Not that dry then, January!

I’ve never been particularly tempted by dry January and in fact, given the way that family birthdays fall, it has never really been an option, with a plethora to celebrate, so parties galore – but not this year obviously! As we come to the end of this January, we have just completed the full cycle of family birthdays since lockdown(s) began last March. As I’m sure for most families, any random year contains some milestone birthdays and others that we can sweep under the carpet and from which we can just move on. And this year has been no different for us in that respect. The challenge we faced, along with everyone else, was to make them ‘special’ despite the constraints of lockdowns.

Child #3’s 21st in June was made special by a treasure hunt organised by friends in the village. It was a steaming hot day, so we were able to eat in the garden and sit out till late under the stars. In lockdown#1, the whole family was here. Main course, at the request of birthday child (not really a child anymore!), was linguine with prawn, chilli, feta and thai basil. We had ordered in some English sparkling from Furleigh Estate in Dorset, so were able to champagne the day and night away – not the 21st we would have had in normal circumstances, but memorable nonetheless.

I was lucky enough to be able to get out for my birthday and the writer her indoors took me to the fabulous Hive Beach Café (www.hivebeachcafe.co.uk), where we were able to eat fresh seafood and fish, with sand beneath our toes – always makes me think of the great Cherry Ghost song Thirst for Romance – the smell of the sea in our nostrils, the sound of waves crashing on the beach in front of us and a great view of the Jurassic coast…

Birthdays in November and early January saw us manage to drink more champagne and eat involtini, from Nigella, as well as a tapas-style birthday dinner for the 25 year old, the highlights of which were mushrooms with garlic, sherry and pine nuts and broad beans with red pepper and lardons. Mid January saw the ‘significant’ birthday of the writer her indoors, and again friends and villagers alike took up the baton with a pre-recorded set of birthday wishes, a constant stream of deliveries from the local florist, presents galore and a fishy tasting menu, with ingredients ordered in from Darts Farm in Topsham, Devon. Mussels, crab and sea bass were consumed with gusto, along with, you’ve guessed it, copious amounts of champagne!

Only time will tell whether we managed to create special, long-lasting memories of these birthdays during this most memorable (should that be forgettable) of years…

Eating: Stir-fried noodles with sambal and crab. Recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi The Guardian 28/11/20. One of those recipes that you look at and store away to use at the right time, and the aforementioned birthday of the writer her indoors was just the occasion – went down a storm!

Drinking: Gautret VSOP Cognac, which is made in the classic Charentais style. Having ordered in 2 bottles of the above to help ‘manage’ the Christmas period, we had some left and it has been a pleasure to sip this in front of a fire on cold nights, or to add to a hot chocolate in the early evening after a late walk with the pampered pooch.

Listening to: Echo & the Bunnymen. As a student in Paris in the early 80s, Ocean Rain had just been released and I think this is still my favourite Bunnymen album. It contains the fabulous The Killing Moon. However favourite track has to be All my colours from Heaven up Here.