celebrating my 40th . . . and a theme

I've been looking back on this month ~ through photos ~ and couldn't help but notice a theme . . . FOOD.

Much of my birthday was centered around food (no complaints here!) . . .

Sunday Brunch at the Hotel del Coronado

 LADUREE macarons (hello!)

a beautiful birthday cake made by my dearest and best-friend Alex of Cameo Cake Company
 lunch at CHADO's with some of my favorite people

Cookbooks

and a gift card to a Cooking School 

LADUREE

.     .     .     .     .     .

My husband worked a little magic (a lot, actually) and surprised me with a box of LADUREE macarons!

I love these petite French cookies. I've tried countless macarons over the years, and none of them compare to LADUREE's. There's something incredibly unique about them. The chocolate tastes like REAL chocolate; pistachio tastes like REAL pistachio; the vanilla tastes like REAL vanilla; and the rose macarons taste like REAL rose.  They're like a little pieces of heaven on earth.

The CAKE

.     .     .     .     .     .

My best-friend Alex, Owner of and Cake Decorator for Cameo Cake Company, surprised me with this beautiful cake. She paid careful attention to ALL the details . . . even down to the muted gold and pearly white fondant . . . and the BIG, beautiful hand-made pink peony. Simple and classic. Perfect.

And the inside . . .

a DARK CHOCOLATE lover's dream

.     .     .     .     .     .

Intense and rich dark chocolate cake ~ made with two varieties of high quality Guittard cocoa ~

filled with mint Oreo Swiss meringue buttercream ~ made with high quality and all natural peppermint extract ~ and then frosted in extra dark chocolate ganache ~ made with Callebaut Extra Bitter Chocolate ~

 before being covered in vanilla fondant. Heaven!

CHADO's

                                                                  .     .     .     .     .     .

A small group of close friends and I ventured north to Los Angeles
where we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at CHADO's.

 

Prep

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I'm so excited about this gift card!
Prep is a culinary retail store and Cooking School.
They offer a wide variety of top-rated, hands-on cooking classes . . .
and I have plans to enroll in the hand-made pasta workshop . . .

Herb Pressed Tortellini with Garlic, Roasted Tomatoes

Fettuccine With Grilled Chicken and a Light Cream Sauce 
Lasagna with Classic Bolognese

Summer Salad with Fresh Market Greens

Grilled Peaches with Chantilly Cream

I can't wait!!

I hope to take photos of my hand-made pasta adventure . . . and share the recipes with YOU.

The COOKBOOKS

                                                                  .     .     .     .     .     .
I was gifted amazing (and heartfelt) cookbooks. I treasure them, especially when there's a special story within its covers.

I'm a huge fan of Cook's Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen.

Have you heard of them? They're both highly respected in culinary circles, and I'm so happy to have more of their books to add to my collection.

I've already tagged upwards of 50 recipes from this one!  The old-fashioned chewy sugar cookie recipe I posted recently came from here.

 

This cookbook (below) has an extra special story behind it . . .
I saw it sitting on my cousin's dining room table last Summer. Its charming watercolor cover caught my eye . . . and when I asked her about it, she told me that it was a cookbook made by a group of elite women who have lived on Coronado Island for decades and decades. They're the women of the Crown Garden Club of Coronado.

Throughout the years, Crown Garden Club members have enjoyed fabulous brunches, lunches, teas, and dinners. Many of the recipes included in this book are treasured favorites from those events. Other recipes are from local restaurants that are long gone, but still evoke happy memories of past days in Coronado.

I was so surprised when my cousin, Linda, surprised me with one for my birthday!! What makes it so special is that there were only 500 of them printed, and they sold out almost immediately. She pulled a few strings (many strings, actually) and called in a favor of a friend, of a friend . . . and found one for ME!

I might not be a Coronado native and resident (like Linda), but I have fond memories of spending many Spring and Summer weekends in Coronado with my family. So although I don't know the Ladies of the Garden Club personally, I feel honored to have one of their cookbooks. Now I have a piece of Coronado in my home & kitchen (smile). Thank you so much, sweet Linda.

a chapter from the cookbook titled . . .

Summer in Coronado

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White Truffle Deviled Eggs

1 dozen hard-boiled eggs

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup white truffle oil

1/2 teaspoon black truffle salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper, to taste

Lemon thyme sprigs for garnish

.     .     .     .     .     .

Cut off 1/3 the top of the hard boiled eggs and place the yolks in a bowl.

Mash thoroughly with a fork and add the oils, and salt and pepper; mix thoroughly.

Return mixture to egg halves.

Garnish and serve cold or at room temperature.

I feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many loving friends and family members!
Thank you all for making my day so very special!
I will treasure all of my 40th birthday memories always.

LET'S STAY in touch!

Simply Suzannes at Home 

on Facebook

celebrating my 40th birthday on Coronado . . .

 

I told my husband a year ago that I wanted to have a big party to celebrate my 40th birthday . . . but as the year passed, my thoughts changed.

