no apologies for sappy entries

coach turned 24 last august 17. that being a wednesday, i asked him to move his birthday dinner to the next evening. i had to go to school anyway because ambassador manalo wanted to meet with us ('us' being those who passed the first FSO qualifying exam. happily, i'm a step closer to becoming what rae calls an "ambASSador". but i checked again and my butt is NOT big at all, bruha.) despite coach's "threats" to take me to school whether i liked to or not (and me daring him to), i never did make it to the meeting. before wild imagination conjures, umm, un-wholesome images, allow me to clarify:

we COOKED all day. think aprons, cowbells (yes, don't you wonder?), pots, pans and an extremely messy kitchen, which drove OC me crazy. dios mio, ang kalat talaga ni javier! his menu, however, was impressive: rosti suisse and boeul bourgoigne with a sorbet in between to clean the palate. for those of us who can't go beyond "french fries", that's fish cooked in white wine and beef stew cooked in red. everything we served had alcohol, including the chocolate frangelico cheesecake i made for dessert. surprise, surprise.

(aside: we are not always such an expensive couple. especially if you knew, dear reader, where we went on our first date. we are, however, unavoidably alcoholic. i was named after the god of wine and coach already had a beer belly when i met him.)

a formal (read: fancy) dinner demands a short guest list: inay beni, ma'am sue, carl, peachy, missy, jilly and beau pao, em, vip, pj, kapi, arkaye, and inigo. it would have been fun to have more people but that would mean more days of slaving in the kitchen. the stew alone took about two days to prepare, if i'm not mistaken. besides, the birthday boy was grinning like a cheshire cat. i couldn't be happier.

comments:
1. "miss den, ano niluluto niyo?" - one of the maids
2. "o, where's your (chef's) uniform?" - mamita
3. "you cook, too? paano na mga anak niyo?" - ma'am sue
4. "stop tempting me to get more cheesecake!" - peachy

coach, lolsie thought cheesecake was literally made of cheese. he sent his plate back when he saw the chocolate. hehe. i'll make him a sugar-free cheesecake next time.

that was one extremely memorable and almost glitzy night for me. but if you ask me, coach, which moment i treasure most, it was when i fixed your sleeves after you changed from your chef's jacket. yes, that more than anything.



post script: many, many thanks to all those who contributed to javie's festschrift. finally, after a year of nagging and more nagging. do ask to see and sign it, if you can.