This past March, my boyfriend Steven celebrated his 30th birthday. And what an incredible decade it’s been for him. Steven dedicated his 20s to not only his academic endeavors in finishing his undergrad work and earning his masters, but also in making a name for himself in as a software engineer in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. In addition to all of his professional accomplishments, he is an incredibly dedicated son, brother, friend and life partner. I’m so lucky I get to call him mine, and am thrilled to see what he decides to do in his 30’s!

Since Steven and I had been talking about doing a private sailing charter for months, I decided to plan his birthday weekend around a sailing excursion in Santa Cruz. The night before the trip, I treated him to a 3-course home-cooked meal, and the next day we took the beautiful Highway 1. We stayed at our go-to the Hotel Paradox, went on our sailing adventure, shopped, enjoyed some local eateries and even got to visit the flea market, which he’d been asking to revisit for months. Needless to say, it was the perfect celebratory weekend before quarantine began.

Sailing in Santa Cruz

For years, Steven has been saying that he’s wanted to learn how to sail. And now that he’s 30, he has decided to make it one of his major goals for this next decade of his life. So I hoped that sailing around the Santa Cruz bay would spark some inspiration.

After doing some research, one business that stood out to me was California Classic Sail LLC. We got to experience a 2-hour private charter on a 19th century style classic yacht called “Sarah",” manned by the charming Captain Forest.

It was the perfect day to set sail, and Captain Forest even taught Steven how to steer. It really got him inspired to jump into the sailing classes he’s been talking about. It was an unforgettable experience, and we recommend it for anyone hoping to take advantage of the beauty of Monterey Bay.

Check Out California Classic Sail LLC

Homemade Birthday Dinner

Theme: Steven’s Current cravings

The night before we left for Santa Cruz, I decided to make Steven all of the dishes he’d been craving at the time. He’d mentioned his hankering for the Rich Table sardine chip - which I made him for the first time last year for his birthday - as well as shepherd’s pie and ice cream sandwiches. And to no one’s surprise, the 3-course meal hit the spot! Below I’ve included the step by step process of making each element of the meal.

The Rich Table Sardine Chip

To see the step-by-step recipe for the Rich Table sardine chip and accompanying crème fraîche dipping sauce, check out my article about Steven’s 29th birthday celebration. I know I know, I did the same appetizer two years in a row. But hey, it was his request!

Gordon Ramsay’s Shepherd’s Pie

For our main course, I decided to go with a recipe Steven had been requesting for a couple of weeks - shepherd’s pie…or should I say cottage pie, as I used ground beef instead of lamb. And I retrieved this recipe from the repertoire of none other than the British celebrity chef himself Gordon Ramsay. The meat filling boasts a medley of vegetables and the hearty taste of Worcestershire sauce, and is topped with a layer of cheesy potato mash. It’s a great go-to comfort meal when baked in a casserole dish, but can easily be made to look elevated when served in individual ramekins. Watch the Gordon Ramsay video on this recipe here.

POTATO MASH INGREDIENTS

1.5 lbs golden potatoes

1/4 cup heavy cream

3.5 tablespoons butter

2 Egg yolks

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (The more parmesan the better in these potatoes to help them become golden when they’re baked at the end)

Salt and pepper

FILLING INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

1.5 lbs ground lamb or beef

1 large carrot (grated)

1 large onion (grated)

1 bag of frozen peas

Fresh rosemary

Fresh thyme

4-6 minced garlic cloves

Worcestershire sauce (Several splashes)

1 can tomato paste

1/4 cup chicken stock

Salt and Pepper

Red Wine (optional)

POTATO MASH DIRECTIONS

Prep your ingredients: Separate your egg yolks, peel and cut your potatoes into even pieces for boiling, shred your cheese, etc.
Boil a large pot of water. Throw some salt and your cut and peeled potatoes in, and boil them for 15 minutes
When they’re sufficiently boiled, strain your potatoes into a colander, and move to a mixing bowl. While the potatoes are still hot, add butter, egg yolks, cream, parmesan and salt and pepper, and mash the potatoes until they’re smooth. You can also use a potato ricer or a food processor to thoroughly mash the potatoes.
Set the mixture aside while you make the filling

FILLING DIRECTIONS

Prep your ingredients: Dice the garlic, shred your carrot and onion, open your bottle of wine and open your can of tomato paste, etc.
Pour olive oil into a large hot pan, and add your ground meat. Stir for a few minutes, breaking the meat down into as small of pieces as possible.
Add rosemary, thyme and garlic and stir.
Add shredded carrot and onion as well as your bag of peas, and stir. Get everything in the pan to a nice minced consistency.
Add Worcestershire sauce and tomato past and stir.
Add red wine and let it sweat down before proceeding
Add chicken stock and cook for another 3 minutes. By now your kitchen should smell incredible.

