Sometimes I wonder if this guy ended up with the wrong lady given his love for pastries! Or maybe she's the right lady, depending on your perspective. Anyhow, we didn't necessarily set out to celebrate Graham's birthday by indulging in butter-laden dough but it sort of just happened. But it's his last year in his twenties (he's NOT excited about this) so we lived it up and started the day with some doctored-up croissant dough from Trader Joe's that I filled with ham and Gruyere.
We'd planned to take our pastries to a coffee shop so we could accompany them with some espresso. But waking up at 10 AM (the birthday boy, NOT me!) and getting to an 11 o'clock church service from the eastside is not conducive to such things. So, we scarfed them down in the car instead.
Apparently I traded in my creativity for children as my birthday planning skills have greatly diminished over ohhhhhh, about the last 3 years. Poor Graham. Someday I hope to bring the extravagant back! But for our current phase of life, less planning may very well be better as an over-planned day usually goes awry when kids are in tow. Anyway, after church, we decided last minute to head down to Pike Place for more pastries!
This is Graham's absolute favorite lunch treat and the line out the door affirmed it is many others' favorite as well. Isla and I waited in line for our Beef and Cheese & Chicken, Rice and Mushroom (Isla's choice) piroshky. It was the girls' virgin piroshky experience and they just dove right in. There's still evidence of that delicious dough in Emma's car seat!
We were serenaded by a folky group outside the very first Starbucks who provided great music for Isla to show off her latest dance moves.
After wandering the market for a bit, we headed home for naps (which mostly happened in the car). Then it was time for presents. Ok, singular present actually. Graham got a fun new camera lens that will allow us (errr, I mean him!) to take close ups! He played around with it a bit and captured some shots of us girls.
Oh and note the miniature raspberry birthday pie in the background of this one (pastry #3!) If I'm honest, I must confess we have yet to consume it but it's on the agenda for tonight. And the beverage pictured is Graham's raspberry-lime infused water!
Next we dropped the girls off at our friend's house and I took Graham to the Preservation Kitchen where we were served a four course chef's tasting menu in a private dining room (one of the former bedrooms upstairs) with wine pairings for each course. Normally using coupons on a date is considered low-class but ya see, with my hubby, knowing we got a good deal is hugely important to him. So the Bloomspot deal I'd purchased was the inspiration for our evening. We were served Pork Belly w/ Cabbage and Apples that had been braised for 48 hours as our first course. Next came a Yakima Valley Sweet Onion Salad with Bell Peppers, Mango and gorgonzola served in a Cilantro Vinaigrette. For our main dish, we ate Muscovy Duck Breast with Roasted Potatoes in a Ancho Chile Coulis. And for dessert (which was the best course), we had a chocolate torte served inside a caramel nest with peanut butter "dust." We both felt the food was good (for Bothell at least!) but that it all sounded better than it actually tasted. We learned that they'd hired a new chef 3 weeks ago so maybe that was part of it? But, we got a good deal :) and we had good conversation so I think all in all it was a success!
Happy Birthday to my man in his twenties!!!
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