Happy Birthday to me!!!!

My birthday was last month. I never celebrate my birthday on the actual day of my birthday (I'm too busy putting up the festivus pole for that). Heck I try to avoid the whole thing til the next month (this includes anyone else's birthday during December...and they are all in December...WHY?!?!?!?!). The only thing I get to do fairly close to my birthday happens right after Christmas; my annual shopping trip with my mom to Las Cosas, a kitchenware's store in Las Cruces ( I LOVE THIS STORE). This trip was a little bit about replacement, a little bit about adding to a collection of pieces and a little bit of getting items that I have really been needing. I broke my favorite casserole dish a few months ago, a very nice Le Creuset stoneware piece. This oval baking dish was awesome for desserts, it was awesome for heating up stuff, it was awesome for serving...it was just awesome and one very early morning I broke it in 3 pieces by knocking over a ramkin that fell on it. The ramkin broke in 2 and the dish broke in thirds. My heart sank. So I decided at that point (this was October) that I would use my birthday shopping trip to replace it. The other thing that would be a "must have" another large whisk. I had chosen 3 whisks the last time we had gone to the store, a flat whisk (good for sauces and rues), a small and larger egg whisk. Well, I was forever washing the large egg whisk this past December (I don't sift dry ingredients together, I whisk them...I know some of you are gasping right now and saying how could I do such a thing...well, I hate sifting; I find it tedious....so get over it)...if only I had another large whisk I wouldn't have to repeatedly wash the one that I have. Wait, I can get another nice whisk on my shopping trip (a smile came over my face with the thought of a new shiny whisk to add to my other shiny whisks on the wall). My game plan was set, I knew what I needed for the kitchen, but would I remember this when I entered the store...or would A.D.D. set in and I be drawn to the random shiny objects? Well, I kept 2 of the 20 items that I had thought about in mind. So...for my birthday...I got...

* a balloon whisk
* a medium oval Emile Henry casserole dish, in yellow (it matched my pie plate that my sister got me a few years ago, which is THE BEST PIE PLATE EVER!!!!)
* a large oval Emile Henry casserole dish, in yellow
* a baker's rolling pin
* two new potholders that match the apron my sister put in my Christmas stocking bag

Not to mention what I bought for myself while I was there.
* Easter cookie cutters

* Iced glazed serving plates
* Dish Towels
* Set of 4 Christmas plates Overall it was a successful trip.

Next time...a look back of things made through the year, that didn't get posted but at least got pictures taken of it.