They Say It's Your Birthday....

Last night, we celebrated my husband's birthday.
With way too much sangria, but that's a story for another day.
And the reason why I'm a bit grumpy today, but you didn't hear that from me.

We're not big into the whole gift giving, hubby and I. Well, I like gifts, but have given up hope of ever receiving one so we've now resorted to cooking for each other on our respective holidays.

Originally, he requested that I make spaghetti and meatballs. Which is good, but not if you have fifteen people coming over to celebrate and it's hotter than an inferno outside.

So, we changed the menu. To a man's meal- steak and potatoes. But, I did manage to modify it slightly to satisfy the ladies that would be attending. (Not that there was any ladylike behavior after the large amounts of sangria, but that's a story for another day).

I settled on Bistro Steaks with a Provencal butter- from Ina Garten's latest cookbook. I couldn't find the cut of steak she recommended, but did get some gorgeous strips of tri-tip from Costco. Basically, you put an obscene amount of butter in your food processor with chives, thyme, garlic, lemon zest, pepper, capers and anchovies. Process it all up, form it into a log, try to not make poopie jokes, and pop it into the fridge.

Douse your steaks with olive oil, and then rub kosher salt and herbs de provence all over them. Grill them for about 4 minutes on each side, and serve em' on up with some poopie herb butter dolloped on top.

I roasted some asparagus and baked some potatoes (sour cream and chives! Pedestrian, but oh so good) and attempted to make this:. Which was a disaster. Because the frosting wouldn't set, and my house was hot, and the whole dang cake slid around more than I do when I've been drinking glog and ice skating.

So I dumped it into a bowl. And named it, "The Birthday Bowl."(original! I know!) It tasted good. And after all that sangria, no one really noticed.

Maybe he'll go back to getting me presents again. You never know.