Just call me Mini-Deb

We celebrated the future Mr. Palindrome's birthday over the weekend and I stretched my culinary expertise to its limits. I'd been admiring Deb and her Smitten Kitchen for a few months, but hadn't taken the plunge to actually make anything. The mMister's birthday was the perfect excuse to give some recipes a whirl.

First up? Apple pancakes!

I didn't have a cast iron skillet though, so mine didn't have the gorgeous crust that Deb's  have in the picture above.  I also struggled with our electric chopper to get the apples uniformly chopped.  Oh food processor how I want thee!  Good thing I put one on our registry.  :)

For dinner I made some gorgeously glazed sirloin kabobs. Deb used the garlic-mustard glaze on chicken, but the mustard held up so well to the beef!

The whole grain mustard adds amazing texture to this glaze, but it also leaves evidence in between your teeth so that when you're in the Target, your fiance laughs at you for trying to get him to try on a hat while you look so silly with mustard grains all up in your grill. 

As delicious as our day had been thus far, dessert quite literally took the cake.  I made my first cake from scratch and I have to say that I think I was highly successful.  The espresso chiffon cake with fudge frosting will certainly be a staple in the Palindrome household.  Behold!  I actually remembered to take a picture of this portion of the culinary extravaganza:

Yep, that smile gives away that I had just licked my fingers and gotten a big old taste of fudge frosting.  It might clog your arteries (3 sticks of butter! Paula Dean would be proud), but I'd much rather live three years fewer with this icing in my life.

Have you stretched yourself in the kitchen for your love?  Were you successful in your endeavors?