Thank you plllog : ) Well, as you know, feetupping is a favorite past time of mine, if only I had the time to pass, doing it! Thank you for coining the perfect word!

Your menfolk are unique! I do remember the last time my Dad had it, he thought it was great, and asked why I'd not made it before... I did an eye roll with my Mom! Perhaps it takes some maturity, although I think DH has reached that point too : )

Aw FOAS, that's was also funny! Ask away! I'm away from the computer just now, but when I get home I'll post any recipes, although most did not really require a recipe. yes, some things were time-consuming, but only as I'd not made them before, like Annie's hummus, which I didn't want to ruin, or the various crackers (and truthfully, I just used one recipe, and varied extra ingredients).

What a fun read. Glad to hear you had great eats AND time to feetup. Running your cracker dough through the pasta maker sounds like a good way to get crispy results without burning the thinner ones. And it would be a good use for my pasta maker. I'm not liking my homemade noodles much more than purchased ones so the machine is not getting used often. Do you have the cracker recipe available?

thank you so much naturegirl : ) I do have the recipe, it's easy (as in, I use the food processor to make the dough), but I'm not home right now, so I'll post it tonight or tomorrow with my extra notes. I was really surprised how good they were. I found some today in a baggie I'd forgotten, so that makes day number... 5, and still make a snap like a good cracker should. Still taste fresh.

DANG, GIRL!!!!! Awesome photos, hilarious narrative! Happy 60th! ...looks like delicious eating!!! I love me some overboard, and some feets-upping, too!

Did you happen to get a seahorse, a raccoon, and a giraffe? (tee hee)

Sooz, I highly recommend feetupping and boarding... wait, eating on boards... yeah, that sounds better... to anyone! Thank you : )

Actually, I did! I have all three in quarantine right now, and oddly they are getting on together quite well. I'll open up the... er, I'll let them out of their quarantine pen in a couple days : )

Sooz sent me the cutest envelope (I'm assuming there is something inside, like, I dunno, a really creative card) for my B-day. She decorated the envelope with ink drawings and is really very, very talented. So now that I've told everyone that, *did* you do the drawings yourself? I've just assumed : )

LOL "boarding" !!!! Glad the members of the animal kingdom are in quarantine and getting along...I only keep them quarantined for 3 days, unless one or more are plastic or cardboard. :O) Yes, the ink drawings were done by my hand from my picture files, pencilled first (with an eraser at the ready)...but not necessarily anatomically correct. <grin>

Happy Birthday, 2Many! I also loved all your photos; and the afternoon 'snack' looks delicious. And, I've already C&Ped the soup recipe. It sounds delicious.

Thank you so much Kate... ha! "snack", yes indeed!

Will wonders never cease regarding the cold cucumber soup? If anyone makes it, please let me know! I thought surely there'd be a lot of eye rolling I wouldn't know about for a cold soup with cucumbers : )

Sooz, the critters (is a seahorse a critter?) have two more days in quarantine before they can be let out. I do hope they are house trained! ; )

Oh, Happy Belated Birthday. All those nibbles look just like what I'd love to have for my birthday, yum. And using the pasta maker for the crackers is a really good idea, I'm going to try that next time instead of rolling them out by hand.

And the sorbetto? Oh double yum, that would be perfect to finish up, although it would take me a week to make all those things and another week to eat them!

Beautiful poppy, I'm glad they made it out on time to celebrate with you. Happy 60th, I'll be 65 the end of the month, and eligible for Medicare! Why don't I feel that old? I can't even remember to ask for the Senior Discount, so maybe I am that old, LOL.

Annie

chloebud, I'm sorry, your post didn't show up until just now! Weird Houzz. Yes, every once in a blue moon, something 'doesn't suck' about this covid stuff! : ) And this was one of those for me.

Annie, thank you : ) Well, you nailed it there. I spent 3 afternoons or mornings of 'occasional random pre-cooking', and yes, it's going to take us a week (maybe not that long) to eat all that's left! Annie, if yours is an Atlas or similar, I used setting 6. Much thinner than I would have guessed, ever. It even seemed thinner than pasta dough, on 6. And no, we aren't old. We only thought it was old when we were very young (or at least, I did). Clearly I was not very bright back then! Senior Discount?? Will the joys of, ahem... mature age... never cease?! LOL!

