Birthday Special 2017

Well, dear readers, it's that time of year again -- Ariel's birthday. I managed to pull off another cake for the third year running. I researched a great many cake recipes, but ended up falling back on the same one as last year, and I think it turned out even better this time. However, I went with a vanilla buttercream frosting on this one. I'm getting a bit more comfortable with the whole process, and it has become apparent that the most difficult step is applying frosting to the sides and edges of the cake. The wine pairing for the cake was a 2001 North Point ice wine that I've been saving for a while. 

Since I was already confident in my ability to produce vehicle-based cake designs, it was time to branch out into animals. Cats were clearly the place to start, since I do have an excellent model. It occurs to me now that the face got a bit rounder than it should have, but there are plenty of cakes to come for that. Ariel also hinted at being open to a return of my (in)famous vehicular cakes, so stay tuned for next year.

Freyja the cake model

Interestingly enough, our dinner tonight (Ariel's request) perfectly mirrored the one from last year -- lamb and mushroom kebabs. That probably means a recipe for that one will be forthcoming.

In other news, No Free Lunch turned five years old this month. Unfortunately, this was my leanest year yet in terms of posts, but there were some great recipes in that select club. 2016 saw my return to Indian cuisine, a Chinese dim sum recipe with a weird new ingredient, as well as a true original of my own devising. I also made my take on a French classic and updated an old favorite. I ended the year on a truly special note with party salad, a real family tradition. One of my students also found the blog and made my taco recipe. Students, if you're reading this, make this one, and I'll really be impressed. 

Thank you to all of you for the continued support for this project over the last five years. I'm looking forward to at least that many more. And, of course, happy birthday, Ariel. You inspire me to make at least one delicious cake a year, but more importantly, better food every single day.