The ultimate birthday dinner for the man of the house

Tonight's menu featured wonton soup, sweet and sour pork, and chocolate cake topped with chocolate ice cream. All of Bill's favorite foods all in one spot. I guess it's the least I could do to ease him into being 45 yrs old. 'Cause that is like, OLD, dude. And not that far away for me, either.

The thing that makes this menu suitable for a blog about picky eaters is that, despite the fact that Bill loves sweet and sour pork more than anything else in the whole world, food-wise anyway, he still finds things to pick out of it. He will not eat the peppers and onions at all. Picks them out every time. This is my mother-in-law's recipe and I'm told that at one time she tried making it without the peppers and onions and the picky butts in the family told her it didn't taste the same. So, it has to be made with them in, but they will get picked out. Sigh.

However, Bill gave me the ultimate accolade and said the wonton soup was much better than he'd ever had in a restaurant. Props to me!

And miracle of miracles, Ellie ate it and liked it. The world may be about to stop spinning on its axis now, so hold on tight!

Since it was a partial hit, I'll share this recipe tonight and the sweet and sour pork in a few days.

It's really easy to make, too. And it would be even easier if you had some leftover pork roast or something instead of having to cook ground pork for the filling. I found the amount of sesame oil called for to be a bit much, too. Next time I'll do 1/2 a tsp of it, but try it this way first and decide for yourself.

You need:
1/2 c of cooked pork
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of soy sauce
16 wonton wrappers
6 cups of chicken stock
A couple of stalks of bok choy, chopped
A green onion or two, sliced finely

If you are browning some ground pork for this, like I did, I added a bit of diced onion, minced garlic and salt and pepper to the pan to give it some flavor.

Put your stock in a large pot with the bok choy and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, put the cooked pork, sesame oil and soy sauce in a food processor and whirl it around a bit until minced fine.













Lay out the wonton wrappers on a flat surface and put a spoonful of the filling on each one.



Using your finger, wet the edges of the wrapper and pull them together to make a pouch.











Once they are all made, add to the gently simmering stock and cook about 5 minutes. Don't let it boil too hard or the wontons will fall apart.












Gently ladle into bowls and top with the slice green onion.













Can't forget a shot of the most important part: the cake and ice cream!