La Cumpleaños de Mi Hermano Mayor

For my older brother Scott's birthday, him and his family came up to visit from their home in New Jersey. His wife Nicole and two daughters, Bailey and Norah, had been staying with us for a day or two when he finally flew in on Saturday night from Paris where he had been on business. His wife was cooking his birthday dinner all evening before he arrived, which I had the pleasure of assisting in cooking. She was making a recipe for enchiladas that she had found online and didn't know how it would turn out because she had never made it before. She had gone to the grocery store earlier that day to gather all the necessary supplies to make them, but as we stood around the kitchen counter, she realized that she had only gotten one bottle of green enchilada sauce instead of the two bottles that the recipe called for. We kind of panicked, but figured that it would taste okay, but that they might be a little dry. We continued to prepare everything, and finally after they were rolled and placed in a glass pan and sprinkled with cheese, they were placed in the oven as Nicole turned it on: or so she thought. The sat in the oven for 40 mins while it wasn't even on, and we waited patiently as nothing happened since we didn't check on them, we just set a timer. So when Nicole finally looked at them and they were exactly the same, she realized her mistake and turned on the unfamiliar oven. Another 30 mins, and finally Scott's birthday meal was ready. She apologized for the delay and the fact that they might be gross and dry from the lack of green sauce. As I prepared for the worst, I put some hot sauce on mine in case it might cover up some of the flavor, but as I took my first bite it was absolutely delicious! I was blown away by how tasty they turned out to be in spite of our setbacks. I ended up having three helpings before dinner was over, and we polished off the night with cupcakes and Ferris Acres ice cream. It was a perfect ending to a nice birthday celebration. --Sam G.