I fear I was more excited about Stew’s birthday today than Stew was. Perhaps it’s because I’ve spent the last three nights prepping an epic (albeit labor intensive) raw feast to celebrate his existence. I had so much fun putting this together I told him we could go ahead and count it as my birthday, too.

It was kind of hard to keep a secret since we share a kitchen and all but he was banished to his office for three nights in a row while I worked so that even though he guessed exactly what I was doing (“Can I guess? Are you making raw food?”), he never got to see or taste anything until today.

This morning I gave him his special birthday menu so he’d dream about it all day while I was at work. It included:

• Light lemon hummus – Puree of zucchini, sunflower seeds and tahini seasoned with lemon and garlic and served with crudités
• Raw lasagna – Marinated zucchini noodles, spicy tomato walnut meat, tangy macadamia nut cheese, basil walnut pesto and wilted spinach piled 13 layers high
• Dark chocolate strawberry pie – Dense and fudgy raw coconut brownie crust topped with strawberry banana soft serve, fresh strawberries and rich chocolate fudge

He didn’t get any other gifts other than an “I love my hound dog” sticker and a pound of Dilworth Coffee so I insisted on wrapping the lasagna up for a dramatic reveal.

Everything was de.li.cious. and I’m calling this my crowning culinary glory. Recipes will follow later this week but for now… I need to pass out.