08.11.08
Extended Birthday.
When I visited with Mom and my sister yesterday, Mom offered me a chicken cutlet sandwich. She had simmered the cutlets in Italian salad dressing on the stove. The sandwich; made with sourdough bread, spicy brown mustard, and cooper sharp cheese; was incredibly good. Today, I couldn’t decide what to make Daniel for lunches this week, then I remembered the chicken cutlets. He’s been taking chicken for lunch almost every day for the past two weeks, but I know how much he likes BBQ. When I talked to him on the phone during his lunch break, I mentioned doing chicken with BBQ sauce and he, wanted that. BBQ is a mess to cook on the grill so this afternoon I partially defrosted four breasts, then cut each into four thin slices. Once they were completely thawed, I preheated the grill and cooked them over a low flame. When they were a nice golden brown with grill marks, I brought them in and put them in a tupperware container alternating the meat with layers of Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue Sauce. This is the only BBQ sauce I use. I’ve tried many other brands, but Ray’s is the best.
Daniel called as he was leaving work, so I started his dinner of leftover chili and rice in the microwave and then hopped in the shower. He arrived home just as I was finishing and we ate dinner while we watched some TV. After cleaning up, we left for Mom’s and Daniel’s birthday cake. There’s a photo of it at the bottom of this post.
My brother greeted us on the back porch and I went inside to the kitchen where Mom was finishing up washing dinner dishes. Daniel and my brother talked on the porch while I made a pot of coffee and sneaked a peek at the cake. My sister wasn’t feeling well and was asleep upstairs. Mom had wrapped the cake up in foil and plastic wrap and tied it with a ribbon and card. She carried the cake out to the porch and presented it to Daniel. I know he was touched by her gesture. After he read his card and opened the cake, I took several photos of it. Mom brought out the silver serving set and we sat on the porch talking, telling jokes and eating cake, Daniel and I had several “small” pieces, while we finished off the pot of coffee over the next hour and a half. Before we left I went upstairs to check on my sister and I found her still sleeping soundly, so I didn’t wake her. By the time we left it was dark outside. When we arrived home the cat gave us “What For!”, that’s Pennsylvanian for a scolding for leaving her alone. Right now I’m watching the Olympics on TV while Daniel is practicing with his neural impulse actuator.
O.P.W.
