Mini Burger Birthday Party

When it came time to throw Jonah a birthday party, the idea of a cheese platter and stuffed mushrooms just didn't seem right. The man's favorite thing in the whole world to eat is a cheeseburger, so that's what we did. Here are my steps and advice for hosting a mini burger party:

• We had the burger patties shaped and waiting in the fridge (6 burgers per pound of ground beef) but waited to cook them until people arrived. Everything else was ready to go.
• I bought plastic diner baskets and checkered paper because eating mini burgers off of a dinner plate just didn't seem right. These made everything feel really casual and kept clean-up to a minimum.
• You can get really creative with toppings. We had lettuce, tomato, blue cheese, bacon, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions and a pineapple salsa, which went along well with the veggie burgers.
• I made a few sides: corn and black bean salad, Asian-style cole slaw and three kinds of French fries: classic, waffle and sweet potato (the last two were just from the freezer section). I kept those warm in the oven on baking sheets until it was time to eat.
• We had Brooklyn Brewery beers and Mexican Cokes. The bottled drinks went along well with the feel of the party.
• We didn't go the birthday cake route but instead had chocolate chip cookies. I made them the night before but wanted to serve them warm because, come on, that's the way chocolate chip cookies are meant to be eaten. So I just microwaved a plate of cookies for about 45 seconds to soften them up and melt that chocolate. And to go along with the cookies, we had mini root beer floats. So easy and so good!
• And on a non-food-related note, I enlarged a childhood photo of Jonah to poster-size for the party and was really happy with the quality from Walgreens. The pink bunny suit picture seemed perfect since Easter was the next day and because it was equal parts adorable and embarrassing.

There ya have the burger party! I hope you steal some of these ideas and host one too!