Mama J is my mom, and she is the Queen of Birthdays. She believes in having a birth-season, not just a birthday, and as her kid I can admit I've grown accustomed to my birthday being A To Do, all because she made it one when I was a kid. We didn't have special parties at McDonalds or Chuck-E-Cheese, those weren't necessary when you like to entertain, and have craft paper and tape. Us Grierson kids, we always had home birthday parties with DIY crafts, decorations and games - and this was the 1980s, people, DIY hadn't even become trendy yet.
My grandmother, her mother, would make a cake that matched the theme of my birthday - favorites were my "teddy bear's picnic" birthday when I was five, my "disco inferno" birthday when I was sixteen and many more in-between. My mom would help me with the invitations, which - as she taught me - set the tone of the party. We'd make a guest list and spend the Friday night before the party getting ready, setting up, planning, talking, laughing and bonding. To this day being in the kitchen with my mom is one of my favorite places to be. We're normally in the kitchen cooking a gourmet dinner or working on a project or discussing the latest gossip, or running late to something. But it's always fun. With Mama J, you see, it's always a party.
So for her birthday I took the day off and we went up to Napa Valley for a ladies day of outlet shopping and yummy food. And man, did we have yummy food.
The day started with hot warm and fresh doughnuts from Dynamo Donut. I thought the "maple bacon doughnut" would be disgusting, she disagreed. She was right. It is like eating french toast without a fork and spoon using only one hand. A yeast doughnut with flecks of crispy bacon inside, a drizzle of maple icing on top, and bacon "sprinkles" to finish it off. The only thing wrong with it is that it goes away too soon. And it's embarrassing to want to eat five of them. Which is why - good news! - they have other delicious flavors to try. Like the chocolate spice which is literally spicy (like cayenne spicy) and sweet in a chocolate cake doughnut. Totally different and tasty.
After making that quick stop we headed over the Golden Gate to find ridiculously warm weather in Napa and many fun things awaiting us at the outlets. Make-up, clothes for Dique, it took all my restraint not to go to the many shoe stores!
Luckily, we ran out of time for shopping so we could get to our lunch date at Mustard's Grill. We pinky swore we wouldn't gloat in our gluttonous lunch, but it was so delicious I have to share. Mustard's is famous for their onion rings - they come piled high on a plate and are so thin and crispy you kind of forget they are fried and therefore bad for you. Then, she got a cheeseburger and I got a pulled pork sandwich. The truth is we should have ordered one and split it, but instead we did what we could do, while saving room for dessert, and put the rest in a box to take home to Dique. The lucky duck has a hollow-leg and a speedy metabolism so I know he'd enjoy it.
Now. Both sandwiches were fantastic. Mama J said her burger was probably the best she'd had in years. My pulled-pork sandwich was also incredible - sweet and tangy, messy - just everything you want. But the dessert. Oh man. The dessert was really the reason to go. In all honestly one should really go there for a full-on Fat Man Feast and order a plate of onion rings and a piece of their "Famous Lemon Lime Tart... and that ridiculously tall brown sugar meringue" because it's heaven in your mouth. The brown sugar in the meringue makes it dense and warmly sweet. The curd on the tart is the perfect citrus balance: very lemony and very limey without too much acid, nor too much sugar. And the crust. I could write a whole post about the crust, but that's because I'm a crust kind of girl. I'll just say - go check it out. You will not be disappointed. You will be full and maybe feel a little gross, but skip dinner and go for a run the next day. Promise. It's worth it.
The next day we celebrated Mama J's birthday again (see what I mean about birthday seasons?) with my brother and his family. You'd think we were done with all the cake and whatnot. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. Thank goodness for all the running I'm doing these days....
Happy Birthday Mama J - may we continue to have many happy, busy and crazy nights in the kitchen and may we always celebrate with yummy food because it's what we do.
I love you.
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