Everybody should have a Tina in their life

Tina's one of my close group of friends. Here's the connection. She, Luis and Polo were friends long before Dan, Denise and I knew them. When Dan and Luis began dating, there was a meeting of the two sides of the family. Thankfully we all got along famously.

Tina's the go-to girl. She's there if you need a ride. She can throw together an elegant party in a matter of minutes, even if all that she has to work with is cocktail weiners, a cabbage and a box of grape Jell-O (mind you, that has never been the case, but she could, I know it!). She is tireless and always has a smile on her face. She's a friend who is there for you when you need one. My point is, she's awesome.

Tomorrow we're celebrating her birthday. We've been throwing dinner parties for each other whenever there's a birthday. Tina has chosen a Tex-Mex theme. The menu is set, I have been assigned dessert. She said "oh, anything chocolate is great. Well, she's getting Tex-Mex inspired cinnamon chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. I wish I had time to bake her a cake but I think the cupcakes will be fun and festive, just like Tina.

I'll let you know how they turn out.

Anatomy of a cake

For Dan's birthday, each of us decided on a dish to bring for dinner. I decided that I would make dessert. The plan was to bake a birthday cake knowing that I'm close enough to a few decent bakeries that if I messed it up, I could still bring a cake.

Baking isn't an issue for me. It's the decorating process that I found daunting. Originally my friend Steve was going to be my teacher, but the weekend we were going to have the party was switched so I was on my own. Below are the various stages of the cake.


The recipe was one from Cooks Illustrated Magazine. It was simple but from the ingredients I could tell that the finished product would be moist, thus making a good layer cake. This cake would be a two layer cake.


I decided on a chocolate icing, and a raspberry filling. Below, I've created an outer border of chocolate icing and I'm adding the raspberry preserves.


Layers are stacked and the cake is frosted.

Now the decorating begins. To contrast the chocolate color, I chose a light blue. Slowly I added gel coloring, and this was my final result.

Before actually writing on the cake, I practiced on waxed paper. I had never worked with a decorating bag, I've never written in icing.

Next up was the outer border. I haven't quite mastered the star tip to where I can create the peaks and valleys but I think it looks pretty good. Okay, there's a spot to the right that's kind of messy...

The cake was actually finished at Dan and Luis' house. I had to wait until I placed it on the pedestal to add the blue bottom border. Again, my technique isn't perfected, so it's one big strand.

After a delicious dinner and a walk, Tina and I put the candles on the cake and brought it out.

When we all sat down to eat, I was pleased that the cake was moist, full of flavor and it held together. I don't mean to brag, but it was delicious. It was a lot of work but also great fun, and worth it.

Happy Birthday Dan

Next up in the list of great birthdays in August is Dan's birthday. Today is Dan's Birthday, he's 41 today. A year ago, right at about this time, 6 close friends were sitting on a private boat on Lake Buena Vista in Florida enjoying the gorgeous fireworks display over The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Never have I kept a secret from someone for so long. We began planning the trip in January 0f 2008, the adventure began to unfold three days before his actual Birthday. A series of envelopes containing clues lead Dan to the conclusion that he was going on an adventure, luckily it included all of us. Definitely a memorable event for us all, especially him.

This year there was no trip. We're planning to get together this coming Saturday to celebrate. I can promise that there will be plenty of food and good times and we'll make plenty of new memories.

Happy Birthday, to my very best friend, Dan.

XOXO

Dan and Luis, June 2009


Polo, Dan and Me, June 2009.

Snot

I have a sinus infection. I've had it for about 10 days. I've been fighting it. I've been hoping it would just work it's way thru my system and go away. They usually do. This one is stubborn.



I feel pretty good. I'm just stuffy and occasionally, ugly snot comes out of my nose, or I cough up something ugly. Saturday I had a couple nose bleeds. My head was hurting on and off. Not too bad, I mean it doesn't feel like I've been smacked with a tire iron, just a dull ache. It hasn't stopped me from enjoying my weekend. But enough is enough.



I work in a hospital. I had the receptionist call me when my doctor showed up to see patients. I told him how I was feeling and he yelled at me for waiting so long. I don't like taking antibiotics. I'm not one of those people who runs to get a prescription when I get the sniffles. My body needs to fight things on its own. That way when I'm really sick and need an antibiotic, it'll actually work.



I was given a prescription for an antibiotic, which I will take for 10 days. I took my first pill about an hour ago.

This isn't going to be fun. Already my stomach is making weird noises.

Oh, and I can't drink. That means NO vodka.


*sigh* It's just 10 days, right? I will be able to drink again by the 18th. :)

Birthday Weekend

File Under: 42…so far, so good.

My birthday was on Saturday May 2. I turned 42.

Age is just a number. I’m not sure what 42 is supposed to feel like but I don’t think I feel it. I certainly don’t act like it.

The fun began Friday night. My friend Steve met me out at Jackhammer and he quickly announced “he will not pay for a single drink tonight.” I didn’t. I don’t know how many I had but there were a couple shots, too. When it was time to wander home, sometime around 2, I didn’t feel drunk, just very happy.

