My birthday party

The introduction

I want to tell you about my birthday 2016. That was a great day that I was looking forward to, well, not so much, but then I decided to have a some kind of a party and I knew my friends would come, they usually do that kind of stuff in the middle of the night or something like that and they just love those surprise birthday celebrations and stuff and, well, I was too lazy to do that in the middle of the night, you know. That’s the time when I usually sleep, because I don’t really stand being up all night. Well, to tell you the truth, I used to be up not all night, but maybe most of it some years ago, but now I can not do that. Actually, I can, but then I’m sleepy the whole day after and even the day after that!

So, I usually cook some stuff and they say I’m kind of good at it. Well, mostly I’m good at cooking and not very good at baking, but I bake, too, sometimes. I can bake some stuff well, so usually I bake those stuff and not other new things, because usually I can’t bake them well and then I get frustrated and there’s nothing bad than being frustrated and disappointed because you couldn’t bake something just the way you wanted it to be. But, still, I try new things sometimes. There was this one time when I did a pretty good job at baking a cake that I didn’t think would be that good and it was just crazy, because it was so delicious, that I ate it all, I guess. And the next time I wanted to bake it, I baked it, but it was not that good. Actually, half of the layers got kind of burned, and you know, when some piece of cake gets burned, the whole cake gets that burnt scent and you just have to deal with it, or just put that piece into trash and bake another one. So I just threw them out and baked another ones, but as I was in a kind of a hurry, because the time had already passed the considered time, and there were some people coming to my place, it didn’t come out as planned, of course, however, everything still went well and we had a great time, but until then I struggled pretty much. And that’s pretty bad when you want to prepare something and you have to struggle so much that you don’t want anything at all and you think why you bothered about something like that, when you could just sit and not do anything at all, or just buy some cake or whatever you wanted to prepare and eat it alone or with some friends or whatsoever!

The decision

So, it was the middle of January and my birthday is on 16-th of January. We had lectures and stuff like that at the university, so we were all in Tbilisi and studying and stuff. Usually, we had exams that time for a couple of years before, but this time it was different and we just had these curations at clinics. And the weather was great those days, I can say and everything went just fine. And I decided to have some dishes prepared in case of something. Well, in “prepared” I mean, to have some ingredients so that if something happened, I could just prepare some stuff. And I didn’t really know who there would be, but there would definitely be someone. Except for my sister, as she was studying abroad in Freiburg, Germany and she couldn’t be there at my birthday. And it was kind of the same with her birthday, because on that day she was also in Germany and I was in Georgia and she just celebrated her birthday without us for the first time, but we did make her some video clip and, I really did a great deal of work with that thing, if you want to know the truth.

Well, I had some things planned and I looked up many dishes in the Internet and side dishes and appetizers, etc. for parties and stuff like that. I was pretty determined to prepare something. So, I had these many ideas, but those ideas needed time to be prepared and that was the problem, as I didn’t have that much time, you know, however those ideas were all I could think of in those days. I just wanted to make something beautiful and good and I couldn’t stop myself the willing was so strong.

There were some days left and I kind of had this plan of the things I wanted to have and I had some ingredients and little by little I bought other ones, too. And, I guess, I bought some extra things, that I didn’t even use and they are waiting for me to use them even now _ I mean, I have these cookie shapes and sugar powders and decorative things and other stuff that I bought in those days, but I didn’t use them then, so I have them now and I will use them soon, probably, but until then they are here in a fridge and drawers and stuff.

So, my plan was to have some mini tarts and different fruits, and pizza and chicken Caesar salad and chicken nuggets and Mexican potatoes and peanut butter cups and so on and so forth.

The preparing process

Well, it all began with peanut butter cups, because they were meant to be kept in fridge and they wouldn’t get bad or something. I had those Christmas and New Year themed peanut butter cups with red decorative papers and snowflakes and sprinkles on them and they were really pretty. Then there were these chicken livers and sour-cream (they are pretty good with each other, I think, and that’s why I had both together), some chicken Caesar salad, there was this chicken and vegetable salad with mayonnaise, which is really delicious and light thing to eat. Also, my friends said that they would love to eat some potatoes puree and, maybe they were joking, but then I realized I could prepare some puree for them, as it is really good sometimes. And for that I knew which potatoes to buy to be really delicious. I bought those sweet potatoes, or pink ones, if you will, which they said were from Svaneti region, and usually they are delicious, and they were, and the puree came out really delicious. It was so delicious, that even if there were so many dishes, people just couldn’t help but eat some puree. And, I guess, I could write a blog about this potato puree recipe and how to do it and all the stuff about it.

