You just have to celebrate birthdays.   It seems that the older you get, the less you worry about the age you are turning and the more you are grateful just to have the opportunity to celebrate.  I have phenomenal friends and two of my favorites have birthdays within days of each other.  Last night we celebrated Aimee and Kerry’s combined 100 years of gracing the world with their extraordinary talents and general loveliness.  When asked what they wanted to do, Kerry said “Steak Night would be perfect”.  As well as sharing a wonderful friendship, the three of us, along with many others, share a love of steak.  The big, fat, juicy kind.  Medium Rare.  Served with salad and potatoes.  And great wine.

We initiated the fledgling tradition of Steak Night about 3 months ago.  Everyone provides their own meat, brings a good bottle of red and I make the sides.  I think it started when we talked about having a hankering for steak but lacking the budget to go out for one.  I have a grill on the side porch of my kitchen and last night Bart braved the cold to grill about 15 steaks perfectly.  Seasoned with just garlic powder, sea salt and pepper, they could not have been more delicious.  We served them with Gratin Potatoes and a salad with Field Greens, Pear and Pomegranate with  Honey Balsalmic Vinaigrette.

Dessert was provided by my mother in the form of two cakes:  chocolate with fudge icing filled with freshly whipped cream and raspberries and a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting.  This was no night for calorie counting… I think we are hoping that the salad and red wine may have negated the damage that the steak and potatoes surely did to our arteries.

I love having a house full of people eating, drinking and laughing.  My boys do too.  It breathes so much life into our home and makes it so much richer.  Fun times with great people.  Cheers to dear Kerry and Aimee!