My Birthday

I was spoiled on my birthday.

I was treated to an amazing dinner at Chez Henri (which I have now deemed my new Boston favorite. Also a plus since it allowed me to practice my French pronunciation. Hehe)

with delicious filet
and amazing duck
and equally amazing appetizers too (foie gras and tuna tartare), all capped off with decadent dessert. However, because they were so delicious, we scarfed them down so fast that our plates were licked clean by the time we remembered the camera. Okay, for the dessert, we didn't have a good excuse but...Oops, next time!

The city was even covered in a celebratory white birthday frosting, in my honor, I'm sure...(right)...
and we ended the evening with even more delicious cake surrounded by wonderful friends.
I went to bed a year older, not necessarily any wiser, but definitely incredibly full!

Birthday, Part II

Beautiful Flowers

Photo Tree

and a cookbook (along with lots of cooking toys)

What more could I ask for?

Nothing.

Except for maybe some cozy, wool socks. Oh wait, I got those. PERFECT!

I'm ready for the new year!

Orange and Red, and Blue

"Orange and Red"

(But the orange doesn't really come through.)

"Blue Horizon"

Checkers

TonTon (pronounced Tone Tone)

When my brother first left for Harvard Medical School, he ditched the sunshine, went all the way across the country, adopted a new time zone, and left his little sister (me, sniff) behind. I missed him dearly so for Christmas that year, he brought me back a bear whom I aptly named "TonTon," the nickname I had for my brother when I was growing up.

Two years later, when I had the fortune of following him to HMS, TonTon was going to make the trip with me. In preparation for the new climate, I bought socks and close-toed shoes (I've always been more of a flip-flop girl), and my mom and I started a project...

My mom is extremely crafty and works miracles with knitting needles (she made all of our clothes when we were young). So for her, this was a piece of cake, but for me, it was quite difficult and is now something I treasure and still look at with amazement. Thus, with the sub-freezing weather here in Boston, there came a change in outfits.

Needless to say, I still have a lot more to learn from mom.

My favorites include the hat ball, ear holes, detail and tassels on the scarf, thumbs and heels on the mittens and socks, and their bow ties. Okay, so I guess that's pretty much everything, but can you blame me?

Brilliant Colors in Spain

For a very special person on a very special birthday

Orange gummy bear theme

With a cake to match

a personal collage

a card (and my attempt at trying to be funny in French)

and a few pink clouds...

Bone Soup Ramen

A traditional soup-based ramen dish; so simple, yet so DELICIOUS!

The secret is in the soup, which comes from hours and hours of simmering bone to create the perfect broth. When I went to a local Korean market and looked in the butcher's corner, I couldn't help but notice a bag of bones. Even better it was only $4! JACKPOT! I think the others might have thought I was crazy for being so excited, but who can hide such excitement?! (sarcasm)

So from the minute I got home, the bones went right into a large pot. 5 or 6 hours later, the soup base "felt" ready. We had ramen with beef, mushrooms, tofu, seaweed, topped with a poached egg and it was delicious. Even better is that it warmed us right up from the inside out on a cold winter's day.

What's great is that there was more soup base left. YUM!

Two cakes=Moose

For our hunting/fishing/nature-loving friend's birthday, we wanted to make him a cake that's as loveable as he is. We debated on whether to go with a fish or a moose, and when it came down to decision time, we opted for the latter.

It took 2 1/2 cakes, three different frostings, and lots of man hours. In the end, the cake looked a little like Bullwinkle, and we learned that David is amazing at masterfully frosting nearly impossible surfaces.

Antlers: Chocolate lava chip cake with mint frosting

Face: Death by Chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting

Nose: Chocolate coffee cake with butter frosting

Tongue: puff pastry with Raspberry jam

Happy Birthday Wayne!

My two favorite baking tools...

$15 handheld blender from Target, and a year-round Christmas tree spatula from Miss Darcy B...

(I also always use a pair of chopsticks, be it for baking or cooking, which is a habit that I probably got from my mom.)

Together, we've made countless batches of deliciousness over the years.

Two weekends ago, it was blueberry scones and MANY chocolate cakes.

The chocolate cakes were the structure of a more extravagant birthday cake (pictures to come)

A painting I did during a weekend in lab...

plus another one that came on a lazy Sunday

Had a dream

Then this LARGE painting came out over the next two weeks...

Mugs, big and small