A Weekend of Birthday Celebrations aka "All Jacked Up On Cake"

Young Tanner was turning eleven and his Grandpa Ken was turning a year older as well, so we gathered in Jeff City to celebrate them both.  Friday night was a fish fry for this Catholic clan and a mighty tasty fish fry it was.  Dave and Kim had whipped up these fine fixin's and it was great to see Dave recovering speedily from the nasty fall that has essentially forced him to relearn to walk. They prepared fish tacos, one of Tanner's favorites, as well as a bright black bean and corn salad.

Dave fried up some fresh cohia he had and it had a marvelous cornmeal breading and blend of spices, including one I've got to look up (below) that brought a citrusy lime twist to the fish.

  Ken also fried up his croppie and we built the tacos with homemade queso, pickled jalapenos they made themselves, fresh avocado, tomato and lettuce. So good.

Saturday included a 5-mile run on a beautiful day on the Katy Trail and it's a good thing we pushed ourselves a bit because that night was the true birthday dinner that also incorporated an early Easter celebration as well.  Ken did a first run with prime rib and it turned out quite tasty. Served up with baked potatoes, roasted asparagus, Ceasar salad and Tanner's chocolate (and self-iced) cake, this was a beautiful birthday dinner.

 The opening of birthday gifts was a flurry of fast-motion paper shredding, quickly followed by Tanner and his sister Sierra bouncing off various walls. Their exasperated parents asked the young'uns what was going on with this wild behavior and Sierra replied:

                            "We're all jacked up on cake."

Refreshing honesty as its best.  It was good to celebrate the birthdays and an early Easter with the family, even if it was over so quickly.  It seemed as if we had just gotten there, and it was time to be back on the road.  Sign of the times, I guess, just like the smartphones we all whipped out to sync up calendars in a sadly difficult attempt to schedule lake weekends through the summer.  However busier we get, these weekends with family are soothing to the soul.