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1. Take raw meat out of the fridge for at least 20 minutes before cooking. If the meat, chicken, fish or vegetable is too cold in the centre, the outside may well burn before the inside is cooked.
2. You should always check that meat is cooked thoroughly by cutting into each piece of meat and checking that it’s not pink, the juices are clear, and it is piping hot right through. Think about purchasing a meat thermometer for extra peace of mind.
3. If using wooden skewers for kebabs, steep them in water for a couple of minutes before making your kebabs to avoid them burning during cooking.
4. Wait until your meat is nearly cooked (approximately 10 mins before the end) before applying barbecue or other tomato-based sauces containing sugars. This will help reduce the amount of browning or blackening of meat.
5. Add salt only after the meat is cooked. This will prevent it from getting dry and tough, as salt draws away moisture.
6. Gas BBQs allow you to control the temperature much more easily which will help to ensure you get it right.
7. Use your BBQ to its full potential – remember, barbecues aren’t just for meat. You could wrap potatoes in foil to cook alongside, or even bananas in foil for dessert!
8. Clean your BBQ grill with hot soapy water. Use a mild cream cleaner on a non-abrasive pad to remove any food residue. Rinse well and dry thoroughly.

This deliciously simple recipe is the perfect recipe to kick off BBQ season and makes a great alternative to burgers.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of salmon fillet; skin on (can be whole fillet if cooking for more guests)
• 200g Philadelphia cream cheese
• 300g defrosted and drained cooked prawns
• Mild curry powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Place the salmon into a bowl and sprinkle over a little olive oil, mix well and place the fish into a baking dish skin down.
2. Take the cream cheese, prawns and curry powder (to taste) and mix well.
3. Top onto the salmon and then take some tin foil and cover the dish. Refrigerate until needed.
4. When ready, take the baking dish and place it onto one of your BBQ grills towards the back for approximately 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the salmon and the heat of your BBQ.

Calor Top Tip: Be careful when you are removing the tinfoil from the salmon, as this will be hot!

Ingredients:

• 500gm of washed and halved new potatoes
• Milled sea salt & black pepper
• 1/4 tsp of Cajun spice
• 1 stick of rosemary, leaves stripped
• 2-3 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

Method:

1. Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
2. Take approximately 8in x 8in inch pieces of square tin foil
3. Place portions of the potatoes into the middle of the foil and scrunch up into parcels.
4. When ready, place the parcels onto the BBQ, they will take approximately 10 mins.
5. When cooked, bring to the front of the BBQ until ready to serve.

Make some rainbow fruit kebabs or put lots of sliced fruit out on a big plate to share.

Safety tip: grapes can be a choking hazard for children, so make sure to cut grapes in half lengthways.

Simple, bite-size sandwiches or wraps are sure to be popular. Ham, cheese, jam, chicken are simple filling ideas, not forgetting some bagel quarters with cream cheese.

Want more sandwich ideas? Check out our round-up of 65+ sandwich fillings suitable for all, including vegan.

Take two bars of chocolate (both milk, or one milk and one white) and melt them in 30-second bursts in the microwave, stirring in between.

Let the kids dip their strawberries into the melted chocolate (or if you prefer less mess, dip each strawberry and allow chocolate to dry.

“These go down a treat and I like the fact that they are getting something healthy and treat-y at the same time.”

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Make a hedgehog for the kids. Take half an orange and using cocktail sticks with cubes of cheese and fruit, push the sticks into the orange to make your hedgehog.

“The kids love it and it’s healthy!”

Kids love to dip so the simplest thing is hummus with carrot sticks.

Or give them a couple of different dips to try with breadsticks, pepper slices, even apple slices can be dipped.

Here’s two great recipes for Rice Krispie buns and Rice Krispie Chewies which are quick and easy to make.

“Always a winner at any age.”

We have found that a big bowl of popcorn is constantly a hit at kids parties. We always make our own as we prefer it to microwave popcorn, and it’s really simple.

1. Coat a pot with a thin layer of oil then add the popping corn and put the lid on.
2. Put the pot over a medium heat on the cooker and when you start to hear the popping just give the pot a shake every few seconds to make sure the corn isn’t burning.
3. Once you hear no more pops, it’s safe to take the lid off.  Empty the popped corn into a bowl and add a blob of butter to the warm pot and melt it and pour over the popped corn.

These are so simple to make. Just put a scoop of ice cream in a glass and pour in a fizzy drink on top. Great combinations include vanilla + coke or vanilla + American Cream Soda.

