Ice Cream Cake

This ice cream cake is delicious. The crushed up Oreos mixed with magical shell make the perfect crispy filling. So decadent and sweet. Who doesn't love ice cream cake? It takes a while to make it with all the freezing, but if you're home for most of the day it's not bad. You can do it over the course of a couple of days, too. It's so good! I ate mine and half of Jamie's.

Ingredients:

2 quarts ice cream, whatever flavors you want (I used chocolate and Oreo)

1.5 sleeves Oreos, filling removed (or if you can find them, chocolate wafers)

A few tbsp magic shell

Hot fudge (I used Hershey's but you can also make your own)

Whipped cream

Cherries and sprinkles (optional)

Lobster Corn Chowder

I made this for myself (and Jamie) for my birthday dinner - such a treat! It has such a great corn flavor, and the lobster makes it decadent and perfect for a special occasion. I went off a mix of two recipes - this from Ina and this from Martha - and tweaked them a bit. The result is a deliciously corntastic chowder. Ina uses heavy cream, so I lightened it up with a mix of corn stock, whole milk, and half and half. Yum!

Ingredients:

2 1.5 lb lobster 

2 tbsp butter

1 large yellow onion, diced and divided in two

4 cups corn stock

1 cup whole milk

1 cup half and half

4 strips bacon, chopped

4 cups corn (fresh or frozen)

1 russet or Idaho potato, peeled and cut into 1/4"-1/2" dice

2 stocks celery, diced

2 tbsp chives, minced, plus more to serve

pinch of cayenne

1/8 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

Cook the lobster

Bring 8 cups water to a boil. Add lobsters and cook 15 minutes. Set them over a colander set in a large bowl. Take the meat out of the lobster over the bowl, reserving the juices and discarding any roe or tamale. Keep the shells. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and put in a bowl. Refrigerate until you need them. 

Caviar Potato Chips

I saw this recipe in the Times ages ago and have been wanting to try it. I had some friends over for my birthday and served this as a festive appetizer. It's delicious. So salty and tasty, and goes perfectly with champagne. It's great for a special occasion. 

You just mix up some creme fraiche with lemon zest and put it on good potato chips and top with salmon roe. Easy peasy. Just be sure to only do it right before you serve them so they don't get soggy.

Rainbow Layer Cake

Jamie and my adorable niece Charlotte is coming to visit us for her 6th birthday. (She chose visiting us for the weekend over having a birthday party!) We're going to have a little party for her up here and when my sister-in-law Katie asked if we could get a cake for her, I thought it would be fun to do something special. Enter the rainbow layer cake. (I did try an easier version once before.) Not sure if you've seen this all over the pinterest-sphere, but it's a beautiful cake with six colored layers - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple - with white icing in between and on the outside. So it looks like a plain, white cake, but is all rainbow when you cut into it. It is definitely more work than a regular cake, but worth is if you have a little kid to impress.

Ingredients:

Two packages of white cake (pick whatever kind you want)

-follow the instructions on the back and use just the egg whites if that's an option - it will lead to crisper colors

Alternative Birthday Cake

I had a surprise 30th birthday party for Jamie last weekend (he was completely surprised and it was really fun). He is not a huge fan of cake and prefers pie, but pie is not really easy cocktail party food. I remembered this post from Cup of Jo and went and got three round cheeses of different sized and made a little birthday cake of cheese. This is good for cheese lovers and cake averse.

Fancy Birthday Cake

It's my dear friend Charlie's 25th birthday so I wanted to make him a special birthday cake. I rarely go on Pinterest, but there are fancy cakes all over the place. I love the look of the ombre cakes - where there are like 8 layers inside going from one shade gradually lighter, lighter, lighter. I saw this one and thought I could try to copy it, but make it a little easier. I loved the look of the sprinkles all over the outside. I opted for just three layers, and a simpler color scheme - red, orange, yellow. I think everyone liked it!

Ingredients:
2 boxes white cake mix (and whatever they require)
2 containers frosting
Food die
Rainbow nonpareil sprinkles

Secret Naked Lady Room at Bell Book and Candle

I'd been dying to try the Naked Lady Room at Bell Book and Candle. I'd eaten there once before (BB&C) but didn't know about the special, secret little room. For Jamie's birthday, we made a reservation for 5 (that's all it holds) 2 weeks in advance and got to try it out. It was super cool! Great for an intimate dinner, and also great because it's a private room but there's no extra cost. It's teeny tiny, so you can only fit 5, maybe 6, people. Also, I wouldn't advise it for people with claustrophobia. The ceilings are high and there's a small window looking out to the bar, but it's definitely cramped.

Window looking out to the bar - perfect for ordering drinks and summoning the waiter