Tag Archives: birthday

Ten on Tuesday: Headlines From the Year You Were Born

All news shamelessly sourced from Wikipedia.

January 1: Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession make Princess Victoria of Sweden Crown Princess and therefore next in line to the throne, ahead of her younger brother.
January 11: Nigel Short, 14, becomes the youngest chess player to be awarded the degree of International Master.
March 22: The Georgia Guidestones are erected in Elbert County, Georgia.
April 24-25: Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.
May 18: Ian Curtis, singer/songwriter of acclaimed post punk band Joy Division, is found hanged.
May 18: Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, killing 57 and causing US$3 billion in damage.
July 16: Former California Governor and actor Ronald Reagan is nominated for U.S. President, at the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long standing support for the Equal Rights Amendment, dismaying moderate Republicans.
August 17: In Australia, baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru), reportedly taken by a dingo.
November 21: A then-record number of viewers (for an entertainment program) tune into the U.S. TV soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J.R. Ewing. The “Who shot J.R.?” event is an international obsession.
December 8: John Lennon, an English musician and peace activist, is murdered in New York City.

Please note that there were no Wikipedia-worthy news items from my actual date of birth, which I share with Albert Pujols.

I Love My Sister!

Which isn’t to say that I don’t love my other family members, including those who have had birthdays in the last week, but every time we go home to Rockford, I come back wishing that I lived closer to my sister. We don’t have as much time to talk as we used to, but I love every minute I get to spend with her, and am so proud of the wife, mother, and all around great woman that she’s become.

Thanks, Jenn, for being awesome. You rock every bit as hard as you did in this photo from four years ago:

Best Sugar Cookies Ever

We spent last weekend in Rockford, celebrating a very special boy’s very special first birthday. Jenn and Bill really outdid themselves with the treats, and I’ll be honest when I say that I was tempted to dig in with the same sort of abandon demonstrated by the birthday boy. It got messier from here, but I had to share the restrained cute:

In addition to Max’s chocolate-and-chocolate smash cake, Jenn and Bill made a two layer Mario cake – chocolate on the bottom, funfetti on the top – with homemade fondant, complete with Goombas, mushrooms, bricks, and pipes:

There were also homemade cupcakes, but what I really want to tell you about are the sugar cookies, decorated to look like Starmen:

and Yoshi eggs:

Now, I’m usually not a sugar cookie kind of girl. When presented with your conventional cookie options, I usually go for monster cookies first, then molasses, oatmeal raisin, and last, but not least, chocolate chip. These sugar cookies, however, were just about the best sugars I’ve had. They were delicious right out of the oven – and stayed soft (but not chewy) for a few days after. I ate the last star Wednesday morning – nearly a week after they were baked – and the cookie was still soft. That’s much better than your average store-bought cookie, which even with preservatives will be stale by the end of the day.

The weekend’s treats totally did in my diet and my sweet tooth – but I look forward to making these when both recover. Jenn shared her recipe, which she got from her friend Robyn, and which I’m happy to share here. Jenn and Robyn note that gel food coloring will result in more vivid colors, and should be added after frosting reaches the desired consistency. Liquid food coloring, on the other hand, should be added to the frosting BEFORE other liquids, as it may affect the frosting’s consistency.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream (or sweet cream soured with 2-3 tablespoons vinegar)
6 cups sifted flour – more if necessary
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 375, and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. In a 2 cup measuring cup, dissolve the soda in the sour cream, mixture will froth and almost double in volume. Add to butter mixture and blend. Sift dry ingredients together and blend into the wet ingredients gradually. If necessary, gradually add more sifted flour until you can easily roll out the dough. Cut out cookies and bake 10-12 minutes on the prepared baking sheets. Yield will vary depending on the rolled-out thickness and size of your cookie cutters.

Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cups cold butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring (optional)
1/4 cup whole milk or cream

Cream butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and liquid food coloring if using. Add milk or cream, stirring constantly, until the frosting forms stiff peaks. Gel food coloring will produce more vivid colors; if using, add after the frosting reaches the desired consistency. Spread on cooled sugar cookies – or enjoy on graham crackers or straight off the mixing spoon.

Happy birthday to my bestie!

He turned 31 today.

We spent almost the entire day together, which was pretty awesome, despite the fact that half of it was a result of me being totally sick for the last 5 days. We had a nice lunch at Jolly Pumpkin, took a long nap, and just got back from drinks at Ashley’s – he also got in some wrenching while I worked-while-sick, then scored free fried ice cream with friends at Taco Tuesday while I taught my class. I also think I excelled in the present-giving department this year: a long-desired Hario Buono kettle and a screen-printed moped polo.

