Fun and Firsts for My Husband's Birthday

Thursday was a day of fun, firsts, and relaxation. April 10th is my husband's birthday, and although this is our fifth birthday to spend together, it was extra special since this was our first to spend as husband and wife. I decided to take the day off from work because, regardless of what he wanted to do, all I wanted to do was spend the day with him. We enjoyed sleeping in that morning (it's only right to sleep in for Spring Break on a day when you would normally have work or classes!) and went out for breakfast. After getting back to our townhome and hanging out for a little while, I then requested that he not come into the kitchen unless given permission. This kitchen amateur prefers to be alone with her newest recipe, so he didn't mind giving me the space!

A hint of bitterness still lingers after not being able to taste more of our wedding cake at our reception in January, so I thought it only right that I incorporate our favorite cake into whatever I was going to make for his birthday. Although I don't own the glory that is a Kitchen Aid mixer, I was content to work with my little $5 handmixer I found at a garage sale last spring.

This cake could not have been perfect, which made the next step in the recipe so difficult! The recipe instructed me to crumble up the entire cake while it was still warm (of course, I had to sample it to make sure it tasted good!) into a bowl and mix it with cream cheese frosting.

After rolling the cake and frosting mixture into small balls, I dunked them in white almond bark. This is the delectable finished product: cake truffles! The recipe for cake truffles has been passed around the company where I work, and my husband's birthday was the perfect opportunity to try it out myself!

Evidence that I am clearly an amateur in the kitchen: I boiled a whole chicken for the very first time on Thursday. Ever since my mom came to visit over a year ago, my husband has teased me about getting her recipe for chicken and dumplings. As with the dessert, I thought this was the perfect day to try my hand at a dinner I knew he would love (pending that it turned out well, of course). There are a couple of things I may change next time, but overall, the chicken and dumplings was a perfect meal for us to celebrate! I more or less combined my mom's recipe with her husband's recipe: he uses biscuit dough for the dumplings while my mom prefers to make the dough from scratch. I played it safe with the biscuit dough this time around, but I am sure I will go for homemade the next time.


And as the main gift, the one he has been waiting for, I bought him a new drill. We have numerous pictures and other home decor things that are still in boxes due to not having something to hang things on the walls. We went to Lowe's about a month ago, and he was able to pick out the one he liked. I was glad to be able to save up and give him a gift that he has wanted for so long.


I have known this for awhile, but it really hit home on Thursday: I absolutely love doing things for him. I loved being able to spend the day with him and cooking food for him that I knew he would enjoy. I loved giving him a present that he was looking forward to for so long. And when all was said and done, on his birthday when everyone is calling to tell him (or sing to him) happy birthday, he said the sweetest and most humbling thing to me as we were getting ready for bed on Thursday night: "I am so glad that you got to take a day off from work and rest. I hope it was a restful day for you, even though you were busy cooking." I almost cried at how thoughtful he was in saying such a thing. All I cared about was that he had a fun and relaxing birthday, and all he cared about was that I enjoyed the day as much, if not more, than he did. I could not even come close to asking for more in the love I have received.