Paul’s birthday took place on August 14, just like it does every year.
Since Paul always cooks the meals for us, I decided that on his birthday I would make lunch for him to give him a break.
So, once again I consulted Google in order to find The Best Summer-y Recipes In The World.
But first, I made some delicious homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
They took a long time to make, but they were worth it.
These are Paul’s presents, which got opened after we ate all the cinnamon rolls. This is the lovely little frame I bought him to put in his new GA office in the English building on campus. (check this out: the English building is called “Anspach.” You pronounce it “ann-spa.” Crazy, huh?) I printed a lovely wedding photo of us to put in the frame, but alas: I accidentally left the print at my mother’s house last time we were there. And so, I drew my own artwork to put inside the frame as a temporary placeholder. Yes, those are stick people. We are pretty skinny after all, you know.
These are Paul’s new chopsticks. They are metal, just like regular silverware. They are supposed to be way more sanitary than bamboo chopsticks cuz they clean much easier. Plus, now we will look dignified whenever we have Paul’s Famous Sushi for dinner.
This is Paul’s new T-shirt. It is green, unlike 80% of Paul’s other T-shirts which are all either grey or white. Conveniently, green also happens to be my favorite color. He looks so happy to be in my favorite color.
I also bought him grey shorts, but I bought the wrong size. Luckily, Kohl’s has this new kiosk thing in their stores where you can order any size you need online and get free shipping. So he has a new pair on the way.
This is the veggie / bean salad I made for lunch. This one turned out to be a bit of a dud. Yes, that’s right: Google let me down. Oh well.
This is the Watermelon Cooler I made. It is basically like a smoothie but without the ice. I did not follow the recipe’s measurements exactly. I pureed 1 seedless watermelon in the blender (required two batches), and then added 1 can of frozen pink lemonade concentrate. Then I refrigerated it overnight with some freshly picked mint leaves (from our jungle-ous balcony) to give it a little zing. My adjusted recipe yielded about 3/4 gallon. It was absolutely fantastic! We will definitely be making this again.
This is the Cheddar Bruschetta I made. It was also a fabulous hit (thank you Google). The tomatos are freshly picked romas from our jungle-ous balcony of course. I’ve never tasted better bruschetta.
I also made some Avocado Ham Sandwiches, but I forgot to take pictures of them. But it’s okay: you’ve seen one ham sandwich, you’ve seen ’em all. But I did manage to find some absolutely charming braided-looking bread to make the sandwiches with, by the way.
Thus is the story of the birthday of Paul.