How I Got Through a Birthday Tour

Well, another birthday has come and gone and I have lived to tell the tale. It was plenty of fun, and only ended up with just a slight headache the following morning. Here are some tips if you’re thinking about doing this for your birthday.

The Olde English

• Make reservations, especially if you’re planning on celebrating on a Friday. The place was PACKED! I’m sure there were people that I invited that took one look at the crowd and left. M and I managed to get a spot at the end of the bar.
• $40.00 deposit for the teacup, your choice of Magner’s Cider or a lager (this visit it was Heineken). If you get the cider, they will add ice to it.
• Ask for another glass (or glasses). You may get a funny look, but if you’re sharing this is nicer… and no group back wash!

Wolff’s Beirgarden

• $40.00 deposit plus you have to spend an additional $20.
• Don’t forget to ask for more glasses!

• Get a big mug of water. You may get teased, but you’ll thank yourself the next day.
• Fried anything at Wolff’s is a winner. We got twenty bucks worth of food, well worth it considering that was probably my first real meal all day (cake at work is not filling… no matter what they tell you).

Sciorino’s

• Your birthday slice is really two slices… plenty for sharing.

Nine Pin

Okay, so it’s not technically on the birthday tour, but it’s in the area. And I really like their cider.

Bombers

• If you ask for your margarita to be frozen, it’s an $8.00 charge.
• The Troy Bombers ran out of shirts, so make sure the manager makes a note on your card so you can get one from another location.
• And thank you to whichever table that bought us shots.

And that’s how I celebrated my birthday. I think next year I’ll take it easy and just stay at one place for the night.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

My birthday isn’t for a few more weeks, but I already got a birthday present. Before seeing who it came from, I thought it was another card M made for me online for Valentines Day that took a wee bit long to arrive (I would post the one he gave me, but it’s not PC… sorry folks). Nope, not M, but Troy Germania Hall.

How did they even know it was my birthday?!?

Oh, there’s a birthday club? Yeah, I probably did sign up for that.

If you sign up, this is what you get – $10 off dinner when you buy another dinner for full price. And considering their dinners are not pricey (the most expensive item, prime rib is $15.95), the birthday discount makes it a steal. And from what I remember of the place, their beers were on the cheap side too.

But here’s the catch. If I go there, I can’t bring M (See?!? Being a vegetarian in upstate New York is a PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT. Can’t go anywhere) since he’ll have nothing to eat other than some grilled cheese. And all of March is a wash for me since I gave up meat for Lent and this thing goes until the 31st. Yeah, yeah… there’s fish on the menu. But I am not using this card for fish. Pssh… my discount scoffs at the thought.

So April it is. And I’ll have to round up people to go with me. Albany Jane? Professor Fuss? Any other local people, bloggers or not.

It’ll be fun. People in lederhosen. Accordion serenades. And German beer. Ja das ist gut. 

Celebrate Octogenarity.

So the cupcake tasting came and went, and I was not a part of it.

But I had a good reason.

My grandmother turned eighty. Which trumps cupcakes any day. We tried to convince her that she shouldn’t cook, that it was okay to cater the party. But she wanted to cook, it’s her thing. It wouldn’t be a party without her cooking.

Some snapshots of the day.

To Celebrate

“Tomorrow you come over to our house for lunch. It’s K’s birthday.”

“Are you making goto?”

“No, it’s just lunch.”

So this was what I was expecting. Just lunch, with the family to celebrate my cousin’s birthday. I really didn’t think it was going to be anything big, because heck… her brother wasn’t even going to be there (but he has the “away at college” excuse).

No. 83

He doesn’t look a day over 73. Here are some shots from my grandfather’s birthday party this past weekend.

AOA 3.0/ Van’s (Albany, NY)

Yeah, the party was weeks ago… but I figured I’d mention that I was there. For a quick second. I don’t do well being in a room of strangers, and I wasn’t in the mood to go up to random people and strike up conversation.

Besides, I really wanted some pho.

I know. I left a party with some tasty bites (and cupcakes!) to get more food.

What can I say… I’m an eater.

Birfday Cake

This March-April span is when many of my friends and family members celebrate their birthday. So to all of them, for all of us (since I am a March baby)… happy birthday.

Now pass me a plate.

Cake... On Them

Job gives its workers free dessert on their birthday. I went with carrot cake.

21st Birthday @ Gilligans Clam Bar & Grill (Pomona, NY)

I was too busy eating to actually take pictures (plus they kinda sucked). My uncles, on the other hand, took the time out to snap photos, like the one above.

I am feeling a whole lot older now- two of my cousins turned 21 this month! One of them celebrated this weekend by inviting the family to dinner at Gilligans. I’ve driven by this place plenty of times, but never actually ate there. I’ve heard from people… who in turn heard from people, that it was a good place. And it must be, because on a Sunday night (after 7) it was packed. For a party of 16, we must have waited for about 45 minutes before they would set up a table for us.

We started with two calamari appetizers, which were two pounds a piece. It was pretty darn good, and didn’t last long. Dinner ended up being six lobster dinners for two. SIX. Lobsters were good, but on the small side. Just a few clams, and tons of mussels. I split it with my mom, which meant she barely ate one lobster and left the rest to me. And I did finish all of it, although not in one sitting.

For dessert, my aunt bought what I can only describe as a chocolate bombe cake. The cake was almost sponge cake-like, filled with whipped cream and fresh strawberries and bananas. It was frosted with whipped cream and coated in cake crumbs. The cake was light, and had just the right amount of richness. She bought it from B & W Bakery in Hackensack, NJ if you’re wondering.

Birthday Cake

I completely forgot to post this up!

Three-Oh

I have left the twenties for good.

