No photos

Sorry guys. I sort of spaced and didn't photograph my birthday dinner. I do, however, have photos of the cake and the cupcakes, neither of which I have downloaded yet, so sorry about that, too. But they will come in time.

Here are recipes, though:

I) Roast Cornish game hen:

1. Rinse hens under cold water and make sure they are thoroughly thawed. Then pat them dry with paper towels and rub them with salt, pepper, and crushed garlic.

2. Put a lemon wedge or two in the cavity, along with any herbs you like (I put bay leaves). Then pull the legs closed and truss.

3) Bake at 350F for 1-2 hours, depending on weight. I baked for 1 hour and 20 minutes for 22-ounce hens. Baste with melted butter about halfway through, and then with the pan juices once there are enough, toward the end of the cooking time.

II) Baked stuffed pumpkins:

1. Slice pumpkins in half, scrape clean, and put onto a cookie sheet, sliced-face down.

2. Put in oven at whatever temperature it happens to be at for whatever else you are cooking. Pumpkins are very forgiving of cooking temperatures.

3. While the pumpkins are baking, heat butter or good olive oil in a skillet. When it is hot, add diced onions and herbs you like (I used sage). Saute until the onions are clear and aromatic.

4. Put uncooked wild rice into pan with enough boiling water to cook. Don't worry too much about the quantity; you can always add more boiling water later if you need to.

5. Turn down heat, cover, and let simmer until wild rice is cooked. This can take about 25 minutes to FOREVER. Dammit, wild rice sucks and is not as convenient as pasta. I had hoped to work it into my carbohydrate rotation, but not if it takes this bloody long to cook!

6. Spoon rice into cooked pumpkin shells, and return them to the oven for the rice to brown.

III) Garlic noodles

This is an Asian dish, but I use Italian pasta because it is more nutritious.

1) Cook pasta in boiling water.

2) Put in butter, minced garlic, and a bit of good olive oil.

3) Mix together.

PPQ Crab, the restaurant that I copied this dish from, has some green flecks in there. I'm not sure what they are, but my simple version nails their flavor with no green stuff necessary. I suspect it's parsley, since quite a few people seem to think that parsley has an affinity for garlic. I've even seen garlic powder with parsley flecks in it. What's up with that? Anyway, to me, parsley is just flavorless, although I guess green flecks make white noodles with invisible sauce look more appetizing. I don't know. Maybe I just lack parsley receptors, because I cannot taste a thing.