Happy Birthday, Toby. Let's Eat!

Toby turned two today.

I know. Those cheeks are edible.

Last night I could have, should have been working on Toby's birthday letter to post today. I'll get to it, I promise, but I spent last night reading food blogs all under the guise that I was planning Toby's birthday menu. I thought and I thought about what I considered Toby's favorite food to be, but Toby's eats anything. When we eat out, I order what I want and share with Toby. It's a great system.

So really I was in the mood to cook and try new recipes and was using Toby's birthday as an excuse.

Here's what I decided on:

Fish
I prepared it in a raspberry sauce (inspired from a cookbook recipe so no link). I went with trout because it looked good at the fish market in Palm City when I went this morning.
Mac n Cheese
It was a KID'S dinner, after all. With this recipe I left out the onion (seemed weird for mac n cheese), cut it down to two cups of milk, and left off the panko topping because the asparagus recipe also used breadcrumbs and that seemed too much.
Asparagus 
Mint Lemonade Slushies

We are now going to be drinking these all summer.

Chocolate Pear Cake

The idea to add almond extract to the whipping cream was exactly right. Mmmmmmm.

I could only succeed at this menu because Blue had school today (my time to make the cake and get the macaroni done minus the last step of baking) and because my mom was our only dinner guest and arrived a little early so she played with kids while I did the last minute searing of fish on the stove top and broiling asparagus just below. 

Toby liked all of it (even the asparagus) exactly as it was prepared.

He looks like he's in a food coma, doesn't he?

Only two and already a foodie. :-)