Let it be known that in 2010, I hit this milestone. And unlike some of my friends, I didn't freak out about it... that much.

I didn't even bake my birthday cake. What is wrong with me?!?

For my birthday, I invited family and Mags to Peter Wong's for a dim sum lunch. M was supposed to go, but he had work the night before and was too tired to make the trip. Perhaps it was for the best, since he hates Chinese food.

I didn't take any pictures except for the one up there, the house special noodles. I think my dad and uncle took quite a few (taking pictures of food runs in the family) and now I'm just waiting until they post it to FB so I can put them up here.

Maybe I'll go all out for my 31st.

AOA2 Birthday Party & Recovery Room (Troy, NY)

Happy belated birthday All Over Albany!

On Thursday, AOA threw a party to celebrate the big OH TWO. And I was there! Really! Unfortunately, M and I arrived pretty late. Okay, okay... really late. The weather downstate sucked and the drive was not the best. But I made it in one piece!

I have no pictures, but I did try the much talked about cupcakes- and I have nothing but praise for the bakers. They were good and helped melt away what was left of my winter driving stress. Our late arrival cut into the people talking, but I did get to meet Kevin Marshall and the Profussor. Albany Jane spotted us out by the bar, and it was good to see a familiar face. I'm sure I could have made my way through the rest of the crowd, but I am way too shy to go up to people and start talking.

After the party we made plans with one of M's friends to meet up at the Recovery Room for a quick bite. And as usual with M's friends, he bailed last minute. Not really in the mood to go anywhere else, we decided to stick with the RR.

From the outside, it looks like the restaurant doesn't take up that much space in the hotel. But the whole "looks can be deceiving" saying... so true. It's a large space, which unfortunately is pretty cluttered with seating. In the back of the restaurant the seating is more reasonably spaced and the walls are adorned with televisions and the usual shtick.

Honestly, there wasn't much on their menu that appealed to me. So I played it safe and did the girl order- Caesar salad and their soup of the day, Tomato Bisque. The salad was edible, but barely. The dressing clearly tasted like mayo and it looked like something you'd expect from a bag. The Tomato bisque was good, and surprisingly had chunks of tomato. I was thinking about throwing my croutons into the soup, but it was coated in that mayo disaster. M ordered a vegetable pizza, which was pretty good. It was topped with portabella mushrooms, artichokes, red onions, and spinach. I should have dropped the girlish act and ordered a pizza as well.

If we do come back to the Recovery Room, it will probably be pizza and wings. Apparently the RR serves some of the best wings in the area. And their beer specials don't sound too bad, either.

Happy Belated Birthday!!

to my friend K... who I haven't seen since I graduated from college.

To make it up to him, I of course drove into the city to have a few drinks. Well, just the one, because in my awesomeness I decided to show up fashionably late... and what do you know, they left the bar.

Not to fear, because they were just a few blocks away and we did the frustrating walk all over the East Village to find a hookah bar. We did find one. Can't remember the name, but it was fun. and K and I did have the obligatory brithday drink - Irish carbomb. I really like those... I can put away a bunch before it comes back to haunt me (I was good and just had the one).

Anyways, happy birthday dude... and no, I am no bully!

Birthday Dinner

Back in the day, celebrating my birthday meant going out and getting hammered. I'm sure I've still got it in me, but responsibilities seem to get in the way of having fun nowadays. This year I was working on my birthday once again, but I chose to tone it down a bit and have a quiet birthday dinner.

I went out with M and my friend D to Bucca di Beppo over in Colonie. I try not to go to chain restaurants very often, but this is one of the places that M agree on, and hello... free cake on your birthday. Very nice.

Dinner was pretty light- some salad, some pasta, and I think there was calamari. The cake was red velvet, and omfg... so good. They sang to me and I blew out the candelabra thing. Cute.

I'll Bake If I Want To

Is there anything wrong with baking your own birthday cake? I never thought so, and by making it myself, I'm guaranteed to ge something I like. The last two years I've had to work on my birthday and I've made a cake to bring in and share.

I decided to make spring cupcakes, because they were my favorite when I was younger. My mom used to make a ton of these and drop them off at school for the class party. The colored coconut and jelly beans... an edible easter basket!

I did away with the jelly bean eggs and decided on an even better surprise. A quick glance at the pantry and I found a jar of marachino cherries. One in each center would make for a great surprise. I'm still not sure on how much batter goes in each liner. 1/4 cup each? Fill it 2/3 of the way up? Help!

It looks like I shouldn't have pushed the cherries that far into each cupcake- they settled on the bottom. But it was still a nice sweet surprise.

While the cupcakes were baking, I got working on the "grass." Not hard to do at all, just a bag of sweetened coconut and green food coloring. Had I not been in a rush to finish, I would have made more colors, like pink and blue... like the Easter grass. But green is classic, and surprisingly it is what I had most of with the food dye. I only used enough icing to lightly cover the cupcakes, since they were going to be covered in coconut anyways.

One of the later cupcakes, after I ran out of coconut and icing. I was pretty good, I only ate one.

My Birthday

Gadget wanted to be the first one to say Happy Birthday

This is a Test

Picture info: http://www.seasonalchef.com/082102d.JPG

Recently my dad celebrated a birthday. And in true Filipino fashion, we had a big party. We had the grill going, the deep fryer frying, and all six ranges of the stove plus oven running.

As I get older, the more I feel obliged to help with the cooking. It’s not that I really care, because I end up learning how to make food I like to eat. As I posted before, I made leche flan and ube, traditional deserts. I also made cupcakes, quite a few… and only later did I discover that I didn’t need to make any since my aunt brought over a HUGE birthday cake.