A second set of birthday requests

Cassie and Uncle Bob share the same rather unfortunate birthday just two days after Christmas. Cassie was actually due on Christmas, and should have been born the day after, but she got stubborn and wanted to come out facing the wrong way, which caused your Mom to have a long and painful back labor that stretched into the wee hours of the 27th. Cassie has made up for that ever since by being a little ray of sunshine.

The first episode of UaKS was about the meal Brad requested for his birthday dinner; now we get to Cassie's requests—hummus with naan to start, falafel sliders with avocado hummus for the main course, and Sweethaus cupcakes for dessert. Yes, someone does like her hummus.

Cassie also asked to play some music with the family, so she, Andi, Cathy, and Uncle Clint played a few tunes for everyone. It was nice to have a family concert again after a few years without one. Then we played Smart Ass, which is a pretty fun trivia game, and Fart!, which is a not-at-all fun Uno ripoff. It comes with a CD soundtrack of gross fart noises keyed to various game actions. Of course, you're also rewarded if you can cut a real fart during game play, so long as it's verifiable by sound or smell. Really. You can guess who thought that game would be fun.

Hummus with Roasted Red Peppers

Adapted from Cook’s Country #43, Feb/Mar 2012

Many people swear by Ottolenghi's hummus recipe, but we've always been partial to this one, and Uncle Clint has made them both and likes this one better, too. Zahav's hummus is supposed to be the best of all, but it's a project. I changed the original recipe to make use of the protein-rich liquid inside the can of chickpeas—aquafaba is amazing stuff you can use to make all sorts of egg-based things vegan, including mayonnaise, pancakes, and meringues.

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
2 tablespoons (29 grams) fresh lemon juice
¼ cup (56 grams) tahini, stirred well
2 tablespoons (27 grams) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small garlic clove, minced (about ½ teaspoon)
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup (42 grams) jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed, patted dry, and chopped coarse
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

    1.  Pour ¼ cup (60 grams) of the liquid (aquafaba) from the can of chickpeas into a small bowl. Add the lemon juice and whisk together. Whisk the tahini and 2 tablespoons oil together in another small bowl.
    2. Drain the rest of the aquafaba from the chickpeas, reserving it for another use if desired (see the headnote). If you want the smoothest possible hummus, you should remove the skins from the chickpeas, but you can skip this step if you like. Pour the chickpeas into a medium bowl. Cover with water by a few inches. Rub the chickpeas gently to pop off as many skins as you can, without obsessing over it (like I do). The skins float above the naked chickpeas, where they can be skimmed off or picked out.
    3. Drain the chickpeas well, then place them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the garlic, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Process until coarsely ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape the bowl down with a silicone spatula. With the machine running, pour the lemon juice-water mixture through the feed tube, then process until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl down occasionally. With the machine running, pour the tahini-oil mixture through the feed tube, then process until smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds. Scrape the bowl down. Add the roasted red peppers and pulse 5 or 6 times until there are no large pieces of pepper left.
    4. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and let sit for at least 30 minutes. When you're ready to serve, drizzle the hummus with just a little bit more olive oil, then sprinkle with the parsley. Makes about 2 cups.

Classic Hummus
Use just a pinch of cayenne pepper. Omit the smoked paprika and the roasted red peppers.