Happy Birthday Sweetie

Yesterday was R's birthday. The BIG 5-0. I asked him if he would like a party with all his friends. "No, I'd just like to spend it with you." I asked him what he would like for a gift. "Nothing, except you." He's easy to please...the thing is...he MEANS it! How awesome is that?

So, I did what any decent loving girlfriend would do to start his day off right -- I made him pancakes.

Photo courtesy of Almond Board of California.

The recipe is from Elana's Pantry. They were AWESOME! I doused them with peaches simmered in butter rum syrup. Best pancakes I've ever made.

Since going grain free, R. is being introduced to grain free foods and so far, so good.

I sent him off to work with a refreshing, tasty and healthy smoothie.

And for dinner I made him one of his favorite dishes...nice salad, stuffed peppers, and roasted sweet potatoes.

For dessert I 'whipped' up ... there's whipped egg whites in the cake as well as the meringue :-) ... this flourless chocolate torte with cherry preserves from Martha Stewart.

It's the first time I've made meringue, and although the results weren't stellar, it looked pretty good and R. was impressed with me trying something new. But, we both agreed, the cake would have been better without the super sweetness of the cherry preserves and without the super sweetness of the meringue. A dusting of confectioners sugar (or not) would have been just fine. The taste of the cake was excellent and would have shown off better without all the sweet goopiness.

I did want to give him a gift other than myself, but what? As I was sitting in his man-chair pondering the thought, it hit me. A mug rug!!

When I started reading about mug rugs awhile back I thought, "why would you make one of those?" I didn't get it. A small placemat/big coaster for tea and treats. But as I sat there staring off into space, looking at the coffee table the other day, it came to me. See, R. doesn't like to put his morning tea and oatmeal on the coffee table for fear it may get scratched. So, he'll grab whatever else is on the table and use it as a coaster/placemat. It would only be right to make him his own little coaster-mat, otherwise known as a mug rug. I knew I would have to explain to him what it was when he opened it, and I could see he wasn't sure about the whole deal, he said he'd want to hang it as art, (he's sweet, and again, he meant it!) but he put it into use this morning and was pretty pleased to have it.

I had researched mug rugs before making it. I found a blog that noted this guy's name that had started the whole craze. It looked pretty recent so I figured it was a new thing that this guy thought up (because they said he did, why wouldn't I believe them?)

I was talking with my friend Lenore today, telling her the story of R's birthday and she said, "oh, a mug rug, my grandma used to make them." REALLY? I knew it had to be quite awhile back because Grandma is dead, and has been for quite some time. "Yeah, back in 1993." I thought that was pretty cool.

He tells me he had a GREAT birthday!   Mission accomplished.