Half Birthday Shenanigans.

Do you remember my Epic Life Fail post?   If you don’t want to click over… It was basically a post full of me whining and being a big giant baby because two months after a baby is born your world is still flipped upside down and you’re all angsty and hormonal and nothing is back to ‘normal’ whatever ‘normal’ might be… not that anything is ever normal in this house, but I digress.

One of the things that bothered me though was skipping out on Dave’s birthday.  {Previous Birthdays include: a Surprise 30th Manly Beer Tasting Bash, a Ferris Bueller Outdoor Movie Night, the year of the three cakes, and a sit down al fresco dinner for 26 that had to be moved indoors at the very last minute due to tornado warnings}  I always do something special for him and last year, I just didn’t. 

I didn’t even get him a present.  Or a card. 

And really, Dave didn’t even care.

One of the comments on the post came from The Amazing Trips who brilliantly suggested celebrating on Dave’s half birthday.  I did the math in my head, ok, ok, it was on my fingers but whatevs, and figured out that his half birthday would be in February.

FAIL.

His birthday is the 29th which doesn’t exist. 

Except if it’s a leap year…   

It is the universe telling me, dude, it’s totally fine that you missed his birthday, I’m going to give you a do-over.  Or something. 

We partied like it was a Wednesday night.

 

 

I didn’t really care who sat where, so the place cards were all “half” sayings:  half baked, half empty, half full, half nelson, half off, half price, half naked, half assed, half pint, etc…  I attached them to the drinking glasses with mini clothespins.  I also used the Cricut to cut out circles and cut them in half to add a little color to the plates.  If I had my act together, I would have printed the menu on these.

The cake was half a cake inspired by this incredible one from Hank & Hunt. I came up with a cake idea the night before the party inspired by an Almond Joy which is Dave’s favorite candy. Basically, it is a yellow cake with almond extract, chocolate ganache, toasted coconut, toasted almonds, almond buttercream filling and a chocolate almond buttercream icing with toasted coconut and toasted almonds on the outside. I’m actually going to make a full sized version of this soon and post about it because it turned out really well. To make the half sized cake, I made two 8 inch rounds, cut them in half, filled and crumb coated them like a regular layer cake, popped it in the freezer for two hours, then flipped it on its side before icing it and adding the toasted almonds and toasted coconut.

 

Dave was also blessed with SpiderGirl and SpiderBoy who made several appearances at the dinner.

  

The Menu: Salad with a Homemade Garlic Ranch Dressing {made by Nikki and to die for!}, Skirt Steak, Grilled Shrimp, Rice Pilaf, Balsamic Honey Glazed Roasted Baby Carrots, Roasted Asparagus, & Ciabatta.  Almond Joy Cake + Strawberry Shortcake Mini Cuppies for dessert.

 

Our friends Jon & Nikki brought the most ridiculously awesome gift, half a six pack of beer and a half cigar.

Hope you enjoyed the peek at Dave’s Half Birthday Shenanigans.

Braised Short Ribs, Horseradish Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Carrots & Parsnips

Over dinner a couple months ago, my friend Lisa and I were discussing cooking, her foodie family trying to outdo each other in the trying weird menu items department, our shared love of not using an exact recipe, & our "go to" dishes.  As soon as she told me what hers was, I begged for the recipe.  This was truly THE quintessential cold weather meal.  Absolutely delish, if a little time {but not labor} intensive.  It could be done on a weekday, but it's probably something I would save for a leisurely Saturday or Sunday evening meal simply because Dave and I had fun cooking together. 

Since the timing of making this coincided with our technology free day, we pulled out our ancient copy of The Joy of Cooking and found a great illustration of what cut of beef a short rib actually is!  And neither of us had ever had parsnips before, they taste much like a carrot only a bit sweeter and a little more mild.  YUM!  Also, I was a little worried that it would taste strongly of wine since I used an entire bottle, but it didn't at all, it had a fantastic flavor.