Smoothies and milkshakes are also another popular choice with kids, so why not try making strawberry and banana milkshakes.

Whip up a set of mini pancakes and set out some sliced bananas or strawberries, Nutella, whipped cream, mini marshmallows, or sugar & lemon juice. Here’s how to make some fun pancake shapes for kids.

Another great kids party food option is Digestive biscuits with Philadelphia and strawberry on top.

“Kids loved them when we had them at our recent home party.”

“This was a total hit! All you have to do is make some fruit kebabs i.e. strawberries and grapes and then let them dip into the fountain. My daughter’s friends from school were asking before her birthday ‘was the chocolate fountain going to be there’ as they remembered it from last year!”

Homemade chicken goujons or chicken skewers with dips to pour over the chicken or to dip into. You could try a honey-mustard dip, garlic mayo, satay sauce, sweet and sour, or sweet chilli for older kids.

Most kids love sausages, even the fussier kids, so a good option for party food are either cocktail-sized sausages or mini sausage rolls (you can buy the larger ones and slice them into 3 before serving).

Or why not make your own – here are some super easy recipes for Homemade Sausages and Sausage Rolls.

Why not make some homemade pizzas? Kids love choosing their own toppings for and it helps cater for different tastes and even accommodate the fussy eater. Alternatively here’s a recipe for Neapolitan pizza.

“Make small pizza bases, then put out toppings in bowls (cheese, tomato sauce, ham, sweet corn, etc) and let the kids make their own.”

“Try puff pastry pizzas – literally get the ready-rolled puff pastry, fold back a little bit on each corner; put tomato puree or tomato sauce over it; add mozzarella cheese and use your imagination!”

An alternative to making pizza dough would be to use wraps or English muffins as the base.

These are very easy to make in advance and have ready to grill, here’s Clodagh McKenna’s mini burger recipe.

“Mini burgers go down a treat and if you keep them small, they are less likely to leave them uneaten”

“For my daughter’s first birthday I didn’t have time to decorate the fairy cakes so I made icing in three different colours, put jelly tots, smarties, hundreds and thousands, etc out on a table in bowls and everyone decorated their own…adults and kids LOVED this!”

Our lemon buns would be a tasty bake for this!

Take some oranges, cut them in half and scoop out the orange being careful not to tear the orange skin. Then make up some jelly and pour into the ‘boats’. Leave to set in the fridge before serving.

“I used red jelly and green so they could choose (or fight) over what coloured boat they wanted!”

Melt some chocolate, then dip the top of a marshmallow in and top it with a colourful Smartie. Repeat with your remaining marshmallows, allow to set and serve.

“So quick and easy to make, and the kids love them.”

Not all desserts mean lots of calories!  Check out some of our healthy ideas for rainbow desserts without the guilt factor and a fun way to get extra fruit into reluctant kids.

These little fruit tacos from Sugar Dish Me are cinnamon sugar tortillas stuffed with honey cinnamon cream cheese and all your favourite fruit. They are easy to prepare and work well as party food or a fun after school snack.

Vitamin-packed fruit skewers are a simple, colourful and fun way to get kids to eat fruit, and they’ll love helping to make them too. Clean Food Crush uses raspberries, strawberries, melon, mango, pineapple, kiwi, grapes and blueberries for these.

You could try serving new fruits, alongside familiar fruits to introduce new flavours and textures in a fun way.

These whole fruit and veggie rainbow popsicles from Yummy Mummy Kitchen are as delicious and nourishing as they are pretty. They have no artificial food dyes or added sweeteners, and those distinct rainbow layers are made with blended whole fruit and veggies.

This healthy rainbow chia pudding from Girl Phat is perfect for breakfast, snacks or dessert – and packed with fruit and delicious goodness!

Okay, so this isn’t a quick fix smoothie to make on a busy morning, but it would make an epic Vitamin C boost on the weekends or special occasions.

We love the suggestion from The First Year Blog to make this rainbow smoothie an unforgettable treat – stick a gold chocolate coin in the bottom of the glass before adding the smoothie. That way when someone is finished drinking it, they find gold at the end of the rainbow!

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Transform a traditional vanilla pudding into a showstopping rainbow dessert, like this one from Makezine, your whole family will love.

Top with cream and sprinkles or just leave the beautiful layers to speak for themselves!

This no-bake rainbow cheesecake tart from PS I Made This is perfect for showcasing all your favourite fruits. Swap the Graham Cracker crust for crushed digestive biscuits or chocolate chip cookies if you prefer.

