A byootaful Life

Yesterday was Phill’s 25th birthday and to celebrate, we had a bunch of friends over for a BBQ. The weather was beautifully sunny and warm and our patio was the perfect size for the group, which ended up being around 20 people. I made burgers earlier in the day (just beef mince, diced onion, garlic and some herbs all mixed together and shaped into patties) and we bought some sausages too. There was a selection of salads to go with the meat including an Asian salad, a Greek salad (minus the olives) and a potato salad. There was also an assortment of dips and nibblies that kept everyone going before the BBQ was started. I had actually forgotten the Canucks game was on at 5pm and of course everyone was plastered in front of the TV to watch them defeat Boston, so nobody was interested in cooking until a little later than initially planned.

Last year I made a Simpsons cake for Phill. It took pretty much all day in the kitchen and while it was fun, it was pretty hard work. This time around, I decided to make an ice-cream cake for Phill, which I’ve never made before. It also marked my first time using Cool Whip (I always pronounce it the way Stewie Griffin does, accenting the “h” for some reason), which I tinted blue and covered with chocolate sprinkles. The ice-cream itself was a nice vanilla bean ice-cream and I’d mixed crushed Oreos into it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo with my camera because, well, I was a tad stressed getting everything ready and I forgot. However, I just realised we have left-over cake in the freezer so heck, it’s late and it’s a crappy iPhone pic, but it’s still a photo, right?

There may or may not have been a third Oreo on the side of the cake that I nibbled. And that is absolutely not my fingerprint in the Cool Whip. Just sayin’.

We’ve been relaxing today so far, recovering from last night. The apartment didn’t look too disastrous this morning because it turns out that drunk Kate likes to clean (who’d have thunk it?) and my friends gave me a hand putting on the dishwasher and putting away some pots and pans. It definitely made clean-up this morning easier! Just a quick vacuum, a rubbish run and a mop of the floors and the place is looking pretty good. The best thing about the day after a BBQ is leftovers, so I won’t have to cook dinner tonight – we’ve got a few burgers and a plate of sausages left, plus salads, so it’s going to be another BBQ for dinner (minus the actual BBQ-ing!) We’re probably going to have an early one tonight before back to work tomorrow.

So how was your weekend? Did you do anything special?