Birthday Surprise
My husband just marked his 31st birthday last Thursday, September 28. Although we have agreed not to have a party as we did last year, I changed my mind at the last minute. So there I was planning on the same week of his birthday. I was running the menu on my mind and was secretly writing down the ingredients that I will need. I had this small blue notebook where I had a list of guests to invite, what things to buy and the schedule that I had for each day as his birthday approaches.
But of course I was in cahoots with someone, none other than my friend Dimple. She asked what food she could prepare for the party so I told her that I would appreciate it if she brought some desserts. Then I also had to borrow her pressure cooker which was much bigger than mine and other kitchen utensils.
Then there was the marketing which I didn’t totally do by myself. On a Tuesday, we went to Souq to buy the meat. On Wednesday, I had to go to Lulu and buy most of the ingredients. Of course through it all Christian was there, which actually gave the surprise away. I knew right then that he was already suspicious that something was happening behind his back although he never asked or confirmed anything. As for me, I just went on with it, did what I had to do to make the party happen. On Wednesday morning, after bringing Xiane to school, I started doing the vegetables. The guests had been invited a day or two earlier, to make sure that they could squeeze it into their busy schedules. On Thursday, I woke up at 5:00 in the morning so I can start with something. It was really a very busy day, not to mention I even had an appointment with the dentist at 9:00 that same day. Coming from the dentist, I just had a very little to work on the preparations before I picked up Xiane from school again.
We got home from school at past 1:00 pm and from that time on, I was in the kitchen, cooking, chopping and cooking some more. Tian came and what’s cooking up. It was the only then that he was able to confirm all his hunches. But there was nothing more he could do. Well he kept saying that I should have bothered and all, that it was too much work for me to do. And as you know time passes by so fast when you have lots to do. Thankfully however, I was able to finish on time. I prepared pancit, beef escalopini, beef estofado, fish en blanco, sweet and spicy garlic shrimps and chicken pastel.
Then the guests started to arrive. The Rafael’s were the first to come. My friend Dimple was bringing the dessert as she promised. She even ordered an ube cake and cooked leche flan (cream caramel) herself. Other friend also brought some sweets, maja blanco with a touch of pandan from Tita May and fruit salad from Jinky. Among our other guest were our Indonesian neighbors who are also our co-parents at the DMBS. It was a wonderful time to get to know them, after all we’ve been neighbors for almost two years now. Then there were children, about 10 of them, the most that our flat has had since we came here. It was a crazy night but it was fun.
I was happy that the guests loved the food, except for the chicken pastel which they mistook for an apple pie. In any case, it wasn’t that any good. I just got the recipe from the internet and never got to try it till that fateful day. One lesson learned: never prepare something that you’re doing for the first time! But aside from the food, it was the presence of friends that made that night really meaningful and special. It was so nice to have had the chance to be with friends and just be able to talk over a sumptuous dinner. The guest left at about past 11.
That night, he kept thanking me. Seeing him had a great time that night was more than enough reward for me. It was worth all the effort and hard work. I know I promised him that I won’t engage in such endeavor again next year but I guess we’ll have to see about that. Happy birthday my dear Christian!
