that was A-Mazing. it was a date and nut crust, i think i used almonds and pecans and added a bit of either psyllium or ground flax to bind it, dehydrated just enough to firm it up and make it stick together well.
shredded carrots (i used pulp from the juicer) mixed with soaked raisins and carrot cake spices, added a bit of one of those two binders (psyllium or ground flax) and it stuck together really well. you can add coconut to this too but i think it's good as is.

for a topping i made a little cashew creme, blended cashews with a bit of lemon juice and soaked dates or maple syrup or agave or whathaveyou. you can blend the nuts with oj or water.

i also made julianos mud sauce for this, it's just maple syrup and cocoa powder. you could add that to coconut oil to make something really decadent.

one time i put chunks of mature coconut through the blank plate of my juicer and got the most incredible, but very, very rich, coconut creme. that would have made excellent sauce or frozen ice cream as well.


good luck, have fun! i'm sure you'll make a gorgeous cake!

geez i wanna have a peace party

sounds like fun!

about the cake thing, the trick is to chill it overnight so that it will bind

the cold has a way of making it stick

Thanks Greg.

Their (it is shared with my soon to be three year old also) party is going to be a three day, two night camping party. We will be camping in the yard with family coming from two hours away. We are working on the menu. I finally got her interested in having a raw cake. We are going to be trying recipes to see what she likes. She has chosen two activities for the event. She wants storytelling and a tea party. It should be a hoot.

Coco,
It's so cool our kids are the same age. I wish y'all could come to the party. Thanks for all the great ideas. They sound fantastic! I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the uncooking tip LaV. You should have a peace party. Maybe it will be the new trend. Maybe we will change the world. Imagine......

imagination is good

and u are taking action on your imagination

this is what transforms

Yesterday I made a carrot cake that our little middle loved!!! It was so simple, Just a few ingredients, no dehydrating. She wants it for her birhtday. I told her we could actually make a couple different kinds for the party. I think we will make a strawberry shortcake also. Today is my husband's birthday so I think we will try one out tonight. I had to really talk her into the idea of not having a crappy cooked one with conventional decorations so I almost felt like crying when she was excited about having the carrot cake. We decorated it with raisins in the shape of flowers. While it was sitting on the platter waiting for the icing she sat staring at it saying "It smells so good. I can't wait momma." While we were all gobbling it down she was saying "You're the best raw chef. You should have a restaurant."

ah man, that's so sweet. hurrah for raw!

three cheers for raw.. Raw Raw Raw Sis boom bah!

I made this strawberry shortcake [www.rawfoodsupport.com] last night and it was a huge hit. It was really delish and little middle said it was the best raw food she ever had. They all said it was better than original strawberry shortcake. We are having it at their party as well.

We finally had our party. It went really well. The strawberry shortcake was a huge hit. We all went to our town's Railroad Festival and came back and made the food. My niece and her friend made the shortcake which was neat because they were so interested in learning about raw food. My niece has loved all our food in the past (especially smoothies). The carrot cake was good but the shortcake was the fav. I also made gazpacho that everyone loved.

We had a little incident (food wise) that upset me and REALLY upset my twelve year old. My sister and her daughter (my other niece) asked if they could bring cupcakes. I told them no, but they brought them anyway. When we were outside blowing out the candles on the cake they actually brought them out to the table. It was my plan to take my cake up to the porch and let everyone serve themselves so my little ones followed me and didn't notice my niece handing out cupcakes to all the guests. My twelve year old came up behind us so upset. I have to say I am even more upset now as I write this than I was then. They also brought chips and crappy jar dip. I feel like I should say something to them about it but I am more inclined to let them know before future parties that they will not be allowed to serve non raw food. It is so crazy because this is the niece that introduced me to raw foods and my sister has cancer and told me on New Years Day she was going to start a healthier diet to heal herself. She has touted healthy eating for over thirty years but I have never really seen her practice it.

It was a great party and we really had a great time. The peace theme was fantastc. It was fun to have peace signs everywhere. They were hanging from trees and painted on windows and they made shadows on the ground everywhere.

