Happy Birthday to Marie

Today Marie turned 17! We took her to the Thai restaurant in Bandon last night for an early birthday dinner, and it was great. We ordered it a little too spicy this time, much to Marie's delight! After dinner, they brought her a dish of homemade coconut ice cream. Yum!



Today was pretty uneventful, because we are saving most of the celebrating for her party on Saturday. She's invited all the exchange student (17, I think) and a couple of her new American friends.

In celebration of her birthday, I made steak for dinner tonight, using the directions for this website I found on How to Cook the Perfect Steak. Adding oiled meat to a very hot pan produces some major smoke, but it's worth it! This method sears in the juices, producing a beautiful, medium-rare steak. It can't touch Grandaddy's grilled steaks, but I believe it's the best pan-fried steak I've ever tasted.

After the kitchen was cleaned up, we all went out for ice cream, then came home and warmed up in the hot tub. What a great evening!