On the edge of 50

Seems Fortuitous Hiatus was true to its name for a while, but I am back with a host of backlogged posts, they may be a little out of order, but oh well.  I will strive to improve my productivity going forward.  :-)

Late summer is a birthday bonanza at the Czerwinski household, Mike's on August 21st and mine on September 14th. First of all, thanks to all of you who sent me warm birthday wishes.

As some of you are aware we have spent the month of September in Seattle house sitting for some friends who were on a several week European vacation. They did not mentioned seeing Clark Griswold on their travels...but you never know. It was a win/ win for us.  We got to enjoy their magnificent home with expansive views of the Cascade mountains, Mt. Ranier and Lake Washington.  The house also included a fully outfitted kitchen, multiple outdoor grills and the sweetest Welsh terrier named Sophie.

Short ribs braising down to yummy goodness.

Back to my birthday. As you know from my previous posts, we have been eating out at restaurants a lot. The aforementioned kitchen was full of Le Cruset cookware of various shapes and sizes and just about any kitchen tool or gadget you could buy from Sur La Table. This bountiful kitchen bonanza prompted a homemade birthday dinner.

Now before some of you get out the lanterns, pitchforks and rakes to come after my husband for not taking me out to dinner, let me say that part of my birthday enjoyment was spending time planning the menu, shopping, using the best kitchen ware I have ever had access to, spending time together prepping in the kitchen and then enjoying a delicious meal.  A very special bottle of wine and yummy desserts from 65th Street Bakery rounded out the dinner.

My birthday dinner menu:

Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs

Puréed parsnips

Steamed broccoli

Lemon bar (Janice)

Bottle of 2003 Joseph Phelps Insignia Cabernet

Birthday Dinner

In the end I got my cooking fix, the meal was at least restaurant quality (maybe better) and there were some kick-ass leftovers for the next day. Knowing that in our upcoming trip to Mexico minimal food preparations would be required, ie: dunking some raw fish in lime juice with a little jalapeno and cilantro, this hearty meal was perfect.  Happy Birthday to me.