Happy Birthday, Alexa!

This is the year that I (and most of my friends) will be turning the big 3-0. A few months back in anticipation of her May birthday, Alexa's husband Brian (you all remember Brian and Alexa, of course) told me that he wanted a celebration that was part dinner party, part cooking lesson. He read a magazine article that talked about organizations that would bring party guests into the kitchen, instruct them in preparing a set menu of recipes, and then serve everyone up a wonderful meal that would taste all the better having been prepared by our own hardworking hands. A birthday party with a lesson to be learned, I like it! He had started trawling the Internet in search such a place in Seattle, and I joined in his efforts to seek out the perfect spot for Alexa's 30th birthday. After forty-odd emails between Brian and the proprietor of At the Table in Seattle, a date was selected (last Saturday night) along with a menu (Indian!).
Knowing that the dinner would likely run late at night and there would be knives brandished, Andy and I decided that Alton should probably not be one of the party attendees, so we hatched our plan to visit B&A as a family a few weekends ago, then dispatch me on a solo mission to the Emerald City to party it up with my best bud birthday girl these past few days. Father-Son Weekend at home! (Details forthcoming.)

I drove up to Seattle on Friday afternoon amidst rain and traffic, but not even sluggish, wet roads could get me down. I carefully hoarded my Weight Watchers points and squeezed in a workout Friday morning in anticipation of some weekend treats on my plate. I spent a nice low-key evening over pizza, wine and movie with Brian and Alexa, catching up and chatting and making fun of John Cusack's attempts to save the human race. Saturday morning dawned sunny, warm and clear and I cruised over to Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood to meet up with my friend Chris Walker for breakfast! (With a quick detour into the toy store Once Upon a Time on Queen Anne to get a "Mommy is gone for the weekend" gift for Alton--I couldn't return home to the kid empty handed, after all.) Chris is all settled in to his new hometown and has already finished up a community volleyball league season and moved on to softball. He also bought a pimpin' cruising boat and we drove down the hill to Lake Union to tour his craft. Looks like it's time to get a life vest for Alton!
Back at Alexa's, we primped for our evening of chef lessons and then drove to the home of one of the owners of the business, finding ourselves in her gorgeous, spacious great room overlooking Lake Washington.



We all donned aprons

and equipped ourselves with drinks,

before starting in on preparing the appetizers.

The first course was samosas, Indian dumplings that we created by stuffing packaged wonton wrappers with a mixture of potatoes, peas, and onion. They were then deep-fried...

and enjoyed hot with a sweet cilantro sauce made by other members of the group, which promptly became glued to the crevices in our teeth and gums and gave all of us green-flecked smiles for the rest of the evening. But we were a busy group! Cucumber and tomatoes were chopped and mixed with yogurt for a cold salad,

marinade was poured over chicken breasts headed for the oven,

and Alexa smiles with happiness at the frangipane pear tart being created for dessert.

Below we enjoy the fruits of our labors. (Note that all the heads are down, tucking into the meal!)

We were there for more than four hours and ate so much food! I'll be working out extra hard to make up for that this week. I belted home on Sunday afternoon to squeeze my little man and kiss my husband, but it was definitely a unique birthday party that we will not soon forget. Alexa had a wonderful time...

and so did I!