Oh, this was a fun one (and some chicken) . . .

The light saber cake!

Harrison said he wanted a Star Wars cake this year. I decided to do a little googling to see what's out there. I was thrilled to discover the light saber cake. Easy to make (I used a 9x13 boxed brownie mix instead of cake, thought it would be easier to move in three pieces onto the board, it was very easy, I kept it chilled to make it even stiffer) and fun to present to the kids. Here are the directions that went with the post I found online. Can't find the link anymore:

• Bake your Jedi's favorite flavor in a 9x13" pan. (Julie tip, line pan with parchment paper for easy removal)
• Remove it from the pan and when it's cool, you're going to make a light saber template out of paper to guide you.
  
• Trace the cake onto your paper. Your goal is to make it as long as possible, while tapering the ends so they meet up with the one before it. My cake was cut into thirds. (so was mine, worked perfectly with little waste)
  
• Once you have the template made, use it to cut the cake and line it up. I found a long board and covered it with foil to mount the cake on. (I took one board out from underneath my kid's mattress, haha!)
  
• Buy concentrated Wilton frosting colors. Black and whatever color your saber is.
• Frost it. (Julie tip, do one thin layer of frosting first, chill if time, then do your thicker frosting, no crumbs in frosting that way)
  
• Decorate the handle of your light saber. I cut up large marshmallows to make the white trim, and spelled my Jedi's name and age with those letters and numbers you buy in the cake deco section of your grocery store.
  
• Hide the finished product till it's time to eat. When you emerge with it, your Jedi Knights will be amazed!

A happy 8 year old with a box of birthday pistachios!

Party ideas: We made light sabers out of wrapping paper tubes like this. If you don't have enough tubes take an almost empty tube and wrap the paper onto a full tube. Always save wrapping paper tubes, lots to do with them. If you're near A2 check the scrap box for these and other decorating supplies, I got black foam and stickers for the handles and power buttons.They played light saber battles most of the party (with only one whap to a cheek). Ahead of time preview some light saber training videos on youtube to show the kids at the party so they can "learn" some moves (bookmark them so they're easily accessible). Play a Jedi Mind Training game by having one kid ask yes or no questions to discover which Star Wars character the group of kids has picked out (have pictures or books for the group to silently pick from).

And,

last week I made these.

And,

they were delicious!

Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks

I did the recipe along with the first commenter's suggestions. Just in case I'm going to copy her tips:

I thought this was absolutely amazing. I did, however, take a few of the suggestions on here. First, I mixed a little garlic powder (YUMM!) and adobo (didn't have or even know what it is) to the Parmesan cheese. I also added a small amount of bread crumbs to give it a little more body. Second...instead of soaking the chicken in salt water to reduce blood that would come out during baking, I decided to par boil them in salt water (I did this, great idea), cutting down coking time in half, and making the chicken super moist. And I dredged them in flour before I soaked them in the egg and Parmesan cheese, so the coating would stick better. I baked at 400 for only about 25 - 30 minutes, because the chicken was already cooked for the most part, all I needed was the parmesan to darken. The result was absolutely amazing, the Parmesan cheese really came out, and my fiance couldn't believe how good it was