How to have a birthday party with a Sesame Street theme

Your question:

I am in search for ideas for my son's first birthday party. I know the theme will be Sesame Street/Elmo, and I am expecting to invite 35 to 45 family and friends.There will be around 15 kids attending. What type of food should we serve?

The expert answers:

Children love simple and fun foods. With the right presentation, you'll not only get to amuse kids, you'll also get them to enjoy healthy dishes.

Try a variety of cookie cutter shapes (letters, numbers, triangles, circles, Sesame Street characters, animals). You will also want to find several festive centerpieces (toys work well for this) and theme-related serving trays.

Cheese platters, fresh vegetables, fruit and finger sandwiches are always winners among kids.

Here is a sample Elmo theme food menu

Say Cheese
Assorted domestic and imported cheeses with "cheese fish" centerpiece served with assorted crackers (Elmo has a goldfish "Dorothy" you can also buy a "goldfish" as a center piece )

Elmo's Fruit Canoe
A cleverly cut watermelon "canoe" can be filled with fresh fruits cut in alphabet shapes. Decorate the canoe with dried fruits and nuts.

To Market, To Market Vegetable Crudite
Fill a beautiful basket with fresh vegetable crudite with sundried tomato and pesto herb dip.

Sesame Street Sandwiches
Make ham and cheese, turkey with lettuce along with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cut into Sesame Street characters.

Note: Mrs Fields Cookies have very cute Elmo and Sesame Street Character cookies you can buy. Don't forget to set-up "Elmo's Lemonade Stand!"