Saturday, I met my friends John and Vince for lunch in my neighborhood. They brought me flowers and a giant Hello Kitty birthday card, with a little something tucked into it. They also bought me lunch. It was fun spending time with them.

I went home and prepared a dessert for the evening. I’ll explain the evening that was ahead.
Dan asked me to pick the theme, and he would organize a small casual gathering of our little group. Each of them would prepare a dish. I chose Italian. I was told that I didn’t need to bring anything, though it was suggested that Luis is really fond of my chocolate ganache tart. It’s easy to prepare so I decided to bring it.

I arrived at the house at 7. Luis and Polo were prepping a couple dishes. Dan’s lasagna was in the oven. Denise arrived soon after, carrying an antipasti platter. Tina was noticeably absent from the festivities as she had family matters to tend to in Ohio. However we managed to have a good time.

Drinks were poured and the night of food and fun began. Denise’s cold platter was fantastic. We did a good job of emptying it in a pretty short period of time.

Next up was Luis’s contribution to the meal. He served grilled shrimp skewers with a light pesto sauce and pork meat balls with another delicious sauce. Those who know us know that we’re not shy and in a short period of time those dishes were cleaned. It was necessary though because we had to make room on the table for Dan’s famous lasagna. A creation that stands close to half a foot tall, filled with mushrooms, sausage, ho-made sauce and cheese…lots and lots of cheese. It’s fabulous.

We took a breather once the main course was done. Luis and Polo went into the kitchen and after a bit of whispering and some giggling, there was a bright glow coming from the kitchen. Polo came out, carrying a cake, stuck through the top of it was a rather large “sparkler,” which I believe was really a highway flare. Polo had his arms outstretched, Luis was about 2 feet behind him, looking kind of shocked. Polo set the cake on the table and we all jumped back. I heard “blow it out!” come from one of them. I tried, but all it did was scatter burning embers, causing us to jump back from the table and let it sputter out. Once the smoke cleared, we assessed the damage. A couple spots on the table, some singed eyebrows and watering eyes. Yet, we persevered and ate cake and it was delicious!

We sat in the dining room, talking, and laughing until close to midnight. It was a nearly perfect evening. Perfection would have included Tina.

I must share with you the present that was made for me by Dan and Luis. This sums up our friendship and our group of friends.

How cool is that??

Today was a very relaxing day. I went to the gym, then walked around my neighborhood for a while. I ran into Dan and Luis who were having lunch. The restaurant they were at had its windows open, they were seated next to the window. I was invited to join them, but was enjoying the weather too much to go inside. I was also intent on walking for a while as I need to step up my exercise routine. That’s another post. :)

I’m pretty damn lucky to have such an amazing group of friends.

A Little Birthday Party

File Under: Cupcakes and Friends

Luis' birthday was last Thursday. Dan took him to NYC for the weekend. Meanwhile, Denise, Tina, Polo and I were planning a little lunch for him when they returned on Sunday. Everybody cooked something. I baked cupcakes for dessert.



The plan was, I baked on Saturday and was going to wake up Sunday morning, have a bit of breakfast and some coffee, make some frosting and frost the cupcakes. Alarm was set for 8 am.



The first text message arrived at 7:51. It was Dan sending a frantic message. "We're on and earlier flight! Land at 10:30!"



The second and third text messages came from Polo, relaying Dan's message and saying "it's okay, get here at 10:45, they arrive at 11:15. No worries. The last message woke me up, it was 7:59. No sooner than I said the words "Shit! What the FUCK?!" my alarm went off.



I jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen and began pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator and cabinets. Mesauring cups were flying, I had the mixer but couldn't find the beaters. We have 2 sets, I kept finding both "left" beaters. Finally I found the left and right. Had I been making one kind of icing it would have been fine but I was making two kinds.




They got done, the cupcakes got frosted, I did my best not to lock my mom in a closet because she decided she wanted to make breakfast. Okay I get it, you need to eat...low blood sugar, yada yada. Fine. ;-)




Still I had less time to do things. That meant no coffee and no time to shave. I was clean, my teeth were brushed, I had on matching shoes and socks, I call that success.




We were a hasty little bunch at the house, getting stuff in the ovens, setting up dessert. Tina, bless her heart, she made coffee.




Dan and Luis arrived home, we had a fantastic lunch of ribs, chipotle mashed potatoes, butternut squash, a baked tomato dish, and loaded corn bread. Oh, and cupcakes.




Luis was surprised and happy and as usual it was another fantastic day with my wonderful friends.




No pictures of us, there are enough pictures of us in previous posts, but check out the cupcakes! :-)



The cupcake tree - coconut cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes.


The coconut cupcakes - Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa" boxed mix. I could have done them from scratch but decided to try the box. Delicious!!


Chocolate cupcakes with Luis' favorite chocolate frosting - Cake recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart's baking handbook, frosting recipe couretsy of Hershey's cocoa - it's on the back of the canister! So easy, and so yummy!


