from 4/10/2007 (which also happens to be my birthday!)

Guess what! It's my special day! Yep, I am now officially 34 years old. I love my thirties! It just keeps getting better and better! And, I love my birthday! I love a fuss! And, so far a fuss has been made. I've gotten cards and e-cards and comments and calls and texts and a serenade and emails and am having dinner at Abay tonight with some friends. And, I just got a lunch invite from my birthday twin, Elizabeth! (she's in my top friends; wish her a happy birthday! she rocks!). Fun!

So, yeah. This post isn't so much about cooking as about me being really, really excited about my own personal holiday. But, let's see...

Yesterday evening I was feeling pretty lazy, so I went to Whole Foods and got some of their prepared delights. I got a ravioletti salad (mainly because of its cute name and appearance) that had little raviolis stuffed with ricotta, asparagus, tomatoes, kalamatas, some feta and lots of parsley. Pretty good.

Annnnnd, they had fiddleheads in the produce department! So, i got a little box. $5 for 1-2 servings, but still. I'm dying to try them. They're pretty adorable. My parents are coming on Saturday, and they're going to try to find some ramps to bring. I wonder if the fiddleheads would be willing to wait until I got the ramps to make them? I got a recipe for fiddleheads with horseradish-ramp sauce, and that sounds perfect. I don't want to do so much to them that I don't get to appreciate their own flavor.

I'm also planning on making a mess of pinto beans and cornbread on Sunday. Ellen inspired me by making beans 'n greens the other day (one of my favorites), so I'm gonna make a bunch of beans, and then have them for all week long recipes. And, I got some kombu (a sea vegetable) because Heidi suggests using a little piece (about the size of a postage stamp) in a pot of beans. Whenever we made them when I was a kid, we used a ham hock. And, I'm not using that, so hopefully the kombu will do the trick.

I think I'm going to take my parents to the Gypsy Cafe for dinner on Saturday. I think it's a good compromise on tastes, and then we can walk around in the South Side, too. I haven't taken them there, yet. I'm not sure yet about brunch on Sunday. Coca or Point Brugge, maybe? I haven't been to Point Brugge yet for brunch, but have heard that it's great. That sounds fun.

I took the day off work on Friday, and I think I might bake something for when they come. Just something snacky and/or desserty, 'cause I know they'll want to go out to eat, but it'd still be fun to make a few things for them. I'll have to think about what to make. I want to make something they'll like, but that definitely has my taste and style.

Anyone have any good ideas for places to take them? They're just here on Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, but it's better when we're doing stuff than just sitting around talking, you know? They loved the History Center last time they were here. What are some other good Pittsburgh history things?

Okay, back to celebrating!