Surf and Turf and 15 Year Olds

The girls' modeling debut...

Well the day had finally arrived, my newborn twins were now 15 years old.  Everyone warned me that the time passes you by in the blink of an eye - they were right.

...at 18 months old.

 This year, I finally got around to putting together their scrapbooks for a birthday gift...that caused more than a few tears, I can assure you (still going with the post-holiday blues, lack of sleep, emotional issues).  Their scrapbook brought back the day when my husband and I met, or wedding, pregnancy, birth and so many first day of school photos, first steps, first haircut, first bicycle, etc....time definitely goes before us much to fast.

I have learned to take each day as a gift and count my blessings always.  As they say, "Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, Today is a Gift, That's why it's called the Present".

Tonight at the dinner table, we prayed and thanked God for all our gifts, especially the gift of our children and the blessings bestowed upon us each and every day.

Tonight's festive dinner table.

We typically do dinner at home for those special Birthday Nights...and it wouldn't be a birthday without the request of Surf and Turf for dinner, complete with a homemade birthday cake.  Now I am not much of a baker, but I can only think of one year that I had a professional cake done (that was the year of the Barbie Cake, for their 4th birthday, way beyond my abilities.

This year the girls both selected their own flavors...Red Velvet and Classic Vanilla with a Vanilla Frosting.  I baked while wrapping presents and dad frosted while I decorated the dining room.  Great teamwork and the end result turned out quite fun.  I even stenciled "15" in cake sprinkles in the middle.

Dinner of course was lobster tails, drawn butter, flat iron steak and cheddar broccoli rice...don't all teenagers have surf and turf for dinner?  I think I was in my late 20's before I got to experience this kind of meal.  At any rate, our children are lucky that their parents love to cook because there is no way that we would go out for a dinner of that magnitude.

Broiled Lobster Tails
Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

4 whole lobster tails 1 cup butter, melted 1 teaspoon ground paprika

salt to taste ground white pepper, to taste 1 lemon - cut into wedges, for garnish

Directions:

1.	Preheat the broiler.
2.	Place lobster tails on a baking sheet. With a sharp knife or kitchen shears, carefully cut top side of lobster shells lengthwise. Pull apart shells slightly, and season meat with equal amounts butter, paprika, salt, and white pepper.
3.	Broil lobster tails until lightly browned and lobster meat is opaque, about 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges to serve.

Paired dinner with one of our favorites....
LaCrema Pinot Noir