Celebrating the Big 4-9

Paul's birthday was really low-key this year. He had no special requests for dinner, but I put together sure winners: Maryland crab cakes, Cheesy Garlic Red Smashed Potatoes, Lemon Lima beans, and sauteed veggies. I garnished the plate with red peppers in the shape of a 49.








Joel was the only kid at home at dinnertime to celebrate with us. The pictures say it all: he loves his dad, loves Ravens football, and loves cocktail sauce with crab cakes.







Please note, the wine (Furhanna) is set at Paul's place, not Joel's. Just clarifyin' for anyone
who wonders if our parenting practices have
fallen off the deep end .



Paul usually asks for a coconut cream pie for his birthday,
and I was prepared to make one. However, one of his co-workers bought a cannoli cake (deLISH!) and he was perfectly content to bring home a huge leftover piece that actually served the three of us quite sufficiently.

And ,for his birthday, I wasn't sure what to give him. I mean, he doesn't like money spent on him just because there's "an occasion" like his own birthday. But he loves golf and loves to read. Normally he checks magazines out of the library. But I wanted him to experience the fun of getting a magazine in the mail every month or every other month. Long ago someone had given him a subscription, but it had expired long ago also.

I really wanted to get him a golf mag subscription if I could 'swing' it (golf humor, there; sorry) but wanted him to be happy with the expenditure. After all, "my" paychecks are history. So I prayed for some creativity .


It was kind of funny.That very day, in the mail, came a 'we want you back" invitation from Golf. Six issues for a dollar. If you know my Paul's penchant for pennies (and more precisely, saving them) , you can imagine the big grin on his face when he opened my "extravagant" gift .

"Well, do you like it?" I asked .

"Yeah, I do." He's not one to gush, and no little "birdie" told me (sorry, I can't help myself; corny is par for the course on this blog) but I could tell by the way his green eyes danced that he was pleased.