Here are Lisa's notes {my modifications & notes are in brackets}

Braised Short Ribs:

I use a Le Creuset pot that can go from stove top to oven.  {I second the Le Creuset recommendation!} 

I usually get two short ribs per person from the butcher get good ones, it's important even though they are cooking a long time.  I like to let any meat I cook rest on the counter for awhile before I cook it so it's not going from very cold to very hot and so it can accept the seasoning. Salt and pepper lightly. {I also added a bit of French Spicy Spice.}
Put olive oil in the pan on the stove top and put the ribs in pot on a med heat to braise the outside turning so all sides can get a nice brown braise. Add shallots and garlic as you go, use your judgment but I like a lot of shallot. {I used about 3-4 largish size shallots & 2 TB of minced garlic.} The shallots should be like about one small table spoon per rib in the end, you will spoon the wine and shallot sauce over the meat when you serve. Oh cut the shallots small but not quite minced. Maybe just a pinch of Herbes De Province.
When the meat is brown and the shallots have become limp add cabernet, enough to cover the meat {I made 11 and used an entire bottle of cab} it will thicken a bit to like a thin gravy/au jus. Put the whole pot in the oven at 350 degrees for ever...no like 2-3 hrs.  {I cooked mine about 350-375 degrees for 2.5 hours covered.} They should fall off the bone, make sure the wine doesn't dry out too much as you are cooking.  {I didn't have any problems with them drying out, but it did reduce by about half so keep an eye on it.  And when we removed them from the pan, the bone did come right off with zero effort!}

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes:
I just boil red, {I used a small bag of red & left the skins on.} white or a mix of potatoes with plenty of sea salt in the water.
Drain, smash or mill, I never whip. {I mashed with a masher.} I like them to be good and stiff to hold up to the hearty ribs. I add Lurpak Danish butter, it is not as greasy or salty as regular butter but any butter is fine.  {I used a full stick of regular butter.} I then add heavy cream, not too much. {I used about 1/4 cup.}
During prep shred fresh horseradish root (it's cheap and last a long time in the fridge) maybe a 1/4 cup per serving? {I used about 2/3 cup for a small bag of baby reds, next time I would add a heaping cup for that much.}  Add in the the horseradish by hand with a fork so that it doesn't get too over processed, you want it to stand out a bit in the potatoes. It should give a little texture and zing not be a puree whip. {I put on top and mashed it in with the potatoes when they were almost mashed.}
These are so yummy!! If you don't use fresh it won't be the same!

Roasted Carrots & Parsnips:
In a lg mixing bowl add washed and sliced carrots and parsnips. I take the outside off with a peeler then slice so that they are circles. {I did the same with the parsnip, bought baby carrots and just sliced in half lengthwise.}
Toss with olive oil (enough just to coat), add salt, pepper and herbs de province or fresh rosemary and thyme finely chopped. {I used Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt blend in place of the salt & pepper.}
Spread out on a cookies sheet and cook at 350 till soft enough to eat, maybe 30 min {I cooked at 400 for 25 minutes, then checked doneness with a fork, I like them to still have a little body and not be totally soft.}
They should taste sweet and savory.

Sauce:
When the meat is all done put it aside and cover. Take the pan with the cabernet and shallot sauce and put back on the burner and turn up the flame. If the sauce is too limp add a small amount of flour, I only use very very fine flour. Wondra for sauces, it's in a blue shaker. This will blend into the fine sauce with out lumping better then regular flour. {I made a slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken.}

Sorry about the lack of quality pics of everything done, we ate {and enjoyed immensely} immediately and all thought for the camera was gone!  Add this to your must try list, I promise you it is well worth it!

And thank you Lisa for sharing your recipes with me {& the whole internet.}

Mini Dessert Tarts - Easy Prep. Big Impact.

Tomorrow we're having a Technology Free Day, but I couldn't wait to show you the dessert we have planned for tomorrow night!  I am busting through so many of my 101 Things in 1,001 Days, but I can't wait to cross off #77 tomorrow.  I procured my dear friend Lisa's Braised Short Rib recipe, along with her Horseradish Mashed Potato, AND her Roasted Carrots & Parsnips recipes.  Does that sound mouth watering or what?  I have her blessing to share the deliciousness with you on Monday, so keep an eye out. 

But back to the desserts!  I wanted to make something really simple a day ahead of time.  Enter the mini dessert tarts.

Mini Fig Tarts

Fill pre-made mini dessert tart shells with good quality fig jam, top with thinly sliced ripe figs.

Mini Lemon Tarts

Fill pre-made mini dessert tart shells with good quality lemon curd, top with a ripe raspberry for a pop of color and taste.