Pancakes are a popular choice for breakfast, but these rainbow pancakes from I Am Baker can be transformed into a dessert with the addition of some sweet toppings. Perhaps even a scoop of ice cream?!

If you plan on trying all the colours of the rainbow, make these pancakes in small bite-size amounts so that you can indulge!

Do you prefer a thinner pancake? Try these rainbow crepes from The Proper Blog and serve with some of the accompanying key lime whipped cream, fruit in a variety of rainbow colours, or whatever takes your fancy!

Perhaps not the breakfast of champions, but definitely a fun treat for special occasions. You can learn how to make your own jam-filled treats with this recipe for rainbow pop tarts courtesy of Tastemade.

tbd

There are lots of tasty ideas like this no-churn rainbow ice cream over at Creamish for making really quick ice creams – no ice cream machine required, and it can be done in a matter of minutes.

It’s lots more fun to make your own and comes without all the added extras found in shop-bought ice creams.

These soft-baked rainbow cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction are deliciously chewy and very more-ish! Great for a party (or a Monday…), they are sure to be very popular.

Use candy melts to create rainbow popcorn, like this version from The Decorated Cookie. While this would definitely brighten up a family movie night, it also makes a fantastic addition to a party food menu.

These sparkly fruity rainbow gummies from Our Best Bites can be coloured and flavoured as much as you like, and the recipe will show you just how to get started.

Crazy For Crust shows you just how to make these slice-and-bake rainbow cookies using a classic sugar cookie recipe. Add some little cookie dot clouds for extra cute factor!

Made in minutes, this rainbow candy bark from My Name is Snickerdoodle is a really fun idea for treats or parties.

Use whatever sprinkles, sweets and candy you can find to make this bark as colourful as possible!

Layer up different colours to create a jello rainbow of wobble – Made By a Princess shows you how to perfect the layering.

You could make individual servings, or create one big glass bowl of wondrous wobble for the kids to enjoy.

Another great jello idea is to give these rainbow jello orange wedges from Tablespoon a try. How fun would these be for a kids party?!

If you love a waffle, just think how much more exciting a rainbow one will be like this one from Tablespoon! And just look at those whipped cream clouds…

Candy melts in a range of colours can transform anything into a rainbow treat! Just look at these chocolate-covered strawberries from Dash of Sanity that are sure to be gobbled up in no time!

Cakes are the ultimate way to create a rainbow dessert the whole family will be wowed by.

Keep it quick and simple, and decorate your favourite cake with some Smarties or M&Ms in a rainbow pattern like this one from Taste.

This rainbow Swiss roll is a show-stopping twist on the classic and would be perfect for a party.

While this recipe from Tablespoon uses a box cake, any Swiss roll recipe, coloured and cooked the same, would work just as well.

Take it to the next level with a multicoloured rainbow layer cake. Imagine slicing into this and seeing the reactions when a rainbow appears! Cupcake Jemma shows you just how to create your own with this step-by-step video.

Amp up the rainbow colours! This stunning cake from Land O Lakes features rainbow layers and is adorned with beautiful rainbow buttercream roses for a really eye-catching finish.

These playful rainbow cupcakes from Dessert Now, Dinner Later are making us drool! The bright colours, in perfect layers, peaked cupcakes, and whipped cream cheese frosting – so much goodness going on in one cupcake!

Give any cupcake (homemade or shop-bought) a rainbow makeover with this really effective rainbow buttercream. Panko Bunny shows you how to create the effect with a how-to video.

Create your own rainbow with cupcakes, thanks to this clever and deceptively simple idea we found on Pinterest!

My children love to make these oreo truffles as a special treat for friends or if we are having a celebration.

You can be creative with the decoration and with only a few ingredients and no cooking required, they are simple to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 2 packets of Oreo biscuits (154g each)
• 150g Cream Cheese
• Teaspoon of Vanilla Essence
• 200g dark/white/milk chocolate for coating
• Optional – gold glitter spray or edible glitter

Method:

1. Empty Oreo biscuits into a zip-loc bag and bash with a rolling pin or meat hammer until they are large crumbs. You could also pulse them in the food processor.
2. In a large bowl, mix the crushed Oreo biscuits with the cream cheese and a teaspoon of vanilla extract until combined.
3. Roll into balls and chill in the fridge or freezer for at least an hour.
4. Once chilled, melt your chocolate of choice.
5. Use a skewer or fork to dip each truffle into the chocolate and place on greaseproof paper to set.
6. Store in the fridge and just before you serve, spray or coat with edible glitter if using.
7. Enjoy!

