London Calling

"40"

Blu turned 40 today.  We started the celebration early by listening to U2's "40" followed by a latte in a Starbucks "1971" mug and presents.   (Dad!  We got you an iPad! -- no surprises in casa Young.)  And, yes, I did make another cake this morning.  I had time to recover from the past night's "event" and I am too stubborn to fail.

My 40 year old date picked me up at work for lunch and we went to Chilis -- a favorite of ours for sure!  Fire roasted guacamole and tacos.  Yummy.

Tonight, while the old man blew leaves, we made dinner.  Tres lait cheese.  (Is that right?  Want to say "tres leches."  No matter.  3 cows = really, really good cheese.)  Wine.  Scallops wrapped in bacon -- Violet almost choked to death and Emily reaped the benefit of spit out bacon on the floor.  Mussels in a white wine butter sauce that London couldn't get enough of.  Lots of bread.  MMMM.  

Then, we sang happy birthday -- no cha cha cha -- and ate our cake.

Now London is just about done with his shower and Violet is asking to read a book, so I'm busy again.  40 was a lot different than 30, but I think Blu still enjoyed his birthday.

Caketastrophe

You can see it in his eyes.  Something has gone terribly wrong.  Dad's birthday cake had an accident and did a flip into the sink.  No flourless chocolate cake for Blue on his 40th birthday tomorrow -- at least not a homemade cake.

The beginning went so well.  The kids helped measure and pour and stir and the cake was safely in the bain marie (aka water bath which the kids thought was really cool).

Then, after I removed the spring form pan from the bain marie, and pulled at the aluminum foil around the bottom, that's when it happened.  It was so fast!  I could hardly believe that it happened.

The clasp on the side of the pan must have been pulled by the foil.  (And the pan is pretty old, so it may have been a little warped to begin.)  Suddenly, all that I held in my hands was the pan rim.  When I looked down, I saw that the base had flipped and the cake -- which had not yet set -- was a pile of mush in my sink.

I took a few photos so that Blue could see his cake.  Outside of a few bites that clung to the bottom of the pan and the sweet smell of chocolate in the house, the photos were the only evidence of the cake that could've been.

Good news:  I didn't swear or cry when I dropped the cake.  Proud mom moment. But now, I just need a little quiet time to reflect upon the caketastrophe.

A family that bathes together ...

I had to share this photo from the night I wrote the last post.  Big brother is very helpful and they both are cute.  

Today, they're sugar zombies and may crash before we even get to bath time.