On Saturday, October 13, we celebrated Desiree’s birthing day. And since it was her day, she got to pick out the menu:

Hamburgers stuffed with blue cheese and bacon.

For 2.5 pounds of hamburger, I used 1 pound of bacon. I decided to max out the blue cheese by stuffing the burger with a traditional Stilton and then serving the burger with a double cream blue cheese. The result was most satisfactory.

Sautéed mushrooms.

Sautéed with butter, garlic, onion, and Italian seasoning. This was mighty delicious.

Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers.

The jalapenos are de-seeded and stemmed. And then stuffed with a mixture of: cream cheese, herbed goat cheese, and green onions. I tried baking them and the result was excellent flavor, but the poppers were on the hot side. Dez and I were ok with it, but nobody else could handle them. Traditional poppers are deep fried and the heat always seems to be mild. Maybe I should try roasting the peppers and them stuffing them.
This recipe needs more work.

Sweet potato fries.

I have baked more traditional russet potato fries in the past and the results were always good. So I tried the same technique with sweet potatoes. Salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese. The result was good flavor but the potatoes stuck to the cookie sheet and they fell apart. Kind of like mashed potatoes. I’m thinking that I should try deep frying them.
This recipe needs more work.

Green salad.

Butter lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and herbed goat cheese.
A very nice salad. And for dessert: German Chocolate cake. I am not talented when it comes to making cakes, so I ordered the cake from La Patisserie Bakery. Dez is a coconut fiend so I had them add extra coconut and the result was rather decadent.

We did try out a new brew with the meal: Ducchesse de Bourgogne. This fine Belgian beer is from Brouwerij Verhaeghe in the traditional Flemish red ale; it’s a refreshing ale matured in oak casks. And check it out, it is brewed with passion fruit and chocolate. After the first and secondary fermentation, the beer goes for maturation into the oak barrels for 18 months. The final product is a blend of younger 8 months old beer with 18 months old beer. The average age of the Duchesse de Bourgogne before being bottled is 12 months. The result is a very fruity beer that goes down easy. You can definitely taste the passion fruit. I would have never thought of passion fruit in a beer, but we all know that the best imported beer is from Belgian. And they do know what they are doing.