The Birthday Letdown

Forgive me for a moment if I toot my own horn. But last night I organized what I thought was a fabulous Yelp Event. It did everything I wanted, and made Yelp come alive in the event space at Rascals. More importantly it really gave this relatively new business a chance to really shine, and shine it did.

Of course, I was helped by the tremendous local Yelp community, and Rascals culinary team, led by executive chef Nick Armstrong. The kitchen knocked this one out of the park. Seriously, the task at hand was monumental. They composed five courses for fifty people of miniature versions of some signature dishes. And each plate was beautiful, composed, and layered with flavor and multiple interplaying components.

Oh yeah. And the waves of food were scheduled to come out in twenty minute intervals. My hat is off to the kitchen and waitstaff for pulling it off flawlessly. Man, the food was delicious. And I’ve never had finer salmon skin. Plus those duck drumettes are still my jam.

But today is my birthday, and after all the build up leading to yesterday’s event, I’m pooped.

What’s most embarrassing is that I forgot to call in an order my birthday cake. Yes, Mrs. Fussy wanted to get one for me, but I asked her not to do it. I knew what I wanted, but I just didn’t get around to making it happen.

That means today I have to scramble. The good news is that I have to run to Troy anyhow for a couple of Yelp errands, so I may just drop by The Cookie Factory and get a bunch of my favorite chocolate frosted donuts.

I think if I put enough of them in a circle, and Little Miss Fussy can put candles in them, everyone will be happy. That little girl is really the person who cares most about birthdays in this family. I’m not quite so sure I understand the fascination. Maybe I’ll ask her directly.

My understanding is that she has also worked up some kind of dinner theater for my enjoyment.

The best part of today is getting to sleep in late on a school day. Seriously, I’m thrilled that my mother decided to encourage my strange proclivities and send me a recording studio in a box. But the thing I want most of all is just another hour of sleep. I don’t know why that’s such a hard thing to get. Mrs. Fussy is helping to make that dream a reality.

For dinner, I’m going to get a heaping bowl of that chili I made on Sunday. By now it will be properly melded. And I’m going to go full hog and eat that hot and steaming bowl with a generous dollop of sour cream.

Gone are the days of the one pound birthday burger, or staking out a spot at the bar from opening until closing. I’m old. All I want is sleep, sour cream, and donuts. Sounds about right for a Tuesday birthday. I’ll have some nice beer to go along with the chili too. Perhaps I’ll even close out the night with a sip or two of whiskey.

Then, before you know it, it will be Wednesday again. This will be the first class of the Tech Valley Tastemakers that I’ll be missing. Leah’s Cakery will be demonstrating how to improve your holiday cookie game. Since I have no holiday cookie game, there’s nothing to improve. Really though, I’m saving up my strength for the Schenectady Chili Chowdown on Saturday.

Yeah. I’ll be judging that with a few good friends from Yelp. You should come out and wish me a happy belated birthday. Because with a few days between me and the annual reminder of my progressing years, I may actually be in more of a celebratory mood.