Tomorrow I’m off for a long weekend in Illinois with my friends – but for now I’m just loving the fact that I’ve gotten so much good time with SB the last few days – and that I have the extraordinary good luck of being married to my best friend.

A Tale of Two Dinners

My birthday was this past weekend, and I am now 31. As you may recall, last year’s birthday celebration involved a lot of free things and the construction of a croquembouche, the latter of which kicked off a year of baking adventures with new A2 friends. While we did go for a few free things, the main plan for the day was a fancy dinner, the destination of which was unknown to me until Friday, when an errant emailer let it slip that we were going to Eve, and then would be meeting friends for drinks after.

It is at this point that I should fill you in on a few extenuating circumstances. First, on Friday night we ate all the food and drank all the drinks – specifically wine and fondue at Shana’s, followed by a round of drinks at Eve, followed by another round at Alley Bar, followed by the sort of drunken falling over antics more befitting nearly-21 than nearly-31. Needless to say, the idea of eating and drinking to excess made me a little queasy. It’s been almost a week, and it still makes me a little queasy.

Second, Eve is closing – well, has closed at this point. Sunday night was going to be their last night of service ever, which meant all manner of potential hitches: stuff missing from the menu, poor service because they were too busy, etc. Both were the case when we were in for drinks on Friday. Shane had made his reservation before they announced the closure, wanting to treat me to a nice dinner at one of A2′s fanciest restaurants.

With these things in mind, I asked Shane if he would mind terribly if we went elsewhere for dinner? Specifically possibly maybe Vinology, where we had a really excellent meal over the summer. Except! Vinology wasn’t taking reservations because of Restaurant Week, and when we called at 6pm, there was a two hour wait for a table for two. So we carried on with the original plan.

Except that we arrived late for our reservation (6pm, not 6:30). And we were seated at a two top where we would’ve been more intimate dining companions with our neighbors than with each other. Every time the door opened, Shane was treated to a gust of very cold air. The server greeted us with the offer of a cocktail, but the warning that they’d had an open house that afternoon and sold off most of their bar. They had one of thirty bottles available from the lower end of the wine list – the rest were sold out. The bread came out without the wonderful butters promised by nearly every reviewer on Yelp, and at that point we decided to throw in the towel.

So we left, with me nearly in tears, feeling so guilty for being disappointed and wanting to go elsewhere when Shane had tried to make the evening so nice. Shane asked what I thought we should do, and I asked if we could try Vinology? He dropped me off, and I went in prepared to cry if it would get us a table.

Except that they’d had a cancellation, and so had a table for two available immediately! I gushed to the host that he’d just made our evening, and we were tucked away in a cozy booth with gauze curtains separating us from our neighbors. My stress and guilt melted away with Shane’s obvious enthusiasm for the menu: ample options for sharing and indulging in both wine and food, plus dessert on the house in honor of my birthday. Over the course of the next two hours, we shared:

a sweet and savory salad of beets prepared with sherry vinegar and goat cheese
a plate of olives and assorted pickled vegetables, half of which I took home for later snacking
a half portion of the scallops – so one perfect buttery porcini-dusted scallop each, along with boursin whipped potatoes, mushroom ragout, french beans, and an impossibly delicate vinaigrette
a half portion of grilled sirloin with a coffee-pepperberry rub, creamed swiss chard, and adequate sweet potato ravioli in a ginger soy butter sauce
a half portion of the same wonderful venison we enjoyed in june

We each enjoyed a wine flight with our meals, the result of which was a veritable wall of wine across our little table:

For Shane, the Big Red, featuring a small pour each of Garnacha, Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon. I had the Fruit Bomb: Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and a Shiraz that ranks among the best wines I’ve ever tried. We finished the meal with “Captain Crunch” ice cream, which tastes even better than you could possibly imagine:

While our meal wasn’t prepared by a former Top Chef contestant (or her staff), I’m confident when I say that this was one of the best meals we’ve enjoyed together. Thank you, Vinology, for redeeming what could have been a very disappointing birthday evening, and thank you, Shane, for the treat, your company, and your patience and love.

Shredding, Week 2

This afternoon I knocked out day 10 of the 30 Day Shred. Since we last talked about this, I’ve gotten into a four day rotation: three days of shredding, then a day off. I’ve spent the off days groaning about my soreness and/or going on increasingly long runs, which is an unexpected and pretty fantastic side effect of this process. For the last few months, my runs were consistently 2-3 miles, but very rarely more than that. I’ve run outside in my new shoes four times, and three of those – including the two this week – were over four miles. Easily over four miles. Comfortably over four miles. Easily and comfortably to the point that I would’ve gone further if I hadn’t had to finish my runs going uphill into the snow while running on the slushy streets in the growing dark.

