A New Year, Food and more Food

New Year’s Eve is upon us once again and my hasn’t this year just rushed by!

Why is it that when you come to the end of the year, you always start to analyse everything you have done/not done/wanted to do/wished you had the nerve to do/regretted having done .. and so on. I just want to say for the record ‘ Je ne regrette rien!’ or ‘I don’t regret anything’ as Edith Piaf (famous French songstress) used to sing. Not that I have achieved anything earth shattering this year, but I am comfortable with my life and myself and am looking forward to a happy and productive New Year.

Changing the subject quite a bit, I thought that I should mention the amount/variety of food I have eaten this Christmas season – well it has become a little ritual of mine to mention food, now and again, in this blog and being a creature of habit I thought it best to continue on in the best tradition.

Work Christmas outing to Van Antoni’s, Meze Bar in Bushey (20th December)

Starter
Grilled Haloumi Cheese with Water Melon Balls

Main Course
Lamb Moussaka served with herby roast new potatoes

Dessert
Zesty Lemon Torte

All with plenty of Red Wine and then dancing (I love a good dance)

Christmas Lunch at School (22nd December)

Starter
Mixed Indian and Chinese snacks, Crudités and Dips
Glass of Mulled Wine

Main Course
Roast Turkey with Stuffing, Chipolatas and Bacon
Roast Potatoes (not as nice as mine)
Brussels sprouts (hard like bullets)
Carrots (yuck)
Peas
Green beans
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert
Christmas Pudding
Mince Pies (burnt on the bottom)
Cream
Custard

Coffee

Christmas Eve (24th December)

At home with my two boys, it has been a long standing tradition in our family to have Lamb Chops and Chips (with lashings of garlic) on this day and not one to break with tradition I cooked a large platter of the above for me and the boys – delicious, finger licking (better than KFC) good!!

Christmas Day (25th December)

The morning started off with just myself and the boys - opening our presents - a cup of coffee and Pork and Apple Sausages from Tesco – we love these sausages.

Later on the ‘boyfriend’ came around to open/give his presents. For the first time in over 25years I would not be cooking a Christmas meal – today it was a slap up meal in ‘Oslo Court’ – no getting flustered and hot over a hot oven, no washing up, no back aching over a turkey as big as a child, just calm, relaxing and joyful eating in warm, comfortable surroundings.

Oslo Court – Christmas Day

Melba Toast and Crudités on the table when you arrive
Hot Garlic Bread Rolls
Dry Martini and Lemonade (aperitif)

Starter
Smoked Salmon and Brown Bread (a huge plate full of succulent salmon)

Soup
Consommé (a delightful refreshing bowl of soup)

Main Course
Rack of Lamb (tender lamb on the bone – (I’m dribbling just thinking about it!)
Roast baby potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
Green beans
Broccoli
Mint Sauce/Redcurrant Jelly

Dessert
The sweet waiter Neil (very camp) loves his desserts trolley and he almost has an orgasm describing his wonderful desserts. I asked for a homemade Crème brulee, which was wonderful and creamy with a lovely crunchy caramel top. He also insisted on bringing me a Strawberry Tart, which was full of beautiful strawberries on a rich short crust pastry base – divine!

Coffee and Petites Fours - loads of sweetie things, Turkish delight, chocolate mints, sugared almonds etc).

They then tried to bring out some Mince Pies, but we really had to say no.

Boxing Day – the whole family at my Parents’ House (26th December)

This was a buffet affair, with contributions from the whole family – we all have our specialities, but I will just list the food on offer.

Paella
Potato Omelette
Roast Pork
Roast Beef
Seafood Salad
Fresh Salad
Garlic Bread
Assorted Savoury Hot Snacks i.e. Sausage Rolls, Crispy Duck pancakes, Sesame Prawn Toast, Samosas, Feta and Cranberry parcels.
Dips and chips – assorted flavours
Smoked Salmon on brown bread
Fresh home made Trifle
Assorted sweets and cakes
Plenty of Bucks Fizz, Wine and assorted alcoholic and non- alcoholic beverages

Amazingly with all the food I have eaten, I don’t seem to have piled on the weight I normally put on over the holiday period, but it’s not over yet and the ex in-laws are coming over for dinner on New Year’s Day – Goose is on the menu, together with many other things, will keep you posted.

Happy eating.

Jo xx

Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas!

I know I haven’t written for a while, but cyberspace just hasn’t been calling to me lately. Things have been so hectic in my life, what with parties; book sales, antique fairs and just general living!! Ooh, aren’t you the lucky one – aren’t you Miss Popular, I hear you sarcastically remark! Well let me tell you, I am absolutely shattered, knackered and f**ked – all this activity is a bit too much for me – after all I am not a young girl anymore.

