CCLXII: Happiest Birthday, Seconda Parte

I did not blog yesterday because I went to bed at 4:00am. After dinner last night, my friends walked me to my bus stop around 1:00am, amusing in itself as a duo of drunk men saw me holding my leftover ice cream birthday cake, asked whose birthday it was, with my friend Ralph mercifully deflecting their attention. After we parted ways, I was lucky that the wait-time for my bus was only five minutes long and I could find a seat and somehow balance my gifts, purse, and cake on my lap. It was certainly an adventure walking up my hill around 1:30am through a couple of dark (and luckily safe) residential alleys. I was very relieved that the cake and I made it home in one piece.

Today, my actual birthday, was spent with my parents and was probably one of the best I can remember. Perhaps it was because so much delicious food was involved. Well, first, I woke up around 8:30am (!!!), got to spoon Chiara (this doesn't happen everyday), and was happily greeted on the phone a few minutes later by my cousin/uncle (long story) and aunt in Milan. Then my parents gave me a wonderful birthday card and gift, and on our way to lunch my "brother" in Hong Kong phoned me to wish me a happy birthday.

My parents took me to Market by Jean-Georges for brunch/lunch. It was the first time there for all of us and I was thoroughly impressed because I arrived with high expectations and these were far-exceeded! We each ordered the two-course tasting menu with dessert for $32 and thus all shared:

1. Waffles with bananas, strawberries, and whipped cream
2. Alberta AAA hanger steak
3. Dungeness crab cake
4. Black truffle pizza with Fontina cheese
5. French toast with bacon
6. Arctic char
7. Chocolate pudding with softly whipped cream and crystallized violets
8. Buttermilk panna cotta with apricot sorbet (x2)

Guess which ones I chose? If you guessed 2, 5, and 8, you are wrong. Those were my dad's selections. If you guessed 3, 6, and 8, you were very wrong. Those were my mom's. Leaving us with *ding ding ding* 1, 4, and 7. No matter though, I loved everything I tried, especially the waffles and panna cotta, and I never eat either! My mom and I paired our lunch with their homemade Jasmine Lemonade and my dad ordered a Lychee Bellini. Both drinks were great, the former having a very fragrant Jasmine flavour and the latter being a fruity champagne Bellini with a gorgeous shade of rosy pink.

I'll be back.

Then for dinner, we invited our good family friend over and my parents made some of my favourite dishes, consisting of:

1. Chopped octopus with garlic, parsley, and lemon juice
2. King Oyster mushrooms
3. Lasagne
4. Saltimbocca alla Romana

Everything was delicious and perfect. We opened a bottle of Freud's Ego (a red wine that I got from Therapy Vineyards with my friends on our trip to Penticton) and it was better than I remembered and wonderfully complemented the meal. My parents then surprised me with a St. Honoré cake from Fratelli's Bakery but by then I was so full that I could only eat half a slice. We enjoyed some apricot dessert wine from Elephant Island Orchard Wines (also from Penticton) and my dad made me a special espresso with drops of Centerbe. 

Throughout the day I was greeted by very kind and considerate text messages, phone calls, and Facebook wall posts (almost 60 the last time I checked!), and I am very grateful for all of these people to have thought of me. This birthday weekend will go on record for being the best one ever, and it would not have been so without being surrounded by the people (and cat) that I love so dearly. If this October 3rd has taught me anything, it is the importance of surrounding oneself with family, friends, and, to a lesser (yet slightly significant) extent, food. I don't know why F-words get such a bad rep. But I do know that I love you guys.