Okay, so I had this ninja party idea for my kid’s birthday, right? Naturally, needed some grub to match the theme. Didn’t want anything too crazy complicated, just stuff that looked the part and kids would actually eat.
Getting Started – The Plan
First off, I hit the internet, just typed in “easy ninja party food”. Saw loads of stuff, some looked way too fiddly. I basically picked out a few simple concepts: throwing stars, ninja faces, and something kinda like sushi but, you know, not actual sushi because that’s too much hassle. And maybe some pretend weapons.
Grocery Run
Went down to the local shop. Grabbed the basics. Needed tortillas – the big floppy ones. Cream cheese is always a winner with kids. Picked up some ham slices too. Then, for the ninja faces, I needed those edible candy eyes you can get in the baking aisle, and importantly, some nori sheets – that dried seaweed stuff you use for sushi. Also grabbed cucumbers, carrots. Found a star-shaped cookie cutter I already had in the drawer. Oh, and got some pretzel sticks and licorice laces for the ‘weapons’. Simple list, nothing fancy.
Making the Food – Step-by-Step
Alright, back in the kitchen. Time to get making.
Ninja Throwing Stars:
- Got the tortillas out.
- Slathered cream cheese on one tortilla.
- Put a slice of ham on top of the cream cheese.
- Placed another tortilla on top, like a sandwich.
- Pressed it down a bit.
- Took my star cookie cutter and just punched out as many stars as I could from the tortilla sandwich. Super easy, these looked pretty cool straight away. Piled them up on a plate.
Ninja Faces:
- This needed a bit more care. I decided to use cheese slices first, seemed easiest. Cut circles out of cheddar slices using a small round cutter (a bottle cap works too!).
- Then, the tricky part: the nori seaweed. It’s brittle! Carefully cut thin, rectangular strips for the ninja masks.
- Put a tiny dab of cream cheese on the back of the nori strip (water works too, but cream cheese holds better on cheese).
- Stuck the nori strip across the middle of the cheese circle.
- Used another tiny dab of cream cheese to stick two candy eyes just above the nori strip. Bam! Little edible ninja faces staring back at me. Made a bunch of these.
Cucumber “Sushi”:
- Washed and peeled a cucumber.
- Kept using the peeler to make long, wide ribbons of cucumber.
- Laid a cucumber ribbon flat. Spread a very thin layer of cream cheese on it.
- Put a tiny, thin stick of carrot near one end.
- Rolled it up tightly, starting from the end with the carrot stick.
- Sliced the roll into small, bite-sized pieces. They looked surprisingly like little sushi rolls. Did this until I ran out of cucumber ribbons.
Pretzel Nunchucks:
- Easiest one by far.
- Took two pretzel sticks.
- Cut a short piece of black licorice lace.
- Tied the two pretzel sticks together near the ends with the licorice lace. Didn’t tie it too tight, just enough to link them. Instant, edible nunchucks. Made a whole bunch.
Putting It All Together
Got my platters out. I tried to arrange everything so it looked kind of cool. Put the ninja stars in one area, the faces in another, lined up the cucumber rolls, and piled up the nunchucks. Used a black paper tablecloth thing I found to make it look more ‘ninja’.
Stepped back. Looked pretty decent! Nothing gourmet, but totally screamed ‘ninja party’. It was all finger food, easy for kids to grab. Took a bit of time, especially cutting the nori and sticking on eyes, but nothing was actually hard. Just needed a bit of patience. The main thing was it fit the theme and I knew the kids would get a kick out of it. Job done, ready for the little ninjas to arrive.