Soaked Sock Sunday

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday in SC. I threw on some clothes and went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. Carla and Whiskey were already up, so we sat outside in the still relatively cool air, so we didn’t disturb Jake.

After a while, the increasing heat forced us inside, where we still talked in low tones. Finally, I went up to take a shower, as it was getting late. Carla reminded me to keep it quiet, so Jake could sleep in. Then she added, “I hope he’s not dead up there!”

When I got upstairs, their bedroom door was open and the bed was made, so I hollered down, “He’s not dead. He’s gone!”

She checked the garage and, sure enough, he had slipped out on some mysterious birthday weekend errand.

I shaved, showered and got dressed in more PR clothes. If ever I needed some clothes made for tropical heat, it was in South Carolina these days!

I had waffles for breakfast and Carla had her oatmeal.

Jake came back, bearing two items: a birthday balloon and two layers of unfrosted white cake.

Sidebar: He wanted to make her birthday cake, but with an unusable oven until yesterday afternoon, took the precaution to order just the layers from the bakery.

We chatted for a bit and then he went out to cut the front lawn. I offered to help by trimming (or whatever) but he said he was fine. So, I went up and did a load of laundry.

Meanwhile, Carla made a pitcher of a very different kind of Bloody Mary’s. It had the usual vodka and tomato juice, celery seeds, tabasco sauce, etc., but also included rings of fresh jalapenos and (of all things) eight ounces of beer! It sounded weird, but tasted great (although it had a wicked back bite!)

Jake came back in when he finished, dripping wet with sweat. It was hot down here! We toasted Carla’s birthday with her now chilled Bloody Mary’s.

Jake gave Whiskey one of the ice balls to chew on. She loves ice cubes, so Jake’s been freezing tennis ball-sized balls with a mold. She loves to crunch on them, but Carla warned she leaves some pieces in the carpeting and I might get my socks wet. Sure, enough, I went in the kitchen for something and stepped on one!!!

Jake broiled hot dogs for lunch and we ate them with chips.

Sidebar: They both are fixated on broiling and baking, it seems. I guess that’s what happens when you are without an oven for a month.

They presented me with a t-shirt they had made up when they were in Missouri. I loved its cautionary tale…

Then Jake got started on the cake. He had the bakery cut each layer in half as it’s a three-layer cake. We all munched on the leftover layer while he worked.

He cut up about half of the fresh strawberries and macerated them in something (I wasn’t in the kitchen, so I didn’t catch the recipe). The other half, he trimmed and cut them length-wise.

Then he made homemade whipped cream and mixed that with softened cream cheese.

He strained the macerated strawberries after putting them through the blender.

Then he began to assemble the cake: a layer of cake, ringed with fresh strawberries, a layer of the strawberry “jam” and then a layer of the whipped cream/cream cheese mixture. He repeated this with another layer of cake.

The final cake layer was just topped with the whipped cream mixture and some strawberry’s in the middle. Perfect!

We all watched the animated movie, “Up.” I’d never seen it, but its one of Carla’s favorites. I found it depressing in the first half, but it turned out touching (and teary-eyed) in the end.

The Jake started Carla’s birthday supper. I had minimal involvement with it, merely being asked to make some home-made dressing for the spring vegetable salad.

Jake, on the other hand, made homemade French fried and seared sea scallops. Carla made a secret sauce (I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you) to dip the fries in and seasoned the hot fries.

Finally, it was time to feast! And, feast we did!!!

The sea scallops (with a spritz of lemon) were perfectly cooked. The French fries were excellent alone, but the dipping sauce put them over the top. And even my dressing (just good olive oil, fresh lemon juice, a little lemon zest and fresh chives and parsley) was good.

Sidebar: Whew! The pressure was on! I didn’t dare screw that up, LOL!

A while later, Jake lit the candle on the cake and we sang Happy Birthday. Carla blew out the candle and Jake cut into it.

It was fantastic!

We all went into a food coma for a while and watched TV until a 10:00 p.m. bedtime (Jake had to work on Monday).