Happy Saturday, friends. I’m in such a good mood because today is the first anniversary of the Duke’s 30th birthday 
He thought turning 30 last year was the end of the world, but he says it wasn’t all that bad. That’s probably because we lived it up in New Orleans for the weekend with Hurricanes at Pat O’Briens and fabulous food at Emeril’s. Anyhoo, since he enjoyed turning 30, I thought we could just celebrate that mile stone for another year.
We kicked off the celebration last night with a nice evening in. We’re both pretty wiped on Friday nights, so we usually stay home and cook. I stopped by the fish market and bought some beautiful shrimp and delicious dips. My favorite market in town has a huge selection of prepared foods (oven-ready twice baked potatoes, stuffed shrimp, etc.), so I bought the Duke’s favorite…smoked tuna dip. This stuff is so good! If you’ve never had smoked tuna, you don’t know what you’re missing.
We wet our palates with the tuna dip and a sundried tomato and feta dip (let’s face it, this was more for me than the Duke) with crackers and a glass of vino. Great way to start the evening!
I’d say I’m looking a little tired after a long week of work! Oh, well. It felt so nice to relax on the couch with my main man.
For dinner I cooked the shrimp in a spicy tomato and olive sauce and served it over couscous.
It was really delicious! The Duke and I both downed a pretty large portion. We both love shrimp, and living on the Gulf of Mexico, we’ve always got fresh shrimp at our disposal.
After a big meal and a few glasses of wine, I prepared overnight cinnamon rolls using frozen bread dough. This is really the way to go. It’s so easy. Assemble everything before bed, then throw them in the fridge to rise over night. When I let the dog out at 6 this morning, I pulled them out and left them on the counter until we got up at 8. They were perfectly risen and ready for the oven by that point!
Before breakfast, the Duke opened his gifts.
I got him French Press for coffee and a jumbo muffin tin (he just asked if we had one the other night ). He loves to make muffins, and a regular old muffin tin is just not enough to feed this man!
Now, down to business…
These cinnamon rolls were fantastic! I sprayed the bottom of my pan with cooking spray, then sprinkled some cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans on the bottom, making a deliciously chewy crust for the rolls.
Is that a beautiful site or what??? As if that wasn’t enough, I made a quick glaze with powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon and caramel ice cream topping. This really put things over the edge.
I felt kinda guilty for eating one, since I gave up sweets for Lent. I’ve been doing really well with the fast, but I figured this was breakfast, not dessert, and it’s the Duke’s birthday, after all! It was nice to have a little something sweet to hold me over until Easter.
I told the Duke (who enjoys taunting me with cookies, candy and other sweet goodness) that on Easter Sunday I’m having these cinnamon rolls for breakfast, cookie cake (with icing, of course) for lunch and a big bowl of ice cream for dinner!
I gotta run. We’re spending the Duke’s birthday doing some major house cleaning. Is that fun, or what? We’re putting the house on the market in the next couple of weeks, so this puppy needs to be shining like a diamond. Anyone interested in a 4 bedroom 3 bath house with a pool in northwest Florida?? 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUKE!!!!The Duchess
