Sunday, April 01, 2007

Beautiful Birthday Food

Tomorrow my beautiful boy turns 21! My parents always treat the birthday family celebrant to dinner at a place of their choosing, so tomorrow we’ll have a Mexican food dinner at Curra’s Grill. Tonight I made Chase a special birthday dinner my way, incorporating his favorite foods, tofu and peanut butter, and keeping it as healthy and low fat as possible. He would have loved to have Indian food again, so instead I took him shopping yesterday at Gandhi Bazar and got him lots of spice mixes and other goodies, then we ate next door at Curry in a Hurry. It wasn’t great, but dinners are only $4.99. We also went shopping at the Asian supermarket so I could restock his kitchen, and to Circuit City to pick out his birthday gift. It was sunny and 80 degrees and we had a blast spending the afternoon together.



Tonight’s entrĂ©e was inspired by a recipe from Japanese Vegetable Cooking - veggie sausage patties made with Gimme Lean sausage, onion, ginger, and soy sauce, pan sauted and topped with lotus root chips.




This cold salad is also inspired from the same book – edamame with grated daikon and carrot, simply seasoned with a sweet vinegar dressing, and oh so good. Surprisingly, this easy dish was everyone’s favorite.


For the tofu dish, a crustless asparagus and sundried tomato quiche – low fat, low cal, and delicious with big fat fresh asparagus.




The requisite steamed broccoli, this time with peanut sauce.




Ready to dig in!




Dessert is from Peanut Butter Planet – Coconut Peanut Butter Wonton Cups with Fresh Mango. The plates are decorated with candy coated sesame seeds I found at Gandhi Bazar. These little treats were a delicious bit of exotic decadence.




All that was left of tonight’s meal was one patty. We all took a walk after dinner.

After dinner tomorrow night, we’ll go back to my folks’ house to open cards and gifts, then have champagne provided by my mom, and strawberry pie provided by me, at Chase’s request, instead of cake. I made the pie today. The strawberries aren’t local (not in yet), but the ones I got were quite sweet so I didn’t need to add a lot of sugar. I think this lovely filling in the oatmeal crust will be just what Chase had in mind.



Of course Chase could see the pie I had made and I asked him to take it over to my parents’ house for me. He said he would try not to eat it before tomorrow night. I remembered I had about a cup and a half of leftover filling in a bowl. So I asked him if he would like to have some, and he was so happy, filling his little wonton cup with strawberry pie filling, again and again, until all the leftovers were gone.



I reminded Chase that I was scared to death he would be born on April Fools Day, so I held him in. I went into labor shortly after midnight on April 1 and he arrived at 8:00 the next morning.



I love you, Sweet Pea! Happy Birthday!

21 comments:

Twisted Cinderella said...

Happy 21st Birthday!

He is a very handsome boy!

Dori said...

Happy B-day Chase. You are fortunate to have a mom who cooks such great food. I'm with you and would choose the pie also.

Amey said...

What a sweet and fun post!

I love all the pictures of your happy birthday boy. It made me laugh outloud that you held him in so that he wouldn't be born on April Fools Day! :) I actually have a yoga student who met his wife because they were both born on April Fools Day.

The food all looks fantastic - I love the candy-coated sesame seeds! How fun.

Happy Birthday Chase!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Chase...hope I could also share a bite of such mouth-watering dishes on ur birthday....u really have a wonderful and loving mom who keeps u under such pamper..Gold Bless u with more happiness and love!have loads of fun on ur birthday :)

bazu said...

Happy Birthday Chase! I'm glad he enjoyed his pre-b-day celebration, and some more today, and here's to a great, healthy, and happy year to come!

I'm impressed by all your cooking, Diann, but that quiche with the asparagus is calling out to me- wowzers!

Emmy said...

Happy 21st Birthday wishes to Chase :) I hope he has a wonderful birthday!!!

I just love the lotus root chips. Did you make them yourselves or buy them at the Asian supermarket? The quiche looks so pretty with the asparagus flower design...almost too pretty to eat. Your wonton dessert is really unique and sounds delish. I've never seen candy coated sesame seeds before. That's a great find!!!

Nikk said...

Your food always looks good, but wow! It looks so darn beautiful! Chase is sure lucky to have a great mom like you around! :)

Happy Birthday to Chase!

erica said...

Aww that's so sweet... and Chase is such a hottie!

Mikaela said...

Happy birthday! :D :D :D

scottishvegan said...

Happy Birthday Chase! What an amazing looking meal! That definitely is beautiful birthday food! I love the quiche and the strawberry pie! You are so good at presenting your food to look great!

Kris said...

Dear Chase,

I know your mom is great and all, but I want her to be my mom, so you either need to share or we're going to have to duke it out.

~Kris

Seriously, Diann, that spread is amazing! You sure know how to spoil! I can't get over all of it... drool...

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHASE! what a lucky guy to be loved like this -- it all looks super-fabulous, but the artistic beauty of the asparagus and sundried tomato quiche is waaay over the top.

Teresa said...

Wow, I was born a mere 23 hours after Chase (april 3, 1986 at 7:17 am). Too bad I don't have an awesome vegan mom who makes me tofu and asparagus quiche. My parents are still at the "so are you always gonna be doing this vegan thing?" stage. Oh well I love them anyways. Happy Belated Birthday to Chase!

laura k said...

I loved catching up on your blog--happy birthday Chase! He's lucky to have such a special and cool mom. It sounds like you all had a lovely celebration. As usual, Diann, everything you cook sounds just fabulous. I wish I could come live with you for a while!

Kati said...

Happy Birthday, Chase!

Everything looks delicious, Diann. I can't wait for strawberry season so I can make a pie like that. And I definitely want to try that quiche out, too - yum!

KleoPatra said...

Chase is lookin' good and luckin' out with the food. Thanks for sharing part of his b'day with us, Diann. Love this post!

Your story about not having Chase on "April Fool's Day" is classic. Way to "hold it in," woman!

Yer food for his b'day is incredible. And i love the Japanese food there. It looks so beautiful and healthy and good!! As for the recipe from PB Planet (that sounds like my kinda recipe book) the cups look tres fantastique! Decadent and darn well worth every calorie!

Hope you partied happily with the strawberry pie, family and good times!

aTxVegn said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone. I'll be sure to pass them along to Chase.

Maybe - happy birthday to you, too!

Erica - he's also nice and fun and smart!

Your comments are all so kind. I admire everyone's amazing cooking skills, so your compliments mean so much - thanks!

Sheree' said...

Happy Birthday Chase! It looks like you had a wonderful birthday and you have a great mom!. Enjoy life!

Anonymous said...

Happy 21st Birthday!

vko said...

Happy Belated Birthday Chase! What a wonderful birthday- thanks for giving us a peek.

Kate said...

Give my Happy birthday wishes to Chase. The food looks fantastic. I would also love the quiche recipe if you would not mind sharing it.