{april birthdays}

 

Was time again for yet another awesome Dahlquist family birthday party this past week....and I was one of the Birthday Girls. HAPPY DAY! Along with my birthday, we celebrated my brother-in-law Jordan's birthday and my nephew Cody's and niece McKaylee's birthdays. Birthdays are a big deal in the Dahlquist fam and the birthday DINNER is no exception. Every birthday boy/girl has one of their favorites in the birthday meal and each birthday boy/girl gets their own favorite dessert!!! This year, the only requests I had for birthday dinner were my cousin Heidi's Chicken Won Ton Salad (DIVINE) and Mom's Orange Rolls. I can't remember the last time I had Mom's Orange Rolls and they are TO DIE FOR!!! I figured that if I was going to cheat on my birthday party night, I wanted something ABSOLUTELY worth cheating on....and those rolls are ABSOLUTELY "cheat worthy!" LOL! And this just wouldn't be my blog if I didn't share the recipes with you, right? So...here they are....

 
HEIDI'S CHICKEN WON TON SALAD

1 head lettuce (I use a combination of Romaine and Iceberg)
1 small package slivered almonds
2-3 diced green onions
1 small package won tons
2-3 boneless chicken breasts (sliced thin and browned in a small amount of soy sauce)
 
Dressing:
 
½ cup oil (vegetable)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (or rice vinegar)
¼ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
 
Cut won tons in 2 triangles and deep fat fry a few seconds til lightly browned on both sides. Remove with tongs and drain on paper towel.
 
Chop and mix remaining salad ingredients.  At serving, add broken won tons and dressing.
 
For dressing.  Shake up ingredients and refrigerate until serving.  Shake well again as it separates.  Enjoy.

 
MOM'S REFRIGERATOR ORANGE ROLLS

2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 C. warm water
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. shortening
1 C. hot water
3 eggs, well beaten
2 tsp. salt
4-4 1/2 C. flour

Filling (Cream together):

1/3 C. sugar
1/3 C. butter
grated rind of 1 orange

Glaze (Mix until smooth):

Juice of 1 orange
1 box (1 lb.) powdered sugar

Combine yeast with warm water; set aside.  Combine sugar, shortening and salt with hot water and stir until shortening is melted.  Add beaten eggs and 1 cup flour; mix well.  Stir in dissolved yeast.  Add remaining flour; stir until well mixed.  Cover and refrigerate until morning (or at least 2 hours, if you’re in a hurry).  Turn dough out onto a floured board.  Divide into 2 portions.  Roll each into 1/4 inch thick portions.  Roll into rectangle.  Spread each half with orange filling.  Roll up.  Slice into 1 inch slices and place in buttered muffin tins.  Allow to rise 3-4 hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from oven and while hot, spread with glaze.

As always, it was so great to get together as a family. My angel friend Kate was also there (who has officially been adopted into our fam) and that made it extra special for me!! Dinner was incredible and afterwards, we opened presents....and boy was I spoiled!!! Mom & Dad gave me a gift certificate to ROSS so I could go and get a new purse. However, with the gift certificate, I was actually able to get a purse and a clutch. I am generally not a fan of shopping....which makes it extra convenient that I am the type of person that can walk in a store and see within about 2 minutes if there's anything that catches my eye. Within that time, something will either really pop out at me, or it won't. Purses are that way for me. I can usually walk up and down the aisles once and something will either SCREAM "I NEED TO BE YOURS"....or I won't hear a thing. Such was the case with this yellow purse, I walked into ROSS and walked RIGHT UP to this yellow Kathy Van Zeeland purse (it kinda looks GOLD in the pic, but it's really a beautiful bright yellow)....and was in and out of the store in less than 5 minutes with this new purse AND the GUESS clutch in hand. It's not impulse buying...it's just knowing what I like. And this purse SCREAMED my name right when I walked through the door. Happy day!!!!!

 

My sister Kim gave me a necklace she had made with two charms that say Harmony and Serenity. With all of the emphasis that I have been putting on achieving inner peace and well-being, this was an especially meaningful gift. And not only did she make me the necklafe, she also made the cute little box that it came it. I love it! Jill & Julie's families both went in on my gift and gave me some Scentsy bars (that smell DIVINE) and two of the most AWESOME watches EVER!!!!!! I just noticed recently that I have been wearing a lot of turquoise, so I was THRILLED to death when I saw this turquoise watch band. I was so excited, I could hardly breathe!! LOL! The other watch has clear and silver beads and is more neutral...however, it is currently being repaired, which is why I don't have a picture of it...but it is SUPER cute too!!! And then, my sweet Kate gave me the most gorgeous yellow gold flower earrings!!! LOVE EM!!!! She said she liked them so much that she bought herself a pair too! ;-) With the way we tend to "accidentally" dress alike ALL THE TIME, I wouldn't put it past us to happen to wear them on the same day!! ;-)