Let’s just say that if I wasn’t before, I am now a 30DS convert. I’ve increased my weights and doubled my pushups in the strength intervals. I’m a lot less sore than I was a week ago. I’ve felt great on my runs – minimal soreness and improved stamina, which makes a huge difference when running in these conditions. I’ve also lost 2.4 pounds and 2.5 inches. Some of that is almost certainly the receding holiday bloat and the normal shifts during my cycle, but still! Inches don’t lie. Neither does the slinky stretchy dress I wore to dinner last night.

I’ve been feeling pretty guilty (and hung over) for most of today because last night was full of all sorts of (delicious gooey melty boozey) excess, but apart from that, I’ve been feeling pretty damned fantastic. I’m turning 31 tomorrow, and I’m in very nearly the best shape of my life. I’ll drink to that, though not tonight.

1016 Mom’s Belated Football Birthday

Today was all about Mom – from breakfast to football to cake.

For breakfast: French toast and fried apples. I don’t love French toast, but Mom and Shane both do, so while they slept in, I battered and grilled up slices of challah dipped in egg, milk, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice. I also cut up and sauteed a couple of apples in butter and cinnamon – perfect for spooning over the French toast or, in my case, stirring into Greek yogurt with a bit of maple syrup drizzled over the top.

While Shane headed off to Detroit to watch moped races at the Thunderdrome, Mom and I hit the farmer’s market and did some window shopping in Kerrytown, then grabbed a quick lunch at Plum before heading off to the game! I came by my love of Big 10 football honestly, albeit later in life. All of my family is from Iowa, so we grew up cheering for the Hawkeyes and the Hawkeyes only. None of us have ever had much use for professional sports, though I do really enjoy live baseball. Mom follows Hawkeye football and wrestling in particular, and seeing the Hawkeyes in all of the Big 10 stadiums has been on her bucket list for years.

Getting to watch the Hawkeyes beat Michigan in the Big House, then, was all kinds of dreams come true. Mom was jealous of all of the high fives I collected as we walked around the stadium exchanging “Go Hawks” with other Hawkeye fans. Aside from a few grumps, the Michigan fans around us put up with our cheers – and gave us a good-natured ribbing when the game appeared to turn around in the fourth quarter. If I hadn’t hurt my knee (don’t ask me how – all I did was stand up), it would’ve been a perfect afternoon.

Shane picked us up downtown, and we spent the rest of the night relaxing at home with chicken stew, red velvet cake, and Wisconsin’s victory over Ohio State. Two of the three were excellent, and the other was warm and satisfying, if not exactly what I’d had in mind when I fired up the crockpot. Apart from the knee, it was pretty much a perfect Midwest fall day – and exactly the sort of belated birthday Mom wanted.

0419 Free Birthday Eats

Today was Shane’s 30th birthday, so it worked out well that I was ordered to call in sick. I don’t have any extra vacation time at the moment, but my boss wouldn’t hear of me not taking time off for the wedding and told me that she’d be very angry if she heard that I was at work. So, “sick” I am.

We started off Shane’s quest for free stuff by getting breakfast at Angelo’s – or at least we tried to get breakfast at Angelo’s. After a maze of one ways and miserable parking options, we gave up and went to Northside. We’d both slept in, so by this point we both felt like this:

Yeah, yeah, I know the white balance is off. But that’s how we were feeling. Once breakfast was on its way, though, Shane was much happier. Northside offers a free entree on your birthday, so Shane had the Morning Eggdition and a great orange juice:

Full of breakfast, we moved on to do the Zingerman’s sweep. First, a half dozen free bagels at Zingerman’s Deli:

Then on to the Zing compound south of town, where we posed as funny bakers:

and Shane got a free coffee at Zingerman’s Coffee Company, free gelato at Zingerman’s Creamery, and another half dozen bagels at Zingerman’s Bakehouse, for a full (delicious) dozen:

On our way home, we stopped to get a free “creation” at Cold Stone Creamery:

We took a break after all that snacking and ice cream sampling – I went for a run, and Shane buzzed around on his moped. In the late afternoon, we headed out for a second round of free stuff, though I forgot the camera and so don’t have photographic evidence to support the claims of:

a free pizza at Ashley’s with Shane’s Friend of the Owner card
a free scoop of something delicious at Ben & Jerry’s

All told, a delicious day of eight separate instances of free things, and a great way to end our really fantastic weekend.

