This past April yours truly turned the Big Three-Oh. Yep, I’m now 30 years old. Time sure flies. I feel like I was just in college not long ago, but it’s been 8 years since I’ve graduated. On the plus side I don’t really feel any older. Sure, I’ve already had two open heart surgeries, which are usually reserved for those about 35 years older than me, but I’m feeling good. I think I’ve got at least another good 50 birthdays ahead of me.
So, anyway, to celebrate the occasion Chanin threw a birthday bash at our house. We had a good turnout and about 15 out-of-town guests were able to make it as well as our Maricopa friends (our neighbors).
Chanin planned a nice menu of tasty Mexican food.
Menu
- ♦ Pot o’ homemade beans
- ♦ Mexican rice
- ♦ Marinated carne asada for the grill
- ♦ Fresh fruit salad
- ♦ Homemade salsa
- ♦ Homemade pico de gallo
- ♦ Jalapeño poppers (mmmm…bacon wrapped)
- ♦ Birthday Cheescake (courtesy of my Mom and Mark)
- ♦ Margaritas
I kind of slacked off when it came to picture taking duties. Normally, I’m all about taking pictures of food but since it was my party I mostly just relaxed and hung out with everyone. I even took a dip in our pool, which was the first time I’d been in since the water has been way too cold.
The party was a hit and everyone had tons o’ fun. Next year I think I’ll throw Chanin a 30th birthday party so she can just relax and have fun!
Shout Outs
- ♦ Thanks to my lovely wife Chanin for all of the hard work and preparation. All of the food was yumtacular. I just made that word up, I’ll try to never use it again.
- ♦ Thanks to Eric for helping with the grill duties, the meat turned out perfect.
- ♦ Thanks to my mum and Mark for bringing that cheescake from The Cheescake Factory. That was a nice and unexpected treat.
- ♦ Thanks to Ruben and Karen for helping with the party supplies. That was some fancy decoratin’!
- ♦ And thanks to everyone for the birthday gifts and for just making the trip out here! We hope to see all of you again really soon!
I’ve always loved my Grandma’s chile (chee-leh as she says) but usually have to go long periods without it since we don’t all live near each other. I’m actually lucky enough to have two Grandmas who make excellent chile. So, on a recent visit to Grandma Becky’s we brought home a jar and promptly gobbled it up. We figured it was time we tried to make it on our own. After firming up a few details with the Grams we hit the store and bought all of the goodies. Chanin is an excellent cook/chef so she improvised a little to make it her own.
I roasted those bad boys on the grill as the first step.
The house smelled really good after bringing the veggies back inside. I’m not too clear on the rest of the steps but after much blending and seasoning Chanin produced an excellent chile. I know she wants to try a few more things to tweak the recipe but I’m sure it will become a family recipe.
Here are a few pictures from some of our recent grill experiences. These were taken a little while ago but I’ve been slackin’ on the website duties.
First up is our rotisserie chicken. This was actually our second attempt. Both times it turned out really good but next time we think we’re going to brine the bird first. That should give it some more flavor internally. The meat turned out really tender and juicy but just not a ton of flavor, except for the skin.
To accompany the chicken I decided to try grilling some artichokes. I was inspired by the recipe I saw in my new grilling cookbook (Thanks Phil and Angela!). Well, it didn’t work. They looked pretty good but were really rubbery and tough. Actually, I couldn’t even pull a leaf off to eat. Oh well, I may try again but cook them longer and make sure they have enough moisture in them.
Next, we have some beef and veggie kebabs. Chanin made a really good marinade for the meat (london broil) and we added different types of peppers, onions, and pineapple (Thanks Phil and Angela again!). They were “da bomb” as the kids say these days (do they still say that?).
We have some exciting news in our lives to share with our loyal readers (all 3 of you!). You won’t want to miss it!
Click HERE to see what all the buzz is about!
P.S. We’ll still be updating this site and have a lot of things to post, but we’ve been busy! OK, enough with the exclamation marks, but we’re excited.
Powered by FireStats