Happy Birthday! and wow, THAT spread is awesome!!!

I do really old school sometimes: Animal Kingdom and Plant Kingdom. It's simpler, but not as precise as kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. ... and no worries about house training them critters!

Aw, thank you party_music, I was hesitant about sharing... felt a bit like a brag, or a 'wish me happy birthday' command, but then I remembered I've always enjoyed looking at other's celebrations, foods, and hearing about events (well, this wasn't exactly an 'event' per say). Again, you all sure have made me feel good : ) Really good : )

Sooz, I don't care if they come from mixed phylum kingdom's or genius species (that was me, attempting humor!), they are really fantastic. And the glitter? Well, a woman.. er, a young at heart woman, needs a bit of glitter on occasion! (The envelope critters had a very subtle glitter on them)

A subtle hint of.... a wink of.... perhaps it's just a whisper of .... GLITTER!!!! -- makes for prettier mail!

Wow, wow, wow! What a beautiful and tasty looking spread. I love nibbles. Happy Birthday...a little late. I'm full just looking at your pictures.

Oh, I love kale, especially when it tastes like charcuterie♥

Happy Birthday Wishes to Another May Baby !

Sol

Wowza! That is one of the most impressive charcuterie etc. that I have ever seen! Most of it I would have loved, other than the cold cuts 'cause I'm mostly vegetarian. I love that kind of meal out on the porch. Will be maybe a couple more weeks before I can even think about something like that here, the weather has been awful.

Happy Birthday and Welcome to the Club!

welcome to ... 'the club'

as an initiation, you must send me some of your goods.

Grats!

Happy birthday! It sounds like a perfect low key day. Wow, your spread is impressive and I admire all of your preparations! I just turned 59 at the beginning of the month, so right behind you.

Happy birthday to yooooooooooooo. Late as ever with the time differences lol

Your apéritif dînatoire looks amazing.

Me being me, I'm going to say that it's not charcuterie. That is 99.9% pork product, mainly intestine and yours was much prettier than that. I was expecting to see platters of cold meats but yours was much more creative and delicious looking.

Another belated best wishes for your birthday. Absolutely Fabulous spread.

It just seems we're all getting older these days .

Hey, wait ...

I just found out that Costco has seniors shopping at 8 a.m. Seniors are 60, so there you go!!

I'm wanting to make your cucumber soup, as I ordered a produce box and it has an English cucumber in it, and I already have one in the frig. I don't eat cucs quickly enough.

I have no idea if I can find fresh dill, is there anything I can sub for it? I can mince my lovage! But it has a celery taste :-)

Thank you Fun2BHere and Solsthumper (I didn’t realize how many May Babies there were here!). Happy early or belated Birthday, Solsthumper, oh and Annie too!

I pinkmountain and bragu, ha! Welcome to the club indeed! I’m finding this ‘club’ to be most welcoming… although forgive me bragu, I had no idea there were initiation fees, LOL! Who said I was getting older? Oh, wait, that was me : ) Daisy S, thank you for the kind words.

No one is ever late when it comes to well-wishes of any sort, in my book, at least. Islay, thank you for speaking up – I realized going in it wouldn’t be a traditional charcuterie, which is why I kept typing ‘of sorts’. DH and I would have enjoyed cold cuts, salamis, cured meats of any sort any other time, but our appetite for such just hasn’t been there lately. Our prosciutto went entirely untouched, and even much of the smoked chicken was fed to the cats. Your compliment was so kind.

Neely, I appreciate that, I have always thought your meals on WFD to be remarkable and so appetizing; you have proteins (especially fish) and ingredients I’m not familiar with or cannot find.

Jasdip, I’m not sure I’m all that fond of your silver lining… LOL! I joke! Actually, I’ve always embraced change, so there ya go! Viva La… growing ‘mature’! Instead of fresh dill, you can toss in a bit of dried dill if you’ve got it, and the cucumber flavor will still shine through. It is the onion you wouldn’t want to omit. I’ve never tasted lovage (lucky lady!), but if it’s a celery flavor, I’d not use it.

