Zoli's 25th Bday

Z turned 25 yesterday. On April Fool's Day...during the pandemic. (We are all perfectly fine. Even had a nice conference call with Matty at breakfast. Looking fwd to everybody playing MarioKart online again this weekend!) Despite being grateful for those things, I really kinda had a moment. I can't find this silly banner. I made cut out felt letters about 15 years ago. They spell out HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I put it up for each person's bDay. I am damn sure I remember putting it back in the ziploc baggy but I CAN'T FIND IT. I just wanted that one tradition. No Festifools, No big dinner out at Connor O'Neils. AND the $gift$ he asked for is totally on hold because VIRUS. I just wanted something familiar and sane. NOPE. I looked EVERYWHERE. I may have teared up a couple times.

He also wanted caramel INSIDE chocolate cupcakes.  I made caramels. But they sunk. I was unimpressed. I need a tip/technique that is like coating fruit in flour to get it to "hover" in batter, like blueberries in pancakes? Anyway, Iz and I made like three diff variations of caramel lava cakes and he proclaimed them all delicious. One batch we left w/no caramel factor just so dessert would be civilized. He chose pork chops, mac and cheese and green beans.

The cupcakes w/out caramel.

Snakebites (cider & Guinness Black & Tans)