Foto Frenzy: My 30th Birthday Extravaganza

*Note:  If you don't give a flying fritter about my personal life, then you don't need to read any further.  I must warn you, however, that failure to read this post will result in missing out on seeing the inside of the kitchen at VOLT...



Pop quiz:  How do you know when the school year has started?

Answer:  When it takes me a full two weeks to get around to posting pictures from my 30th birthday party.  (And while I'm pretty sure that my tardiness hasn't caused any of you to lose sleep, I apologize nonetheless).

I'm lucky enough to have a Sous Chef that loves me almost as much as his Le Creuset cookware.  He went to great lengths to ensure that my milestone birthday was a hoot and a half.  Friends, he even had a birthday party file.  He planned a day of kayaking, Maryland wine tasting, and dining, followed by brunch the next day at VOLT.  He made reservations, put down deposits, and kept up communication with all of the invited guests.  For a guy who claims to be bad at planning things, he's pretty darn good at it.

The week before my birthday began with a quick check on the weather forecast.  It was horrible.  Lee coming in from the West.  Katia threatening us from the East.  My birthday was literally sandwiched between two fast-approaching storms.  Luckily, I happen to have a knack for designing the weather around personally important dates.  I made it snow the night of my wedding.  And I made those two hurricanes veer off-track.

Birthday festivities rescued!  Well, sort of.  We did end up getting a lot of rain from both Lee and a little storm named Irene.  As a result, our kayaking portion of the day was canceled, since we had signed up for a quiet, babbling brook-like portion of the river, which as a result of the rains had turned into full-on white water rapids.

But no amount of rain was going to stop us from drinking wine!

Me and my BFF Lisa.  Please note the rockin' old-school van that served as our transportation for the day.  Drink smart, people.

Tasting room too crowded?  Try our solution: Buy a bunch of different wines, some cheese and crackers, and host your own wine tasting at the picnic tables outside!

Black Ankle Vineyard: They grow their own grapes (as organically as possible, mind you), and the building was made almost entirely out of materials on the property - there are even grape vines in the counter tops!  Frank Lloyd Wine, anyone?

After our wine tour, we had a little time to kill, so we walked around downtown Historic Frederick.  Lots of old buildings, cute shops, and places to eat.  There was even a shop selling t-shirts that read:

I survived the quake too, Buddy.  And guess what?  I made an awesome appetizer to celebrate!

After a delightful dinner at a local microbrewery, we walked around for a while sightseeing and then retired back to our hotel room.  We wanted to be bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and brunch-tastic for the following day!

The gorgeous building that houses VOLT restaurant

Before I knew it, it was time for our meal at VOLT.  I'd wanted to go here for years!  I was so very excited, and since I knew we would be dining in the kitchen, I knew there was a chance we would meet the Head Chef/Owner/Top Chef runner-up, Bryan Voltaggio.  I tend to get a little starstruck when I meet food celebrities (I once managed a girly "Hi, it's you!" to Carla Hall, another Top Chef alum, to which she replied, "And it's you!"), so I was a bit nervous about potentially meeting another.  But what I was really looking forward to was the food.

This is my "paparazzi" shot - don't we look just like a celebrity couple on our way to a fabulous dining experience?  That's what it felt like!

At our table, inside the VOLT kitchen.  At this moment, I was staring at Bryan Voltaggio's back as he sorted and macerated blackberries with painstaking detail - for an hour-and-a-half.  Now that's dedication.

Isn't this kitchen gorgeous?  See, that's BV there, on the right, with his blessed blackberries.

For our first course, we enjoyed an heirloom tomato salad with basil, poached shrimp that melted in your mouth, and gazpacho that had been frozen with liquid nitrogen - this was by far my favorite course of the day:

Those are our plates on the right - the chef is adding the shrimp to it at this point.

After that, we enjoyed four more delightful courses, which included fresh sheep's milk pasta, mahi mahi, beef strip loin, and goat cheese cake (with a side of BV's fabulous blackberries!):

The beef course: beef strip loin, quinoa, chanterelle mushrooms, and beans.  Look at how the scallions are cut to the exact same size as the kernels of corn!

I've seen this pig in posed photos of BV in his kitchen.  I think he has a thing for pigs.  Especially those equipped with wings.

How cute is this?  They gave everyone a coffee cake and rolled-up menu to take home as a memento!

I know I've already posted this picture, but I just have to do it again - if you want the full story behind this shot, go here:

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!!

It was a wonderful couple of days, and meeting a culinary idol was the perfect way to wrap it up in a little birthday bow.  I was lucky enough to enter my thirties enveloped in the love of close friends and family, and I see nothing but rainbows and apron-wearing unicorns ahead of me.

I'll let you know if and when the euphoria wears off.

Eat well!