Weekend Cooking- A Birthday Celebration

My husband's sister Brigette, his brother's wife Kay and I all share the same birthday, although we were born in different years. It's always nice when two or all three of us can celebrate together, and this year Brigette and I shared a celebration.

On the day before our birthday, we went up to Kingston to visit, and Brigette made Cook's Illustrated Perfect Baked Ziti, since it was Good Friday and we couldn't have meat. It was soooo tasty! She added a Caesar salad and some fresh bread and it was the perfect way to kick off the weekend.

I found the recipe for this ziti posted on A Bountiful Kitchen's website, so here it is. I know I will be trying it soon. Perfect Baked Ziti.

Baked Ziti- yum

On Saturday evening, our actual birthday, our husbands treated our families to a delicious dinner at Calico Restaurant and Patisserie in Rhinebeck (the town where Chelsea Clinton got married). It's a darling little place, and our group of eleven took up half of the restaurant.

Calico Restaurant

Some of the culinary highlights included the escargot appetizer, which was escargot Chardonnay and shallot braised and baked in a garlic and herb butter sauce (my husband and mother-in-law raved about them) and the sauteed risotto and saffron fritter with shiitake mushrooms in a wild mushroom and chive broth that Brigette and I both had. Oh my goodness, it was scrumptious! My sons both had the crab cake appetizer with a homemade tartar sauce they loved.

After dinner, they brought out the dual birthday cakes, baked by Leslie, the chef's wife and co-owner of Calico. Brigette had a Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake, and I got a Chocolate Mousse Cake. Both were so beautifully decorated and tasted sinfully good. And there were very few leftovers, even though we had two cakes!

We all had a lovely time and if you ever go to Rhinebeck, I highly recommend this gem of a restaurant.

On Easter Sunday, we celebrated mass at Ferncliffe Nursing Home, where we assisted transporting the residents. The mass was so wonderful, and many of residents participated in the readings and ringing bells during the mass; it was a beautiful way to celebrate Easter.

Following mass, my mother-in-law arranged for a fantastic catered brunch. We had sausage quiche,  fruit salad, a huge platter of bagels, pastries and carrot cake mini muffins that were yummy. The big hit at brunch was the stuffed french toast, which was stuffed with turkey and ham and there were many people calling dibs on those leftovers.

It was a lovely birthday/Easter weekend, and best of all, we shared it with family.

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