Hot Sun and Rainbows

I'm not a huge fan of heat.  As an iridescently pale and freckled Orphan Annie look-alike, I have always been very aware of when I last applied sunscreen and where my big floppy hat is.  I become cranky with too much sun and am more of a sit-in-the-shade-sipping-sangria than a lay-on-a-towel-sweating type.  So what did I do?

I moved to Florida.  Family: the ties that bind :)

For the most part, Florida is better than I wanted to admit for many years, especially now that I have moved to a city that is much more my style than perfectly-manicured Naples.  The best part, hands down, is that with my huge family that loves to celebrate milestones, there is no shortage of amazing parties to attend.  Makes the heat much more bearable!
This weekend I drove the short 2 and a half hours back to Naples to attend my niece's 8th birthday party.  Traditionally, this has been the huge party that everyone in the area who knows my family makes a real effort to attend; a reunion of sorts.  This year, it was being held at my niece's uncle and aunt's new super-party fortress (aka, their home on 5 acres) and so it was also a house warming party.  This means that, at 150 people, this party was bigger than many weddings.  Go big or go home right? It also had a theme- something I am a huge fan of at parties!  This theme was rainbows, and while I simply arrived in time to help set things up for the party and had no creative input whatsoever, I thought the whole idea was so cute I had to share it here!   A bonus to this theme is that there is a lot of lee-way to make the rainbows out of whatever food you want!

The Fruity Rainbow

The Veggie Rainbow

The Glorious Cupcake Rainbow

The Chip Rainbow

I just love how there are clouds at the bottom of every rainbow!  The cupcakes were made by the birthday girl's mom, my lovely SIL Ruth (the creative genius behind the party), so they were all gluten-free goodness.  My family loves making as much homemade food as possible, and I love to contribute to both the eating and the cooking in equal parts.  I come from a family of eaters, and true eaters make the best food!
One recipe from the day is the dip that makes up the cloud of the fruit rainbow.  To make some really good (and simple) fruit dip, take a container of Cool Whip and mix it with an 8-oz package of your favorite cream cheese.  Wait for the cream cheese to soften, as you need to mix it by hand to retain the fluffiness of the Cool Whip.  Get ready for your arm work out!  The end result is just perfect though :)  Happy partying!