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These fun and easy to make Thanksgiving turkey cupcakes from Frugal Mom Eh will be a hit with kids of all ages.

Bake your own or use shop-bought cupcakes and decorate with chocolate buttercream. Reece’s Pieces are a great (and delicious!) choice as they come in the perfect colours for those turkey tails.

Decorating these Oreo turkey cupcakes from Kelly Stilwell makes a great family activity, and the kids will love showing off their creations! Just make sure to have a few extra Oreos ready, because they will definitely get munched along the way!

Aren’t these fun?! Cakesicles are the newest dessert trend. Bigger and easier to decorate than cake pops, these fun desserts are sure to be a hit at you next birthday or holiday celebration.

This step-by-step tutorial for Thanksgiving cakesicles from Partylicious will show you how to make any flavour cakesicles with troubleshooting and decorating tips and tricks.

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These little gobblers are a fun treat for kids!

Create your own version of these Thanksgiving turkey cupcakes from Home is Where the Boat Is using Nutter Butter cookies, licorice wattles and candy corn fantails.

If you are looking for the cutest little fall table dessert, you are going to love these scarecrow cupcakes from Enza’s Bargains. Using wafers can create the crosshatch texture that greatly resembles a straw hat, and a candy corn makes the perfect nose.

Have your kids been learning about the Pilgrims and the history of Thanksgiving at school? Tonya Staab’s pilgrim cupcakes would make a great talking point on Thanksgiving so they can tell you what they have learned.

Have you seen these cute little pie cupcakes from The Bearfoot Baker? You can create your own cherry, blueberry or apple ‘pies’ using different colours M&Ms and some piped buttercream. A little white buttercream dotted on top resembles whipped cream for the final touch!

Make your favourite cupcakes and decorate to look like cute little pumpkins. Ashlee Marie’s technique for pumpkin cupcakes is genius, with a simple switch up to raise the piping and look more pumpkin-like.

Pies typically reign supreme at Thanksgiving celebrations, but perhaps you want an alternate after-turkey treat. This adorable scarecrow cupcake cake from She Knows will undoubtedly be the hit at any Thanksgiving celebration, and also a great edible centerpiece or a fun treat for any kid’s November parties. And the best part? It’s actually quite easy to make.

Make (or buy) your favourite cupcakes and assemble them to create a scarecrow figure. Pick your colours for his clothes, then decorate with candy corn, M&Ms, liquorice and more for the finishing touches.

Chocolate leaves are a fun and delicious way to top your festive fall cakes and cupcakes. Domestically Blissful used dark chocolate to create these chocolate leaves, although you could easily use these techniques with white chocolate as well. You could even use food colouring to dye the white chocolate a variety of fall colours to create a colourful display.

You don’t need super cake decorating skills to create a showstopper! We love the simplicity of this turkey cupcake display we found on Pinterest – each cupcake is decorated with just one colour of buttercream or chocolate frosting, which makes it a quick and easy option for your Thanksgiving table.

A little creativity goes a long way to creating a Thanksgiving display your family and guests will love! We found this selection on Pinterest that offers lots of inspiration for your own Thanksgiving cupcakes, from pumpkin pie and turkey to a swirl of autumnal colours. Always have fun with your own baking!

Create some scary and not-so-scary Halloween monsters by drawing or sticking on eyes, nose and mouth to a heat-proof glass before adding your favourite jelly flavour to set in the glass.

Decorate with cream, icing and some coloured sugar to complete the spook-tastic look.

These spooktacular Halloween jelly pots are sure to be a treat for your party guests. They only take 15 minutes + setting time to create and serve 4 to 6 guests.

Ingredients

For the Jelly Pots

• 2 handfuls of your favourite candy, I used dolly mixture
• 2 packets of Chivers Strawberry Jelly +100ml cold water
• 400ml cold water
• 4 – 5 Oreos or similar biscuit
• 250ml double cream for serving or yogurt if preferred

For the Jelly Worms

• 1 packet of Chivers Strawberry Jelly
• 50ml room temperature or cool water
• 50 – 80ml boiling water
• 18g powdered gelatine
• 60ml boiling water