Instead, I dreamed of a quiet birthday . . . away.

The idea of a big party wasn't as appealing anymore.  I thought it would be more enjoyable to gather over the month with friends and family for small lunch or dinner dates to celebrate my birthday.

I've come to appreciate smaller gatherings, as they tend to be more relaxing . . . and they give me the chance to have meaningful conversations.

And so my birthday wish came true . . .

We spent a quiet, wonderful weekend on Coronado Island.

My husband and I took the Amtrak Surfliner south to San Diego, and then ferried across the water to Coronado, where we biked and strolled all weekend.

We enjoyed long, leisurely bike rides on the island,  moonlit walks on the beach, and relaxed meals on the harbor.

One of the highlights of our weekend was having Sunday brunch in the Crown Room at Hotel del Coronado.

I could have taken hundreds of photos of the hotel alone, but my focus this visit was the Sunday Brunch in the Crown Room.

The brunch is well-known for its extravagance; and after having gone now, I can see why.

The Crown Room is quite stunning with its wood ceilings, crown chandeliers, and beautiful views of the harbor . . . but the food was equally impressive.

I'm still in awe over the incredible menu that not only included typical American brunch entrees, but also Mediterranean, Italian, Spanish, and French. Take a peak at the menu here.

I brought my "good camera" to take photos while we were there, but found that it was more convenient to take photos with my cell phone. I'm quite happy with how many of them turned out.

I hope you enjoy . . .

a seafood bar . . .

seating in the garden too . . .

A few of my favorite photos of the grounds of Hotel del Coronado . . .

A peak at the exterior of the hotel from the courtyard. I love the white . . . and all the details.

One of many beach bungalows . . .

On our way to the beach, we found the hotel's herb garden.

We had a wonderful weekend!

Actually, the whole month has been filled with fun, friends, family, and small celebrations. I love birthdays, don't you!?

LET'S STAY in touch!

Simply Suzannes at Home 

on Facebook

a birthday brunch . . .

We celebrated our oldest son's 20th birthday a few weekends ago.

I've been anxious to share a few of my favorite photos with you, but have been sick for several days (SLOW recovery!) . . . so I'm behind on posting. I have so many recipes and projects to share with you.

Brunch is my favorite time of day to host, so I loved celebrating Nick's birthday over brunch with our family and his closest friends.

The decor was simple. White and beige linens set the perfect backdrop for bright green flowers, lemon cypress, white hydrangeas, bowls filled with green limes and bright orange clementines.

I also made silver tissue paper pom poms . . . and paper confetti using various shades of grey linen paper. They added a little birthday charm to our gathering . . . as well as the 3-foot tall number mylar balloons!

Nick's favorite cake is Tiramisu.

So for his birthday, I made an 8-layer Tiramisu topped with cocoa and shaved dark chocolate. It was TALL and beautiful. Imagine layer after layer after layer of tender white cake filled and frosted with espresso & amaretto infused sweetened mascarpone & fresh whipped cream.

And for the topper . . . I made a silver tassel garland that I swagged across the top of the cake using 2-foot tall dowels. I set the cake atop of a pedestal and placed it on our kitchen island so that it would be the first thing our friends and family would see when they walked into our kitchen and family room. It was a sight to be seen!

When it came time to sing happy birthday, we removed the garland and nestled 20 tall silver candles on top . . . and sang Happy Birthday!

~ silver tassel garland ~

Birthdays are about celebrating with favorites . . . favorite foods, drinks, colors, desserts, and people.

So along with his favorite cake, I made and served his favorite breakfast foods . . . fresh crumb doughnuts, buttermilk biscuits & gravy, roasted sausages, eggs, and fresh fruit. 

For something fun, I set up a doughnut and coffee bar on a secretary desk in our backyard. My husband and little ones picked up fresh crumb doughnuts earlier that morning. They were heavenly!

 

I made the items on our menu in age-old cast iron pans passed down to me from my Great-Grandma. Something magical happens to foods that are cooked in seasoned cast iron pans.

Since Nick is mid-western at heart, he enjoys hearty foods like buttermilk biscuits and gravy, roasted sausages, and eggs . . . and so every one of these dishes found their way to our table that morning. Some were served right out of the cast iron pan they were baked in!

I can't wait to share the baked egg dish that I made for his brunch. It's base is sauteed shallots, roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, creamy goat cheese, and Manchego cheese. I've made it a few times since the birthday brunch, so that I could perfect the baking and timing process.
see bake egg dish recipe here

our menu

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roasted sausages

Sawmill gravy

home-made buttermilk biscuits

baked eggs with spicy roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, manchengo, and goat cheese

fresh crumb donuts

fresh strawberries

Tiramisu Cake

It was a lovely birthday brunch that lingered into the afternoon. I have several photos of Nick enjoying the morning with his friends and our family. I'm so happy that we could all spend his special day together!

A birthday brunch is a great way to start your special day . . . enjoying good food with your favorite friends and family.

LET'S STAY in touch!

Simply Suzannes at Home 

on Facebook