The steps look easy and Jessica even includes her very own chocolate chip cookie recipe.

And once you’re done, how delicious do these look!

And the generous folks at cookware.com have offered to give one of our readers a beautiful, white Le Creuset 14″ Oval Dish (retail value $49.95) from their dinnerware sets.

What’s great about Le Creuset is that it can be used in the oven, the broiler, or the microwave, and it looks great on the table.

For all you cooks and entertainers out there, hopefully this will be a great addition to your kitchen.

So how can you enter to win?

1. “Like” us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, then come back here and leave comments telling us you did so.  (If you already “like” us or follow us, just leave comments mentioning that.)
2. Post about our Le Creuset giveaway on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook page  and leave comments telling us you did so.

Please leave a separate comment per entry.  Maximum number of entries is five per person.

The winner will be chosen on Thursday, August 5th at 10:00pm (PDT).  Any entries after that won’t be considered, sorry.  This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only.  We will use random.org to generate our winner.

We have so many wonderful dessert tables for girls on our site, I’ve had to break this post down into two parts.

So here is Part 1 of these gorgeous, inspiring tables…

THE VIBRANT TABLE
Kim S’s Kate’s Fairy Garden Party

Here’s what’s on Kate’s table:

• Cake – Decadent Delights
• Cupcakes & mini cheesecakes
• Oreo pops & Chocolate covered Oreos – Sweeties by Kim
• Printed cookies – Sweetopia
• Cake Pops
• Meringues
• Paper Products designed by The TomKat Studio

THE PRETTY IN PINK TABLE
Lindsey M’s PINK Party

Here’s what’s on Lindsey’s table:

• Little Debbi heart cakes
• Pink M&M
• Pink Hersey’s Kisses
• Strawberry candy canes
• Strawberry Tootsie Pops
• Grapefruit sours
• Strawberry mousse
• Pink chocolate covered strawberries
• Strawberry cupcakes
• Pink swirl pops
• Pink rock candy
• Strawberry wafer cookies
• Watermelon licorice
• Pink marshmallows
• Pink cotton candy
• Pink M&M chocolate chip cookies
• Pink frosted animal crackers

THE SHABBY CHIC TABLE
Pamela S’s Shabby Chic Fairy Party

Here’s what’s on Pamela’s table:

• Chocolate covered marshmallow pops
• Sugar cookies
• Good N Plenty candy
• Starbursts candy
• Chocolate cupcakes with pink vanilla bean frosting
• Carrot cupcakes with pink and green cream cheese frosting
• Candy filled wafer cookies
• Pink chocolate cupcake balls
• Fairy marshmallow pops courtesy of Stix N Pops
• White cheddar popcorn
• Fairy favor boxes filled with bottles of “Fairy Dust” (glitter) for the girls to take home and sprinkle in their gardens

THE VINTAGE TABLE
Kristina M’s Vintage Circus Party

Here’s what’s on Kristina’s table:

• Cotton candy flavored popcorn
• Pink & yellow marshmallow swirls
• Pink M&Ms
• Yellow M&Ms
• Pink jellybeans
• Yellow jellybeans
• Cake pops
• Pink and yellow chocolate dipped Oreos
• Assorted pink and yellow sugar cookies from a local bakery
• Rainbow rice crispy treats
• Pink and yellow chocolate dipped pretzels
• Cake & cupcakes

THE COUNTRY FAIR TABLE
Anneliese S’s “Fair Day” in May Party

Here’s what’s on Anneliese’s table:

• Orange twirly pops
• Blue and pink gum balls
• Vanilla taffy
• Blue old fashioned candy sticks
• Pink crystal candy suckers
• Red velvet cake
• Chocolate buttermilk cake
• Lemon bundt cake
• Jars of “orange preserves” (orange jelly candies)

THE SWEET TWINS’ TABLE
Terri W’s Twins 1st Birthday

Here’s what’s on Terri’s table:

• Cake
• Cupcakes
• Cookies
• Chocolate covered Oreos
• Chocolate covered marshmallows
• Suckers
• M&M’s
• Cake balls
• Green candy fruit slices
• Strawberry chocolate covered pretzels
• Pink and green Hershey’s kisses

THE CANDY STORE TABLE
Eileen C’s Sweet Ponyville Party

Here’s what’s on Eileen’s table:

• Chocolate ponies by A Chocolate Creation
• Pony decorated sugar cookies
• Lollipop topiaries
• Pastel M & M’s
• Dark chocolate Kisses
• Caramel chocolate Kisses
• Large Pixie Sticks
• Bubble gum
• Assorted Wonka small lunch boxes filled with Nerds, Sweet Tarts, etc.
• Lemonheads
• Large lollipops

Thank you Kim, Lindsey, Pamela, Kristina, Anneliese, Terri, and Eileen for sharing your beautiful dessert tables with us.  For more inspiration, stay tuned for Part 2 of this post!

