A Birthday Treat

I love birthdays. It's my personal belief that everyone should get the day off work for their birthday - paid, of course. And it's not just my birthday that I get excited for. I get excited for everyone's birthday. Yours, mine, my dog's, the guy that works behind the seafood counter at the grocery store. Thus, you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I found out that my husband is not so into celebrations marking the day he was born. His belief is that he didn't do anything special that day - his Mom did all the work - so why should people make a fuss and give him presents. This is a problem because I am physically incapable of not making a big deal out his birthday.


This week marks a milestone birthday for him. For over eighteen months I've been thinking of ways we could celebrate. A big party at our house with tons of people? A small dinner for our closest friends at Canlis? A trip to Vegas? No. He wanted none of that. Finally, I hatched a plan that I felt confident would satisfy us both. If he didn't want to go out to a restaurant then I would bring the restaurant to us. A quick search on Google brought up many private chefs in the Seattle area that are willing to come to your home and cook a fine meal. After speaking to several of them and checking out their websites I decided on Chef Jay DeLong from Canape Specialty Chef Services.

Jay and I spoke over the phone and I gave him an idea of what I was trying to achieve. After the initial conversation we emailed back and forth with regards to a menu plan and the details for the evening. We decided on a four-course menu that I thought my husband would love and Jay even helped me with wine pairings. It should be noted that he does not provide alcohol of any sort but he was happy to assist with pairings.

The night of the dinner Jay showed up about an hour before the meal began and brought in several coolers and containers full of everything he would need to craft our meal. He even brought plates and silverware so that I didn't have to do any clean up afterward. However, I opted to use my own china because I rarely have an occasion to take it out of the boxes it came in. The food was outstanding. Dan and our four guests were all impressed with the service and the meal. Some of the highlights of the meal were hand smoked mozzarella cheese, ahi tuna sushimi on a nori seaweed salad (pictured), and grilled swordfish steaks with a remoulade that we were all talking about for hours afterward.


Rather than have Chef Jay make dessert for us, I decided I would make one of Dan's favorite confections. Dan and our good friend Jay (not the Chef, a different Jay) have birthdays that are only a week apart so we often celebrate them together. Last year I made them an ice cream pie that they enjoyed so much I have dubbed it "Jay-Dan Pie". The recipe is below. The ice cream flavors and fillings can certainly be changed to create many flavor combinations, this is just the original recipe.

Jay-Dan Pie

Ingredients for crust:

1.5 cups chocolate graham crackers

6 tablespoons melted butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Ingredients for filling:

2/3 to 3/4 pint chocolate ice cream, softened

2/3 to 3/4 pint coffee ice cream, softened

1 11.5 oz jar of hot fudge

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter (rough estimate)

1-2 cups whipping cream

2-3 tablespoons granulated or powdered sugar

For the crust: pulse the sugar and about 7-10 graham crackers (broken into pieces) in a food processor until a fairly fine texture has been achieved. Add in the melted butter and pulse until it has been incorporated into the crumbs. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of a pie pan making sure the entire inside of the pan is covered with crust. You don't want any holes. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes before filling.

For the filling: place half of the hot fudge sauce in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 20-45 seconds, enough to make the fudge fairly liquid without burning it. You may need to take it out after 20 seconds and stir it and then heat for 20 more seconds. Spread warmed fudge across bottom of pie crust. Freeze for 20-30 minutes or until fudge has hardened. Repeat this process with a layer of peanut butter. Once the peanut butter layer has hardened in the freezer spread on the chocolate ice cream. You want the ice cream layers to each be about 1" thick. If the ice cream is not soft enough to spread, microwave it with the lid off for 15-30 seconds. Freeze the pie for 30 - 60 minutes or until the ice cream has hardened. Repeat the fudge layer and then repeat the ice cream layer with the coffee ice cream. Freeze the entire pie for at least six hours or overnight.

Before serving the pie, make the whip cream. Place the cream in a bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed. Once the cream starts to thicken add the 2-3 tablespoons sugar and the extra 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. Continue to whisk until the desired consistency is reached.

Top each piece of pie with the whip cream before you serve it.

Devour.