He's 30!

Yesterday was Brian's 30th Birthday. The day was great (for the most part...) I have taken off work yesterday and today in preparation for the big party tomorrow night. I ran errands in the morning, planted some new flowers, took Brian to lunch at Cafe R&D, ran more errands, baked cookies, baked brownies, cooked homemade cheeseburgers, drank wine, made Happy Birthday Milkshakes and still had time to clean out the entire area under the sink because the pipe to the disposal busted. Yes, this was the only part of the day that was not great. I was trying to clean out the fridge because I needed to make room for several of my desserts and other random ingredients for the party. As I am shoving lettuce down the sink (because I never made all those salads I was planning to have for lunch) I feel myself standing in a pool of green water. The water is running out of the cabinet underneath the sink and I just close my eyes and say a few choice words to make myself feel better. We have had a few problems with the disposal before as Brian has been determined to put some things down the sink that the disposal just can't handle. We have always managed to fix the pipes back and clean-up the mess and move on. Yesterday was worse than it had ever been before. Not only did the pipe get clogged, but it busted at one of the places where the pipes come together, so when I opened the cabinet doors, it looked like a lettuce firecracker had gone off under the sink. SICK. I hadn't scheduled in the 2 hours it took to clean it all out into my day, but what do you do? I hunkered down in the floor and proceeded to wipe lettuce and green water off of everything...walls, pipes, cleaning supplies, etc. Finally, Brian got home and fixed the pipes so I can now continue baking and washing dishes, however we both need to think before putting anything down the disposal in the future...

Moving on to the better part of the day...dessert! I am making Brian's favorite German Chocolate Cake for the party on Saturday, so unfortunately is wasn't available for our enjoyment last night. Lucky for me, Brian just wanted milkshakes! Woo Hoo! Super simple. I thought it needed a candle...so cute!

I found this recipe last summer when the Food Network first came out with its new magazine. You probably know which one I am talking about because the cover is advertised all over the place. The one with Bobby Flay on the cover with an amazing looking classic burger. Anyway, Bobby had this recipe to go with his burger, so it was only appropriate for Brian's birthday.

Chocolate Milkshakes with Marshmallow Creme

Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup marshmallow fluff and 1/8 tsp vanilla extract until stiff peaks form; set aside. Combine 1 cup milk and 3 cups chocolate ice cream in a blender and blend until smooth. Fill 4 glasses one-quarter of the way with the shake; add some marshmallow cream, then more milkshake, then more cream, then milkshake. Finish with a dollop of marshmallow.

Brian's Turning 30...whether or not I succeed at the party is still up in the air

Once again, I am stuck at a hotel and can't get out! That's what I do for a living though. I travel quite a bit and spend countless nights in random hotels. Sometimes it's great and sometimes it's not. This time...not so much. The meeting is going super well and I must say I have been getting decent sleep, but the problem is that tonight will be the 9th night I catch zzz's here out of a total of 11. Needless to say...I am ready to get out. I am ready for a home cooked meal made by none other than myself! More on that later...


Today......stress. I am stressing. I am stressing because Brian's 30th birthday is literally around the corner. I am stressing because I am throwing him a wonderful birthday bash with his close friends and family. I am stressing because I am spending 12 days at a hotel and that is keeping me from planning, shopping, organizing, decorating, baking, etc. You get it. I know you do cause you have probably been here. The party is going to be great and super amazing and an absolute blast. I am so excited to plan this for such an amazing husband and have this memory for year's to come. With that being said, stress still follows...


I need to be hanging these...

And putting up the tiki torches...


And figuring out how the heck to string extention cords so all my lights work. Not these lights. White christmas lights I have hung from the posts on the patio. I realized during the first part of this project (I am now on part 3 and not even done yet...this really could be a post all by itself, but I will spare you - I have wrapped one pole 3 times and unfortunatley for me, I think there will need to be a 4th) that hanging lights is quite complicated. I also realized that I desperately needed (and still need) my husbands help, but I am desperately trying to not make him help with the petty details of his own party...

And then there is deciding what type of Sangria to make...

And making 3 different desserts for all these peeps...including an extraordinary German Chocolate Cake...

And decorating the patio...and the kitchen...and the living room...

And figuring out how the heck I am going to fit the abundance of people who have accepted our invitation in our house without having them step all over each other...

And finally...determining how to add days in to the month of July.

The Best Basic Beef Burger

We have safely made it back from Mexico. After a cancelled flight out of Dallas, being redirected out of the way through Miami, surviving Tropical Storm Alex for 2 1/2 days, tackling 30 mph winds every single day, shielding 24 hour sandblasts, and not melting from the most extreme humidity known to mankind, we truly did have an amazing trip. Despite all of this, we managed to enjoy every moment of our time together. We ate decent food, drank plenty of Dos XX, mastered every 2 player card game we remembered from childhood, and came back golden brown and relaxed. Brian even managed to significantly improve his Spanish speaking skills. (He practiced non-stop for the entire trip and I am still waiting for it to wear off.) Unfortunately, there are no pictures as proof we had fun...every time we brought out the camera, it completely fogged up.

After eating resort food for an entire week (which was better than expected) we came home craving our local Texas favorites. The night we got in we hit up Fernando's for some of our favorite Tex Mex enchiladas, last night we had Louie's for great pizza, and tonight...what better than homemade juicy cheeseburgers.

We've made good burgers before and I think my favorite is still the hatch chile burger we made last summer. I cannot wait to give that another go round this year...

Anyway, tonight's burger came in 2nd place as far as Bischoff home burger's go. It was EXTREMLY juicy and full of flavor. It was so easy and fast too. We didn't even bother heating up the outdoor grill. We just straight up cooked 'em in the cast iron skillet.

Best Basic Beef Burger (recipe by The Bischoff's)

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tbls soft butter

2 large soft buns (we use the freshly made ones from Central Market)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lb beef chuck (80% lean meat, 20% fat)

Vegetable oil

4 slices of your favorite cheddar cheese (no American...we've talked about this)

4 slices tomato (we used heirloom because they are in season and perfect right now)

2 leaves of lettuce

Pickles (this is totally up to you whether you want sweet, dill, or a combination. this is an important piece, so think about it...we found the most amazing homemade pickles at Central Market that are perfectly sweet, sour and a tad bit spicy)

Thinly sliced red onion

2 tbls mayonnaise

1 tbls mustard

Directions

Start by dividing the 1 lb of beef into 2 patties and let it come to room temperature. Season each patty liberally with salt and pepper on each side.

Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium high heat. Add a small amount of vegetable oil and wait for it to heat through. Once the oil is hot, add both patties to the pan and cook 3-4 minutes per side for medium. (The amount of time will vary depending on the width and size of your patties).

Meanwhile, spread the softened butter on each side of the buns and toast until golden brown on the inside, but still soft on the outside.

After the first 3-4 minutes is up, flip the patties and cook for 1 minute. Add 2 slices of cheese to each patty and cook for about 3 minutes longer.

Remove the patties from the skillet and let rest on a plate for about 5-10 minutes. (You want all those wonderful juices to redistribute themselves into the meat and not all over your plate when you cut or bite into your burger.) Note: the burger is still ridiculously juicy after letting it rest...make sure you have a roll of paper towels nearby.

Assemble your burger...Brian and I assemble differently, but the goal is to put something on the bottom bun that creates a barrier. Brian puts mayo and I put lettuce...either way, it keeps the juices from the beef from creating a soggy bun.

We paired our burgers with a mustardy potato salad and some Malbec.