Directions

1. Chop jelly and place it in a microwave safe bowl or jug. Cover with 100ml cold water. Cook on high for 1 minute. Remove, stir and give it another 30 seconds to dissolve fully.
2. Add the cold water and mix to combine.
3. Add your  favourite sweets to your serving glasses. Pour the jelly over the top and place into the fridge to set for at least 3 hours.
4. For the jelly worms, remove jelly from the packet, chop into cubes and place into a large jug. Cover with 50 ml of cool or room temperature water.
5. Place into the microwave on high for 1 minute.
6. Remove from the microwave, add the boiling water, mix to combine and then sprinkle over the gelatine powder.
7. Whisk to combine to dissolve the gelatine.
8. Place jelly worm mould or moulds onto a tray.
9. Place into the fridge to set for at least a couple of hours.
10. Pop the jelly worms out of the mould. Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 10 days.
11. Place Oreos into a sealed bag and bash to form crumbs using a rolling pin or something similar.
12. Assemble jelly pots with cream on top of the set jelly. Top with Oreo crumbs, jelly worms and some icing eyes if you have them! You can pick these up in some supermarkets or online.

This creation will require a jelly mould. Make the jelly as per the instructions and place in the fridge to set.

Once the jelly will hold it’s shape, but is not fully set, add grapes cut in half and place them strategically around the edge of the mould to make perfect toe nails!

For this jelly masterpiece, you will need some marshmallows and a black edible ink decorating pen or some chocolate drops to create the eyes and mouth.

Make the Jelly up in a jug using half the amount of warm water required by the recipe. Once the jelly has fully melted, top up to the required amount with cold water. This will ensure that when you place your marshmallow ghosts into the mixture, they will not dissolve.

For your jelly mash ups, choose a dark coloured Chivers jelly, either strawberry, blackcurrant or raspberry would work well. You could use the Chivers pre-made pots and simply ‘mash up’ and add to your glasses with dark coloured fruit like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or blackcurrants.

Lightly set red jelly is the perfect ‘fake’ blood. Make your jelly according the the packet instructions and when it cools, splash onto your plates or bowls and leave to set.

This Halloween pumpkin inspired Jack O’Lantern centrepiece would look amazing for any Halloween party.

Method:

• You will need to first make your Chivers orange jelly, or you could use one of the handy Chivers orange jelly pots.
• Slide the top off an orange and scoop out the pulp
• Carve your scary face
• Fill your hollowed out orange with your orange set jelly
• Replace the top or add some whipped cream and sprinkles
• Enjoy!

For this recipe, it is best to make the jelly a little less set than usual. Once it is firm enough, turn out onto a plate and add in jelly worms, cockroaches, spiders and other items picked up at your local store.

You could turn this into a Halloween game too, by blindfolding guests and getting them to search in the ‘slime’ for creatures!

For this jelly eyeball you should use a Panna Cotta mix for the main element.

Chivers strawberry or raspberry jelly can be set on the serving plate before turning out your set Panna Cottta onto your red layer.

Add a slice of kiwi fruit and a half a chocolate sphere to each plate to finish the look.

For a fun, delicious dinner whip up some Frankenstein pasta like this brilliant idea from Super Healthy Kids.

You can use whatever pasta you want – bowties, shells or spaghetti. Mix the pasta with some green pesto and have fun decorating your Frankenstein with olives and cucumber.

These monster burgers from Happy Foods Tube would definitely make a great addition to your Halloween menu with their pickle tongue, olive eyes and jagged teeth made from cheese!

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Pizza night is always popular, so why not try making ghost pizzas for your little trick or treaters, like these ones from A Pretty Life?

It’s a fun way to send them off trick or treating, and guaranteed to make them smile. Plus, you can also easily change up the ingredients to suit each child’s taste and favourite toppings.

We love this Guacamole Witch Dip from Nibbles & Feasts with her green face, cornichon nose and ruby red pepper lips.

Dips are always popular with kids, and this perfectly themed Halloween dip is bound to get a few giggles from little ones!

These Jack O’Lantern quesadillas from Delish would make a brilliantly themed and effective (plus incredibly quick!) Halloween snack using chicken and cheese with tortillas.

If you’re a Hocus Pocus fan or planning a movie night, you might enjoy recreating this Hocus Pocus snack board from Something Delightful – isn’t it fab?!

Using a combination of cheese, fruit, cold meats, sweets and savoury snacks, the Sanderson Sisters are brought to life – and the final result is a real showstopper.

These mummy sausage rolls are so easy to make and kids (big and small!) absolutely love them.

You just need some pastry, your favourite sausages and some edible eyes of course!

For a healthier festive snack, then this Pumpkin Hummus from Super Healthy Kids is cute and kid-friendly, with a stem made of cucumber. You can make one giant pumpkin for a party or individual ones for each child.