Happy Birthday To Me!

As promised, I wanted to share pictures from my birthday celebration last weekend. I feel that there is no better way to spend a birthday than with your family.  My parents always make me feel extra special and even have little ”birthday parties” for me.  My mom always makes a delicious cake and has birthday presents to open. I literally feel like a kid again. Is there anything your family still does for you that makes you feel like a kid??

While I was growing up, the only variety of cake  I would touch was strawberry. Perhaps it was the fact that it was pink…I don’t know. But even now that I like all different kinds, my mom knows that strawberry is STILL my favorite.  The cake pictured above was a two-layer, strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum! My mom has a dynamite recipe and I cannot even begin to describe how dense and moist this cake is! Done to perfection!

Dinner was a huge assortment of foods. I did not get a picture because by the time I remembered; only scraps were left. A few of the menu items?  BBQ chicken, red roasted potatoes, a big veggie salad, fresh Italian bread, and a tomato, zucchini, and caramelized onion gratin.

A LOADED veggie salad...my own contribution to the evening fare.

Everything was extremely tasty! The gratin was inspired by Pam at For The Love Of Cooking. She has some wonderful recipes to share and this one in particular really sparked my interest. The dish was all kinds of flavorful and the parmesan gave it a buttery bite. You can bet I will be making this again! Thanks to Pam for a recipe that was such a hit!

Tomato, Zucchini, and Caramelized Onion Gratin adapted from For The Love of Cooking

• 3-5 large Roma tomatoes, sliced
• 1 large zucchini (or 2 small ones), sliced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of FRESHLY grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 2-3 leaves of parsley or basil, chopped for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8 x 8 ” dish with cooking spray. Slice tomato, zucchini, and onion into thick slices, and mince garlic.

Sliced and ready to go!

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and then sauté onion slices for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and caramelized, seasoning with salt to taste. Add garlic and continue to sauté for ~1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Layer tomatoes and zucchini in the bottom of your baking dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Then add the caramelized onion and garlic. Top with another layer of zucchini and tomato. Be sure to season each layer with a tiny bit of salt and pepper. Top with the remaining parmesan cheese and sprinkle with the dried basil. Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and broil for another 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on top. Let cool a couple minutes and garnish with fresh parsley or basil! Then eat up!!!

"Practically perfect in every way..."

When we headed back to Toledo the following day, Brandon wanted to take me out to dinner at our FAVORITE seafood restaurant. Mancy’s Blue Water Grill is quite the “fine dining” experience and I was really excited to get dressed up! Brandon also had a little birthday surprise for me!

I love shiny little boxes with big bows! Don't you!!???

I was so surprised to get a new ring for my right hand! Good job hubby!! I was beaming and we still had dinner to get to! Check out the menu!

Always start the evening with a salad

I'm not one who skips the bread basket, I actually ate two of these!

Maple Glazed Salmon with Butternut Squash Ravioli

As you can tell, there was no room for dessert ,but we had a wonderful time and it was such a memorable birthday.

CHEERS!

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