January is a birthday month in our family and in normal times it means a continuation of Christmas and New Year festivities with presents to open and good food to enjoy. There were two big '0's to celebrate this year, half a century and my old bloke becoming eighty. Crickey! Among his presents were a tweed cap and a new waxed jacket, just the thing for a Yorkshire man, even if he is living down south. Illness, however, kept our celebrations simple, a daughter with Covid and Himself with a number of hospital visits where he had bits cut off, bits patched up, laser treatment and more pills to add to his ever growing collection. There has been a lot of too-ing and fro-ing and anxious phone calls. Younger daughter, who works in the NHS, gave me good advice. "Mum, just pull on your big girl pants." A more invasive biopsy was cancelled. I phoned her to say it was good and added, "I'm taking off my big girl pants."
Could Grandad blow out all his candles in one go? Yes he could!
We were all together for Peter's birthday and had lunch at the Olive Tree in Bath, the only restaurant in the city that has a Michelin star. Was the food good? Yes, it looked very attractive on the plate and tasted delicious.
My starter was tortellini, venison bolognaise, mooli and parmesan.
Others had a vegetarian option.
For my main course I ate Cornish lemon sole with poached mussels, courgette, sea herbs and a white wine sauce.
My choice for dessert was so delicious that I ate it before remembering
to take a photograph! Islands chocolate with brown butter, hazelnut and
yuzu.
Our boy had fish and chips and was perfectly happy to have some sauce to
dunk his chips into. Fine dining doesn't mean much when you are four!
We are just a small family and it was wonderful to all be together.
