Alex’s 26th Birthday Week

Just as with last year, Alex got to spend his entire birthday week in Tuscaloosa with me.

That of course meant he had to do some work from my apartment.

But it also meant that he got to do a little of this:

and this:

He also got to eat some good food that he and I cooked

   

and then of course some food cooked by the professionals:

Then, before we knew it, it was his actual birthday!

I gave him his presents

Which he promptly put one to use:

Then I took him to his now traditional birthday lunch of Bento’s sushi:

and I let him work for the rest of the day.  Once he got “off work”, I tackled my first experimental baking experience for Alex’s birthday celebration that evening:  Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes!

Irish Car Bombs are one of Alex’s favorites and when I found a recipe for Guinness cupcakes, I decided I HAD to try to make them for Alex’s birthday.  I put my own spin on them to make them even more of a nod to one of Alex’s favorites.

One of the first steps is to mix the Guinness with butter, and as soon as Alex heard the bottle open, he was in the kitchen to see what I was up to.  He was awesome about photographing the whole experience for me too :)

As I mentioned above, I wanted to put my own spin on the recipe by making it more like the real thing (or I assume, I’ve never had one!).  I took the original recipe of plain cream cheese icing and turned it into Bailey’s cream cheese icing

. 

The birthday boy iced them for me while I got ready for his birthday dinner.  He doesn’t do any baking, so I thought his first icing job was pretty good :)

Of course, once everything was finished, the birthday boy had to taste test:

  He quickly scarfed down the first one and he LOVED them!

We finished getting ready, packed up the cupcakes and met some friends at his favorite Tuscaloosa restaurant, Nick’s Original Filet House (better known as Nick’s in the Stick’s) for his birthday dinner!

 

The birthday boy with Nickademus (Nick’s signature drink) already in hand :)

Sweet friends

  

The birthday boy and I

Steak and potatoes – He’s happy!

The cupcakes were a hit!  All the ones we brought were eaten! :)

After we left Nick’s, we met some friends at a local bar called the Alcove, to continue the celebration.

We were exhausted, but Alex had a wonderful time, which is of course, all that matters! :)

Next up:  Birthday celebration with Alex’s family