French Birthdays

Well, my story came out in the paper. It’s a less-personalized version of my abusive job post, aimed toward college kids who are about to graduate or who are looking into internships. I won’t say it’s a fun read, but it could help someone who’s in a bad situation recognize it. Enough about that.

We’re heading to B’s parents’ house this weekend to celebrate B’s dad’s 91st birthday. 91! The man doesn’t seem to be a day over 70. Judging by him, I’d say the secret to a long life if daily exercise, keeping your intellectual curiosity (a retired general surgeon, he reads medical journals to this day!) and having chocolate every night before bed. I promised to make him some fried pies (like him mom used to make, he said), and B and I will be preparing a four-course French dinner for the whole family. I hope the kids like French food!

We sorted the whole menu out last night, here is what we’re planning:

Course One: Cheese plate with fig spread, honey (should I truffle it??) and cornichons

I love a good cheese plate. It gets your palate ready for new flavors and quells the hunger pangs until dinner is ready!

Course Two: A Grilled hearts of romaine salad with lemon anchovy dressing

We’re totally stealing this idea from our delicious dinner at El Meze in Taos, NM. This salad was so good, even I liked it, and I’m not a salad kind of girl.

Course Three: Shrimp boats in white wine sauce and Haricots Verts in a butter lemon sauce

We’re into sauces. This is the shrimp dish B made for my lovely French Birthday Dinner in the summer. We just can’t get enough of it. His parents get fresh shrimp from the Gulf delivered to their home every week, so we thought we’d take advantage of it.

(Sidenote: I haven’t noticed a decline in the quality of shrimp from the Gulf, but B did find a tarball while we were in Florida visiting my parents. So as far as the state of Gulf seafood, I’m not sure how the quality has suffered. I was extremely worried about eating any of it after the BP disaster initially happened, but now that some time has passed, I’m fine with it — in small doses. Only time can tell how badly the disaster affected our Gulf’s marine life.)

Course Four: Dessert

We haven’t decided on a dessert just yet. My sister-in-law is a badass baker. She made a red velvet cake for her birthday that made me want to cry. I’m prepared to do a simple chocolate mousse, but if she offers a birthday cake, I’m all in. Stay tuned to fine out how this all turns out. I know you’re absolutely riveted.