The Birthday Celebrations Continue

Whew....birthday season is over at our house. My husband just celebrated his big birthday on Monday. In this house, we have four birthdays all right in a row. Mary Ellie and Fenley are November 25th. Bear is November 27th. Joe, my husband, is December 6th. This makes for the craziest time of year if you throw in Thanksgiving AND preparing for Christmas too.
I made Joe dinner for his birthday. Pretty yummy if I say so myself. I made per his request the following menu: steakhouse steaks in the oven with my special mushroom sauce, roasted rosemary potatoes, asparagus, and he got his favorite cake from his favorite bakery to top the evening off.
The next night his family came into town and took him (us) out to celebrate at a fancy, yummy restaurant in town. So needless to say, I think I should never eat again after all these cakes, cupcakes and celebratory meals. The crazy birthday season has come and gone. I can rest on my laurels for another year! Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet family! Thank you for letting me be part of your big day(s).

We celebrated the twins' birthdays on Thanksgiving right after their nap. Mary Ellie was soooo worn out and miffed. Her motto was "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to". I hope she appreciates what a little character she was when she sees these pictures of herself in the future.

                                                                        Mommy and Daddy trying to NOT burn down Honey's house with the candles while trying to rouse the sleepy children into a festive mood. I think the Turkey Trot, Thanksgiving meal, nap and birthday celebration all in one day was maybe a little much for them. Happy Birthday anyways, Twins!

 
Not a huge fan of me-pictures but I could not resist this sweet picture taken of Baby Bear on his First Birthday. (the real birthday not the par-tay). He never sucked his thumb until the week before his birthday. Maybe he was having a 1 year life crisis? :) It is pretty cute and I love this picture of my baby.

 Oh Bear....Happy First Birthday! Mommy cannot believe you are 1. My how time flies.

  Mary Ellie celebrating Bear's first birthday. I am still debating whether she is cleaning her face or determined to not miss a lick of icing.

 This is Fenley who is a trooper to wear his hat to celebrate Baby Bear's birthday. To be fair, Mary Ellie wanted to wear hers but the ribbon fell out and by the time I fixed it she had moved on to the cupcakes and lost interest in her hat. Fenley was engrossed in the cupcake and did not mind at all!

 I asked my husband if he wanted all ??? candles on his cake for me to sing to him (solo, the kids were in bed). He decided he did so this is what a really old guy's cake looks like. Just teasing, Joe! Happy Happy Birthday to you!

And I could not resist....this is what it looks like when you blow that many candles out...there is SMOKE everywhere. I told him if he keeps wanting all the candles lit I need a bigger cake next year too! Until the smoke clears....here are the yummy recipes he got to enjoy that night as well.


Steakhouse Steaks by Ina Garten (my hero and directly copied from her with my notes in Festive Green)

• 2 (10-ounce) filet mignon
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (don't hold back here, I did and they stick to the pan)
• 1 tablespoon fleur de sel (i did not have this. note to self: pick this up and try)
• 1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns (i actually did not have peppercorns either but i have a grinder that finely grinds...whatever)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, optional (again...USE butter, when has something been bad with butter)
• Roquefort Chive Sauce, recipe follows (I omitted this because the hubby wanted Mushroom Sauce. I will write that recipe out)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and brush them lightly with vegetable oil. Combine the fleur de sel and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the steaks in the mixture, pressing lightly to evenly coat all sides.
When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes.
Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you're actually testing the middle of the steak.) THE PAN will be SERIOUSLY HOT. She fails to mention this and I burnt my hand. So, I drank more vino to dull the pain. Haha.
Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
Let the steaks rest while you whip up the mushroom gravy.

Mushroom Gravy Ingredients:
12 baby portabellas, sliced
12 shitake mushrooms, chopped
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2 c. beef stock

Directions:
preheat large skillet over medium heat. Add Extra Virgin Olive Oil to Pan. I throw in butter after that as well. Season mushrooms to taste in the skillet with salt and pepper. Saute 3-5 minutes until tender. Do not overcook or they get rubbery and tough. Sprinkle in the flour and cook 2 more minutes and whisk in the stock until thickened. Viola! Mushroom gravy that Joe loves and claims he could eat on anything. Nothing fancy and the steaks are easy. Yum! Yum!
Also, a side not, really, do not overcook the meat in the oven because it still cooks under the aluminum foil. I am sure everyone else knows this but alas, I did not!

Okay, I wrote these recipes and edited in haste because we are off to load the car and drive back home to visit our familes for an early holiday trip. I will add the Christmas pictures tonight to get this blog into the spirit of the season too. This blog entry took me all week to finish due to the craziness of the week so fingers crossed there will be more downtime on my trip.