Well, this pizza was pepperoni one, of course, and I have written about it in my blogs and you can find them there. I guess, pizza was the very first one that everyone ate at once.

I also had those mini tarts and pineapple and oranges and bananas and kiwis… And I bought some tasty chicken nuggets, which everyone loved, and those Mexican potatoes, too, and some mushroom salad and eggplant with walnuts and stuff like that.

The day

So, I had my friends on my birthday. They were to come earlier, but they were late and it was great that one of my friends came earlier, as she said she had to be later somewhere and I told her to come early. She got at my home just on time when I had most of the things ready to have eaten, and I was preparing some fruits and mini tarts. She started helping and we did a great job together. The mini tarts looked appetizing and she also laid the table and it was really beautiful, everyone noticed that.

It was time for the pineapple, and that was the first time we would peel the pineapple ourselves and we didn’t really know how to do that. Well, my brother turned the computer on and went on youtube and started looking at the video tutorials of cutting pineapples and stuff. Then it was time to finally cut the pineapple. They were supposed to be butterfly shaped slices and stuff like that and, well, the first half didn’t really came out as planned _ they were most likely bats, than butterflies, but the second half was pretty good, they were actually butterfly shapes and, I want to say, that my brother did a pretty good job considering that it was his first time cutting the pineapple, and he didn’t just cut it, but he cut it into butterfly shapesand that is not something you do very easily, you know.

So, everything was ready and we were just waiting for the others and they were late and we didn’t know where they were. And we got kind of hungry and we were just thinking of eating everything, I guess, because we had waited for so long and we worked so hard to prepare everything, that it was time to eat, if you ask me.

Then, finally they came! There were many people and they came all together, so it became kind of messy, you know, and I couldn’t see everyone at the same time, of course and they were all talking and stuff and, well, it was kind of crazy. And they brought this huge birthday cake. And it was a choice of one of my friends, and she was telling me how shocked she was when she first tasted this cake and she was explaining what it was made of and I couldn’t really believe that it could be that delicious, but when I tasted I realized that everything she said was real and I totally agreed with her.

Well, everything started with the gifts, I got some cute gifts from my friends, and one of my friends couldn’t wait until my birthday and gave me her present some days before that. Then there were these photoshootsand stuff like that, as always and they were shocked by my cooking and those stuff we had there and that really made me happy. And so we started the celebration. We drank some wine and talked and laughed and then some time later it was time to get a little crazy, you know.

Everyone started doing whatever they wanted, some were there, some were here and people just walked around and we had those music and stuff and some danced and some drank and some talked and it was crazy, if you want to know the truth. Then soon another friend came and I had to meet her near the building as she didn’t really know the road of how to get here and, well, she was here already, when she thought that she missed my building and went back and then took a taxi and that taxi driver didn’t know where to go and they were looking for my building together and that’s when I came and “saved” her from wandering around.

Then, of course came the middle of the night and it was 12 o’clock and it was my birthday! (oh, I totally forgot to tell you that it was 15-th of January when my friends came). So, it was already my birthday and they all were like “happy birthday” and hugging me and stuff. And I had this cake and with all those candles and I blew the candlesand it was time to finally eat the cake that we had all been waiting for to taste.

Well, to be honest, the cake was so beautiful I didn’t really want to cut it. It had this marzipan and chocolate decorations on it, and boy I love marzipan so much that I can eat whole pack of it (well, not the whole pack, because it’s 1 kilogramme, as I know, but still) and then it had three different layers of cream and nuts and bananas and chocolate… omg, it was fantastic. The taste was just amazing! It’s a pitty that I only have one picture of it (well, actually there are two, but…), but it’s not very detailed and you can’t really see how beautiful the cake was, nor you can understand the taste itself. And I thought it was not that big, but when looking closely, it was pretty large. It was so large, that we all ate it and then there still was plenty left. So, I had my parents and friends have a taste of the cake and they all loved it, too. So that, next time I want to buy a cake for a birthday party or just for myself or something like that (because it’s impossible to eat it just alone), I know where to buy a great cake and which one to buy, because there were times when I wanted to have a delicious cake and I just went to those bakery shops and looked at all those cakes and asked what the ingredients were and what it had inside and stuff like that and then I just chose one of them with the visual qualities and its ingredients, but some of them were good, some of them not so good, so now I definitely know where the greatest cakes of all can be found!

