Charlie Turns Two

Quiet day.  I took the boys to Halfway for a donut at "Stephanie's" (a new bakery in town) and then to the Lion's Club Park for a whirl on the play structure.  My goal was to get out of Pa Obbie and Happy's way while they were working on their bathroom plumbing.  Obbie was under the house for about 9 of 12 work hours today.  That guy is tough, let me tell you!

Then in the afternoon, we had our friend and Mama's neighbor over for dinner and cupcakes to celebrate Charlie.  Deanna and her son Edison spent a few rowdy but sweet hours with us. They are the loveliest people and I wish that I were geographically closer to Deanna.  She's from my tribe.

On the menu tonight for Charlie's birthday?  I grilled summer zucchini (from a Linda's garden) and Portabella mushrooms on the BBQ, marinated in olive oil, soy sauce and a host of herbs.  Then I topped that with cheddar cheese and threw it on a whole grain bun like a burger.  I also grilled Pattypan squash from Deanna's garden and served a spinach salad tossed with a lemon chive dressing and heirloom tomatoes, also from Deanna's garden.  For dessert, we had carrot cupcakes made with carrots from Karen's garden. I frosted them with cream cheese frosting and topped them with an orange sugared Fennel flower.  Fennel tastes of licorice, so the orange, pecans, carrot cake and rich frosting made for a great mix of flavors.  Charlie couldn't eat one strait, so I mushed up a cupcake, poured some milk over it and spoon fed it to him.  He LOVED it.

This is the face of a boy who just realized that his birthday cake is all finished.