Happy birthday to me!

[dorchadas]

I'm almost 40! And even though I'm objectively getting old and have a child now, I don't feel that old because people keep thinking I'm 30.

I don't have a lot of special plans for today--having a baby means I simply can't have a day all about me--but I do get to have curry tonight! sashagee told me I could pick anywhere I wanted for dinner and so we're going to Indie Cafe, the Thai restaurant that also serves sushi (as is the custom for basically every Chicago Thai restaurant). It's in walking distance so I'll carry Laila, sashagee will get some more exercise, and at twilight we'll head out for some delicious food.

I did have exciting plans last weekend, though! On Friday night thosesocks came over after work in order to get some practice with babies, and stayed until lisekatevans came over for dinner, so we opened a bottle of wine, played with Laila, and sashagee cut lisekatevans's hair extremely short for her upcoming theatrical role. And then on Saturday, britshlez and tom.hen.12 came over for dinner, I made chicken teriyaki, and we played Exploding Unicorns! britshlez won after we used all of our tricks to stop tom.hen.12 from winning, as tends to be the way of these things. All in all, I learned that at least while Laila is still young, it's relatively easy to have people over to our house for dinner--Laila's good at sleeping through things and she goes to bed around 8 p.m. We can definitely send out more invitations.

I also learned that I'd been pronouncing tom.hen.12's name wrong! It's a transliteration problem--his name is תם חן, and when he moved to America he realized that transliterating his surname as "Chen" would give everyone the wrong impression, so he went with Hen. I changed it in my phone to Ḥen so I'd always remember...and then changed it to the Hebrew. My Japanese friends are in my phone with their names in Japanese, I should do the same courtesy for everyone else.

Salsa chicken made with chicken breasts from Green Fire Farms and pineapple salsa from River Valley Ranch, sautéed snap peas with paprika from Vangie's Farm, Israeli salad with cucumbers from Vangie's Farm and tomatoes from sashagee's parents' garden, and curry roasted potatoes from Nichol's Farm and Orchard.

Salsa chicken is definitely one of those "I'm a new parent" dishes--or previously, a "a pregnant woman can eat this without trouble" dishes--but that doesn't make it taste any worse. One of the most important adult cooking skills is learning that time invested ≠ flavor. The pineapple was the standout part of the chicken, though sashagee doesn't like cooked pineapple so she ate all the salsa but gave me her pineapple pieces. She said her favorite part of the meal was the green beans, though, which I was glad to hear since I was worried that even the little bit of paprika I had put on them was too much. My favorite was probably the Israeli salad, with the snap peas a close second. It's been a while since I had Israeli breakfast and making the salad makes me want to make it again. I just need to get down to the Middle Eastern Grocery Store for some falafel.

Monkey bread from Lost Larson. On the actual day of the farmer's market we had Filipino food from Pecking Order, the same food as written about in this farmer's market post, so sashagee got her dessert from there. I got this monkey bread and saved it until the next day when we made dinner from the ingredients, though. It was pretty good though it's not something I'd probably get again. Caramelly and soft, especially when I microwaved it for a bit, but there are better desserts out there.


I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with people's posts! I managed it for a bit when Laila was smaller, but now that she's interacting with the world more and now that sashagee is healed and we can do stuff together again it's a lot harder to find the time to sit down and read when there are so many other things competing for my time. I'm going to start reading again after Shabbat, though, and go as far back as I can. I hope everyone's been doing well!

Comments

[earthspirits]

Happy birthday and that sounds like lovely dinner plans for your special day.

The food in the photo looks and sounds yummy!

[dorchadas]

Thank you!!

It was delicious--I'm just finishing off the Israeli salad at lunches this week and the extra time to soak in the lemon juice really makes it great.

[corvi]

Happy birthday! Lot of changes this year, you are definitely having an adventure! But it seems to suit you.

I have admired the exquisite-looking texture of your potatoes before, and I am admiring them again!

[dorchadas]

Thank you!!

I can thank the air fryer for the ability to get that nice crunchy crinkle. I could very rarely do it in the oven.

[angelofthenorth]

Happy birthday

[dorchadas]

Thank you!!

[helvetica]

Aww Happy Birthday to you!! I'm glad you have a special day with your family to celebrate, you can't beat that!! <3 I think it's totally ok for you to miss everoyne's posts for as long as you need to with a little human to take care of! <3

[dorchadas]

Thank you!!

I keep trying to find the time and Maybe this weekend!