Ashley's Birthday

Ashley hit the big 3-0 last week. He requested chicken and dumplings for his birthday dinner. As the daughter of two New Yorkers, this is a daunting task. Obviously anything I made couldn't compete with the way his grandmother made them and only having eaten them once I didn't have much practical experience. Last year I copped out and got his take out from Cracker Barrel so this year I had to come through. Rachel Ray (of 30-minute meals fame) of all people had a recipe for Chicken and dumplings - so that's what I made. It turned out good - obviously not like grandma's - but it all got eaten so I figured I did a decent job.

For his birthday, I got him a Charbroil gas grill. We have a deck now so we have a place to put a grill. And I figured it was a manly thing he could do and would enjoy. Some friends got him other assorted grill accessories - utensils, apron and hot mit, digital meat thermometer, seasonings, etc.

We had a party with all our friends Saturday night. I didn't quite top the boob cake from last year (see last February's archived posts for a photo) but I think I came pretty close. I scanned a photo from his pinnup calendar and digitally edited it a bit and then had it put on a cake at Harris Teeter.

He seemed to be really happy with it. All in all he took the birthday really well - although the Maker's Mark whiskey and shots we did probably helped :-)