And then there's my little sister Kristin who always has THE cutest and most thoughtful gifts. She is so sweet. She gave me a little makeup case with a calculator tied to the top of it with a ribbon. The following card came with the little case:

 

In case you can't read it, it says, "While dropping pounds at LIGHTNING RATE, you'll need some help to track your weight!!...and a Post-Jazzercise Kit to help you feel GREAT!" Inside of the make-up ca was a body scrub sponge, muscle creams, etc. SO CUTE. Kristin...you are so great. Such a fun and thoughtful gift. And I have already used the Peppermint leg cream on my legs the other day when they were aching...it's AWESOME and smells DELISH!

 

After gifts, we gathered for dessert..and WOW, what a spread. With four birthdays this month, we had QUITE the assortment of desserts, with mine OF COURSE being my favorite ORANGE CHIP CAKE. HEAVENLY!!!

 
 

My Mom's Orange Chocolate Chip Cake is HEAVENLY!!! I decided that if I was going to have that one night to cheat that I was going to get the VERY best piece of cake...THE MIDDLE. LOL!! It's funny..with that many desserts, there is always SO MUCH left over. Mom ended up sending my cake home with me and I took it to Jazzercise the next morning to get rid of it. It would have been way too tempting to keep it at home. :-) And yes, I cheated that night...and yes, I was completely sick all night that night and the next morning...and it was TOTALLY worth it. LOL! Birthdays are so much fun in our family...my Mom always goes above and beyond to make birthdays special. We have always celebrated birthdays BIG...because when you are celebrating the LIVES of those you love, don't you think it SHOULD be a big deal? However, I know that they are so much work for my Mom and yet she still pampers the crud out of us every month and I want her to know that none of it goes unnoticed. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!

 

The wonderful evening ended with one of my favorite birthday traditions....flowers from Dad. Dad has always given us birthday flowers since we were all itty bitty. There is always a rose for every 10 years and a it USED to be a carnation for every single year....so I would have had 3 roses and 1 carnation, since I turned 31 this year. However, the carnation has since turned into just any flower other than carnations....ad often Gerber Daisies...which are my favorites!!! So this year, I have 3 roses and one Gerber Daisy. They are so beautiful!!! Dad, I love you so much and I love that you started this tradition with us to make your girls (and now ALL of the girls...including granddaughters) feel extra special on our birthdays.

 

I love this picture of me and my Dad...and it's a great way to end this post. *sigh* I SO love my Dad! A little observation though...just for myself really. In the past years, I generally would have cropped this photo really tight to crop my body out of the shot. Not anymore!!!! I feel so great....what a great way to celebrate my 31st birthday...feeling healthier and more fit than I did at 21!!

Stay tuned for another birthday post.....can't leave out my actual birthday, because it was very likely the best birthday I have ever had!!! HAPPY DAY!

Comments

[Christal]

What a fun day!! You guys have so much fun! And you look amazing -you are amazing!!
Happy Birthday again!

[Bobbi-Jo]

You're not kidding you were spoiled!!! WOW! You'd think your family loves you, or something! Those purses are gorgeous! And I loved your little sister's gift - so fun.

And YAY for not wanting to crop your body out of a pic. Aren't moments like that WORTH all of the hard work and sacrifice? GOOD FOR YOU!

[gayle olson]

The two of you are gorgeous! Look at your slim neck and arms--so worth the time you have put into this life change. I am going to print the pic and put it on my refrigerator. love, Gayle

[lynn Crapo]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER! You look amazing!
Thanks for the recipes! You KNOW I am all about food! YAY!
LOVE LOVE LOVE your style. I think that yellow purse would of screamed at me too. LOL!

[Kristy-Dist]

That Won-Ton Salad was YUMMY-STINKING-LICIOUS!! Hey have you tried the donuts at the new Beyond Glaze shop in Draper...they are AMAZING!!!! It's like going to an ice-cream shop for donuts! They have flavors like Key-Lime Pie, Apple Crisp, Coconut Cream Pie, German Chocolate Cake....and they are SO stinking cute and decorated too!!

[Laurie]

You look absolutely amazing and are radiating in your pictures. Happy Birthday girl! I remember last year when I submitted my "about me" card. I hope you had an amazing and special day. You deserve it.

[Erin]

I plan on making the orange rolls tonight- they looked so good. How did the Jazzercize competition go?

[Suz]

Woo Hoo!!! What day is your actualy birthday?? APRIL is the month! It's both Bob's and my birthdays as well as our anniversary in April! LOVE that last week!!!!!