'Up', an ice-cream cake, and a new 7-year-old boy

Lam turns 7 today!!! Yay! It seems like just yesterday that he looked like this...

I know, he's super adorable. He can't help it. He was born that way.

Unlike last year's boys-only, testosterony dude-fest at the aviation museum, Lam wanted to celebrate this year's event with friends of both genders. He even invited his sister!

So, I used the super-awesome magic all parents have and arranged a movie party at Silver City Polo Park over the weekend. We all watched ''Up", then had the customary cake post-movie.

Now, Mini has a peanut/nut allergy, as does one of Lam's buddies. So, I wanted EVERYTHING to be peanut-/nut-free and to have not come anywhere near anything else that touched peanuts/nuts. Seriously, I'm over-the-top anal about this type of thing.

Case in point: Roomie's allergic to some types of fish/seafood. (Okay, you may be wondering why the hell did he marry a sushi-lovin', patis-in-everything Filipina? Pfft... well, I think we all know the answer to that question.) When we dine out, I always tell serving staff that "my husband will die if he has anything with fish or seafood in it".
See? Anal. Hey, it's better to be safe than pushin' daisies I always sayz.

Okay, digressing. Where was I? Oh, yeah, no nuts/peanuts.

My safest bet to avoid any nutty accidents was to make the birthday cake myself. This idea also appealed to my control-freak side. Joy all around!

Then, my oven died. Totally because of Roomie's bad tech-equipment karma. I swear. He should stay away from all things with electronics -- VCRs, DVD-players, PVRs, dishwashers, washing machines, stove/ovens, etc. Our computers are constantly going tits-up! He's totally in the wrong industry and totally to blame. Gah! If he weren't so great in the sack...

Good god, digressing again! So, ice-cream cake it was to be. Lam gave the idea a thumbs-up, and off I went to ping the internets for a good recipe.

To make an already crazy-long story less long, I found an awesome recipe, bought totally nut-free ingredients and a spring-form pan, made hot fudge sauce, threw everything together on an also-homemade chocolate wafer crust, froze it all overnight, and BAM! - ended up with this...

Oh, yeah, totally yummy. Even Miss Mini, aka "She who doesn't really like chocolate", decided it was so tasty! (Yah, about the chocolate thing, I'm still wondering if she's really my daughter. Because, hello? CHOCOLATE!)

But OMG, I was stressing about this cake the night before. Totally "it will melt everywhere", "everyone will hate it", "they'll throw rocks at me" kind of stress.

Apparently unfounded, of course. The screaming, sugared-up, bouncing-off-the-walls kids loved it.

The adults enjoyed the cake too. In fact, one parent -- who shall remain nameless -- suddenly appeared behind me, grabbed a fork, and gave me a look that said, "I want to be alone with this cake now." Truth. See?


That's my sister on the left, sugared-up Lam on the right, and in the middle, my dear trying-to-blend-into-background buddy with the pan in her hand. Thanks to her, I didn't have to bring anything melty/sticky home with me.

All in all, the kids had a great time, the parents had a couple of hours to themselves while we sugared up their children, and Lam celebrated his birthday exactly how he wanted: watching an awesome movie with his awesome buddies.


Happy 7th Birthday, dear Lam! We love you!

Roomie and I give special thanks to Kevin (one of the awesome dads) and Edna (my super big sis) for being such great help on such a chaotic event. You both rock!

11 comments:

  1. Ok...so I totally knew who the nameless friend was before I even scrolled over the hyperlink and saw the photo. And H - what's up with the hood? You look very shady...as if you are not to be trusted. And clearly, that cake is going to father your next child (hey - didn't you say were having a hankering for #4??).

    Nen - congrats on an awesome party and a yummy cake. Me loves me some ice cream cake...wish I could have been there.

    Oh - and we know why Roomie married you. 'Cuz you are smokin' girlfriend!

    xx

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  2. Your oven died? And it's not fixed yet? What part of it, exactly, is dead? Because if it's just a burned out element, it doesn't take a B.SC (EE) to fix that, lady! It just takes a screwdriver, an ohm-meter, and a trip to Rona (or equivalent).

    Or is it some electronic/microprocessor component that's toasted? I'm glad we have an older style with minimal electronics bit some day they'll go and then I'll be sorry. The new ones are just so fragile.

    And my first guess was that it wasn't Harmzie coveting the cake --- the quote and the pose reminded me more of another friend.

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  3. The cake looks great! you are patient!! I still would have bought it. I do the same thing with hubbie and the mushrooms. we've had to leave restaurants that had "skillets" with sizzling mushrooms before.

    I'm still lazy though when it comes to the cake. :)
    Happy Birthday Lam!

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  4. Sounds like a great time for all.
    And the cake looks delish!
    I can almost taste it through my screen.

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  5. Pardon my French (because I *always* ask for permission when swearing), but that cake was FUCKING AWESOME!

    It was just a lonely little piece of cake left.

    I didn't want to dirty a knife AND once I'd taken a bite, I felt it was my duty to NOT just take a bite with my own fork (ref Seinfeld: "it's like putting your whole MOUTH in the cake"). Bad hygene practices in this H1N1 mania. I was saving YOU (ignore the fact that neither me nor anyone in my contact has been the least bit sick lately. We could be carriers. Only looking out for you. I'm giving like that. And it was fucking awesome. But it was all about the giving.)

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  6. Happy 7th Lam! My how time flies....

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  7. Ah yes, Lam's birthday. The time when I start thinking "Hey, that means my anniversary is coming up. When is that again?" Then I promptly forget about it. sigh.

    Happy birthday Lam! Looks like you had a great party, and a delicious cake!

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  8. Cake fear is big - especially when you've opted to make it yourself. I have the same fear - my oven tends to burn things without any kind of warning whatsoever. I can make cake and yorkshire pudding in my oven, but not, apparently, cookies.

    Glad it went well! Celebrate by doing absolutely nothing celebratory for at least a week!

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  9. Thank you all so much for the awesome greetings! Lam is just chuffed at all your love and thoughtfulness.

    xoxo

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  10. @Country Girl -
    I think the hood was a part of her desire to be stealthy :)

    @Albert -
    The oven is still broken... sigh...
    As for the "another friend", are we talking about our own "International Man of Mystery"?

    @kyooty -
    The cake was totally worth all the work ;)

    @Su -
    I'll make one when you guys come to town. :)

    @Harmzie -
    Glad you loved the cake, and I appreciate your giving nature, girlfriend ;)

    @LRM -
    Thanks :) Time has flown, hasn't it?! Crazy!

    @myrtle -
    Yes, your anniversary is coming soon! Yours was the very first wedding Lam had ever been to, so it's very special to all of us. :)
    Thanks for the birthday greetings - xo

    @wyliekat -
    yes, the cake fear was HUGE! I had a lot riding on this cake... my son's rep being one of them! ;)

    I can rest now that Mini's birthday is also done... and I think I'll take 2 weeks for both birthdays! LOL

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  11. The only International Man of Mystery I know is me. And Austin Powers. And Jay Diamond. OK, I know lots of international men of mystery. But the photo and quote reminded me of Mrs Nuttall.

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