My Birthday was in May. It was a little hard, being away from all of my friends and family, but even with the distance I still had a great birthday. It ended up being a Birthday Week as packages trickled in.
I have complained about the weather (or lack of sunshine) for a long time (3 months?). I am just not used to it [Sorry Minnesota, not trying to bash you, given this is an off year for ya, but PERK UP! rain everyday is no fun either!]. I never had to savor the sunshine before. It was cloudy days I looked forward to in Fresno. Days to be huddled up in blankets with my dogs and a good book, or a marathon of some teenie-bopper show (think 90210, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars that are all about the drama). I am not supposed to want to do that every day!
My mom and sister sent me an assortment of my favorite Fresh & Easy snacks, some Armenian treats only to be found at Hye Deli's (which last I checked, aren't anywhere in Minnesota), like Pekmez, Halva, and little pistachio candies, and some clothes.
My in-laws sent me a gorgeous bouquet to brighten my desk at work. That was a wonderful surprise!
My best friends absolutely spoiled me. California and sunshine were a theme across the board, hands down.
A new key charm for my keys, so that the sun is always with me.
A bottle of wine (that actually benefits shelter dogs)
Fresh organic strawberries. From California. Over-nighted. Hands down, the best strawberries ever - no sugar needed, we devoured them by the bowl-full and I froze what we couldn't eat.
Lastly, the Hubz took me to an acclaimed Steakhouse (review to follow), over the weekend. On my birthday day I baked a loaf of bread, and he made me Fettuccine Alfredo, with Angel Hair. We drank a really good Tobin James Silver Reserve Petite Syrah and watched the Life of Pi - and he got me Luigi's Haunted Mansion 2 (I love nintendo).
I have complained about the weather (or lack of sunshine) for a long time (3 months?). I am just not used to it [Sorry Minnesota, not trying to bash you, given this is an off year for ya, but PERK UP! rain everyday is no fun either!]. I never had to savor the sunshine before. It was cloudy days I looked forward to in Fresno. Days to be huddled up in blankets with my dogs and a good book, or a marathon of some teenie-bopper show (think 90210, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars that are all about the drama). I am not supposed to want to do that every day!
My mom and sister sent me an assortment of my favorite Fresh & Easy snacks, some Armenian treats only to be found at Hye Deli's (which last I checked, aren't anywhere in Minnesota), like Pekmez, Halva, and little pistachio candies, and some clothes.
My in-laws sent me a gorgeous bouquet to brighten my desk at work. That was a wonderful surprise!
My best friends absolutely spoiled me. California and sunshine were a theme across the board, hands down.
A new key charm for my keys, so that the sun is always with me.
A bottle of wine (that actually benefits shelter dogs)
Fresh organic strawberries. From California. Over-nighted. Hands down, the best strawberries ever - no sugar needed, we devoured them by the bowl-full and I froze what we couldn't eat.
Lastly, the Hubz took me to an acclaimed Steakhouse (review to follow), over the weekend. On my birthday day I baked a loaf of bread, and he made me Fettuccine Alfredo, with Angel Hair. We drank a really good Tobin James Silver Reserve Petite Syrah and watched the Life of Pi - and he got me Luigi's Haunted Mansion 2 (I love nintendo).
So I wasn't going to have a cake, because I would be the only one to eat it. [The Hubz only eats cheesecake, and peanut butter cookies my baking endeavors are wasted on that man.] Cupcakes were out of the question because I lost my cupcake tin in the move across the country. So I decided to make these mini donuts.
2 cups semi sweet chips
1/2 cup half and half
2 tbs butter unsalted ***
Use a double boiler or place a heat proof owl over a pot of boiling water and mix ingredients until it becomes melty chocolate goodness.
The recipe makes a lot of donuts so I took a plate to work and froze a gallon baggy worth of them (frozen cake with icecream is pretty much ice cream cake, right?).
***okay so make sure your butter is real butter. Here, it's so hard to find butter that is just pasteurized cream/sweet cream; almost all have "natural flavors" which, to my taste buds, make the butter taste like margarine. It's not my cup of tea.
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