Mini Chocolate Dulce de Leche Tarts

Put 3/4 cup good quality dulce de leche into a sauce pan and heat until just bubbling.  Add 1 large square of dark chocolate, chopped finely.  Stir until melted through.  Add one egg yolk, whisk vigourously and remove from heat.  Continue whisking for several minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of room temperature butter at the end, continue whisking until incporporated and glossy.  Fill pre-made dessert tart shells with the mixture and refrigerate until set.  Add a few shavings of dark chocolate to the top when cooled.

HINT:  Make it easy on yourself, put a baggie into a glass & add your fillings.  Cut the corner off and pipe it into the mini tart shells.

I hope they taste as good as they look!  A little sampling of the fillings tells me they will be just perfect.  We are serving them with fresh fruit and maybe a little scoop of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream on the side.

Chicken Gyros & Tzatziki - It's all Greek to me.

My Meme is a great cook.  I mean, she is great cook and can cook for 25 people without breaking a sweat.  She has six children all with spouses or significant others, three grandchildren with spouses, three tween grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and one on the way!  We're a screwball loud-mouth lively bunch too.   In my family, the first dinner you attend as an outsider (boyfriend, girlfriend, plain ole friend) is crucial to your future success with the family.  If you don't just jump in feet first, you may not make it.  We STILL make fun of my step-dad for showing up in a sport coat and writing a thank you note to my Meme after coming to dinner the first time.  With our family, the thank you isn't in the note, the thank you is in enjoying the food and making it known right then and there, maybe bringing flowers, and making sure the dishes are done before you leave.  My Meme can do a lasagne dinner {always one meat and one vegetarian} with her eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back, even at 85 years old.  I want to be her, I never want the family dinners to stop as long as I'm alive.

She taught me how to cook and I blame her completely for my LOVE of a gorgeous set table because she put me in charge of setting the china {her wedding present and then her gift to me for mine} every year at Thanksgiving.  Things aren't really written down and you better know what a pinch of this and a handful of that will do to the dish because there aren't teaspoons and cups of anything.  It drives my cousin's wife insane because everytime she asks for a recipe it's the same story... "Well there isn't a recipe, but I can tell you how to do it."  So that is why most of my 'recipes' on here are guessimations.  Half the time I make something, even I can't remember what went into it, but I can tell you how to do it.

You're thinking to yourself that I MUST have mis-titled this post, but I'm getting to it, I promise.  We all get together in July every year, my aunts and cousins fly or drive in and sometimes October too, but always July.  We have a family dinner most every night they're here and the last couple years, I've hosted a night.  This is a big thing.  So this year I went with a Greek inspired dinner and it was delish.

Fast forward months and here we are.  Half a roasted chicken in the fridge, and the need to come up with something for dinner.  Without further ado, I give you the worlds easiest chicken gyros.

       

EASY Chicken Gyros
Shred into largeish chunks a roasted chicken.  {This is great for what to do with leftover chicken OR you can even BUY a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.}  Cover the shredded chicken with greek seasoning, olive oil, & a little lemon juice.  I made my own mix by searching online and making my own.  Set aside in the fridge until needed, I did this a day ahead of time when making it for the whole fam and used 2 rotisserie chickens from Costco.  Tonight I did about a quarter of a leftover chicken for the three of us and there is some for tomorrow too.  Get a pan hot and throw the chicken in just till fragrant, then add some water and let simmer in the spices until heated through and some of the water has evaporated off a bit.  Um, that is all for the chicken.  BEYOND easy!

Tzatziki
Peel, remove seeds, and cut up half a cucumber.  Put it in a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt.  Put in the fridge for an hour or two.  Use half a big container of greek yogurt... in case it needs to be said, use the plain & not the one with honey.  Grate a quarter an onion into the yogurt, finely mince about a heaping teaspoon of garlic and add that.  Go out to the garden, grab a handful of mint and cut that into fine strips and add.  Add the cucumber.  Mix it all up and let it sit in the fridge until you're ready to eat. 

Cucumber Salsa
Cut up the other half of the cucumber (also seeded) from the tzatziki.  Cut up a quarter of red onion into thin slices.  Cut up a tomato (also seeded) if you want.  Mix it together.

To assemble... add a little bit of each either to naan, pita pockets, or pita flatbread.  Add some shredded lettuce to the mix and ENJOY!


And you MUST make this Orzo dish.  It's by far my husband's favorite.  It sounds really weird, but everyone loves this.  Out of any dish I make, this is probably the one I get asked about most.

