Birthday Kids

May 17, 2022

Early May is all about birthdays and Mother’s Day of course. Actually Mother’s Day is rarely just mom’s day in my house as my son’s birthday generally falls on Mother’s Day weekend. I really didn’t plan it well! I should have had him at some other time.

First, we celebrated this little girl turning 1 year old. She’s just a doll!

Afina is proudly wearing a vinok, an Ukrainian flower headpiece with colorful ribbons.

She had a fun day, playing with new toys and snacking on her favorite treats. Can you say “no” to this face?!

Then, on Mother’s Day, this kid turned 25. He looks slightly older right now.

Here are both birthday kids in their natural habitat. Only one of them is paying attention.

This year’s Mother’s Day celebration was a bittersweet one: my mom-in-law was no longer with us. It was strange not to have her at the dinner table with us as we’ve always celebrated Mother’s Day/kid’s birthday together with both sets of grandparents so we missed her a lot.

Every year for his birthday, my son would ask for the Black Forest cake, and I always obliged. This year I thought it was getting tiring to have the same cake and decided to separate chocolate and cherries from the Black Forest and make two cakes. So we got flourless chocolate cake.

And cherry-cardamom sharlotka cake.

We also had a chicken-apple sausage and tomatoes three cheese (mozzarella, chèvre,havarti) tart for an appetizer.

Not pictured are several BBQ dishes (brisket, ribs, turkey) with collard greens, mashed potatoes and baked beans that disappeared before we were able to commemorate them for eternity, but trust me, they were divine!

Raise your hand if you want me to post any of the pictured recipes in future posts.

Flowers were abundant too.