Wednesday 11 August 2010

birthday picnic.


I turned 26 yesterday, and the highlight of my lovely day was a dinner picnic in Laurelhurst Park.

We decided to meet by the duck pond, but walking down the path, we saw the area cordoned off with metal fences and, to our sadness, the pond was completely drained! No water, no ducks...just a big mud puddle. I'm slightly relieved though, because last time we were there, signs posted all around the pond warned of toxic algae. Even despite the signs, a group of park-goers pulled out some fishing gear and cast into the murky waters. The murmurs I caught going around the lawn included, "crazy!" and "can't they read?!" I don't think they ever caught anything, and if they did, it probably had two heads.

So we went a little further and spread the blanket on the edge of another lawn, surrounded by giant trees, with enough room for our good friends' two kids to ramble and play. And plenty of room for the ladies to relax with their wine and the guys to get a game of bocce ball going.

Out of the picnic basket (and bags) came prosciutto and turkey, assorted cheeses, a seedy baguette, rice crackers, two bottles of wine, fruit and vegetables, and cupcakes!

Jericho being a good big brother.

Lily doing what she loves best - eating!

Chocolate coconut spelt cupcakes and almond vanilla spelt cupcakes with huckleberry frosting. In the words of Tiffany, "TDF!!" (To Die For)

You can find the recipe for the cupcakes on Jen's blog. Tiffany made them, and she just subbed spelt flour for wheat flour and omitted the almond meal, using almond extract instead.

Which brings me to what I should have asked for for my birthday...



I could have really used this today. I wanted to take a cupcake with me when Andy and I went out for coffee this morning, and it would have been so much better to have had a custom case instead of a lame little tupperware.

And I don't really know what the purple hairy frosting is on the above picture...sadly, the Cup A Cake people need some major restyling.

So celebrating 26 was just how I wanted it: low-key and centered around food.

A very good day.

1 comment:

Lauren @The Little Things We Do.... said...

sounds like a perfectly lovely birthday :).

yay for being 26 together!

miss you!