All He Wanted Was A Simple Birthday Dinner…

Seven Baked Potatoes, Fresh Chopped Chives, Thick Cut Fried Bacon, Sour Cream, Cheddar & Provolone…
…Smashed Baked Potatoes

Whole Bulb Baked Garlic & Red Mashed Potatoes

Salt Licked Chipotle BBQ Sauce Chicken Drumsticks

Bacon & Wilted Spinach Salad With Red Pepper Fingers & Cranberries

Buttered Corn on the Cob with Spiced Seasoning

Fluffy & Sweet Rolls

Five Layer Chocolate Candy Bar Cake

Plus Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Dutch Chocolate Frosting

…but first I had to convince Big Guy to push the cart at the grocery store.  Sister ran relays for items.  Moose was sequestered in the cart.  Their was a dump truck involved in the loading and unloading, plus an assembly line.  Once the ice cream was on ice…well, then so was I.   Enough rest and the cooking began.  I had help hauling the vats of boiling water.  Frightening.  And the whole meal was cooked while the last dish was washed, so dad could eat in perfect peace.

Then we lit our chocolate boats a-fire.

…And lit.

…And lit.

Thirty Seven Candles IS a fire HAZARD.

Naturally, the kids sang…and sang…and sang. 

 

Can you believe he blew them all out in a breath and a half, the single shot of the camera.

I will never understand their fascination with chocolate…the slack faces and rolling eyeballs.  But they sure enjoyed themselves.   And I’m guilty of stealing a rolo – which is plastic chocolate and palatable for its caramel core.  But I did my best not to ruin the cake ecstasy, especially since dinner was a running dialogue about my certainty that I could nearly taste the death in my drumstick and pictured that animal running through the yard screaming about me nibbling its gristle. 

I didn’t eat my drumstick after that.