For more years than I can remember now, there has been a tradition in our home. When someone has a birthday, they pick a restaurant for their special meal. I have always enjoyed that tradition, and I think the rest of the family has too. This year though, I asked my husband if we could do something different.
Last week, I got my first order from ButcherBox. For those of you who’ve never heard of this company, it’s a meat subscription service. On a monthly basis, you pick the grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, or pastured or humanely raised heritage pork that you’d like shipped to you. They pack it and ship it, and it arrives at your door frozen solid in individual portions.
Anyway, when my box arrived, I was thrilled to see the quality of the ribeyes that received for FREE. (I got a pretty amazing deal when I signed up during Cyber Week.) Ribeyes are my very favorite cut of beef, and these twelve ounce babies were BEAUTIFUL! I put them in the fridge to thaw along with some fillet mignon (also free) for Fred and some top sirloin for the kids and the housemate.
Last week was a crazy week, and with most of us sick, we never got around to grilling the steaks. Fixing them today was out of the question because I started brining some non-GMO chicken from Sam’s Club; today was the last day I felt safe cooking them. So what did this mean for my delicious steaks waiting in my fridge? It meant that a serious shake-up of tradition was in order!
This is going to seem random for a second, but stick with me here. Back at Thanksgiving, we shared a meal with my side of the family at a track-side casino in Anderson. The food was unbelievable, and even though my kids were more interested in desserts, I was loving the prime rib and seafood offerings. It was the perfect meal for someone following a ketogenic diet, and I loved every bite of it.
Later, I said to Fred and the kids, “I know it’ll be really expensive, but maybe I want to eat at the casino buffet for my birthday meal.” Nobody objected, of course, and we kind of left it at that.
With everyone being sick though and some unexpected medical expenses that couldn’t have come at a worse time of year, I was pondering what to do about my birthday supper. We definitely weren’t going to the casino, and I didn’t really think I could justify any of my other favorite places. And to be honest, I’m just not feeling up to it anyway, so I hatched a plan.
My birthday is tomorrow, a work day, so the plan was going to require Fred’s approval. I asked him if he’d mind grilling those steaks after work as my birthday meal since honestly, I’ll likely enjoy my ribeye much more than I’d enjoy spending a lot of money to have someone cook for me. Sweet man that he is, he said, “It’s your birthday. Whatever you want to do.” I really do love that man!
So the kids might not be too happy, but this year, I’m not going out to celebrate my birthday. Fred’s going to grill a ribeye for me, and I think I’m going to make a cheesecake. I’ve been wanting cheesecake for so long. Tomorrow will be the perfect day to have some, I think.
After tomorrow’s feast, I’ll be sure to do a separate blog post detailing my experience with the ButcherBox beef. I’m certain I’ll love it though. Seems like a perfect way to celebrate my birthday to me!