THE CLASSY TABLE
From Terri G’s A 40th Birthday Party

Here’s what’s on Terri’s table:

• Chocolate covered Oreos in a houndstooth print done by Sweeties by Kim
• Strawberry linzer cookies done by Olaha Bakery
• Decorated sugar cookies
• Cake pops
• Oreo truffles
• Licorice candy
• Coconut cupcakes with cream cheese icing
• Strawberry bars
• Chocolate covered pretzels
• “Blinged” out water
• 4 dozen roses

THE REGAL TABLE
From Mandy R’s Green and White Bridal Shower

Here’s what’s on Mandy’s table:

• Cake pops
• Chocolate pretzels
• Chinese takeout boxes filled with watermelon hard candies, toffee, and salt water taffy
• Homemade milk chocolate hearts
• Vanilla pudding in shot glasses
• Chocolate dipped marshmallows on skewers
• Large martini glasses filled with bunches of grapes

THE FUN TABLE
From Kristin E’s Janice and Bob’s 1st Baby Shower

Here’s what’s on Kristin’s table:

• Red velvet cupcakes with blue colored cream cheese butter cream frosting
• Lemon vanilla cupcakes with green colored lemon butter cream frosting
• Green and blue candy cane sticks and gummy candies
• Doublemint Gum
• Airheads
• Blue heart lollipops from Michael’s
• Blue and green foil covered mini chocolate eggs

THE SUMMERY TABLE
From Lauryn B’s Jacqui’s Bridal Shower

Here what’s on Lauryn’s table:

• A yellow and white striped fondant covered cake with yellow and white fondant daisies.  The cake is a yellow cake with alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla frosting.
• Mini cookies ‘n cream sunflower cupcakes
• Mini banana chocolate chip cupcakes with fluffy vanilla frosting
• Blondie hearts
• Mini lemon cheesecakes with graham cracker crust
• Chocolate cake pops dipped in yellow and white chocolate
• Yellow and white salt water taffy
• Yellow and white gumballs
• Yellow, white and green jelly beans
• Yellow M&Ms
• Gummy frogs
• Sour gummy apple rings
• Yellow rock candy
• Bags with “Jacqueline HEARTS Scot” printed on them, so guests could take candy and desserts home

THE LOVELY TABLE
From Courtney D’s Yellow & Blue Baby Shower

Here’s what’s on Courtney’s table:

• White chocolate covered pretzels
• Yellow, blue, and green chocolate candies
• Vanilla butter cream cupcakes
• White chocolate covered strawberries
• Chocolate and vanilla cookies

THE DOWN-HOME HOMEMADE PIE TABLE
From Leslie B’s Housewarming Pie Party

Here’s what’s on Leslie’s table:

• Key lime pie
• Chocolate pecan pie
• Buttermilk pie
• Rhubarb apple pie pockets
• Mini pumpkin,  apple, and peach pies

THE YUMMY MILK AND COOKIES TABLE
From Chris N’s Farewell to Friends Party

Here’s what’s on Chris’s table:

• Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
• White chocolate and butterscotch chip cookies
• Peanut butter filled cookies
• Apple spice drops
• Brownie bites
• Plain milk
• Chocolate milk

THE RETRO CASUAL TABLE
From Brittany S’s What’s It Gonna BEE Gender Reveal Party

Here’s what’s on Brittany’s table:

• Vanilla and regular Oreos
• Banana Moon Pies
• Black licorice
• Hershey’s miniatures with custom “bee” wrappers
• Lemon jelly beans
• Blackberry jellybeans
• Black raspberry Now n’ Laters
• Bee pops
• Custom cupcakes

Thank you to Terri, Mandy, Kristin, Lauryn, Courtney, Leslie, Chris, and Brittany for sharing your tables!

Stay tuned for next week’s TRENDS post where I highlight some of our favorite kids’ party dessert tables.

Use these to draw on your food!

FooDoodlers are markers made of food coloring that you can use to draw on cookies, cakes, pancakes, bread, crackers, marshmallows… you name it.

And when I read that Meaghan recommends them, and was even running a contest on her blog to give some away, I knew they had to be good.

Not only would these markers be fun to use on your own food decorating projects, but how great would these be at a party?  Lay out some iced cookies and some FooDoodler markers and let people go to town.

There were also a couple of creative ideas on their website that I thought were worth sharing:

After a sleepover, put out the pens and let your guests color their pancakes.

If you take kids to a restaurant and want to entertain them, pull out some FooDoodlers and let them draw on their food.

Give your fruits and vegetables more pizazz by drawing on them.

I know my daughter will love these!  In fact, if I don’t win them on Meaghan’s blog, I’m ordering some on Amazon.

Photo: The Decorated Cookie

From Lindsey M’s Little Firecracker’s 4th of July Riverside Soiree

This party is all about the gorgeous sweets and the beautiful party printables.  Lindsey and her partner design the printables themselves at Paper and Pigtails.

