Happy Birthday Louis & Steve!!

Michelle was sweet to plan a special surprise dinner for Louis, and she extended an invitation to us since Steve and Louis share the same birthday.  It was their family, and us along with Bennett.  Sadly, John Michael ended up being sick, so it was the birthday boys and all of the women.  The dinner took place at "Icing on the Cookie," and much to my surprise, the Chef does a lot more than just cookies.

The Birthday Boys!

Always and forever a daddy's girl

Since he doesn't have a liquor license, we all just brought our own wine and then he did the cooking demonstration for us.  When the menu was sent to me, I was a little worried that I wouldn't like everything, but it was all delicious!  When we arrived he had some little puff pastry stuffed items out.  We didn't know what was inside of them, but we all sampled them.  I loved them!  They had caramelized onions, duck fat and some other stuff.  Bennett was more than halfway finished, but quickly halted after hearing "duck fat."

Next up was pumpkin soup.  I have never had pumpkin soup, but it had great flavor.  The one he made for us had granny smith apples, carrots and lots of cream.  The special treat was the fried sage leaves on top.....they were crisp and cooked in a ton of butter....yummy!!

Our entrée was a slow roasted pork shoulder, sweet potato waffles, roasted brussels and butternut squash with a maple bourbon gastrique.  The waffles were the biggest hit with Bennett (after dessert). It was fun to watch him make them, because he only used one sweet potato for at least 6 full waffles.  He used 6 eggs, and I have never seen how fluffy eggs could get after being whipped for awhile.  He slowly folded them into the sweet potato mixture, and immediately cooked them with a waffle griddle.  The brussels were cooked with salt, pepper, fresh garlic and more duck fat.... fantastic!

Dessert was the icing on the cookie, with individual baked apple pies and homemade vanilla ice cream and caramel. The little pies were light and flaky, yet crisp on the edges.  Of course it is difficult to beat homemade ice cream.

Overall, it was a fun night of bonding and over-eating with some good wine.  Thanks Chef Shelby Adams for a delightful evening, I went home stuffed!  Of course, celebrating Louis and Steve is so easy and fun.  Those two guys are friends with everyone and have hearts of gold.  They deserve to be celebrated more than once a year.  Happy Birthday Goo and Miz!!