birthday eve

my dear friend janet created the most delicious dinner in honor of my birthday. m says what she made is called thai wraps. you soak very thin rice pancakes in a bowl of warm water and then fill them with thin rice thread noodles, and everything else in the photo below! (avocado, mango, mint, cilantro, jalopeno, shrimp, toasted coconut, arugula, cucumber, sweet red peppers . . is your mouth watering enough? . . ) she also made mint lemonade and we ended with cheesecake from magnolia bakery (along with hot hibiscus tea). (sigh). it was very good! (and so nice for me as i rarely make a dinner for which you need to dice so many items!) it also was a very peaceful evening. as we ate and sipped our tea, the night descended outside the windows and clothed the kitchen in shadow.