Happy Birthday Dad!

Yesterday was my dad's birthday and we celebrated with him early while we were in Utah for Thanksgiving. My dad can be a hard person to give gifts to, since there isn't much he wants, but I managed to hit a slam dunk this year with TWO great gifts.

Our family went to New Orleans over 10 years ago but it was one of our most favorite trips because of Cafe DuMonde that has the most amazing beignets- the French version of donuts. We went there several times during our short stay and they were just literally melt in your mouth. I found a mix especially from Cafe DuMonde at World Market and so I made them for my dad.

When he saw the box, he said "You kept this from our trip ten years ago!" at which I laughed and said that would be way too long of a shelf life for this, even though it is mostly made of flour. We made up the entire box which was too much for one night (we each had between 4-5) and so my parents made some on another night. They turned out really good- especially with a generous coating of powdered sugar- and perfectly golden brown thanks to our little fry daddy that heats the oil to the right temp. My parents have had this guy for years as we don't usually fry too much of our own food but when we do, this makes it so easy.

For my second gift, I gave it to my dad in a Victoria's Secret gift box as a joke since he received a $10 off birthday gift from them (addressed to him) in the mail. He has never been to that store in his life, though having 4 women in the house we all have, but we just thought it was hilarious that they would send him this special gift. My dad obviously didn't find it as funny as we did.

But he was sure happy when he saw what was inside- and look, even a half smile from him (which is a big deal since my dad doesn't like to smile in photos)- so it must have been a great gift.

Here's a close up of the gift- it is an "iconic pot" made by Jonathan Adler. My dad LOVED the show Top Design and he thought that it was neat how they introduced Jonathan Adler every week as an "iconic potter." My dad would say "I don't know what an iconic potter is, but I want to be one." He wanted one of his iconic pots but they are super expensive (hundreds of dollars) but I was able to find this much less expensive version serendipitously at Barnes and Noble.

My dad, mom, and sisters all thought this was a great gift and are still laughing about it and my dad still talks about how great it is to have his own iconic pot. Happy Birthday Dad! You deserve all the iconic pots in the world (or at least the money from them) for how hard you work!