Birthday Memories

Janet here:

We're doing a joint post today in honor of S's 19th birthday. S was home last week for spring break from college, so there were plenty of food requests on his part. "Will you make that dank macaroni and cheese with blue cheese and bacon you made Dad and G?" he asked. "And will you make my birthday cake?"

The answer, of course, was yes. My days of making our children's birthday cakes (or ice cream pies in our case) and special meals are dwindling. And it makes me just a little sad. The last 26 years of my life have circled around our children, seeing to their needs, helping them grow, watching them take flight and sometimes fall. They have been the earth to my moon, steady in their place as I revolved around them.

Now they are leaving my universe. It is all as it should be, but on this day — S's 19th birthday, the last year of my youngest child's years as a teenager — I am feeling just a little adrift. I will find my own orbit, of course, just as they will find theirs. And the orbits will intertwine at different points than in our past, as we create different paths as a family, as siblings, as individuals. I wonder what the stars will bring.

Rachel here:

All I will add to the beautiful sentiments my mom shares today is this: May your day be happy, S. May it feel festive and may you know you are loved (you are, endlessly). And know, that though we are all dispersed around the country, we are all celebrating you today, we are all making note of the incredible fortune we have in knowing you. Though a man in every sense now, it feels appropriate to quote John Lennon: you are a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy. I love you.

The Day After World Pasta Day, or My Birthday in Food

Hey Ma-

Woh...you made pasta sauce from scratch? After this post? I'm just saying...you were pretty close to life AK when you wrote that. I shouldn't bust on you, though, and instead should welcome you back to the land of homemade pasta sauce. It's a really nice place to hang out.

So, I know I told you that I made chicken pot pie from scratch this weekend. I did and I have a whole blog post about it coming your way. I was going to share it with you today (lets just say this was an epic evening in the kitchen...I took a photo--no wait, THREE photos--of the mess I made...and yes, there were three photos taken because that's how many it took to really encompass the aftermath), but then my birthday happened yesterday and it was so freaking filled with food that I had to tell you about it.

So, first, M got the go ahead to start eating real foods. We bought her baby oatmeal, mixed it with a ton of breast milk, and John and G and I sat down with her on the floor and let her have her first go with non-liquid food (thanks to my auntie Kaja--who blogged here for giving M her first spoon!). You saw what she did when allowed to gnaw/suck on a plum...she was BESIDE herself this evening with cereal. G took a video and I'll try to get it up here soon so you can see it.

Speaking of G, he and I had lunch together today which was really, really, really special. It's been so nice having him here and I'm beyond touched that he chose to stay through my birthday before heading onto his next adventure. It's been years since I was with any of you guys on my birthday, a fact that I kept remembering while he and I ate.

The creme de la creme, though (I think I didn't write that right...), is my birthday present from John. As we speak my homemade birthday apple pie is in the oven (it's so tall I don't know how he fit it in there) and he's making burgers and artichokes (my request...I understand Dad made you the same thing for your birthday? OH--and that he GAVE YOU A COOKING LESSON?!? Obviously you're forbidden from using anything you learn on the blog...that would be like cheating...just kidding, that sounds super fun) for dinner. My present from him, though, is insanely awesome.


What? You can't read that? It says:
Hello my dear!
It is your birthday! And I'm gonna feed you!
Three meals!
This Friday!


Oh, you can't read this either? It's the inside of my card and IT'S A MENU. This Friday I will be eating (you should probably get a bucket to collect drool in before reading any further...):

Breakfast: Homemade sausage, roasted potatoes, 2 eggs over medium with a toasted baguette
Lunch: Pate on baguette with gherkins and small salad
Dinner: Appetizer- greek cheese with pears
Soup: pumpkin
Main- roasted duck breast with caramelized figs and port wine demi glaze
Dessert- chocolate pot du creme

Yeah, it's going to be awesome. Clearly, the moral of the story is that no one should call me Friday because I will be eating aaaaaaallllllll day long. I'm a lucky lady.

Alright, off to my dinner now. Wish you were here. I love you.

xxoo
R

Happy Birthday, Ma!

