practically leap day.

shira's birthday.

1. she claimed that she didn't want me to make a cake. or ice cream. i had been *threatening* to make the mississippi mud pie from the baked explorations cookbook. but she kept telling me no, no, no. i bought 3 pints of ben and jerry's (cherry garcia, mint chocolate cookie, willie nelson's peach cobbler) from the shop using one of a million coupons on the fridge.

2. and then! i ran into her friend marcia, who informed me that shira said i was making it. yes, she did.

so i did. for shira's study group. and i have no real photographs. if you REALLY want the recipe, shoot me an email and i will type it out or buy baked explorations. you will not regret it.

the short version: a sugar wafer cookie crust, topped with a thick layer of fudge chocolate yum, smashed coffee ice cream, concluding with another layer of chocolate (this one more cocoa-y).

3. the actual birthday. my late class was canceled and so i was able to cook us dinner, enjoyed with one of our favorite north carolina beers, shotgun betty.

i had been hungry for this smitten kitchen recipe: lemon pasta with olive oil. shira's birthday was the perfect excuse for decadence. and we already had pasta and cream and so i really did not have to buy too much. we sauteed some leeks in olive oil and tossed them in as well.

yum. yum. yum.
and a salad of cucumbers, carrots, and roasted beets.

4. shira is likely to hate this picture. i think that's ok.