ASSEMBLY DIRECTIONS

Scoop your meat mixture into either a deep casserole dish to eat family style, or into small ramekins like we did for individual servings.
Spoon potato mash on top and spread evenly.
Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the potatoes
Poke the top of the potatoes with a fork several times to give it some peaks.
Bake in the oven at 400° F for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes and get the whole dish to the same temperature.
Serve straight out of the oven.
This classic English dish is sure to be a crowd pleaser. And it holds up beautifully in the fridge for days afterward, giving us amazing leftovers to look forward to.

Martha Stewart’s Ice Cream Sandwiches

Finally, for dessert I made Martha Stewart’s ice cream sandwiches. The soft cookie layers can be served with homemade or store bought ice cream (this time I purchased store bought.) Either way, it makes for a beautiful presentation and a very special homemade treat. Watch the Martha Stewart video on this recipe here.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (We used Hershey’s and it was delicious)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 pints of any ice cream of your choice (The original recipe called for 4, but 2 proved to be way more than enough for the amount of cookie I ended up with!

DIRECTIONS

Whisk sugar and melted butter together until combined
Stir in egg, vanilla extract, cocoa powder and flour until combined
Spread mixture into a rectangle in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Do your best to not taper the edges
Bake at 350° F for 10-12 minutes until cake is dry to the touch, and the edges begin to pull away from the sides
Let it cool to room temperature. If it is even slightly warm, it will melt the ice cream when you put your sandwich together.
Allow some ice cream to soften to where you can spread it, but do not let it start to melt
Cut the chocolate cookie rectangle in half, placing one half on plastic wrap. Spread this side with your softened ice cream.
Quickly place the other half of your cookie on top of the ice cream to create one enormous ice cream sandwich.
Wrap your giant sandwich up in plastic wrap and freeze for about 2 hours or until firm.
Remove from the freezer and cut into small bars.
Spreading the ice cream out onto the cookie without the ice cream melting or the cookie breaking was the most challenging part of this recipe. But after all was said and done - and eaten - this recipe was worth it!

The Gift

If you know Steven at all, you’ll know he’s very difficult to shop for. He’s the kind of guy that immediately buys the electronic, video game or tool that’s on his mind, also being particular about specifications such as make and model.

So for his 30th birthday, I decided to take out the guess work for myself and buy him something I knew he couldn’t just add to his Amazon cart. And our recent trip to Seattle gave me just the inspiration I needed.

During that trip, we passed by an art gallery that was displaying beautifully painted newly made replicas of wooden Northwestern Native American masks. We spent a lot of time ooh-ing and ah-ing over those pieces and crying over their $5,000-$16,000 price tags.

So when I got home, the search was on to find one of those masks to gift him without having to give up any of my major organs or rob a bank. I ended up finding the Etsy store of a couple who did business with an artisan who specialized in creating these replicas using the traditional carving and painting techniques. They still had some of his masks that he made in the 1990s in their possession and was looking to pass them on to someone who could appreciate them. They explained to me that the reason why the masks sold in the Seattle galleries had such a high price tag was not only because of their size, and masterful paint jobs, but also because as time goes by, fewer and fewer people know how to craft them and they have become quite rare.

So finding this mask from over 20 years ago - though it had experienced some wear in the paint over time - was a very special. After its arrival and a quick stop at the Container Store for some gift wrap, I finally handed the gift over to Steven once we got to Santa Cruz. And he was extremely happy with it.

He was so excited to have one of these masks in his possession. And not only did he not mind the wear in the paint - he feels that it gives it character! I was so glad to add something to his collection of antiques and historical pieces. I’m excited for it to go up on the wall of his study one day. Something to look forward to in this next exciting decade of his life.

Thank you for checking out how we celebrated Steven’s 30th birthday! It was nice to reminisce about good times before quarantine. Hope you’re all staying safe and healthy! Until we meet again.

Steven's 30th Birthday Celebration