Happy Birthday Dad!

As we all know, it is Dad's birthday and I had no money but I still wanted to do something. So what I did was make a birthday dinner for Dad! And since I haven't posted in several months, I decided I'd make a post of it! Well, it was slightly harder than I thought it was going to be, but that's okay. It was still a good day, just really tiring. Many of you actually already know about this since I called you for advice, tips, instructions, etc. Thank you so much for all your help!

Well, here's just a little bit of what my day was like. So I got up at 6:15 and made the dough for my baked brie. I put it in the fridge to set or rise or whatever it's supposed to do while it sits for 8 hours. Then I got out chicken so that it can thaw by the time I need to use it.

Then I made a sweet vinaigrette with honey for the salad... And the honey was kind of crystalized or something so I had to...

Well, I don't like vinaigrettes and this one didn't look all that great... well here, how about you take a look...

Vinaigrettes aren't supposed to look like that, are they? Well, actually some do... but well, they aren't exactly appetizing as it is... Well, then it was shopping for fresh ingredients!

There's the cheese's, rice, walnuts, parsley, carrots, and peas I got. (round 1 of shopping) So I made the butter horn dough and trimmed the peas. (I took out my good knives for the day. I considered this to be a good time to use them)

Then an applesauce cake with dad with walnuts and cream cheese frosting. Using Dad's favorite cookbook that has used and abused by this family longer than I've been. (I also realized I had to go back to the store and get cream cheese frosting and white grape juice... so this time I just went to Walmart.)

And the finished product...

You know what these are!

That's right! Butterhorns! (They rose to a massive size and covered that entire tray when I put them in the oven, by the way. I didn't get a picture of a baked roll, but I'm sure you've seen them enough to know what they look like :D)

Dad calls and says he's bringing our cousin Doug home for dinner... SERIOUSLY?! Of all days! Ok, what do I have? What have I made? Do I have enough? What are my limiting ingredients (or reactants as I'd call them in chemistry) and what do I need to do to get more? So with that in mind I grabbed a chicken from the freezer and make an 11th hour dash to the store a third time and get more broth for the rice pilaf.

So mom popped the breast into the microwave and I started on the glaze for the chicken. It was a honey-orange chicken so I used they honey I melted earlier and half a can of juice concentrate. Doesn't look great and actually it got a whole lot darker after I put the worcestershire sauce in.

And here they are ready to bake. I was only using the glaze from the recipe. I was trying to find a way to cook it my own way since I didn't want to do chicken chunks in a broiler (not nearly as classy). Oh and notice the breast at the back. It's a little stubbier than the rest? It's already partially cooked from being quickly "thawed" in the microwave. That's what you get when you rush things!

It was about time to set the table oh... Doug and can't come anymore... you know... after all that.

Then I made a simple rice pilaf. It had sautéed onions in it and some extra seasoning and was made with chicken broth. That's what made it a pilaf. But the goal was to not draw attention away from the main entree.

Then I clipped lettuce out of the garden. (I actually did this earlier in the morning as you can tell from the light, but I don't remember the order well anymore so...) I thought I was going to have to clip more when Doug was coming but I found out in time that I didn't have to go clipping for more lettuce.

Then I made the veggies. Carrots, snow peas, red pepper, and red onion. Top with some melted butter and salt. (colorful and actually pretty easy to make, just make sure you cook the carrots for 5-6 minutes before you add the rest since they take longer to cook)

It was time to eat! Yay!

This is the baked brie that many have wondered about. I first had it on Thanksgiving in California with the Phelps. When I said how much I liked it Bro. Phelps said, "It is good, but how can you go wrong with bread and cheese?"

Inside view of the baked brie.

Here's the salad that I made! It's just glazed walnuts with feta cheese and a strawberry on a bed of lettuce.

Here's the main course! The sauce on the chicken is that liquidy glaze that I decided to thicken with some cornstarch (I made it a little too thick, but it was okay).

And for desert...

It wasn't a perfect night as dad helped with the dishes... okay... he did the dishes and I helped. But I was exhausted and welcomed all the help I could get.

Happy Birthday Dad!