On Saturday, S and I drove with my parents to New Hampshire for her cousin’s birthday. Cake and ice cream was a crowd pleaser. How could it not be? The birthday boy clearly wanted to reach right into that frosting. Boy is it hard to get a picture of the two of them together and both smiling. We tried.
It was the year we traveled on both of our birthdays. But we were able to fit in 2 celebrations for each of us:
Connecticut at Christmas: celebrated November (Brother in Law), December (Mark) and January (me)
California last week: celebrated December, January and February (Mark’s Sister)
If you know me, you know I don’t have a problem with cake, so the more cakes the better!
I had the opportunity to help make the Duff Tie Dye cake recently so had to post. It was a little bit of work with more than my typical one bowl, lots of drops and careful following of directions. I was skeptical…but it turned out really well. The box cover definitely implies some creativity with the color order. It was a crowd pleaser and fun.
With 2 birthdays around Christmas and Hanukah, you get a shared birthday cake on December 26th when you visit my mom and dad. I love the pink and blue. Happy Birthday to us both!
Biang! Biang! That’s the sound of the handmade noodles hitting the counter as the person stretches the noodle dough. And it’s where we went Friday night for Kelly’s birthday. Flushing, Queens. The really “chinatown” of New York. It’s my first time out there, and as I came up from the subway I wondered if I was in China.
For a group of 15, it was a great place to go. Lots of skewers, and buns, and dumplings and noodles served family style. The noodles must have been good because I had so many juice spots all over my dress from slurping the endless noodles. It was a noodle that went on and on forever. I’ll admit, you may need a stomach of steel to handle the extreme spice and variety of flavors. But I’m tough like that. Bring it on! I’m determined to go back, and looking for a tour guide.
I received a surprise package around my birthday. At first I wondered what I ordered and then forgot about! It was the nicest box of treats from Carol. The Happy Birthday Assortment of Japanese desserts from Kyotofu included Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes, Miso Chocolate Brownies and shortbread. Needless to say, we dug in.
The cupcake has a great crumb, and I have one in the freezer for breakfast this week. Kyotofu makes modern Japanese desserts with tofu. I don’t know if that’s what makes them so moist, but they were delicious. The little brownies with sesame seats were just the right chocolate and nice and fudgey.
And the beauty is this place is right up the street in Hell’s Kitchen. I know I’ve walked by it, too. Why haven’t I stopped in before, that is the question.
My mom won’t let me leave during my Christmas visit without cake and ice cream for my birthday. She can’t bear to not celebrate! So we indulge a little early. These are Friendly’s cake-ice cream “cupcakes” my sister found. I told them no more sweets (esp around the holidays!) but they won’t listen,
I told someone today I just stopped aging this year. That’s it, just done getting older! Just need to remember to stay young at heart.
Jillie of All Trades 