Baking,  Food,  Restaurant Reviews,  Wine

The Big Two-Five

Well, I am now 25 years old. I decided to celebrate this monumental event by throwing myself a birthday party! Why not? I’ve never had a birthday party for myself, as an adult, so I figured it would be super fun. And it was! I made some tasty treats for everyone…

cookie  stars

sugar cookie stars!

guac

guiltless white bean guacamole

so much  fooood

the whole spread

And my cousin Liz, who hosted the party, even ordered a cake from Crisan Bakery on Lark Street, and it was gorgeous (and delicious). It was chocolate mousse with a hint of coffee. I can’t remember the official name of the cake. And boy was it good!!! Crisan never fails me. The chocolate covered strawberries were the best part.

cakeeee

more cake

me cutting  the cake

I also drank some of my favorite wine. Leitz “Dragonstone” Riesling. Delicious. I drank almost the whole bottle. (Oops!) But it was my birthday, so I allowed myself that treat! Also, maybe one too many sugar cookies. But I had a great time at my party, and I want to thank  my amazing cousin Liz for letting me have it at her beautiful apartment in Albany. Love her!

The party was on Saturday night, but my birthday wasn’t until Sunday (May 2), so in the morning, I was craving pancakes, as always, so Chris & I went to Cafe 217, again, for the perfect raspberry swirl pancakes, with a side of fresh fruit.

After brunch, I headed home for dinner with my parents. I was actually pretty full from brunch, so I didn’t end up eating much. Although, my mom did bake a triple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Of course, I had a piece. It was my birthday after all. (I justify this by running 4 miles the previous day.) What could be better than a birthday with two cakes? Nothing, I think. I didn’t get any photos of the cake, but it was heart shaped and wonderful. I got some new running gear from my parents, and most importantly…a Garmin Forefunner 205!! I’m super excited about using it! My sister also gave me some awesome perfume from Sephora, called Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture. It smells amazing, I love it.

Birthday festivities continued on Monday where I had dinner with Chris at Katrinella’s Bistro on Madison Avenue. I was looking foward to this dinner for awhile…it had been ages since I’ve had Italian food, and Katrinella’s is supposed to the best in Albany. They gave us bread to start, which was piping hot and homemade with olive oil and spices for dipping. I loved this bread! I also got the house salad, which surprised me, it had craisins in it! Love them. It was pretty tasty. For my meal I ordered the Eggplant Florentine: Battered eggplant layered with ricotta cheese and spinach topped with mozzarella cheese and baked in marinara sauce. It was pretty much to die for, and the serving was HUGE. Two people could have shared it. It was so delicious. And the pasta was great too, and the marinara sauce was incredible. I only ate half of my dish, there was no way I could have eaten that whole thing! But I was glad to have left overs.

eggplant

katrinellas heaping eggplant florentine

Well, I had an awesome birthday, spent it with some great people, and I’m lucky to have so many good things in my life right now. It turns out being 25 isn’t all that bad.

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