Orzo Pasta Salad
Cook the orzo according to the directions on the package, I used half a package for the purposes of this recipe.  Don't forget to salt the water.  When cooked, drain and rinse with cold water.  While the pasta is cooking, toast a handful {1/4 - 1/2 cup} of pinenuts in a pan.  Set aside until cooled.  Chop up the same amount {1/4 - 1/2 cup} of dried cherries.  Finely cut into strips a handful of fresh basil leaves.  Zest half a lemon directly onto the cooked orzo & squeeze the juice onto the pasta.  Dump all the stuff in and add about 1/4 cup of olive oil & sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper or just plain black pepper.  Mix the whole thing together, then add about 1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese and mix that in.  Refrigerate until you're ready to eat.


So tonight I just made the gyros and orzo.  The full menu from this summer follows:

• chicken gyros
• cucumber salsa
• tzatziki
• orzo pasta salad
• roasted potatoes {baby reds quartered and roasted at 400 degrees with a quartered onion, lemon zest, garlic salt, oregano and black pepper}
• iced mint sweet tea
• pear, cranberry, and pistachio salad {half romaine, half spinach & with a homemade vinagrette}
• spinach, feta, and pinenut phyllo cups
• minted fruit salad with a ginger simple syrup
• hummus & pita chips

Whew is that a LONG post.  Let me know if anything needs further clarification on any of the recipes!

Weekday Entertaining - Fakesgiving

What do you get when you cross a pregnant girl, a 7 bajillion feet tall man, a smartass, The Famous Joe, Buttercup, Bea, one sick husband, and one INSANE toddler?  TADAAAAAA!  It's Fakesgiving.  All the food.  None of the family.  Well except the sick husband and the toddler.  Aaaaand that visit from my mother before Fakesgiving even got underway.

So, I have mad love for Thanksgiving.  Plus, the preggo mentioned pumpkin muffins and that just pushed me right over the edge.  I love the food.  I love setting the table.  I love my Meme's stuffing, a few years ago I actually took photos of each step as she did it because well... we're not good recipe peeps.  We get the jist of what you're supposed to do and then start dumping stuff in, a pinch and a handful at a time.

And it's FAKESGIVING and these are my friends so I pulled out the paper plates.  We've got two dishwashers in this house, you guessed it... Michelle & Dave, so just the fact that I pretty much used every pan and serving dish I have for the actual dinner making, I wanted to keep clean up easy-ish.  And before you go admonishing me for this travesty in entertaining, they were cute ones.  I even made place cards out of the dessert.  Take that naysayers!

Which brings me to the fact that I really am the worst blogger in the history of the universe.  Go ahead and stop reading now.  I always have these grandiose intentions of taking photos, of capturing the evening, and I end up with oh, three usable shots and NONE of the food because you know ummm why capture all of the deliciousness of this menu? 

• Turkey
• Mashed herbed red skin potatoes (psssst I totally used a stick of butter AND cream in those suckers)
• Stuffing with sausage and onion
• Cranberry sauce, the jellied stuff... yep, can shape and everything.  I still can't believe I served this.
• Peas
• Corn
• Green bean cassarole
• Biscuits

And for dessert.... oh dessert.  I made these babies again only used mini muffin tins (liberally spray with a baking spray) instead of making them cookie form.  I did screw with the recipe just a bit and added in some caramel topping stuff from Pampered Chef and I iced them with cream cheese frosting again.  They would be great just plain ole muffins though if you wanted to make them for a breakfast thing.

Y-U-M

And there were copious amounts of wine and Bea showed up with the cutest freaking new collar for Monty.  She makes them herself & you can get one for your very own in her etsy shop Teeny Tiny Collars.  It's orange and has owls on it.  LOVE.  Monty thinks he is very stylish.

I really am glad that I kept it easy because my poor hubby got violently ill halfway through dinner, we actually think he had a touch of food poisoning from his breakfast stop at MickeyD's. Poor thing.  He missed his favorite dinner in the world, but at least there are leftovers for when he's feeling better. 

So there you have it.  Fakesgiving.  And I was curious/dismayed that I wasn't the first to come up with fakesgiving but happy that others are enjoying their very own fakesgiving.  A quick google search brought me here, here, here, aaaaand here.  There is even a fakesgiving.com!