Birthday cake, avocados, and brownies

For my birthday dinner, I decided to go with the always-classic tri tip sandwiches. The tri tip was fantastic and the avocados I had purchased a few days earlier at Costco were perfect and complimented the meat nicely. Dave and I were raving about how great the avocado was, and I asked Mabes if she would like to try it again. She looked unsure. Since it wasn't flat out rejection, I told her she might like it--it was nutty and creamy and we really liked it. She tasted it and her eyes lit up, "Hey, I DO like this! I like avocado!"

I didn't know if she was just saying it to get a reaction from us, but since then, she's been an avocado fiend. She had some on her sandwich, and the next day suggested we have turkey sandwiches with avocado. Great idea, Mabes. She's had it several times this week (thank you Costco bag of avocados), and I'm happy she's tried and likes something new, but now I'm realizing I have to share my avocados with her. And no more telling her I'm eating avocados when I'm really eating M&Ms.



Dave and Mabes made a great cake for my birthday, and Mabes is proving to be quite the ham for the camera. Annabelle, on the other hand, was so intrigued by the candles she didn't notice the hat we stuck on her.

This weekend was also the annual men's bake off at church. After last year, Dave decided to go with something different and made avocado black bean brownies. I know, right?



Several people said they really liked them. They're very moist and chewy, but I may experiment with more cocoa or something. Considering the nutrition info, they are really good. But if I'm craving a really good brownie, I'd take Brandi's or Karin's any day. There were a couple of times during my pregnancy when they brought their brownies to parties--I think I ate at least a half dozen of each. People don't judge the pregnant lady, right? Or at least judge her less? Maybe I should stick with the avocado black bean version.