Tiny gold Buddha with intentions of maintaining his waistline, decides to try to sneak off with a cupcake.

Happy 50th

Today is Belinda Carlisle's 50th birthday. I'm a total dork, not only for knowing this but celebrating it the way I've been. No matter, I love her and think she deserves it. So here you go, another clip from the Regeneration Tour. Here she is, singing my favorite of her solo hits.

Belinda Carlisle - "Mad About You"

One more day...

Today is Madonna's 50th birthday. I'm sure I could do a search and find thousands of blog entries from her adoring fans wishing her a happy birthday. That's cool, I'll mention her too - Happy Birthday, Madonna!

But this posting ain't about Madonna. She's got enough devoted and adoring fans. This is just a reminder that tomorrow is Belinda Carlisle's 50th birthday.

Here's another clip of her from the Regeneration Tour. This is from the Los Angeles stop. It's a portion of her song "Live Your Life Be Free," and it's the first time I've seen her perform it live at a show where the song sounded true to the original. In recent years she performed it in sort of a modified acoustic style. It was great but there were no big kicks as you'll see in this clip. Enjoy!

The Birthday Post

File Under: Birthday Fun

My 41st birthday occurred on Friday May 2, 2008. I was born at 10:13 am on Tuesday May 2 1967 at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago. Hillary Clinton was also born there, in the same delivery room (but not at the same time).

Given that my birthday was on a Friday this year, I decided to take the day off from work along with the following Monday (Cinco de Mayo).

The fun started Thursday night when I met up with Vahona and we saw The B-52's at the House of Blues. We first had Thai food for dinner, both of us were having sinus issues, the spicy food helped to open up our sinuses and allowed us to enjoy the show. The B's were great, they performed a lot of songs off of their most recent album, "Funplex." Since the HOB does not allow cameras, the only picture I was able to take was with my camera phone.

From Vahona, I received a stuffed dog that sings "Closer to you" and the promise of a ticket to see "Avenue Q" when it arrives in Chicago. :) What fun!

After the show, Vahona dropped me off in Boystown where I decided to have a drink at Sidetrack. I ran into Anthony there and he insisted upon buying me my first drink of my 41st year along with a shot. I stayed at the bar until almost 1.

On my actual birthday, I got up, went to the gym, then to get a manicure/pedicure. That evening I was taken to dinner by Denise, Tina and Polo. We ate at DeCero, where we polished off two pitchers of mango margaritas. Extremely delicious but apparently void of alcohol.

Dan and Luis were noticably absent from the festivities. They were in Key West, enjoying some fun in the sun. They were there in spirit and wished me a long-distance happy birthday by sending me flowers. I received a beautiful bouquet of ranunculus.

Also sending birthday greetings were my friends Alina and Giselle, they sent me a stuffed bear with a bouquet of helium balloons. My friend Andy from Dayton also sent me a very generous Amazon.com gift certificate.

Denise gave me Ingrid Hoffman's "Simplicy Delicioso" cookbook along with some themed accessories, Tina and Polo gave me gift certificates to some of my favorite stores.

Saturday was low key. I wandered around some stores after going to the gym. I ended up at Crate and Barrel where I chatted with and got the phone number of a guy named Andy, not to be confused with my friend Andy from Dayton. :)

Sunday was fun, the weather was beautiful and I enjoyed being outside. I joined Denise, Tina and Polo for dinner again, this time at Ole' Ole', where we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with margaritas and good food. The restaurant lacks good service at times and we had a long wait before we finally got our check. I also bought myself a birthday present on this day, a new laptop. :)

Monday was my last day off, and I spent part of it setting up my new computer. I managed to get most of my files transferred. It was also another beautiful day so I went to the gym, had lunch outside and wandered for a while.

The celebrating continued this weekend. Dan and Luis returned from Florida and on Friday night we went out to dinner at Charlie's Ale House. From them I received a gift certificate for a posh spa in the area where I can go for a massage or a manicure/pedicure.

Last night, my friend Gillian hosted a dinner party in my honor. She made a wonderful dinner. We had pasta bolognaise, ceasar salad, a cheese and meat platter and cupcakes for dessert. Patrick and his partner Mark gave me two cookbooks. I guess I'm cooking the next dinner. :)

I may be biased, but I think I've got the coolest friends on the planet.

16 Candles, plus another 25

File Under: Birthday!

May 2nd was my 41st birthday. Since it fell on a Friday, I took it and the following Monday off from work. It was a really great, long weekend. Much to tell but since I'm not ready with all my pictures and stuff, it'll have to wait another day or two.

Part of the reason is because I bought myself a birthday present...a new laptop computer. I'm still getting used to the smaller keyboard, the new operating system, and finding all of the files I moved to it from my old computer. iTunes is giving me grief and after spending hours deleting duplicate song files from my iTunes directory I found out that a lot of my songs aren't actually on my computer. Grr...

I'll get it figured out.

Don't worry, we'll revisit this birthday post and I'll tell all of the sordid details. Bet'cha can't wait! ;)