Monday, April 29- Ice Cream Cake

     Birthdays are a big deal at our house. Don’t get me wrong- we LOVE Christmas. But Christmas is NOT any of our birthdays, so we look at it differently. Birthdays, however, ARE…our birthdays! So we make a big deal out of everybody’s birthday in our house.
     Today is my wife’s birthday. I have celebrated birthdays with that awesome woman for MANY years. In fact, it was a birthday 36 years ago…36 YEARS ago…that started it all. 
     I was in the school musical (which was, by the way, Oliver!), which opened on…wait for it…April 29th. We were friends, but the relationship seemed to be headed toward more than that…at least I WANTED it to be more than that! So I invited her to come to opening night and then go out for food afterwards. She accepted!
     I sent roses to her house that day, and then she attended opening night. (How frighteningly appropriate for an actor that the first date would be her sitting alone in the audience, watching me on stage!) I had told her beforehand that, when I tipped my top hat during the curtain call, it would be for her! (What a hopeless romantic!)
     After the show, my mom drove us (Hey! Give me a break! I wasn’t old enough to have a driver’s license yet!) to the local Ramada Inn. (Get your mind out of the gutter! We went to the restaurant that was there!) We had a small skillet full of sauteed mushrooms and I had called ahead to have a small birthday cake ready for her. As we ate, we listened to the musical stylings of Mike Zichovich and his magic synthesizers! I was smitten!
     My wife and I have been through much together. I have not always been the perfect husband, and there have been tough times along the way, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. She is THE BEST thing that has ever happened to me, and I thank God daily for her presence in my life!
     And so, I wanted to make her birthday special. At our house, we get to choose our birthday dinner. So I made, at her request, her special birthday dinner. It was:
Grilled Steak
Baked Potatoes (you slice the potato cross-ways every half-inch or so, but not all the way through. You then drizzle olive and melted butter over the potato, add fresh-ground salt and fresh-ground pepper, along with garlic powder. You then bake them at 425 degrees for 60-75 minutes. WOW- they are good!)
Grilled Asparagus (marinate the asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper for several hours, then lay on the grill and cook. Again- WOW!)
Her favorite cake is the Dairy Queen ice cream cake…but sadly there is no Dairy Queen in town! So…I made an ice cream cake! I started with a spring pan, which I covered with a layer of Chocolate Marshmallow Ice Cream. Then I added a layer of crushed Oreos mixed with hot fudge sauce. On top of that, I added a layer of Cookies N’ Cream Ice Cream. I then topped it off with a “frosting” layer of equal parts vanilla ice cream and Kool Whip, mixed together and spread on the top. It was pretty darn good!
     Thank you, Sweetheart, for being mine! Happy birthday!
     Thanks for stopping by- I pray you have a blessed day! Please make sure and come back again tomorrow, and stick with Jesus!
 Tomorrow- Mustard Seed Faith