a cookbook and a cooking pot

Just a few days ago, another year went by.

'Sright.

And to commemorate the event, Ana gave me a snot-suffused kiss, a knee-the-belly-pull-the-hair kind of hug clambering up sweetly on my sofa-ed self, and a treasured card with her chicken scratchings.

As if it wasn't enough that I wasn't expecting any fanfare, D threw me off my balance by starting off the day *forgetting* to wish me (apparently deliberately, ya-huh!) when I had to resort to gentle reminder by way of looks like <insert celebrity name here> is celebrating their birthday TOO today.

And, we got into the usual eternal rush that most workday mornings present, deciding to postpone any niceties till evening. Boy was I feeling giddy when D and Ana decided to sing impromptu in the car on our ride to work that morning, "Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you..."

D didn't work late that day. He came home on time for dinner, which, I must mention, was made by me. Yes, me, the birthday girl, who could have been swept off her feet to a nice restaurant, but instead fell hopelessly for the much-(ab)used spiel, "Baby and I love your food, you make much better stuff than they can serve at any restaurant, besides, you would not have liked any place I chose... I would love to cook for you but you don't seem to enjoy it much..."

All very sweet, and designed to sound flattering, but, quite true.

Frowns and potential shunning by neo-feminists not-withstanding, I was thrilled to receive D's gifts pictured above: Best of ATK recipes book, plus a perfect 3qt pot I had been wanting for a long time, but, never found the right look/quality/price until I pointed this particular one out to D at IKEA.

Of course, he promptly said, "we don't need another pot" and that was that on that day.

The highlight of the day was to read the inscription D penned in the Best of ATK cookbook: I am sure their "Best" is no match for yours !!

Knowing him, I have no doubt he meant it. Coming from a guy whose gushing remark would be a sincere "Very Nice" twice as opposed to the perfunctory "nice" once, I'll take this as a lavish compliment.

Anyway, another year has rolled by and all I can show for it is my saner self. Not necessarily wiser self, but definitely a mellow self still learning the intricacies of being a mom...

happy birthday!

It was D's birthday last week and since he was not feeling well, we didn't do anything special.

I got a simple jade green Sake set for him. I was sort of on a budget. D liked the gift a lot.

Uwajimaya in Beaverton had a fairly good selection of assorted pieces so I could put together a set to fit my budget. Maybe someday I can get him another fancier and prettier set.

While on the subject, Uwajimaya is quite an interesting store. My only teensy complaint is that it is pretty cramped for a huge store. Especially the kitchenware and fancy goods section.

But, the store clerk at the gifts section was quite helpful and friendly: my first choice of sake carafe was a different one, but, I could not find matching cups for it. So, she offered to call Seattle and see if they can send some over. Turns out it would take weeks to get it. I wanted this set for his birthday - in a few days. So, I looked around and found the jade green cups I liked, but, then, the carafe to match the cups was sold out. Finally, she found one from the stock room that was close enough.

We postponed the birthday meal till D felt a little better and could actually taste and smell again.

I made a simple meal of grilled vegetable skewers. We enjoyed it all the more as we are in the middle of a mild NW winter - not the barbecue season, and firing up the grill is quite fun when we get to stand next to its warmth out in the cold patio.

Quite coincidentally, D's mom got him this beautiful box of Chinese origin as his birthday gift. It is about 8"x3"x2". It has Phoenix and Dragon detail in gorgeous red and gold. Some chart and writing is on the inside of it, sort of distressed looking. D can read a bit of Chinese, so, maybe he can try to figure out if it says anything special or interesting.