So if it’s true that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, I hope I added a few love notches in his expanded belt today (that was a weird thing I just wrote).

The day started off with homemade cinnamon orange biscuits, which in all honesty, were just so-so. The whole batch was scarfed, though, so they couldn’t have been that bad.

We had a simple lunch of leftovers — pizza with goat cheese and olives, and stuffed peppers with rice and minced meat. Then I broke out his birthday cake, which happens to be his absolute favorite: New York-style cheesecake. He’s weird, and prefers cheesecake completely plain — no chocolate, no strawberries, nothing. I obliged him.

I managed to make a decent cheesecake with sort-of cream cheese, sort-of sour cream, and sort-of graham crackers. Everything is improvised, of course, though I do have high-quality vanilla from the States. There’s no vanilla here; the closest thing are these little packets of “vanilla sugar” — basically powdered sugar scented with vanilla flavoring.

His cake was topped off with the most pathetic candles ever. The letters started heading south about 10 seconds after I lit them. Oh well. He knows what it says.

Tonight we’re going to a little touristy town about an hour away where they have — duh duh DUH… Mexican food. It’s actually the best Mexican food we’ve had this side of the Atlantic (unless you count Miguel’s in Thailand on this side… but I’m thinking it’s over there in the Pacific). Then again, it’s hard to surpass Cheez Whiz salsa on stale crackers in Dublin, Ireland.

Tomorrow we’re going to the beach, so overall, it’s a sweet birthday weekend. Happy birthday, Kabob! I hope you liked your day.

posted: 09 July 11
under: culture, family