That blue mini tart

Oh yes, there was another thing, too. This was actually very funny, because it was kind of a surprise and I didn’t really think that it would be that glorious. So, as you know, I had these mini tarts made and I had these colours bought for cream and when you mix those colours in a cream, it gets colourful and you can choose whichever colour you want your cream to be. So, I had this orange and blue colours. And I used them both, but the blue one was better, I thought, so I made this cream all blue and poured it into my tart forms. When I tasted one of them, and then when I looked in the mirror, my lips and tongue were blue and it was hilarious. So I ate all the blue tarts and decided to have just a simple white cream for my tarts. However, one blue tart still remained. So, I thought I would play a prank on one of my friends. And that time came and I suggested this tart to my friend. But he refused. But I insisted, and he just kept refusing, and then my other friends helped me and it was all against one and we just did everything so that he would eat this tart. Or else he knew and he felt that someone would make him eat it. So he ate it and it was more than I expected. His lips were really blue and his tongue and teeth and it was just hilarious and everyone was laughingand he couldn’t understand what was happening, and until I got my phone to get his picture, someone told him that he was all blue and he just wouldn’t open his mouth and he kept his hand on his mouth so that I couldn’t take a picture of him. However, I still got something and I was also taking a video, so we have some clues of him being blue, haha! That was fun.

The ending

Well, the thing was, it was time to go home, although I didn’t want them to leave. They just all left together, so I saw them off. Catching taxis was something funny, too, because when those taxi drivers see so many people in the middle of the night, they just tell you a pretty high price and they think you are so desperate that you will actually pay that amount of money. But this is called bargaining and you bargain and if the price is not reasonable, you can just say goodbye to that driver and stop the other taxi, as there are always so many taxis moving around in Tbilisi, especially at nights, when you think that there won’t be any taxis outside, you just take a step out and there’s a taxi, waiting for anyone to get in there and tell them to go somewhere. So, we were all outside, waiting for the taxi that we had just called and told the address and they said they would be here in a couple of minutes, but they were not, so we just didn’t bother waiting for them and we just stopped a taxi that just went nearby. His price was not acceptable, so we said no, and waited for another one and so on. The other one was kind of reasonable and so some of my friends got in and went. The others went, too, and it was just me and my brother with all that stuff at home. To be honest, I really don’t like being somewhere where everything is messy and I just started tiding up everything and it took me some time, but I couldn’t realize that then. And when I had almost all the things put on their places and I did everything except for doing the dishes and went to my bedroom to sleep, only then I realized that it was something like 3 a. m. in the morning, and then I was on facebook and stuff like that and, I guess, it was 4 a. m. when I went to sleep. Well, you know, after that great time no one really can sleep until some time passes, so that was the case.

Well, that was what I wanted to share with you, so that I can have these memories here and read them whenever I want. Also, you will get some things about how we celebrate birthdays and stuff like that, I guess. Or about cakes and stuff. You know, I haven’t told you this, but I know I will regret it if I don’t tell you where you can find that cake and where you can buy it. There this bakery which is called “Mada” and they bake many cakes and they also have Khachapuris and Lobianis and all the other stuff and marzipan figures and tarts, and they have pretty delicious stuff, I can say, and you can even buy some delicious not-so-small cakes for just 10 or 12 Laris and that’s really great if you just want to hang out with friends and have a small piece of cake together. So, this cake was also from “Mada” and I heard it’s their symbol cake and it costs something like 30 Laris, I guess, or at least that’s what my friends told me and since then I haven’t had a chance to visit “Mada” to have a look at that cake. Well, I didn’t want to go there, because I knew I would want to buy something and I’m trying to be on a diet and not to eat too much chocolate and cakes and stuff and when you go in that bakery, there are so many things that you will want to buy some of them, so that’s why I haven’t been there, if you want to know the truth. So, now you know everything and I’m pretty sure, if you really want to, you can have this cake and enjoy it.

Photo gallery