Rik's Birthday

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband Rik, who yesterday turned 47! Would you like to know how we celebrated?

Since Rik almost always gets up before I do, I like to put his birthday card on the table before I go to bed. That way he gets a pleasant surprise in the morning.

After school, I gave him a gift of a new wallet. The old one was looking a little beat up. It was very gratifying that he immediately took everything out of the old wallet and arranged it in the new wallet! I did remember the bubbeh-meiseh (superstition) of putting money inside so that he would always have money.

We went out for a lovely dinner with friends at the Union Square Grill. The restaurant was crowded, and our table wasn't ready when we arrived, so we sat at the bar pretending to be urban sophisticates. I had a martini (gin and 3 olives) and Rik had a mojito, not too sweet and made with plenty of mint. I promptly got smashed -- that was a lot of alcohol on an empty stomach!

We all shared a starter of mushroom and blue cheese strudel, served with fig jam. Delish! Rik ordered a salad with goat cheese and walnuts, some of which ended up on my bread plate. He had grilled lamb chops; I had a steak. Yes, even though we keep a kosher home, we do eat meat "out." Somehow I just can't make the leap to keeping more stringent kashrut in restaurants or other people's homes. Rik's chops came with blue cheese bread pudding and broccolini; mine was served with silky mashed potatoes and said broccolini.

Over coffee I gave Rik his final present -- a chocolate bar from Theo Chocolates -- 75% cacao from Ghana, Panama and Ecuador. He loved it, but was willing to share, and even offered a bite to our waitress. The rest of us shared a chocolate souffle served with vanilla ice cream. Then we rolled home (burp).

But I must tell you the real way Rik celebrates his birthday. Every year for his birthday he orders a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to his mother. He's been doing this since long before we met, using the same florist in Montreal. It's an annual tradition that illustrates Rik's big heart.