Happy birthday, Yang!

Today we got together to celebrate Yang's birthday! It's tomorrow, but we wanted to try brunch at Pork and Pickles. Hi, Jasper!



Ben and I shared a ton of food. Corn pancakes with berries!



Soft scramble of preserved lemon, chives and dill creme fraiche, with an arugula and radish salad and crispy potatoes. These eggs were AMAZING. The lemon!! The dill! I think they are the best scrambled eggs of my life.



And finally, shishito peppers on top of creamy polenta, with romesco sauce and a poached egg. Everything was delicious!



Jasper provided entertainment.



Look at how proud he looks!



I love how everyone else is paying attention to what's happening next to me, but Jasper is still hamming it UP for the camera.



After brunch, we headed back to Ben and my place for cake!! Vana made some cakes for Yang. A pink elephant and a silly alligator! So silly!






Yang turned 43, so don't pay any attention to what you see on the candles.



Uncles!






Happy birthday, Yang!!!



Yay, cake!

Pumpkin Cooking Club

Yumi, Summer and I hosted cooking club tonight at my house. Our theme was "Pumpkin." Since Halloween is right around the corner, I put out a few spooky decorations.



I started us off with a bourbon pumpkin smash cocktail, with a spiced sugar rim! These were amazing. And they tasted even better in my new unicorn glasses!



Yumi made a salad with arugula, roasted pumpkin pine nuts and feta. This was a hit and we ate it ALL!



She also made savory pumpkin scones that were amazing.



Time to eat!









I made pumpkin soup, and served it in pumpkin bowls! I topped the soup with sage blue cheese pesto and spicy pumpkin seeds. These beautiful pumpkins came from Primaterra Farm at the Athens Farmer's Market. I've gotta say, pumpkin soup tastes extra pumpkiny when you eat it from a pumpkin!



For dessert, Summer made pumpkin sweet potato pierogis with marshmallow sauce and pecans.



These were fabulous, and the marshmallow sauce was so fun!



Mmmmm. Three cheers for pumpkins!

Happy First Birthday, Jasper!

Today we celebrated Jasper's first birthday!



Look at that little (almost) one-year-old boy!



Joe made a MASSIVE birthday cake.



Birthday feast!



Mmm.



The kids played pin the tail on the fox.



They got to decorate their own fox tails!









Vana explaining the rules.



Pin it!



Jasper enjoyed watching the game. Look at his foxy little red hair!



Jasper!



So many tails.



Then it was time for birthday cake. All eyes on Jasper!



Whoa, look at that cake.



Grandpa and baby Jasper!



Jasper had his own special baby cake. He had never had cake before! He was very timid and gentle at first.



He was fascinated with the texture for a long time before he even realized he could eat it!






First taste!



He got pretty into it.



And the grownups got pretty into the chocolate cake!






Excellent job, Jasper! May you enjoy many cakes for many years to come.



Time for presents!



Jasper had fun with the papers and ribbons.












A little fox outfit for Jasper! And one for momma!



Having a blast!



Happy birthday, sweet boy!