dad’s early birthday
This Wednesday is my dad’s birthday, so my brother, sister and I thought it’d be a nice idea to visit him at home last Saturday. It was low-key, relaxed and fun.
I’d originally volunteered to pick up the cake but there weren’t many options that appealed. Am I the only ones that finds birthday cakes to be too generic? They’re all the same to me – too sweet, too much whipped frosting and sub par filling. I decided to bake one from scratch instead and I’m glad I did. It was almost as easy as a Betty Crocker mix. This is the recipe I used and the results were very good. It makes a delicious vanilla cake that’s not overly sweet (I used about 1/4 to 1/2 cup less than the recipe). It’s moist and slightly more dense than your average bakery cake. I also turned it into a sheet cake since rectangular pans were all my mom had.
Dad showing me his Latin-meets-Irish-style corned beef (he uses sofrito and sazon to season the beef – it’s goooood). And yes, he made it for his own birthday party. But he loves to cook and wouldn’t have it any other way, trust me on this one.
But Janey assisted by picking out the rice for him and she did a fabulous job! So at least there was that.
And, of course let’s not forget the cake that was made by yours truly. I think I’ve mentioned that like umpteen times in this post. #humble
Afterwards we went down to the basement, which is basically my dad’s nightclub. He’s got hundreds of LPs and music equipment and loves it when you spend time down there. Show an interest in his toys and you’re in his heart forever. So we all spent some time in his favorite place, while he recorded all of us on his iPhone. He weirdly likes to put the camera right up in your face, so it makes for some entertaining and hilarious results.
My nephew Miles dug being in the basement too and excitedly roamed his vast library of vinyls, but luckily he didn’t touch anything because GOD FORBID YOU TOUCH THE RECORDS.
