What I Made for Dinner: May 12, 2009

Buttermilk-marinated chicken, grilled portabellas and tomatoes, Boston cream pie.

Tomorrow is my dad's birthday and we celebrated with him tonight. There was a time when we would take him out for a fancy birthday dinner. Then there was another time, somewhat more recently, when we would take him out for a more family-friendly kind of celebration, like maybe someplace with crayons on the table.

But with our particular toddler these days, dining out has become Very Unpleasant. And I am not a person who believes in immoderate capitalization. So celebratory dinners happen at home.

This menu was my dad's choice, of course. I wanted to make everything on the Weber grill, but dark stormclouds kept threatening to bust open at any moment. The oven broiler is basically an upside-down grill, though, so I just broiled everything. I was pleased with the results, though some nice wood-smoke flavor would have improved the chicken.

I was so proud of the Boston cream pie, if I do say so myself! I am not a talented baker at all so when something comes out right it makes me ridiculously happy. This cake was a Duncan Hines yellow cake (the best!), split in half lengthwise, Jello vanilla pudding in the middle. Did you know that Duncan Hines chocolate frosting turns into chocolate glaze when you heat it in a saucepan? I learned that from the back of the box. It works great! My dad was happy, and Eli said, "Good cake, Mommy!"