The kids were so busy hiking and picking berries and playing badmitten and volleyball that I could not round them all up for activities so we just let them play.

ooh, your party sound divine! i'll have to try that shortcake recipe when the strawbs are in season around here, there are TONS of berry places. especially now that i've have a very well received mostly raw dinner party here and also have a friend who's really getting into raw with her hubby and little boy.

i think that it was kinda crappy for people to bring muffins and junk but if i was going to a party that was serving junk i would want to be able to bring my own healthy food and i'd be upset and maybe not go if i was told i couldn't do it. sure, my bringing healthy food is in a different ball park than cupcakes and crappy jar dip but... you gotta allow for others to have things their own way for themselves sometimes. it's only fair/balanced/respectful whathaveyou.

The cupcakes weren't brought for themselves, they were brought to give to kids. I think that is what the difference is. We had non vegan food, mostly healthy. People had plenty of diverse choices in food. One problem was they were taking away from THE BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!, while we were serving it, with crap my kids couldn't have. My sister made a scene with them earlier in the day, according to my friend. My friend said she sounded like she was making fun of us. She brought them out and announced" while the vegans aren't around, who wants a cupcake." My daughter was coming that way so my sister intercepted my her at her own party over a freakin' cupcake. My kids don't normally want the non vegan food and we certainly don't hide them, but cup cakes are just "mean" (my twelve year old's word). They brought them out again at 9:30 at night and my friend said she found her kid with her hand in them right before bedtime and she felt like she couldn't take it away at that point. It was annoying. I don't know, my sister is very passive aggressive and she will do what she will do. In the future I will be sure to stand my ground with her. I feel like I have to for my kids. My twelve year old has decided to send her an email telling her how it made her feel. She was really angry so I told her to chill before she writes it.

Also, most of our friends are health conscious and are happy to come to a kid party where they don't have to worry about what is being served to the kids. It felt like a sabotage on the kind of party we were trying to give. It wasn't like they were quietly eating their "special" food they brought for themselves like we (raw foodies) do.

it is super crappy, i agree. very underhanded, sly, selfish, undermining. people can be such butts, it's a drag.

LOL!!! thanks for the support, coco.

My girl wrote a pretty strong letter to them about it. If she feels better sending it I guess it is a good idea.

I wish you could have come and we could have met you and those beautiful kids of yours.

me too

u know... to me... cooked food is like living in a "fanatasy" world

before i was raw, this "fantasy" world actually seemed REAL

eating potato chips is like floating on an insubstantial cloud waiting for the thin ice floe to crack

but in the meantime.... u just say " Whatever .... I don't hear or see nothing bad right here."

no bogeyman in THIS preservative laden jar

it really is weird that your sister had cancer and she knows about raw but would resort to not only going back to her fantasy world but would also end up becoming a "drug dealer"

it would make for a good science fiction story too...

because what she did seemed to be out of this world ( considering what she went through with the cancer)

LaV, What you wrote is so profoundly what I feel. Thanks for your words. Only she can change her situation, but for some reason I feel better after reading them. Like she is an alcoholic needing company.

and then u wonder why people say that such dis-ease is "generational"

anyhoo... its still her body and she has every right to do whatever she wishes to it.... but foisting such poison in such a smug and nonchalant way ( as if she didn't know better) and in such a condescending manner towards you is a bit underhanded

if she was giving cupcakes to adults... so what? (adults know better... oh wait.. i forget.. most adults are living in a SAD fantasy world) but the fact that she KNOWS about a better way and she still delivers rat poison to her kids ( who DON'T know better unless someone SHOWS them) is kind of SAD

and thus the befitting acronym

Want to hear something crazy? Her kids are grown. She only brought them for our guests, even after I told her not to. My daugter has sent a letter and is very proud of herself. I feel like I have passed the torch. My daughter can take up for herself now. I am not even upset any more. I feel bad my sister is like that but I after what LaV wrote I started thinking of her as an alcoholic, which is prevalent in our family. She has a dis-ease. I know I can't change her. I can be an example. She is fighting the cancer now and I want to be a strong support for her. I love her so much.

i wish for your sister to be ONE THOUSAND percent healthy, TOTALLY happy and completely cancer free

she is in my prayers

Thabks LaV. That really means a lot to me. And I believe those positive thoughts will most definetly help her.