Hey Ma,

Happy birthday. In the name of keeping things food-related, here's a little something to fill you up. It's not cake, but I'm thinking you'll enjoy it anyway (pardon the stupid commentary).



Did I mention that I love you? Because I do...beyond measure.

xxoo
-R

Happy Birthday, John!

Rachel here: This past weekend my beloved partner in crime (and our beloved illustrator) heralded the end of another year and the start of his next. He and I have a deliciously wonderful birthday tradition of baking each other specially requested birthday cakes. In the past, John has made me a cake in the shape of a Life car (like, from the board game...my favorite childhood board game because we didn't own it), tiered chocolate cake, flourless chocolate cake (ok, clearly a theme is emerging around what I usually ask for for my birthday)...the list goes on. Anyway, I, in turn, have dutifully made John a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting every year because, though he's anything BUT vanilla as a person, this is what he asks for. And so, this year I tried to up the ante a little bit, figuring I've been getting off pretty easy with this whole vanilla-vanilla thing year in and year out, and I endeavored to make his cake look like something...

a double chocolate stuffed golden oreo cookie (his latest obsession).

It didn't work.

First, I didn't have an exacto knife (as I was so sure we did) and so the stencil I tried to make had to be completely revamped at the last minute. Then, though absolutely freaking fantastic, the frosting that I made wasn't thick enough to function visually as whatever the "stuff" in oreos is and kept oozing down the sides of the cake.

And yet, the cake is totally totally good. The cake part itself is a little dense, but it's not too sweet which is nice for a cake and allowed for the chocolate, powdered sugar and whipped cream to shine through. Though I was a little disappointed not to have achieved my initial goal from the outset of my cake-baking endeavor, I was quite pleased with the end result (and I think the birthday man was, too). And, of course, I was delighted to celebrate another year in the life of my fantastic partner and best friend. To many more years, John, and many more cakes.

Rich and Tender Yellow Cake
from "The Best Recipe" by Cook's llustrated

Ingredients
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 c. whole milk, room temperature
2 tspn. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c. sifted cake flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tspn. baking powder
3/4 tspn. salt
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into 16 pieces

Method
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9x1 1/2 inch cake pans with vegetable shortening. Line the bottoms of each pan with parchment paper and grease as well. Dust cake pans with flour, tapping out excess. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and vanilla. Measure out 1 c. of this liquid mixture and set aside. In your mixer, combine the dry ingredients, blending well. With the mixer running at its lowest speed, add the butter in one piece at a time, mixing until the flour and butter look sandy. Add the 1 c. of egg mixture and mix at the lowest speed until it's incorporated. Increase your mixer's speed to medium-high and beat everything until light and fluffy. Add the remaining egg mixture in a slow and steady stream. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and beat batter on medium-high until it looks slightly curdled. Divide batter evenly between your cake pans and smooth with a rubber spatula. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, roughly 25 minutes. Remove and cool in pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack before removing and letting cool completely before icing.

Chocolate Cream Frosting
from "The Best Recipe" by Cook's llustrated

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/3 c. corn syrup
1 tspn. vanilla extract

Method
Bring cream to a boil. Pour over chocolate and add corn syrup. Let rest for 3 minutes. Whisk gently until smooth. Add vanilla. Refrigerate, stirring periodically, until desired consistency is reached. Try really hard not to eat (this stuff is seriously good).

Once everything was cooled, I assembled my two cakes with a layer of frosting between them. I cut out letters and hearts and whatnot and placed them on the top and sifted powdered sugar over to create the design. When I served the cake, I drizzled more of the frosting over it and added a dollop of whipped cream. I took a few pictures of the cake in this state, but they all came out blurry and, well, it was time to eat. It sure was pretty, though. Anyway, what do you like on your birthday?



Janet here: Regular readers know that I don't "do" cakes. (And by "do," I mean bake. Certainly I've been known to eat them.) Instead, we all get the homemade ice cream cake of our desire (click here for recipe). That said, I have nothing but admiration for Rachel and John's birthday cake baking plan and think it is quite a lovely family tradition all of their own creation. I can't wait to see the cakes they make their little bun in the oven.