I have however enjoyed every minute of my very active December – I have:

Sold a couple of hundred pounds worth of books at the School Book Sale.
Shaken my tushi at Van Antoni’s Meze Bar in Bushey
Stuffed my face with food at several pre-Christmas bashes.
Stamped my feet and clapped my hands along with the ladies/gents of Madame Jojo’s in the West End.
Salivated and experienced yet more culinary delights at Oslo Court on Christmas Day.

And finally..

Sunk into my living room couch to watch several versions of, Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ – it just has to be done.

Today, we/I have the yearly ‘Boxing Day’ event at my parents’ house – this will entail yet more, eating, drinking and general merriment. You probably have already gathered if you read my blog, that I have a rather large and noisy family and when we all get together it is even larger and noisier than most, this is mainly to do with the fact that our parents are of Spanish descent and also that we seem to be a bunch of extrovert and confident individuals. People coming into one of our gatherings for the first time, may think they have entered a ‘Hell’ of chaos, everyone talking at the same time, children running around, music blaring, mountains of food on tables and my parents blithely/serenely sitting and presiding like the King and Queen of the World (which they are) – but amongst all this chaos, there is warmth and love and a feeling of great satisfaction that you are a part of the whole, which is our Family…. And after all isn’t that what the ‘Season’ is all about??

A Merry Christmas to you, one and all. Jo xx

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!!

Daylight Robbery??

I watched a TV programme last night, which I can honestly say I have never watched before – The Money Programme – how glad am I!! It dealt with Bank Charges, call them penalty charges or service charges or whatever name the banks are currently giving them – I call them ‘Daylight robbery’. The saddest thing of all is that the people most affected by these charges are the people who can least afford them. Ok I can hear some of you out there saying, “well you shouldn’t spend what you don’t have”, but sometimes it’s just the everyday bills, which are just too much to cope with.

I will give myself as an example – I am on quite a low income as I work part-time in a school, which only employs me during Term times – and yes I did try to get a full time job – rejection is not anything that anyone can easily cope with! Over the years my expenditure has regularly overtaken my income – not always due to extravagance. I have most of my bills paid through my bank – direct debits mainly. Once in a while I miscalculate and forget that I might have spent an extra £20 or more over my budget – when this happens and it does happen at least once every other month it starts a snowball rolling.


I have two particular direct debits totalling £9.00 – during this last summer my bank decided to bounce these three times each – charging me a total of 6 x £38, putting me even further into the red and then penalising me a further £40 plus interest - all these charges came to just under £300 – all for something that should have cost me £9.00. I tried phoning to say that I thought these charges were excessive in relation to amount I had to pay and was fobbed off with ‘you signed a contract’.

That is all I am going to say on this subject except that there are many websites available to help you with the legalities of claiming your money back – Moneysaving expert.com is one of them. Good luck!

On other personal news, I have been really busy with work at school, plus loads of socialising. One of my best friends and colleague is leaving work and we had a party for her yesterday – I got a bit emotional – I am really going to miss her.

Hopefully I will get myself sorted to post something a bit more interesting and varied and also to write a bit more frequently – I have got out of the habit.

Until tomorrow – or the day after.

Jo xx

T'IS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY

Another great night was had by all!!

My sons took me out last night, this was for our yearly pilgrimage to the West End to see the sights and sounds of London and also to celebrate my birthday, which was on Sunday – at this time of the year, I like to see the Christmas lights and look at the shop windows, but definitely no shopping – we usually go after the shops are closed and there are less people around.

My younger son and I met my elder son straight from work – he works in the West End and we agreed to meet him at around 6.30pm by the Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly. He then took us to a nearby pub, where he introduced us to some of his work colleagues. It’s so nice to put faces to names and to have proof that your son is popular and well liked (every Mum likes to know this)!!

What can I say about the three guys we met: The first was Head of security, where my son works – mid-thirties, bald, looks like a club bouncer and talked just like my boyfriend – full of it (bull-shit) is all I can say. He was a really nice friendly guy and I am sure if I got to know him better, he would probably tone down the B.S.; The second guy was a quite camp gay guy, he was really lovely, very well spoken and definitely has a soft spot for my son. He couldn’t really get a word in edgeways, because Big Bouncer Guy kept on talking over him. He won me over though when he started spelling out swear words, because he didn’t want to “offend Mum” ha, ha! I didn’t really speak much to the third guy as he was not that talkative, but both of my boys said he sounded a lot like their Dad and their Uncle Paul, I didn’t get this because Big Bouncer Guy, kept right on talking!!



We left the guys and the pub around 7.45pm and strolled down along Regent Street on to Carnaby Street, where we stopped at another pub, I think it was called ‘Shakespeare’s Head’?? We had another drink and chatted about stuff – I’m sure I was grinning like a Cheshire cat at this point, as I was so proud being out with my two boys looking after me. After the drink we carried on walking to Poland Street, where the Restaurant ‘Bodeans’ and where we would be having our meal. The restaurant was very busy and we waited at the bar for around 15 mins until our table was ready.

