Birthday Weekend

For my 30th birthday, the hubby went all out. What a guy I have! He took me to the Gibson for drinks on Saturday night. We had two cocktails each with truffled nuts and marinated olives. I can't remember the name of my first drink, but it involved gin, champagne, raspberry syrup, and three types of bitters. For the second one, I went off-menu. I asked for rye and the Italian artichoke liqueur Cynar, but I left the quantities up to the bartender. She combined them with a bit of honey and added a salted rim. Awesome! I mean, she made the drink, but I came up with the main ingredients so I'm giving myself the credit for this one.

We followed drinks with the five-course tasting menu at Palena. It was fantastic. He'd even arranged for a candle to be in the first dessert course. How lovely! We'll definitely return.

Then, yesterday, on my actual birthday, I had breakfast in bed followed by a surprise Skype session with my fam, arranged by the hubby. They sang me "Happy Birthday" and I blew out the candles on the giant cupcake the hub had procured. Seriously, WHAT A GUY! We spent the rest of the day watching TV and hanging out. It was way too hot to do anything outside. (And it's not even August yet - yikes.) Anyway, after a day of leisure, we decided to do our red sauce and Godfather tradition - the best way to end any day in my opinion.

Or so I thought. He handed me an envelope last night. Inside my birthday card was a certificate to attend a class at the Culinary Institute of America. I nearly fainted. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Will keep you posted as it gets closer to the fall date. OMG!!!!!!!!

On an unrelated note, I made bacon and jalapeno cornbread tonight with a gigantic pot of chili. Good eatin'.

Wine glasses at Palena