Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

How to Host a Game of CLUE Party for Kids
+ Printable/Customizeable Invitations


When I was a kid, my favorite board game was CLUE.  I loved the mystery, the intrigue and taking on the role of amateur sleuth.  I've passed my love of the game down to my two girls, and I was excited when my youngest expressed an interest in having a CLUE party for her birthday this year.  Here's what we did:


The Invitations

To set a dramatic tone for the party, I created invitations inspired by the playing cards from the original board game.  The invitations came in two parts -- a Character Card that introduced the character assigned to the guest and a Party Card that included all the details for the party.  To further link the party to the game, we glued a weapon piece from the board game to each party card (which we were able to purchase as a lot from Ebay).

You can download the invitations for free below:



I created a mystery party experience that was child-friendly, and the kids all had a blast getting in character by dressing up and acting out their parts as they endeavored to solve the crime at Plum Manor.  


To make sure that each child had a part, I researched the history of CLUE and included some additional characters from other versions of the game from around the world. I took the liberty of creating some new characters as well that were tailor made to the guests' ages and personalities.  The invitation and character cards were printed on heavy watercolor paper and were delivered in manila envelopes stamped in red with the word "CONFIDENTIAL".  

You can download the character cards below:



The Game Begins

The party guests arrived in the late afternoon, and were greeted by our butler, Mr. Pennyworth (my husband).  They were directed to the dining room, where they were seated and served a "Plumtini".


Introductions

Before dinner was served, Professor Plum thanked his guests for coming and announced that the reason for the dinner was to give his guests a sneak peek at his company's latest invention: the world's smallest spy robot.  Just then, the doorbell rang and a surprise guest was ushered in.  Plum explained that he had invited Madame Rose (played by my eldest daughter), a famous fortune teller, to peer into the future of Plum Industries.  Pennyworth read each character's card (I kept an extra set) as means of making introductions.  
 

Intrigue!

As the guests sipped their drinks and became acquainted, Madame Rose excused herself to "powder her nose".  She tiptoed off to another room where we had set up a crime scene in advance.  Madame Rose issued a scream, which caused all of the guests to seek out the source.  They found Madame Rose lying unconscious on the ground with her fingers resting on the keypad of the professor's laptop.  The butler announced that it was time to look for clues!


Evidence

Before the party, we created different clues that appeared to incriminate each of the guests -- A letter from Miss. Peacock imploring the professor for help, an old army photo of Colonel Mustard and the professor, gambling slips belonging to Mr. Green, etc.  Two pieces of key evidence were a spy bot (a hex-bug toy) that was found under the body of the victim and Madame Rose's purse which contained an I.D. badge for a female employee of the professor's corporate rival.  Once all the clues had been gathered, the guests convened in the dining room where the clues were presented and discussed.  Each child made their "accusation" on a folded piece of paper, which was then read by the butler.  


The Case is Solved

When all the accusations had been made, Pennyworth entered the room with a final piece of evidence:  The professor's laptop.  He pretended to insert the spy bot into the laptop, giving the appearance that it was uploading surveillance video.  Before the party, we had recorded a short video of Madame Rose attempting to hack in to the professor's laptop and taking photos of the robot.  The video showed the phony fortune teller being attacked by the bot before she fell unconscious.  The guests watched this shocking footage, at which time Professor Plum announced that the impostor from the rival technology company must have triggered the spy bot's defense mechanism, which injected a 48-hour paralysis syrum into any would-be thieves.  Case closed.

Dinner Time

The guests celebrated their innocence with a dinner of the host's favorite foods, each served in a martini glass:  Homemade macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes with a braised short-rib, and fruit salad.  For dessert, the guests enjoyed a Make-Your-Own-Sundae Bar (making sundaes in their martini glasses as well).


Conclusion

At the end of the party, the professor told the guests that he was prepared to buy their silence about what had happened that evening and about his invention.  He passed out a box to each guest containing one of his spy bugs, along with a million dollars (a candy bar that looked like money).  Each guest had to sign a waiver on their box before it could be opened.  For extra fun, we gave out plum-colored gumballs in a bag that said, "Don't blow it".


* To personalize the invitation, open the file in Google Drive. Then click the blue "open" button on the lower right. Select "Open in Google Drive Viewer".  The document will open.  Go to "File" and "Download".  Document will download to MS Word. You will need the fonts "Woodgod" and "Before the Rain" installed in order to maintain formatting.  To print, set your page size to 6x8.

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This post has been linked-up with
The Project Inspired Linky Party
On Display Monday @ Sowdering About in Seattle 
Wet Paint Wednesday @ The Clumsy Crafter
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Credits:  For the silhouettes on the invitations, I used a variety of online sources.  Special thanks to The Graphics Fairy, and incredible artist Olly Moss

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