Birthday Spoils

Cake that my Sweedum made me

My birthday was lovely, I had a super good time with my family and my Sweets. I am another year older - and we hope wiser, but that's always debatable! I don't want to brag, but... I got some awesome stuff! It's not really bragging. It's being appreciative! People gave me some very thoughtful things, things that I'll keep and use for a long long time.

My Sweedum (morphed version of Sweets or Sweetie, it's a term of endearment that my partner shares with my cat. And no, I'm not a lesbian, it is indeed a male partner, I just don't like the word boyfriend, it makes me feel like I'm in junior high again... ain't nobody wanna go back to junior high. Nothing against lesbians either, I'm just not one, and I'd hate to make my Sweedum sound like a girl. Sweedum, if you're reading this... stop laughing! We'll talk about it later.) got me a book on cast iron cooking, from Le Creuset, no less! This is something I would have gotten myself eventually, if I could get my hands on a copy! Hard to find one these days.

I love cooking with cast iron, it's very enjoyable, and it turns out some wonderful food. I make pizza on a great big cast iron "stone" and sometimes smaller ones on a cast iron griddle, I fry all sorts of things on my great big 12" cast iron skillet (definitely some of the best fried potatoes have come out of this skillet), and I have made stews, braises, soups and even breads in my Le Creuset French Oven. The French Oven (I totally have the exact one that's on that cover) is now the most expensive kitchen tool I have. It was nothing short of a commitment. Suffice it to say, this has become just about my favourite cooking method - partly because it gives even heat distribution. I am very excited to cook some of the wonderful things in this book; it has a full assortment of dishes, with great range and variety in terms of cooking methods and multi-cultural flavours (Asian, Mediterranean, Moroccan, French, etc.). I'm extremely excited! Thank you Sweedum!

I got another cookbook too, one I'm also very psyched about! It's from his mother (who also made me a fabulous apron!), and it's full of great recipes for all sorts of breads! My attempts at bread have been thus far mildly unsuccessful, but that is going to change, I am determined.

Mom got me a copy of my favourite childhood movie, which I watched twice a day for an entire summer when I was ten or so. It's the Parent Trap with Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson. And from me, I got an autobiographical recounting of Julia Child's days in France. I always read before bed, and I love bios and reading about France. Before I got this book, I was trying to reread A Year In The Merde by Stephen Clarke (all about adjusting to the way of life in Paris), but I got sick of this character's/narrator's perspective - he's a douche, and it's sometimes entertaining, but I cannot tolerate douchebaggery at bedtime. So this one fills the bill, and it's better, because it's biographical as well. Also, I didn't know how much I like Julia Child - she's awesome! - I saw a few episodes of her cooking program, which were... train-wrecks. Ok, maybe they're not all that bad, so I will withhold judgement. But I'll just say, I saw her make an onion soup, and it was done in a way that made zero sense... and then she burned it under the broiler. Burned it. Burned it good. But, in terms of just who she was, and her accomplishments, and her attitude, she's really something! I love reading about her talking about her life, in her own words, and most of all I love the way she talks about her husband Paul, it's heart-warming and cute. Good relationships aren't something you read about very often, and I like the things she says about him, and the appreciation they had for each other. Not to mention she writes about things in a very positive way, and it's nice to read. Much better than the D-Bag approach to life in France.

And there were napkin rings.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

A... nother year older.