0116 Birthday Croquembouche!

I realized, in going through old posts, that I still owe you a post about my magical birthday confection, a croquembouche!

Shane did a marvelous job of taking pictures, and Olivia has already posted a fantastic summary from imagination to execution to consumption. I did an excellent job of making a sugar volcano when the caramel sauce got a little too caramelized. The end result? A delicious, delicate tower of pastry full of vanilla bean-y cream. Each profiterole did, in fact, crunch in the mouth, and I felt like a little kid as I licked sticky sugar off my fingers. And I felt a rush of both pride – in having tackled a fancy baking challenge – and sugar, both of which are very good things on one’s birthday.

Eating my way into 30

One of the things I learned shortly before my birthday is that in Ann Arbor, there are a number of businesses that give away free things on your birthday. While this may be the case elsewhere, it is so prevalent here that there’s a whole page on the ArborWiki dedicated to free birthday items, and organized in such a way as to maximize your freebies. After some consultation and careful planning, and in the absence of any other significant birthday plans, we decided to rack up as many free things in 24 hours as we could.

Let me preface this truly ridiculous list by saying that Shane and I split almost every single thing on this list, and some of the items went straight into our freezer for later consumption. Still, I think I could not eat desserts for a month and be OK.

1. We started the morning off with a free ridiculous coffee beverage at Caribou Coffee – a sugar-free turtle latte with whipped cream and Snickers bits, to be precise.

2. Up next, free aero-press coffee at Zingerman’s Coffee Company, obtained while picking up beans.

3. And then, free “John-do-ya” gelato at Zingerman’s Creamery. We tried many flavors, but this was literally like frozen Nutella – therefore the obvious winner. The gelato guy congratulated me on having a birthday in the best month of the year. His is next week, I think. We ate about 1/3 of the gelato before moving on to the next stop.

4. A free 1/2 dozen bagels at Zingerman’s Bakehouse! The bakehouse folks made sure to remind me to get the other 1/2 dozen at the Deli later.

At this point we took a break from the free stuff to enjoy a very lovely brunch, complete with croquembouche, at our friend Shana’s. More on this later!
5. On our way home from Shana’s, we stopped for the second free 1/2 dozen bagels at Zingerman’s Deli – it was too busy and crowded for photos, so one from home will have to suffice.

6. Having rested up and returned a few phone calls, we moved on to get a free chocolate-covered strawberry cupcake at Cake Nouveau. It was tasty, but had nothing on any of Buzz’s cupcakes. I miss you, Buzz Bakery.

7. Next door, I picked out my free tea at Tea Haus – a cup of the Vietnam Yen Bai. The woman who made my tea recommended that we check out the birthday deal at Weber’s, where she very nearly got a free lobster on her son’s 2nd birthday.

8. We’re not huge fans of Arbor Brewing Company, but they offer a free appetizer, so we stopped in for dinner. We had free nachos, played some shufflepuck, and drank a couple of beers before rolling on.

Several restaurants offered a free dessert, free logo pint glass, and free $10 gift card for birthday people – however when we tried both Grizzly Peak and Cafe Habana, we were told that the purchase of an entree was necessary. After all of this free stuff, though, neither of us were hungry enough for an entree, so we made a mental note to edit the ArborWiki page and moved on.
9. …to The Arena, where you get a free shot with purchase. Any purchase. I have no idea what my shot was called, but I know it had Bailey’s and I know it was on fire. Shane took one for the team and purchased a beer for our required purchase.

Once we were firmly wrapped up in our alcohol blankets, we wandered around downtown, stopping in at an art gallery and a record store, where Shane bought Remain in Light, before continuing on to our final destination for the night.
10. …Ashley’s, where we got a Free Tollhouse sundae – freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, ice cream, chocolate syrup, etc. Sooo good.

11. On our walk back to the car, we stopped in for my free scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s. This was, I might add, the first time all day that anyone had checked my ID to confirm that it was my birthday.

In addition, I might add that the following free things were obtained either shortly before or shortly after my actual birthday:
1. Free entree at Noodles & Company, split for lunch earlier in the week
2. Free “creation” at Cold Stone Creamery
3. Free scoop at Baskin-Robbins

All told, a pretty ridiculous way to spend one’s 30th birthday, and that’s without me describing the pastry-building process that took place just before brunch. I was feeling pretty blue about not being able to celebrate my birthday with family and old friends – but I think we totally made up for it in fun and food.