Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln...er...Tyson!

Earlier in the month Tyson mentioned his birthday was coming up.  I knew it was in February, but I said "...the 12th?" and he said no.  So then I listed almost every number before that until I got it right: the 7th.  I felt pretty bad that I didn't remember, because I know he had told me, but I can't remember everything, as much as I would like to. Of course, the other day his roommate was listening to country music and I was singing along to all the songs and Tyson remarked upon how I know the lyrics to "every country song, ever."  Maybe if he sang his birthday to me, I would have remembered it.  Anyway, It occurred to me later that the 12th is Abraham Lincoln's birthday, which is probably what I was thinking of.  So really Tyson should be flattered that I mistook him for a pretty cool former president.  I'm sure he doesn't think of it that way, though.  He was probably thinking if I know the lyrics to "every country song, ever" why can't I remember his birthday?

Oh well, the point is when I did remember I asked him what he wanted to do and he didn't have anything in mind so I told him I would cook him anything he wanted for dinner.  I thought he might pick something he knows I can make and that he likes, but that would have been too easy.  But I did say anything.  So he decided on Steak au Poivre with a balsamic reduction, frites with cajun seasoning, and salad.  I had never made Steak au Poivre before, so I was nervous but I found a fairly easy recipe and did my best.

On the night, I told him he couldn't come over until I told him he could.  Mostly I was thinking if I failed horribly and dinner was a disaster, he wouldn't be able to see and I could recover somehow before he got there.  Also, since my house was a bit of a mess (due to burst pipes, which I will explain in the next post) I wanted to set up the living room to look a little nicer.  So I put up sheets to cover the messes and set up an improv table (we have no actual table of any kind) and generally made the place presentable.  When I had most of the food done and it appeared nothing terrible would go wrong, I told him he could come over.  He brought the wine and when the food was ready we loaded up our plates and sat at our picnic fort and had a lovely dinner. 

The steak was good, the potatoes were a bit over cooked, the salad was salad, but it did have homemade croutons and homemade vinaigrette. Yum!

Overall it was a success. Tyson seemed happy, which all that matters.  Beej the dog was also very happy since he was tossed quite a bit of steak during dinner. 

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday so I figured it was a good day to post.  I don't have anything planned for him but maybe I'll make a toast at the Mardi Gras party tonight (at the underground community center).  Tune in soon to learn about my water pipe shenanigans.  Thanks for reading!