Cheers all!

It is my birthday.
Besides some family presents and a cake baked by us three and decorated by my wife and son not a big deal.

But I thought I deserved a glass of Cognac of the same age as me.
Sitting in the sun under our big old walnut tree, some squirrels are doing me a favor and drop the good ones down for easy gathering, very relaxed but I hope none of the nuts (with the bigger “apple” still around them so much heavier then just a shelled walnut :wink: ) fall in or on my cognac :smiley:

For three years I am telling people consider me 41 for the next ten years, after that consider me 51 for the ten after that :slight_smile:
That is as close as I will go for age in passport doesn’t really matter.

Gonna make a nice meal now

First
For me and my wife a glass of good Pinea (kind of Porto, but made differently, unfermented most is the foundation, then the youngest of what may legally be called cognac (wine made in the Cognac area, for cognac, distilled twice to get a 70%Alc very young cognac, send to barrel or to make Pineau) added to make sure no fermentation occurs to get a 20-25% aperitif.
My son gets an extra sweet home made lemonade in the same small glass (flowers of elderberry, acacia, rose and honey I used to make a syrup, normally diluted 1:7 but when adults get their alcoholic drinks I do 1:4 for the kids, gives a nice red color, feels special. Kids happy, they have something to join the fun :wink: )

Then soup:
Stinging Nettle
Pull a bunch with root out of the ground
Wash, cut stems and roots in small pieces with heavy duty scissors.
Boil in water with salt
After about 10/20 minutes use a hand held blender and boil for abother five minutes. Add leaves and blend again. Turn of fire, taste if it needs some salt.
Sif before serve, leaving a light green soup, without plant material, just color and flavor.
Incredible easy, cheap and the roots make it creamy and rich, awesome soup! I don’t bother wearing gloves now , early spring yes they sting hard, now not so much and well I am ripping them out of the ground, a little revenge they can have on me :wink:

Then
Some escargots, yeah snails, also easy, we buy them frozen and they just need to be in the oven for a short while. (The snails with a house I leave in the garden, they feed primarily on dead leaves and eggs of the slugs (is this correct, the snail-like devastators without a house) so the edible snails are a gardeners friend. But very nice to eat.

Then
My own version of aligot ( a French dish from potatoes and Tomme cheese. I make a cheese fondue with more types of cheese and a Dutch “kruidenbittertje” (a alcoholic spirit with herbs) and use less potatoes then original. )
With mushrooms, tillia (linden) leaves, a few leaves of Jerusalem Artichoke and leaves from zucchini plants (all leaves hanging on the plants till I want to use them.)
Bake mushrooms till golden, add finely cut leaves when mushrooms are ready, turning off the gas, the heat if the pan and mushrooms is enough to tender the leaves and this way more flavor remains (and possible more vitamins too)
With sticks of turkey breast, paprika and pepper. Turkey cut in small pieces, seasoned and baked a little, then on a stick with some paprika and pepper in the oven till the paprika is soft and sweet.
A clean and simple salad, cucumber, fresh picked and chopped herbs, a little salt and peppet l, vinegar, mustard and olive oil, sprinkled with some raw sesame, poppy and sunflower seeds.

Then
We might skip this, kind of heavy.
Some real origine protected cheese (certified as made in the correct region the traditional way).
The Charentaise Chabichou (raw goat, with very soft and subtle flavours) , old real Camembert from Normandy (raw cow), and a blue one, probably Roquefort (raw sheep)
I might opt to only put a young Camembert in the oven and then we use bread with herbs and garlic made into toast to scoop the molten cheese.
But this is heavy so we could skip it and do it tomorrow afternoon with the neighbors, always good fun :wink:

Then
Not sure
I got a bunch of freshly picked blackberries.
Either gonna make a warm sauce with elderberries (also from garden of course) and serve with vanilla ice (bought not made)

Or I could make it a bit more interesting and melt some white and regular chocolate and use long forks so we have chocolate fondue with the blackberries to eat the chocolate with.

Maybe I choose a healthy alternative and skip the bought icecream and chocolate.
Make a fondue with just:
A pinch of good vanilla
Good honey
Raw cacao powder
And eat that with the berries.
Lol writing it, realizing I am not getting any younger, the third option it is. The honey/raw cacao/vanilla mix is so good, even the French who have tasted it, including sugar spoiled kids, prefer it over bought stuff and we get asked for the recipe a lot.

Then
Another Cognac and by that time the kid is to bed so I might just check if I can find one of the Cuban cigars I must have somewhere and sit under the still flowering wisteria that fills the air with a deep sweet scent, dunking the end I suck on in the Cognac when I am about 75% along the way.

For drinks,
I got wine without alcohol (Chardonnay) for our son and my wife doesn’t drink a lot so she will probably have a glass too.
And a bottle of Blanc de Blanc Brut traditional, basically champagne not made in the Champagne region, just as nice though.
I have a bottle of Dutch Zundert Trappist beer waiting for during the main course, our son can smell and take a tiny sip just to taste, the rest is for me :smiley:

All in all, something I make for guests and rarely for just the family, now it is such a time :wink:

Cheers!

So don’t count on me responding to PMs and such till later :smiley:

Happy Birthday Miller! That all sounds delicious and nice to have an evening sun with it :slight_smile:
(Andijviestamp met slavinken for us over here)

Happy Birthday :slight_smile: :beer:

Very best wishes!!!

Happy Birthday and best wishes.

:laughing: عيد ميلاد سعيد

Happy Birthday! :beer:

Am I the only one that really likes reading the recipes?

A birthday, Family, food, and wine :partying_face: :beer:

Forget about BLF and enjoy.

Cheers David

Happy birthday!!!

Happy Birthday :partying_face: :beer:

Happy Blessed Birthday with your family!! Cheers!!

:partying_face: :beer:

Happy Birthday!!! :partying_face: :beer:

Happy Birthday Miller, Thank you for your dedication to helping us “see the light”

Happy birthday buddy! Add 13 days to your day and it will be my turn. :partying_face:
Don’t have any Cognac at my house but it sure sounds nice. So does the rest of your menu. I start drooling every time you talk about food. Knock it off man!

Cheers.

Bonne fĂŞte The Miller ! :beer:

La Multi Ani!

Happy Birthday The Miller! Wishing you and your family the best!

Ça c’est ce qu’on appelle faire bombance !

Joyeux anniversaire le meunier !!

Best wishes :beer:

Wow, what a bday. Happy 41st!!! :slight_smile: