Celebrate with me........

Well......I come to you today a year older. Yesterday I celebrated my 58th name day and it was wonderful! We always eat well and make the most of our meals, usually sitting on the patio if the weather cooperates. But for birthdays we plan a special splurge meal and indulge ourselves.

Cheese? Absolutely. Dessert? Of course! Celebrations are needed more often than the once a year birthday bash. Don't you think so?



For me the words food and celebration go hand-in-hand so when I noticed Suzi81 posted her Weekly Word Challenge with the theme Food, I had to participate. How could I resist that? Check out her link HERE.



If you have been reading my ramblings for a good period of time you'll know it's very foodiecentric (is that a word?) but it wasn't the original intent of this site. Even so, good food plays an important part in our lives. We love trying new recipes and talking over dinner. I document so many new meals here. Now I would like to share a kick ass meal where my cooking participation was limited. Cause it was my day :-)

Fresh Market has these amazing filet mignon kebabs. Doug grilled them over a charcoal fire. In the past, I would never ever consider putting any sauce or condiment on a filet, but these had a sweetish marinade that was outta this world delicious. There were also peppers and mushrooms threaded on the kebabs.



We had rice cooked in chicken broth which plumped t up to a creamy rice pudding texture and a side of fresh asparagus with a few cherry tomatoes form our garden.



The cheese course was a German Champignon that I had been craving for a while. The wine was a Zinfandel we had not sampled before.



Drank too much of it but enjoyed it immensely.




Last but not least, a flourless chocolate tort from Tasty Pastry Bakery in Tallahassee. Even if we aren't eating wheat, we can still find a rich dessert. This was very good but I had the compliment from my wonderful husband that my tort was better!



Served with with Ruby Port, as if we hadn't had enough wine.....Smashing combo, perfect marriage.



Birthdays can be faux-tramatic for some people. You know the ones. They fan their face while lamenting they are getting ooooold. But as I told a few people at work yesterday, I am quite pleased to be on this side of the grass.

My father-in-law called me and sang happy birthday. My son called and texted me. The love of my life ran around town with me looking for "my cheese" and grilled and was the best company a girl could want. Yes, it was a wonderful birthday filled with love, good food and wine, great company. I have made it 8 more years than my mother and 9 more than my sister. My health is good. I feel quite fortunate.

Thanks to all for the good wishes and I hope you all enjoyed reading about some good food to mark a milestone.