Birthday Dinner

Today is my partner’s birthday, and I am very into birthdays. More into them than most of the holidays we've collectively agreed to observe, if I'm being honest. A birthday means I get to celebrate the fact that one specific person I love exists, which seems like the best reason to celebrate to me.

I gave him his present early this year. Tickets to see Weird Al at Tanglewood, plus a VIP meet and greet, which made him so happy that when I asked what he wanted to do on the actual day he told me we already did it. I pushed. “What do you want for birthday dinner?” He said steak and a baked potato.

I can respect that. I also work at a spice company, so you can imagine the internal negotiation.

We'll go to the store after work today and he'll pick out his steak. I'm partial to chuck eye, which is cheap and delicious and simple to cook. Mine get salted well and left on the counter for an hour or two, then fried in a hot pan, and they come out great. New York strip is also excellent. A bone-in ribeye from the counter is my Fancy Option. All three are good with Bar-H Beef Rub , which is what I put on most of the steaks and burgers I make. It's a chunky, salt-forward rub, and you taste the cracked black pepper and garlic first, with lemon peel and a little smoke from the chipotle flake underneath.

I’ll rub the potato in olive oil and flaky salt and bake it, probably in the air fryer. Any other night I'd make a compound butter with Emerald City Seasoning, and bacon crumbles, and shredded cheese, and fresh chives to go with it. Not tonight. Tonight the potato gets salted butter and nothing else, and he'll mash the whole thing up inside its skin with a fork. These are the trials of being a fancy spice lady who loves a man with simple taste. It's less work for me, so I've made my peace.

There's a big cucumber salad too, which he loves. I dice up a few cucumbers and stir in Greek yogurt, lime juice, a shake of Ranch Seasoning, extra Dill Weed, and a pinch of Fleur de Sel. Ranch Seasoning is our free sample this month, so there's a decent chance you have one in your kitchen already. Dill is in the blend and I add more anyway. Somebody in this house has to hold the line against scurvy.

We’ll definitely fill up before dessert, but I make the cake regardless, because it is very important to have a cake for your birthday. This one is carrot, with pecans and crushed pineapple and cream cheese frosting, baked in the heart-shaped pans that are the only cake pans I own. We'll nosh on it for the rest of the week. If you want a spiced version, there's a Carrot Cake with Kashmiri Garam Masala on our site that people have told us is the best carrot cake they've ever had. Kashmiri Garam Masala is roasted dark, and you taste cardamom, clove, and black pepper most.

If someone you love has a birthday coming up, ask them what they want for dinner, and then make exactly that. Even if it's a plain potato.

Happy birthday, Ryan.

 - Aubrey