Aside from May You Have Many More Happy Birthdays - all I can say is WOW re all that food. SMH...

It's the 60th! Overindulge!

On my 60th, I and four friends went to NYC for dinner (the Saturday prior to my birthday) to eat at Momofuku Ko. Very pricy, but you only turn 60 once. It was awesome although the desserts were less than optimal - but in my case, I could give a hangnail about desserts. I was already satiated anyway.

Didn't do anything special for 65, but hope I can for the 70th. I'm nearly 66.5, so possibly we'll be dining out again by then!

2Many - CONGRATS!

And TBH, your meal looks at a 100% yummers rating!

Thank you blue_skink (btw, blue tailed skinks are very popular here, and I've painted a few on my office wall : )

Artemis_ma, Wow, Momofuku Ko? Wow, again! And thank you for the yummers rating : )

Easy Homemade Flatbread Crackers:

• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons fresh herbs of choice (I used thyme)

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (*more or less to taste – as written, it will be pretty peppery)

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/2 cup cold water

1) Preheat the oven to 425 F degrees. Pulse the flour, thyme, (pepper*), salt, sugar, and olive oil in the food processor until evenly distributed.

2) Add the water and pulse just until the dough starts to stick together (about 10 seconds). (NOTES: I press a bit with my fingers, when it comes together and stays together, I stop adding water). Remove the dough, press together gently with your hands to form a single ball, and cut into four pieces. Wrap, and let the dough rest for about 20 minutes.

3) Roll out each individual piece of dough as thin as you possibly can. If the dough starts to shrink up, let it rest a little longer. You want the dough to get very, very thin. Once it’s rolled, place it on a piece of parchment paper and transfer to a baking sheet. You can use a pasta roller if not too sticky. Also, you can cut into squares, rectangles, or rounds. Use Pasta Setting 6 on an Atlas.

NOTES: I removed it from the wrap, and if it was too 'wet' for the pasta machine I'd put flour on the countertop, flatten my dough, and plop it on the flour... adding a bit more until I knew it wouldn't stick to the pasta machine. If in doubt, you can add flour later. I did try not to be rough with the dough, nor did I knead it in any way.

NOTES: I had a parchment paper the size of my cookie sheet and once rolled on the machine I just used a pizza roller cutter to trim off the jagged edges, then cut into squares and triangles. I didn't care if they were uneven, that makes them 'homemade'. I removed the extra dough scrap, rolled it through, and left them on the parchment paper, transferring paper and crackers onto the cookie sheet. Then I brushed with olive oil, added my toppings, and went on to step 4...

4) Bake for 4-5 minutes, check to make sure it’s not getting too brown, and continue baking and watching (LIKE A HAWK) until your crackers start to brown a bit at the edges. Remove and cool on a cooling rack.

I put mine in baggies, then a container, after cooling, and they lasted at least 5 days, although I feel 7 days is not unreasonable.

FINAL NOTES: I actually cut the recipe in half, and made 4 batches for my crackers. I added shredded cheddar cheese to one, before the water (it needed more flour after it rested but they were still wonderful). We like the cheddar cheese the best. I also added tomato powder to others, and blue cheese to others, pulsing before adding the cold water.

Lastly, re-rolling prevents the odd bubbles, which are nice. But the re-rolled dough made for nice crackers. if in doubt as to doneness, pull a cracker out of the oven, let it cool enough for you, and eat it. It should have a nice crunch. If not, back into the oven!

Also, when they are all on the parchment on the cookie sheet, be sure the edges aren't rolled up - but nice and flat with the rest of the cracker. The 'sticking up' parts will burn fast. You can omit the salt, but crackers tend to be salty - up to your preference.

These will burn fast, so keep an eye on them : )

Sounds so good. Like maybe alongside cucumber soup good! :-)

I believe you would be correct, Edie : )

Uh, just don't do what I did... I thought I'd put lots of cracked pepper in one dough... talk about spicy! DH thought those were the best. Me? I nibbled and drank a lot of water! LOL!

