Birthday Food!!!

I know you all have been DYYYYYYING to hear how I spent the rest of my birthday. It's okay, you can admit it. But first I need to mention that I have been TAGGED! Becky from Stuck in Frump has nabbed me for a game of online tag. I am putting my finishing touches on my seven random things and will be posting my randomness for all to see soon. Thanks for including me, Becky!

And now , my birthday saga continues…

After the trip to the Witte Museum, my daughter and I came home and rested up a bit. Okay, she rested up a bit…I took a two-hour nap! After our very early start to the day and spending much of that time on my feet, I was ready for some quiet and sleep. Besides, I had to be well-rested for my birthday dinner. And to my way of thinking, there isn’t much that’s better than a birthday meal.

If I haven’t made this clear yet, I love to eat. I especially love Saturdays because it’s my “free” day to eat whatever I want without guilt. Birthdays are the same as a Saturday: guilt-free eating. I don’t need a party, I don’t need a lot of presents, I don’t even need a lot of friends around…I just want a really good meal and a really good dessert. Past years have included Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse (pretty much the ONLY place I’ll eat without considering dessert first) and Roy’s Restaurant, but this year we did something a little different.

So have you been to The Melting Pot? I hadn’t…till my birthday. Oh man, was it gooooooooooooooood!!!! The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant. I thought fondue was either cheese or chocolate, but there was much more.

It was just my husband and me—there was no way my picky eight-year-old was going to eat there—so we head to the restaurant and walk in to some of the most delectable smells you could ever imagine. What it was I didn't know, but I was certain it was divine. The restaurant looked pretty much like most restaurants, but was almost exclusively booths instead of tables. The hostess seated us at a booth then shut the door. IT WAS SO COOL: A ROOM TO OURSELVES!!! On the table were two things: a vase full of striped roses from my husband—they look like peppermints!—and a cooktop burner with a double-boiler sitting on it. My husband ordered a beer for him and a glass of wine for me.

Now, if you’ve read my posts before (and if you haven't, click here) or know me very well at all, you already know that alcohol really isn’t my thing. I prefer dessert to a hangover. However, a good merlot is about the only possible exception to this rule. The one he ordered for me was called a “Ménage a trois”. No, I am not kidding, and yes, it was good for me. We did have our own room, after all.

The rest of the meal was great, even if I did have to cook it myself. The appetizer course was a cheese mixture with garlic, beer and a mixture of different cheeses. The waiter put everything into a double-boiler of sorts and heated it up on the cooktop till it melted. We were given bread chunks, some veggies and granny smith apples to dip. Surprisingly, the apples were my favorite. After the cheese came the salads. As with alcohol, salads just aren’t my “thing”. The lettuce used in most salads is iceberg, which I hate. It's basically crunchy water and a waste of stomach space I could be saving for dessert. If I’m going to eat a salad, it’s going to be a hearty one…it has to have about three pounds each of meat and cheese added to it, or it’s not worth eating. I had the Athenian salad: iceberg lettuce, red bell pepper slices soaked in olive oil, Kalamata olives, parmesan cheese and some kind of amazing dressing. It was without question the BEST salad I’ve EVER eaten. I could’ve stopped right there and died with a smile on my face, but there was more! We were given a plate of meat—paradise on a platter!—to cook in a broth with various herbs, spices and other things. Oh, yeah, we had a few veggies, but I skipped those. Dessert was chocolate and caramel flamed with pecans added. We dipped rice krispy treats, marshmallows covered with Oreo or graham cracker crumbs, a small slice of cheesecake, bananas, strawberries…need I say more? Decadent was the word for the night.

As if that weren’t enough, so that my daughter could celebrate with me as well, we went to Bennigan’s for lunch on Saturday (birthdays usually last a week at my house). I had a Monte Cristo sandwich, and if you’ve been paying attention, you already know what I had for dessert. That’s right, Death by Chocolate. What a way to go.

I’m absolutely certain I have gained 10 pounds just talking about all the food I’ve eaten, so this seems like a good place to end. And no, there wasn't more food that I could talk about anyway. I considered making myself a Coca Cola Cake (a family favorite around here), but decided I had better not. I'm waiting for another weekend to do that!!! :-) So that puts the wraps on my fun birthday!