Some of my favorite things: the delicious confetti cupcakes, the hand-dipped marshmallows, and the lemonade bottles and straws.  The whole party has such a festive spirit.  It puts me in a good mood.

Daphne J’s 4th of July Backyard Bash

What’s great about this traditional BBQ is how it’s taken to a whole new level by adding all these gorgeous printables.  The printables are designed by Daphne and are available in her store Moo Moo’s & Tutus.

Notice how the hamburgers, and even the straws, become something to celebrate when they’re given a little decoration.

Molly E’s Celebrate Our Independence!

This is a sumptuous party.  The flowers, food, and decor make it seem rich and beautiful.  I want to eat everything: the sliders, the corn, and those fabulous parfait and tart desserts.

And to finish it off, the favors are sweet and simple — red, white, and blue candies in little jars.  They look elegant and give the table punch.  It’s true, sometimes less is more.

Staci G’s Old Fashion 4th

This party has “kid” written all over it.  My favorite details: the red, white, and blue robot and the painted coffee filter decorations.  What a great way for a mom to come up with arts and crafts projects for her kids that she can then use for a family celebration.

And how fun are the firecracker cookies with sprinkles and pop rocks?  Nice touch.

Claudia S’s Red, White, and Blue Ladybug Party

Great idea for this party — a July 4th “slash”ladybug birthday party for a seven-year-old.

Again, custom decorations is where it’s at this July 4th.  Claudia and her partner designed these.  You can find more at Tini Posh.

My favorite thing about this party is how both themes are incorporated.  Check out the red, white, and blue cupcake toppers with ladies bugs, stars, and photos of the birthday girl on them.  Combining themes does bring something new and exciting to your party.   Definitely try it.

It’s so much fun seeing all your great ideas.  Thanks for sharing!

American Flag Tart

Flag Cupcakes

Pretzel Sparklers

Red, White, and Blue Parfaits

Berry Pound Cake with Whipped Cream

Wishing you a festive and sweet July 4th!

In this TRENDS post I thought I’d highlight some of our favorite kids’ and adult parties at the park, to show off what our users have done to make these parties special.

KIDS’  PARTIES

What I think is great about this Cap’n Harris Turns 1 party is how the host, Amy, took a pirate play structure and built a whole theme around it, complete with real treasure hunt.

And to keep things simple Amy asked her guests to bring their own picnic lunches, then provided the fun party foods — cookies, cupcakes, and cake.

Here's the pirate play structure

Here's the treasure map to find keys to open the treasure chest

The treasure chest

And what was the treasure? The gorgeous cake!

What I love about this Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails Triple 1st Birthday is how the hosts added their own creative and personal touches — banners, balloons, matching tee shirts, and photo collages — while keeping the whole thing casual, by serving an easy picnic lunch in brown paper bags with kid friendly foods (sandwiches, tangerines, chips, grapes, goldfish, and donuts).

The birthday boys in their homemade shirts

The picnic table set up and the Happy Birthday banner

Simple picnic lunches with kid friendly foods

Personal photo collages of each boy to incorporate the theme

ADULT PARTIES

Amy, the same host who threw the Cap’n Harris Turns 1 party also put together this Surprise 30th Library Party for her bookworm sister.

The personal details are beautiful, and yet again, it was a casual potluck lunch where Amy provided the cookies and cupcakes.

And another nice details — for gifts, Amy asked everyone to bring along bookmarks for the birthday girl.

The invitations looked like borrow cards from the library

Amy painted a handmade "library" backdrop for the party area

Pages of old books were used to make bunting, cupcake wrappers, and sprinkles

Becca, from the Birthday Girl Blog, added this 31st Birthday Picnic in the Park.

She created a logo that she used throughout the party which tied the whole thing together in a simple but elegant way.

The menu included sandwiches wrapped in parchment paper, juice, chips and home baked chocolate chip cookies that doubled as the favors.  She even made dog cookie favor bags for the four-legged friends.  And the rest of the menu she left to her friends to fill in.

Becca's personalized party logo

Parchment wrapped sandwiches

Homemade chocolate chip cookie favors

Becca taking advantage of all the park had to offer

I love how with these parties in the park, the hosts kept their budgets low by serving simple picnic foods and/or making them a potluck, took advantage of what the park had to offer (play structures, carousels, etc.), and by adding lots of  personal and creative details, made them special in their own unique ways.

The cake comes from neviepiecakes and it’s a chocolate cake with chocolate chips covered in fondant.  What I find most impressive are the hand painted flowers.

What princess wouldn’t go nuts over this?

DIY barbecue marshmallows

At first I said, no way, I can’t draw like that on a marshmallow.  But Meaghan Mountford, professional cookie decorator and blogger, gives you step-by- step instructions in her post on how to draw each one.

Step-by-step instructions on how to draw each picture

And the truth is, it doesn’t look too hard.

If you like the marshmallow idea, check out her blog for more ideas on how to draw on your food.