"Let the Pampering Begin"

Yesterday was my birthday. My card from Tom is pictured above, perfect with all the pink, the prissy pooch, and even a book and a pair of glasses! (My new ones came in, too; gotta get pictures to show ....)

Anyway, I'd spent a considerable amount of time -- as my regular followers know, I'm sure, given my usual brain paralysis when having to make any kind of choices about food! -- trying to decide where to go for lunch. I usually take the day off from work, just 'cause I can; and I'd rather have a feast earlier in the day than at night, so lunch was the perfect meal to pick for.

But did I want an Indian buffet, which was last year's winner (and which will win most of these types of contests)? God knows I adore Indian food, and a buffet means I can just eat some of everything rather than making only one selection. Buuuuut ....

What about pizza, which I almost never eat so I should treat myself?

What about the Real Seafood Company, where Tom and I had lunch for his birthday? Not only was the food exceptional, but the birthday girl gets a huge discount on her entree in addition to a free dessert. There's even a half-pound burger on the menu to keep Jeremy, my non-fish eater, happy.

What about a new deli here in town, a branch of one in the heavily Jewish suburbs of Detroit that I've eaten at and loved??? Corned beef, brisket, both old and new pickles ... food for my aging soul.

What about just going out for a fabulous dessert, rather than a full meal?

Oh, and then there's the whole "birthday cake" issue, too ... oy. Bake one for myself, indulging any whims I might have, which is what I usually do? Order an ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins -- chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream, for which I have a distinct affinity? Buy a cupcake assortment? AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!

And then, I decided what I'd like most is to simply have my loved ones join me for a nice, home-cooked meal.

So I made a Sicilian pasta sauce over the weekend, the saga of which will be posted tomorrow. I decided to simply buy a two-layer chocolate cake from Trader Joe's, having read about it at work when the weekly flyer arrived in the mail and my co-worker Michele and I were perusing it. Suddenly, there was clarity! A quart of ice cream that had the Trader Joe's equivalent of peppermint Oreos crumbled into it would be a perfect complement ... et, voila!

Here's the pictorial tour ....

Spinach Salad with Vinaigrette:



Whole Wheat Penne with Sicilian Pasta Sauce:



Good Italian Bread with Butter and/or Seasoned Dipping Oil:



Dark Chocolate Cake:



From Jeremy -- a brand new coffee press, my beloved Intelligentsia coffee, and a beautiful new mug and saucer to sip the goodies from:



From Tom -- a sculptural watch with a flexible rubbery band to fit my scrawny 5-1/2" wrist, a case to hold business cards (which I now need to have made!), and lovely ginger candies:






From my friend Wendy -- a book all about my favorite game show (I was in the contestant pool in 2006, invited out twice but couldn't get there ... God's way of saving me from national humiliation, methinks!), and vanilla cupcakes with her grandmother's famous buttercream frosting:




And then, because today is the 8th and final day of Chanukkah (which began at sundown yesterday), Tom and I enjoyed another small piece of cake with the peppermint ice cream for an evening snack ... :)