A Happy Birthday

Another year gone by, another year older, and wiser of course. I just celebrated my 23rd birthday on Monday, and what a wonderful celebration it was! I spent a relaxing day reading, catching up with family, and generally taking it easy. In the afternoon, I got an international birthday phone call! It was the first I had heard from Michelle since she left, and that phone call was the best gift she could have given me. :-)

For dinner, my wonderful husband took me out to a nice Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, and Paul even let me get cheesecake for dessert!!! When we came back home, Paul had two presents wrapped and waiting. The first was a Science Mystery Theater 3000 movie lampooning the film "This Island Earth." It was a sweet gift, because the first time we met we watched a Science Mystery Theater 3000 together. The other gift was the biggie: Paul got me Julia Child's book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking!!!!!!!!" I squealed and jumped up and down and just about died! My passion for cooking has been continuously growing since moving to Ft. Wayne, and I have begun to develop my own philosophy concerning the art. Good cooking should use mostly fresh ingredients, relying on as little canned and pre-fab ingredients as possible. A good cook does as much as possible from scratch and by hand. It is less expensive to do so, usually tastes better, and is so much more fun. Julia Child's cookbook falls perfectly in line with this philosophy. The book is designed to turn a moderately good cook into a very fine cook. It doesn't just contain recipes, but it actually teaches them. It explains why certain foods behave the way they do, and teaches the precise technique needed to prepare foods in the finest and tastiest way. I have noticed, reading through the book, that the tastiest way often includes obscene amounts of butter and cream. However, I like Julia's maxim: "Small servings, no seconds, no snacking, and try a little bit of everything." Amen sista.

Myrtle even got me a birthday present as well! She gave me a CD with all of the evening and morning services from the Lutheran Service Book sung by the seminary Kantori. She has this CD herself, and introduced me and Paul to it several weeks ago. The night we listened to it for the first time, we all sat out on the porch and sang through every service together. It's a great devotional resource, and Paul and I are both very grateful to Myrtle for such a thoughtful gift.

It was a wonderful birthday. I think 23 will be a very good year. :-)