The Homesteading Carnival #66 - Happy Birthday Edition

Since this carnival comes up right between my two childrens' birthdays (Sept. 14 & 23), I thought a birthday party theme might be fun!

First we make the preparations: PLANNING THE MENU - here are some great recipes to consider:

Dora Renee' Wilkerson presents Salmon Patties and Fried Green Tomatoes posted at The Jud-King Family.

Alex presents Mango Salsa Recipes posted at Home Life Weekly. I actually made Mango Salsa for this party, but used a simple mix of mangoes, green onions, cilantro and Tajin (a powdered chile and lime mixture very popular here in Mexico).

Danielle Hull presents Zesty Salsa posted at Danielle Hull.

Rachel presents The Excellent Baker - Apple Crisp posted at Rachel's Reasoning.

Stacy presents Roasting Tomatoes posted at Delighting in the Days.....We had a cookout with hamburgers, sausages and chicken. I was able to get a fantastic deal over Labor Day weekend at Fresh & Easy, a new market chain that has some great deals!

INVITATIONS - buy or create your own:

You could get some great ideas for invitations from Miss Jocelyn as she presents Decoding The P31W Graphics posted at A Pondering Heart.

Then you need to GET THE HOUSE READY - this could include decorating and getting rid of pests:
Decorology presents decorology: Get that "simple life" feeling in your home posted at decorology.

MBB presents How To Kill Roaches And Get Rid Of A Home Cockroach Infestation posted at Money Blue Book Personal Finance Blog.Next, we need to BUY THE CAKE - or we could make one with this recipe:

Mexican Redhead presents Fluffy Yellow Butter-Cake posted at Go Therefore And Be Light.

We ordered a cake from Sam's Club - they really do make a great cake at a very reasonable price!

We also need to MAKE SURE ALL IS READY FOR THE PARTY - this might include a baby in your house:

Tomato Lady presents Homemade Baby Wipes posted at Little House in the Suburbs.

With a house full of guests, you might want a few tips on How to Save Water Indoors (a few tips) posted at HowToMe.

And if you are having a GARDEN PARTY, consider these entries:
toad sticker presents Liquid organic fertilizer posted at The Prepared Christian.

Piedro Molinero presents More About Butterfly Gardening posted at DIY Gardening Tips.

And don't forget THE GIFTS - you could buy them or make them yourself like this recycled water bottle holder that I made out of colorful plastic grocery bags.

Chickens might be interesting as Carole DeJarnatt presents Is it Moulting, Molting, or Snowing Feathers? posted at Fowl Visions.

Of course, you could also consider goats: Jacque presents New Goat Kids?? :O posted at Walking Therein.

We celebrated at our friend's house in Phoenix this year and had a wonderful time! My son, the musician, received a Takamine guitar and my daughter received some electronics - like a portable DVD player and a sound system for her room. And they both used some of their monetary gifts to buy clothes.Well, that's a wrap on this birthday party edition of The Homesteading Carnival! Don't forget to submit your articles for next weeks' edition hosted by Howtome.com.

And thanks to CyberGifs for their free birthday graphics!