The weekend, briefly

My mom turned 60 this weekend and we normally celebrate her birthday in a big way. Time didn't permit this year, so we forewent the party and made her eat cake for breakfast instead.

{the cake, 6 layers}

Decade celebrations require more layers (one layer per decade) and I was a bit nervous about this one. Six layers is a lot of cake. Structural integrity becomes an issue. I made three batches of cake and four batches of fudge (recipes here) and enlisted D to be my spotter as I assembled. Total kitchen time was about 6 hours, I think, if you include the break I took while the cakes were cooling. I stuck bamboo skewers through the entire thing and let it set up overnight. We only cut through two layers at a time, because we literally don't have plates large enough to hold a six layer slice. I should have taken a picture with a ruler next to it for scale.

{serving (photo by d)}

Also, drove through Lee*s for pre-baking sustenance (drive through banh mi is definitely one of the reasons I love SoCal),

{banh mi}

tried Deb's new rib recipe (killer, but we want to do a bit of tweaking with the sauce),

{ribs, remains}

went fabric shopping with mom (her stash, not mine),

{fabrics}

Circe slept in and almost missed the birthday breakfast,

{circe, morning}

we tried a new taco place and didn't totally love it (but we are really picky, taco wise).

{tacomiendo}