Kick Off

Happy Birthday Week to me!  To kick off the week, my mother-in-law, Cheryl, put together the best birthday dinner a girl could ask for.  Have I mentioned how great my in-laws are???  Dinner was amazing and was made up of spinach & ricotta stuffed shells, a big beautiful salad, and super duper garlic bread.  Of course it was all served up on the special birthday plate.

Birthday Dinner on the Birthday Plate!

Close up!

 Of course dinner was amazing.  But I made sure to leave room for the main event.

Junior's Peanut Butter Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache.

We are cheesecake snobs.  Cheryl got us hooked on Junior's Cheesecake after they made a visit to the restaurant in NYC.  She bought the cookbook and family birthdays haven't been the same since.  The recipes have lots of steps and take lots of patience.  But they are totally worth it.  Go big or go home.  That's our cheesecake motto.

Drool.

"Hey!  I didn't get any cheesecake!"

Jack really liked the ganache.  What a funny kid.

Cheesecake!

I was promised an "I love you" for my birthday.  I have been trying to force that kid to tell me he loves me since before he was walking!  Sometimes I'll get a half hearted "Love you" but what I'm really looking for is a "I love you favorite Aunt Jamie!" said with some enthusiasm.

"I love you... creepy Aunt Jamie."

Thank you thank you thank you for the birthday dinner!  You guys are the best!!!  And I already ate my take-home piece of cheesecake.  Oops! :)