It's a birthday!

Monday was my four year old's birthday.  It is also the last birthday in our immediate family for the year. 

I have been working on making the kids' birthday cakes instead of buying them. I don't think I did too bad with the request of a Thomas birthday. 

Not too shabby, wouldn't you say?  

I cheated and used a boxed cake mix, but hey, it was on sale a few months ago so might as well.  The icing was cream cheese icing..or is it frosting? Never could figure out the difference between the two. 

1 8 oz chunk of cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup of butter (one stick) room temperature

4 cups of powdered sugar

a little bit a liquid (I used water, but you could use milk, cream, I've seen recipes that use whipping cream) 

Beat together the cream cheese and butter, add the powdered sugar and mix. I needed to add liquid to get it the right consistency and since we don't keep milk in the house, I used water. Add food dye and you're ready to ice. 

I also bought some of those candy letters because they were on sale. If I had been thinking ahead I wouldn't have made so much black and saved some for a different color..But I dyed too much black and had to use it somewhere since I had a little 4 year old helper so couldn't stand there and eat it. 

We also had pizza for his birthday day. 

Homemade Pizza Dough

1 scant tablespoon yeast

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Mix yeast and water, let sit for a few minutes while you get the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add yeast, stir with fork until combined. Cover and let rise for about 5 minutes. I let it rise until the oven is heated to 425. 

Put on your pan and spread, you can make two thin crusts or one pan crust with this recipe. Use fork to poke holes  so you don't get air bubbles. 

Put in oven for 12 minutes. 

While the pizza is cooking make your pizza sauce

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon each of garlic powder, oregano, parsley

bring to a boil then turn off burner. 

The longer it sits, the more flavor it gets. I usually make a big batch when I make it because we are constantly making some form of pizza around here. 

When the crust is done, put on your toppings (I usually do sauce, meat, cheese (mozzarella and cheddar) and bake for 10-12 minutes more depending on how brown you want your crust. Cut and enjoy. 

He says he had a good birthday and I think the kids are still on a sugar high from the cake and grandma-provided ice cream.