Birthday celebrations

 

Yes, another birthday around here, thus another cake and another photo. Chad, as the recipent of the cake, specified chocolate, and Nimue wanted to be the decorator, so I made a dense, rich, yummy chocolate cake covered with chocolate ganache.

One of the dangers of living in this house is the constant campaign to reduce the number of leftover whosi-whatsits that accumulate in the fridge -- the two tablespoons of leftover carrots, lefttover lamb-braising sludge that seemed too good to throw out, and the like. The cake got off relatively easily, merely being drizzled with leftover cream cheese glaze from last week's cinnamon rolls. (Sadly, I couldn't quite finish it off, so the remaining glaze lives on tucked away in a small bowl next to what is probably some really scary strawberry buttercream from last month.)

The decorator was somewhat random in her candle selection and arrangement; the recipient was slightly offended by the decorator's arbitrary choice of 45 candles rather than the more accurate 42. Much discussion of proper candling of a birthday cake ensued while the chocolate-starved cook looked on hungrily. Eventually, there was enough flame on the dinner table to satisfy the local pyromaniac tendencies, cake was devoured, and the pile of gifts in the living room was opened and appreciated.

  

Sunday brought yet more birthday celebration of a sort -- Stephan had organized a coast ride to celebrate his birthday, of which we joined part. Nimue and I rode up the first hill on the tandem (her first time up Old La Honda!), talked with the group as everyone regrouped at the top, and then rode back down to the car to our next activity of the afternoon (I got take Nimue and her friend Cathryn to see a youth theater production of Aladdin; Nim taught Cat how to act like a zombie at intermission. oh joy...). Chad also rode up OLH with the group and followed them down part of the descent down the back side. He diverged from Stephan's loop near the bottom to explore a new road on the way home, as he had just done Stephan's planned loop on Friday with his friend Dave, to celebrate both his and Dave's birthdays.

Confused? Birthday = bike ride for many people of my acquaintance. Funny how all of them also line up with the usual dates for the Markleeville Death Ride, the STP, and the Tour de France.