Happy, happy Birthday and welcome to the age of 60!! I will soon be 67.... feels like yesterday, I was 30. I remember when I turned 55, no big deal..... I was shopping at Boston Store (now closed) on what happened to be senior day. When I checked out and the girl asked, “are you a senior?” I remember being shocked because all my life everyone always told me I looked 10-15 years younger than my actual age. I asked, what’s a senior and she said 55 and it meant 15% off my entire purchase! After that I stopped thinking about that term senior........You are as old as you feel and think...... I am almost 67 but I still feel young inside.

Your celebratory meal looks wonderful!! Are you a chef in “real” life? I’m sure you enjoyed it. My husband’s birthday was last week and we always go out to one of our favorite restaurants. Not possible——so we did take out, dessert and all. I even set the dining table with the “good” China and actual silverware. It was great fun. Once again, happy birthday!! :-D

WOW!! Happy Birthday, 2MD and many more.

djacobz568sewi, what a nice comment! I have to agree, it feels like I was 30 not long ago too. I remember turning 56, and thinking what a cool age that sounded (I'm weird, though) - and it was a good age. I'm finding that each year brings something new, and new things are always welcome... so long as I'm learning or it's positive (I just remembered, Covid is new, and no, it's not welcome!). And yes, I still feel young inside too. I look forward to the time I can get out and get Senior discounts!

Your husband's birthday sounds wonderful, and how sweet of you to make it even more special by using the good stuff! You know, I think some of the stranger things that happen to us make the most best memories : )

No, not a chef, but thank you for the compliment of asking! I did make (rather fancy) pastries for friends and friends of friends' special occasions for a while as a side gig, but it started to take too much of my time, so I 'retired' from that... but I was never a professional. I got to 'frou-frou up' a few things for this celebration, so that kinda quenched my desire to be 'fussy' for a while!

Please tell your husband Happy Belated from a member of the Garden Web Cooking forum!

Hi mercurygirl : ) Wow is right... what beautiful roses - or are those peonies?! Mine are being nibbled on by the darned rabbits : ( (my roses, I've not got peonies clearly, or I'd know what yours were!). The apricot and cream are gorgeous, but the orange is striking. Thank you for the well-wishes : )

Well darn. I was early to wish you a HappyBirthday but must have 'dough-head' did not hit send....(happens about once a week). I notice I'm not the only one.

😂😜 Happy Birthday! (belated)

Now that's excessive but when I do the same I have nibbles for days...all prepped.

My modernist red-neck American definition of charcuterie follows this NYC restaurant supply...

Charcuterie Definition

Charcuterie is a branch of cooking involving prepared meats, such as ham, sausage, bacon, confit, or other pork products. The word originated in France, and it translates to "pork-butcher shop." While the original French translation refers to pork, modern charcuterie boards can include other types of food, such as duck, goose, chicken, cheese, toast, fruit, or other options.

In French, the person that prepares the meat is called a Charcutier. Additionally, the English pronunciation of charcuterie varies slightly from the original French. The correct French pronunciation of charcuterie is "shar-coo-tree."

Love the free-edge wood board. Our new dining table is free-edge. Love it.

Thanks, it's an old pic of roses from my yard. I've since given one away and bought a couple more. Some have been moved as well, so I don't know where they are til they bloom. I think I still have the orangey one.

2Many, thanks for the cracker recipe. I can hardly wait to try it. I like that it has "normal" ingredients that I almost always have around the kitchen. I never thought of using the pasta roller to get super thin crackers. Genius.

Again, Happy Birthday!!

I don't have a pasta roller but I have a heavy-enough-to-break-your-foot marble rolling pin. Hopefully I can roll the dough very thin between a couple of parchment paper sheets.

Thanks, 2many, for that recipe. I'm kind of leaning toward doing something similar for my own birthday, I could do much of it in advance and then not have to cook at all, just snack all day long and spend what would be cooking time playing in the dirt!

