out of the box birthday

I have deceived you already with the title of this posting.

You probably believed I meant "out of the box" as in - innovative thinking.

Am I right? [of course I am]

The truth is, I meant "out of the box" in a very literal sense.

Last week Steven celebrated his 25th birthday. Along with celebating his big quarter-of-a-century day, I also did a happy dance for pancake mix and cake mix. You know, the stuff OUT OF THE BOX!

First came the pancakes. Gluten-free, of course. Steven said his mom (an awesome, awesome, did I mention awesome cook) usually made him pancakes for breakfast on his birthday. I decided I would try to make his morning feel like home, so I heated up the skillet and, well, mixed up the... mix.

Victory! They were delicous! See happy boy, I mean 25 year old mustached man, below:

Whoop whoop. It's ok, you can do a happy dance. I did.

Then came dessert. A gluten-free vanilla cake with nutella icing!

After digging through the batter for the egg shells I dropped into the bowl, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. No need to panic though - have I ever mentioned that my sister is sort of an amatuer bakerella?

Straight to gchat I went and sure enough, Lauren was online.

Me: "Um, after this thing bakes, do I take it right out of the pan? Or let it cool? HELP."

Lauren: (cool as she can be) "Let it cool for about half an hour before taking it out of the pan. Then take it out of the pan and really let it cool for even longer. When it's completely cooled, you can put on the icing."

Me: "You rock. I love you. I'll let you know how it turns out."

Lauren, "Good luck, lady."

Weeeell.... It all came together perfectly! Behold, my masterpiece out-of-the-gluten-free-box!

Sitting on the bar to cool. We, uh, don't have any cake pans at the moment, but an oddly shaped Pyrex was up to the task.

My rather animated boyfriend - excited about his birthday cake.

Serving up the finished product! Yesss, success.

Good things do come in small packages.

Happy Birthday, Steven!

Post Script: My above-mentioned sister keeps a blog - detailing her baking adventures as well as her passion that rationalizes her sweet tooth - running. Check it out at:

willrunforcupcakes.wordpress.com