Birthday Bash

 

We celebrated our older son’s 40^th birthday last evening.  Has it really been 4 decades since he inhaled his first breath?  Since I eagerly held his swaddled body, just under 7 lbs.?  I still remember being spellbound by the mysterious reality of his presence: his feeble cry, miniature features, and personality waiting to be unveiled.  His aptitudes and gifts, ready to be developed.

Before dinner last night I watched him swim in the lake with his 7-year-old son with special needs - a watchdog intent on protection - and remembered how he used to terrorize his siblings (and me) in a similar environment.  After dinner I watched him sip wine with connoisseur finesse from stemmed crystal and remembered him, at his own older son’s ripe old age of 9, insistently rattling the bottom of his milk glass on the table (a gutsy demand for a refill).

So much water has passed over the dam.  Moments of something close to horror when I watched him impale the stately old maple tree in our back yard with metal throwing stars – lethal weapons that could slice his accomplice (his little brother) to shreds.  Pre-approved, middle-of-the-night raids on my bakery with his college buddies.

There was the day of promise when he shyly but proudly introduced his charming wife-to-be.  And then a phase when he matured into a spiritual giant filled with compassion and mercy, and became an astoundingly successful businessman. So much change for this mother’s eyes to watch. 

When asked how he wanted to celebrate this milestone birthday, he said, “The usual. Foooood!”  So his wife presented him with a manly dinner on our lakeside deck last evening: grilled marinated shrimp, grilled rare rib eye steak with a decadent bleu cheese sauce, roasted/smashed red potatoes with rosemary, spinach salad with carmelized onions and mushrooms and hot bacon dressing, rolls, and chocolate lava cake decked out with 40 flaming candles.

His response? “When I’m dying, I’ll remember this meal.”  I think that means it was a success.

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P.S. I offered a couple of “healthy alternatives” at the celebratory meal as well: gluten-dairy-sugar-free zucchini bread made with quinoa flour and brown rice flour (good flavor although I underbaked it a little), and dairy-and-sugar-free homemade chocolate ice cream.  The ice cream was incredible – as addictively rich and sweet as any gourmet ice cream made from whipping cream and refined sugar.  For those who might be interested, the recipe follows:

Mix in a blender, chill, and freeze as per crank or electric freezer recommendations:

4 cans (14 oz. each) unsweetened, full fat coconut milk

6 TBS. cocoa powder

¼ + 1/8 tsp. Kal brand stevia

1 TBS. vanilla

4 egg yolks (we used local free-range eggs, super-fresh and healthy)

pinch salt