I also remember my first "senior" discount. I went to a minor league baseball game and was greeted by a very young ticket seller who asked if I were a senior. I asked how old that was and he said 50. Yeah, 50. I got in for $5 that day, it turned out that every Wednesday was "Senior Day" and everyone over 50 gets in for $5.00. I guess there's not a big crowd on Wednesdays so they have to do something. (grin)

Annie

Sleeve, I love these chats. Charcuterie comes from the term chaircuicterie, in 1549, today chair cuit, literally cooked meat. Strictly speaking, a charcutier prepares meat, mainly pork products. Un charcutier traiteur prepares other food to include fish and other dishes. At least, that's how it is here 😀

Sleevendog, the wonderful thing about belated Birthday well-wishes is that they extend the happiness : ) And thank you both (Islay, too) for the Charcuterie Definition. I didn’t know the French pronunciation, but doubt I’ll use it here, or even the word charcuterie. Most here would think me pretentious, which is silly as I like to use words correctly.

So, does this mean if I make canadian bacon or pastrami (from pork), I can (temporarily) call myself a Charcutier? LOL! Well, I just might anyway!

Sleevendog, thank you also for mentioning the free-edge/live-edge board. That was my gift to myself : ) I think it’s so beautiful! I often toss together a board (the bread board above was from an old restaurant, the charcuterie with live edge from Etsy) of cheeses, crackers, meats, apples, grapes… whatever I have on hand, for pre-dinner snacking, or lunch nibbling. I wanted a larger, prettier board than the bread board : ) Funny thing is, when I bought my first furniture, the area in which I lived had tons of furniture with free-edging/live edging (horizontal slice tree trunks, vertical slabs). And they were cheap! And huge! I bought a large one for my coffee table on a major budget. New! After a while, the area was over-saturated with them, and I couldn’t give mine away when upgrading. Truth! So when they first came out, it took me a while to not see them as ‘cheap’ stuff! I have learned a new appreciation… everything old is new again : ) I think it looks both rustic and fine, simultaneously. I am a wood grain lover. And while I have your attention, those flageolet beans? Amazing. We can’t stop eating them on salads. I’m making some with leftover too-salty ribs, shredded, and roasted tomatoes next.

Mercurygirl, you sound like me, I’ve moved several plants, including roses. Hard to keep up with where they are until they leaf out or bloom!

Naturegirl, you are most welcome! Edie, I have one of those rolling pins! So heavy! I am sure you can roll it out thin enough. I would recommend a few things… if using crackers for cheeses, don’t add cheese to the cracker dough, just make them as is, and perhaps toss in some dried herbs (the flavor of dried herbs does come through) as appropriate. If serving with a soup, or alone, cheese tastes wonderful : )

Annie, don’t do what I did, though, and over prep/cook! I was feeling a bit frazzled by the time the day rolled around! But yes, making lots of nibbles satisfies everyone. And they can be easy ones. BTW, your hummus was wonderful! Thank you! I froze some, and hope that’s ok.

2MD, Happy belated birthday! That is one impressive feast! After all that work, I'm glad you were able to put your feet up and enjoy your big day. And that sorbetto looks luscious! Every time you post a picture of another ice cream, I'm tempted to purchase an ice cream maker.

Thank you lizbeth! We are still nibbling from it... : )

Hmmm... so after your comment, I thought it might be a good time to think about an ice cream thread, but as I started one last year, I'm adding some comments to it, and updates to my favorite techniques.... your sorbetto comment reminded me, I'd tried 2 methods, one mixing the fruit with water and sugar, another where you make a simple syrup of the water and sugar - which is superior, as it is a simple step and there are no un-dissolved sugar granules in the ice cream.

A belated happy birthday! Many happy returns!

Wintercat, thank you! Pretty flowers, they look like forget me not, are they? Mine are not as pretty, but tall and leggy.

It's blue pimpernel, Anagallis Monelli. This is the first time I ever tried them. I'm always looking for blue flowers, and there aren't that many. They grow tall and sprawl unless you support them. I combined them with Cocktail rose.

Gorgeous combination! I planted cornflowers, which reseed like crazy, and the forget me nots. This year I'm trying to start some saphyr blue flax. Not blue but a favorite of mine is purple salvia because of the intense color, compactness, and small but upright shape. I also love blue flowers... Well, all colors!