Happy Birthday

Foodie Son!

Sniff, I can't believe that it was only 30 years ago that your father and I welcomed you into the world.

And I still remember the doctor's bad jokes, and the bad hospital food...

Happy Birthday

Foodie Son!

Happy Birthday

Foodie Daughter!

Happy Birthday,

Foodie Son!

Hope your day

is filled with happiness and joy.

Happy Birthday,

Dear Husband!

Happy Birthday to the Foodie Boyfriend!

The Foodie Boyfriend,

who may or may not be Irish,

celebrates his birthday today.

The Foodie Daughter decided to make him

a cheesecake for his special day.

After an Internet search (I taught that girl well),

she decided on a recipe for New York Cheesecake

from Emeril (Bam!).

Her mise en place includes:

the zest of one lemon

the zest of one orange

1-1/2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

1 teaspoon whiskey

1/2 cup sour cream

2-1/2 pounds cream cheese

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons flour

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

Not shown:

A pre-made graham cracker crust

The Foodie Daughter began by mixing together

the cream cheese,

sugar,

vanilla extract

and lemon and orange zests.







I was out of the house and the Foodie Daughter

was too busy mixing ingredients to take pictures.



But here is the finished filling.




The Foodie Boyfriend helps assemble the cheesecake.

The recipe directed them to cover the cheesecake with foil

before baking.

The oven was preheated to 375 degrees.

The oven was then turned down to 350 degrees

and the cheesecake baked for 1-1/2 hours.

Oh look, there was extra filling.

Good thing we got more graham cracker crusts.

What?

Still more filling left?

Guess it's time to fill some ramekins

with the remaining filling.

The foil stuck to the top of the cheesecake.

Then it was time to make

the strawberry sauce.

1 pint of fresh strawberries

combined with 2/3 cup sugar,

1 cup water,

1 teaspoon lemon zest

and 2 tablespoons whiskey.

to make the sauce.*

*See, even the Foodie Daughter

can't follow a recipe exactly.

I am so proud.

The whiskey goes in towards the end.

We got to try out the mini cheesecakes

the night before the big day.

Excellent,

dear Foodie Daughter.

And

Happy Birthday,

Foodie Boyfriend!

Many Happy Birthday Wishes

Today is a very special day here in the Foodie household

as the Foodie Daughter is celebrating her 21st birthday today.

No, I didn't make a cake or even cupcakes for the daughter, but I did make brownies.

Once again I am making my adaptation of Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownies.

Brazen Brownies

2 sticks unsalted butter

3 cups plus 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips, divided

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon leftover coffee

1 tablespoon real vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tbs. sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoons flour, for coating the extra chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish.

*
Melt together the butter, 3 cups chocolate chips in the microwave. Cool slightly.

*
Stir together the eggs, coffee, vanilla and sugar.

Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together ½ cup of the flour, baking powder and salt.
Add to cooled chocolate mixture.

Toss the 2 tablespoons chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon flour to coat.

*

Then add to the chocolate batter.

Pour into prepared pan.

*

Bake for about 15 minutes.

*

Rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough.

*

Bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean.

*

Do not over-bake!

Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

These are very fudge-y brownies and are always a hit.

*

Happy Birthday, dear!

The Deck Chronicles, Continued

Our diligent construction crew has been hard at work after the rains moved through.

By Thursday evening they had the new deck flooring installed. This is a composite decking that should last for many, many years. I like it already.

The stairs down off the side of the garage are taking shape. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to climbing down from my ivory tower.

First thing Friday morning found the crew tearing apart the railing on the old deck.




Whoot! I can now move between the two decks. A step will connect the two levels.





This is a family affair, as the grandfather (who also has a construction company) is helping out. The owner's brother is also working on the deck.





A bit of trivia for you: I used to wait on the grandfather occasionally when I was a teller at a local bank. And I can tell you that this man is an absolute sweetheart. He was always one of those customers you looked forward to greeting. He always had a smile on his face and left you with one of your own when he walked out the door.





Here, the stairs down from the other side of the new deck are getting put in.







Now it's getting dangerous. Watch out for that first step off the deck - it's a doozy.



We've been busy shuttling furniture and potted plants around so the crew can work.

They have gotten a lot accomplished today. Since they lost a day to the weather, the hard-working crew will be back tomorrow morning. They anticipate being finished by Wednesday, rain notwithstanding.

They did give me the standard legal disclaimer before they left for the day: "We've removed the railing. Please be careful and don't fall (or push each other!) over the side before we can replace the railing."

Just because we are a full story above the ground here? Well, I guess that would hurt.

Here you can see where they left off for the day. Have I mentioned that I am loving this new deck already?

This was one of my many projects for the day. We have wild grapes growing up the side of the deck, so I pulled some vines off and used an old round tub to form a wreath. Why? Just because I can...

And now I would like to wish my dear husband a very Happy Birthday!

Do you like your birthday present so far? Just wait until it is finished.