Happy Birthday

My birthday was on Sunday this week. My family was so sweet to me, and I felt perfectly blessed.

 On the drive home from church the children plotted out their schemes. As soon as we arrived home, Matthew opened the door with great dignity and helped me out of the car as he called me 'Princess'. He escorted me into the house, where Sarah was busily setting up  a container of water for a foot scrub. Nathan moved the furniture to make a comfortable 'throne' in the middle of the room, where he instructed me to sit. Matthew brushed my hair while Sarah rubbed my feet and Daniel napped. Nathan worked in the kitchen, cooking chicken cordon bleu, gourmet mashed potatoes (with garlic, heavy cream, and butter-YUM!), and salsa green beans. In the place of birthday cake, he made Tres Leches cake and Rasmalai (my favorite dessert! I CRAVE it!). The meal was sumptuous and the company was the best.

This is Rasmalai, an Indian dessert made of tender cheese curds (like ricotta, but firmer)shaped into balls and cooked in a sweetened milk syrup with saffron, almonds, and cardamom. YUM! The flavor is very delicate and light, and highly irresistible. After one taste, you'll  discover yourself craving it and salivating at the mere smell of cardamom. Unfortunately I have a jar of cardamom in my spice cupboard, so I smell it everyday, which makes me long for this dessert!

The children made lovely birthday cards and picked flowers for me. They were excited to watch me open gifts. Nathan bought several pounds of candied fennel (one of my favorite candies), an Indian movie, a label-maker (YAY!) and arranged a session of swing dancing lessons. I am SO excited about the dancing lesson, as I've wanted to do dancing lessons for years now. This is such a special gift, and I'm looking forward to it eagerly. I'm also very thankful for the label-maker.

 I've been trying really hard to make my house a house of order, so I've been organizing closets, cabinets, and boxes and I've been labeling everything. I'm really excited to use a real label maker that will standardize all my signs. I think I'm slowly gravitating towards some OCD tendencies. Organizing has never come naturally to me, so it's hard for me to figure out how to logically categorize some things. I have longing for more order in our home, so the clutter has been slowly disappearing as I downsize possessions.