We had a small get together to celebrate him by having our parents over! This is the first birthday of his that we've been married and this was the very first time we've had our parents over and cooked for them. I was feeling the pressure but once our guests came we had a great time, they enjoyed the food we made and we all had fun celebrating Beau!!!
Here's some of the pictures, recipes, and activities of the night:
Father and son...and grandson (Kirby) haha!
They are happy he was born :)
Beer Cheese Appetizer:
in a small sauce pan I heated up a 12 oz bottle of blue moon beer (use a beer you like because the taste will come through!)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
I whisked theses together and kept it heating up on low while I turned my attention to grating the cheese. We have a really handy 'salad shooter' we got as a wedding present and it makes grating cheese so simple. Anyways I used approximately four cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Slowly add the cheese along with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk it up until it's smooth and creamy.
Slice up your favorite bread for dipping ...we used sour dough but french bread or a multi-grain baguette would work well also. I also I sliced up a granny smith apple I liked that with the cheese dip as well. I finally got to use the beautiful serving dish from my friend Heather!
Our mac n' cheese:
This is a recipe we have been perfecting since about two months into our marriage! Haha! Mac n' cheese is beau's favorite dish and we have made many variations from this main recipe. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot. Boil two cups of noodles (macaroni, large elbows, small shells, endless other noodles work here too...) follow package directions for cooking length. Meanwhile grate 3 cups of preferred cheese, we like sharp cheddar the best but we have tried many others. In a small mixing bowl add 6 oz. evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Whisk together. (I love to add in more spices like red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, oregano, and garlic powder are some of our favorites.) Beau has taught me that it is so fun to cook with spices! He has helped me get out of the recipe box and try making my own dishes and renditions. Once the noodles are done strain and discard water. Melt a half a stick of butter in the pot (we continue to use the same pot that we used with the noodles) add the noodles back to the pot and add the milk/egg mixture. turn on the stove top t low heat and stat to slowly melt in the three cups of cheese. Once it's all melted and the mixture is creamy and smooth it's ready!!!
We also had a spinach salad, with optional mix-ins of blueberries, blackberries, and slivered almonds and a homemade olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
And the main dish was our mini corn dogs in the fondue pot.This is a testimate to my parents first months of marriage when they lived in a temporary apartment in Florida while my dad finished a training before being stationed in Hawaii. (but something went wrong with either the heat of the oil or the batter mix because it kept falling off of our hot dogs.) we enjoyed them anyways and also just heated the dogs up in the oil.
All his birthday cards were great! Janay and Steven's unicorn card is hilarious, the chef from my mom and dad is adorable, the one from Beau's parents is beautiful, and my homemade one.
so much birthday love!
Here's a picture of our spread: We have a small table for four so I put two of our TV stands together and covered them with a table cloth :)
After dinner and presents we played UNO!!!
uno is such a fun game with a big group and we like to add in some fun rules to keep it interesting. Our favorite optional rule is to allow jump ins. This means that if someone plays a card and you have the exact same card in your hand you are permitted to play out of turn and the play continues from you so players get skipped. It's exciting and fast paced.
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