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| Birthday Cake |
Today was my daughter's birthday and we celebrated the day, together. Such a blessing to be together on her birthday! She had taken the day off work to relax and enjoy her special day, so she got to sleep in on her birthday!
M stopped by to tend to the garden this morning and it was the anniversary of his tending to our garden! His aunt Katy was a former neighbor of mine and while I was at the hospital to have my daughter (I had to spend a few extra days at the hospital, both before and after my daughter was born), Katy had M mow the lawn in the front (back when I still had a lawn!) and, afterwards, we asked him to continue to care for the garden for us! He's been tending to the garden, ever since! He's practically family by now! LOL.
My daughter had wanted Japanese food for her birthday. So, in the afternoon, we ordered food from the neighborhood Japanese restaurant to bring home to eat:
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| Birthday Lunch |
I ordered my usual - the teriyaki beef meal, which comes with miso soup, salad, rice, and pickled vegetables. My daughter ordered an assortment of appetizers and other dishes: lobster croquette, sunomono, two sushi rolls, chicken karaage, ikamaru (whole grilled quid), pork katsudon (or pork cutlet donburi) and she, too, received a bowl of miso soup. A lot of food, as you can see, but, she had some for dinner as well, and there are leftovers for tomorrow, too.
After lunch, daughter and I took some milkrice treats (imbul kiribath), a container of chicken curry, and a bag of fresh oranges, to friend R (along with the form she had asked me to print out for her). R had been my daughter's Montessori teacher and has known my daughter since daughter was 4 years old (that was how I first met R and we've been friends ever since).
After we came home, I baked a cake, using my old sponge cake recipe. I flavored it with almond essence instead of vanilla and dusted it with powdered sugar since my daughter didn't want any frosting on it. I decorated the cake with some premade roses that I had.
While the cake was still baking, friend R called to say that she had ordered stringhoppers (idiappan; a type of rice noodles) and yellow coconut sambol from the lady who makes them for our dinner and to expect them to arrive in a few minutes!
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| Stringhoppers and Yellow Coconut Sambol |
Oh, my! Daughter chose to have some of her leftovers from lunch for her dinner, but, I had some stringhoppers with chicken curry and the coconut sambol! I froze some of the rest and kept the rest in the fridge. We had birthday cake for dessert!
Today, I am grateful for:
- My daughter
- Being able to celebrate her birthday with her
- M tending to the garden for me
- Family and friends who called with well wishes
- Friend R sending dinner
Today's joyful activity was celebrating my daughter's birthday with her.
Today, we had sunshine and a high of 85F! Tomorrow's forecast is for rain and a high of only 71F! Friday and Saturday are supposed to be even cooler!
Tomorrow will be a regular working day for my daughter and I plan to do some housework and decluttering.
How was your Wednesday? What are your plans for Thursday?
What a joyful celebration! And great food, especially your cake. So glad that you could spend the day together. I'm hoping to see my cousin today, as she is on holiday nearby. That will be a treat, and then my Bro and his wife are coming for a meal tonight (Bob is cooking!) it's all food and family!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a joyful celebration, Angela. :) I hope you have lovely visits with your family! It's a blessing to be able to be with family and friends and share good food with them, again, isn't it?
DeleteMany Happy Birthday wishes to your daughter. How lovely for you to share her special day together. Her birthday cake and all the food looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteYesterday was a good day for me. Tilly went to the groomers and is looking gorgeous and I had a video consultation and have now been discharged from the eye hospital. Not as good a day as your day of celebrations though :)
Thank you, Eileen; it was lovely to be together on her birthday.
DeleteI'm glad you had a good day, too; different celebrations, but, each was special in its own way. :) Did Tilly tolerate the grooming a little better, this time around?
Sending warmest Birthday wishes to your lovely daughter. I'm so glad you got to spend her special day with her. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules; yes, it was a blessing to spend the day together. :)
DeleteSending Happy Birthday wishes to your daughter. All the birthday foods looks and sounds lovely, and how kind of R to organise the stringhoppers and coconut sambol for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm having a quiet Thursday. It's raining and is one of those days when I just can't get warm, so I've switched the heating up and am snuggled under a blanket and will get on with some reading. Oh, and playing piano as well of course!
Thank you, Eileen. It was very kind of R to arrange for the stringhoppers for our dinner!
DeleteA quiet Thursday sounds good to me! I'm sorry it is wet and cold, though. We were supposed to have rain, today, but, it is sunny and the rain is supposed to arrive tomorrow, instead. Stay warm and have fun playing your piano. :)
Happy Birthday to your daughter!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. :)
DeleteHappy Belated Birthday to your daughter. Yes, how lovely that you could spend it together.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary-Lou. It's truly a blessing that we could have been together to celebrate the day. :)
DeleteHappy belated birthday to your daughter! It sounds like you both had a lovely day together. The cake looks delicious! Celie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. We enjoyed spending the day together. I think I enjoyed the cake more than my daughter did! :D
DeleteHappy Belated Birthday to you daughter! So now we finally know how the very useful M came to be your gardener. How lucky you are to have him. We all could use an M in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThank you, June. M has been a wonderful friend over the years! :)
DeleteHappy birthday! Sounds like a lovely day, and that's certainly a marvellous feast. Very pretty cake!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella. It was a good day, spent together with plenty of good food. :)
DeleteBelated happy birthday to your daughter. The cake looks pretty and festive, and the Japanese food looks great. I'm glad you had a good celebration.
ReplyDeleteWe have sunshine today and I'm noticing how much longer the days are!
Thank you, Bushlady. It was truly a blessing to be together on her birthday, this year, too. Yes, the days are getting longer, aren't they? Glad you are having sunshine and I hope it is warming up a bit, as well. :)
DeleteBelated happy birthday to your daughter! I know you have really enjoyed her time with you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. This past year of having her home with me has flown and I know that we didn't feel the stress of the pandemic as much because we were together. I am so happy she was able to continue staying with me. :)
DeleteHappy belated birthday to little Bless!
ReplyDeleteString hoppers and pol mallung made me really hungry. LOL
Thank you, Nil. One of these days, when things are more settled, you need to pay us a visit! :)
DeleteHappy Birthday to your daughter! She sounds like such a wonderful woman and I know how much you've enjoyed having her live with you these past months.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. I have loved having her home with me! :)
DeleteWhat a beautiful cake.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your daughter!!! And many more.
What a nice array of foods you had for your celebrations. It all looks delicious.
And how nice of friend R to add the string hoppers to the party. :)
I like the story of how M became your gardener.
Thank you, Debra. I've conveyed your wishes to my daughter. We probably ordered too much food, but, we've been enjoying the leftovers all week! I also froze some of the stringhoppers, so we can have them another night, later in the month, before my daughter goes back to Berkeley.
DeleteYes, M has been tending to the garden for a long time! :)