Cupcakes at the Brooklyn Flea

I visited my friends from Cupcakes Take the Cake this past weekend at the Brooklyn Flea. I don’t know how it’s possible that I wasn’t aware of this flea market before.

I read on Cupcakes Take the Cake last week that they were going to have a bake sale to benefit Cancer Care for Kids at the Brooklyn Flea, which is in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The bake sale sounded like it would be fun and the Brooklyn Flea intrigued me, so I made a mental note. When I got home that night my latest edition of Country Living was in my mailbox. I opened it up and there was a story on the Brooklyn Flea! After seeing it mentioned in two places I knew I had to go.

My visit to the Brooklyn Flea last Sunday was a great autumn day spent with my daughter, sister-in-law and niece. I visited Nichelle and Rachel from Cupcakes Take the Cake at the cupcake booth and made a contribution (in exchange for some decadent cupcakes), bought a few things, and had a great lunch at a local restaurant.

It was also a thrill to see the changes that have taken place in Fort Greene over the years. The flea market is in the school yard of Bishop Loughlin High School, which used to be the designated catholic “diocesan” high school for boys that my brother Jim attended. The neighborhood was quite rough back then, but it seems to have faired as well as many of the school’s graduates such as my bro and Rudy Guiliani!

Fun Finger Foods

Ugly Betty - Fun Finger Foods

A bright tray of Columbian and Mexican foods in a splashes of various colors:

  • Arepas
  • Electric Chimichurri Sauce
  • Empanadas Paisas
  • Tortilla chips

All of these are fun finger foods. Garnish with fresh cilantro, peppers and sliced limes. You can get all of these recipes from www.food.com or pick up from a local take out place.

“Lost” Viewing Party Mini Palm Trees

Lost - 6 Mini palm trees

These came in plain white plastic pots. I sprayed painted them gold as a nod to the Emmy Statue and painted one of the six significant numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) on each. It will be interesting to see how many of your guests know what these numbers mean.

The mini palms work nicely because they can easily be moved around the table as you add and take away various dishes.

Daisies and Wheat Grass Centerpiece

Pushing Daisies - Daisies and wheat grass center piece

What you’ll need:

  • A tray that is a least 1” in height.
  • A tray of fresh or faux (that’s what I used) wheat grass.
  • Oasis – if using faux wheat grass
  • Daisy poms

Step x Step:

  1. I bought a wooden storage box at Michael’s Crafts that was the perfect size for my centerpiece and used just the top. To honor the golden Emmy statue I spray painted it gold. After the party I can use the storage box for another project and just repaint it.
  2. Because the tray is made from wood and not waterproof I lined it with a plastic garbage bag that I cut to size.
  3. Using one brick of floral foam I cut three ½” think pieces and still had left over oasis!
  4. Thoroughly soak the pieces of oasis and line the tray.
  5. I found terrific artificial wheat grass in the flower market on 28th St. in NYC and bought 4 pieces @ $10 each. I love the real wheat grass and it is inexpensive (about $12-15 for a xx by xx tray). I use it for a lot of different projects and thought it would be easier to have the artificial on hand to work with. If you are using the real stuff you don’t need the floral foam – just cut to size and place directly into the tray.
  6. Cut individual flowers from a stem of daisy poms, on an angle, and insert thru the blades of grass and into the foam. If you are using real wheat grass insert the daisy directly into the soil.
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