As usual I ate far too much:

Starter

Fire/Chilli Char grilled Prawns/shrimp
(Absolutely delicious, very spicy hot though)

Main Course

10 oz Rib-eye steak, served with Fries, Onion Rings, Coleslaw, Salad, Chipotle Butter, Peppercorn Sauce and a Side of Prawns (I told you they were lovely).

Dessert

No dessert, I couldn’t eat another mouthful, but I could have ordered a Mississippi Mud Pie, Key Lime Pie, Fudge Brownies, Apple cobbler or Sweet Potato Bread pudding – BUT I WAS TRYING TO BE A REALLY GOOD GIRL!!

My boys and I are people watchers and we immediately pick up on little quirky things around us, which other people might not find amusing, but we seem to find hilarious. For example: Guy sits down to eat – meal arrives – he flips his tie over his shoulder – result: unrestrained laughter, tears rolling down the cheeks and countless little quips about how if a lady suddenly appeared, would he quickly un-flip his tie and leap to attention – no – well you had to be there I suppose.

After the meal it was about 10.45pm, we walked back towards Bond Street station, taking in the lights along the way, New Bond Street, South Moulton Street and various other lights on shop fronts. One particularly impressive shop front was Debenhams on Oxford Street, which had gone all out with a really impressive red light display, which was very old fashioned, but I really like old-fashioned stuff coz I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl.


By the time we got home it was about 11.30pm, very nearly time for me to turn into a pumpkin, well at any rate, turn in – so off to bed I went.

A big thank you to my wonderful boys for being so lovely to their old Mum.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Sometimes the best time is had, when you least expect it – a spur of the moment decision, can turn out to be one of the most memorable.

Tonight was such a night. It started with a desire to see one of my sisters, whom I had not seen for a couple of months – we thought it was about time to get together and have a good old chin wag – like you do.

It went something like this:

ME: We should really get together, before Christmas, let’s get the kids together too – maybe round at my house?

SISTER: Why don’t we ask LC too and his kids – he always feels like we leave him out of these things, but they are so spur of the moment?

ME: That’s a good idea – well let’s decide which day – Oh I can’t do that day, I am going somewhere with my friends – and you can’t do that day because you have a work function to go to.

SISTER: What about going to Mum and Dad’s next Sunday for tea, we could meet up there?

ME: Oh, that’s my Birthday – I’ll bring a cake.

Next day I ask my Mum if it’s ok for us to come around for tea next week – my Dad is more than enthusiastic, he loves having his children and grandchildren around him. Mum says – well, I’ll tell you what, I will make a paella and you can all have supper here. Dad pipes up – what about that lovely prawn & seafood cocktail you make, I’d love some of that?’ Ok, well I had better ask LC if he will make a big potato omelette – the kids love it!!

Before you know it the tea that was, has turned into a fully fledged party – complete with crisps, drinks, cakes and birthday candles – I haven’t blown out candles on a cake for years and my Sister (Palmers Green) did us proud, with not one cake but two marvellous concoctions, sorry no photo – I didn’t take my camera.

I do feel a bit like the Queen, with her official and unofficial birthdays. On Friday at work I had a procession of students wishing me a ‘Happy Birthday’. I even had one student, who baked and iced a cake for me complete with my name on it – I felt very loved. My work colleagues also spoilt me rotten and bought me some lovely gifts, see photo below.

I still have some birthday treats to come – my friends Steve and Jill are taking me out on Thursday to the Cinema and for a meal.

My sons are taking me out for a meal on Tuesday evening, to a steak and rib place in the West End, somewhere around Soho. I will also be doing my yearly walk through Oxford Street and Regent Street, to look at the shop windows and the Christmas Lights.

I have left the best for last – my Boyfriend, wonderful man that he is, absolutely spoiled me rotten on Saturday. We started off with Breakfast in bed, a nice leisurely bath and then lunch at what is now my all time favourite restaurant Oslo Court.

I had:

Coquilles san Jacques
Which is a scallop shell, stuffed with scallops and prawns in a creamy sauce, topped with creamed potato – divine.

Grilled Veal chop with Lemon and Rosemary
The biggest veal chop I have ever seen - beautifully cooked and served with:
Battered Zucchini (courgettes)
Green Beans
Sautéed potatoes
Petites pois
Rosti

Dessert was the creamiest Cheesecake I have ever tasted, topped with fresh raspberries.

Coffee and petites fours (a selection of chocolate covered almonds, Turkish delight, marzipan sweets, chocolate hearts and after dinner mints.

Plus three dry Martinis and Lemonade!

After the meal, we went to Oxford Street where, super boyfriend, bought me two beautiful tops to where over the Christmas season.

We then took a bus to Victoria Station, where we went to see the new show ‘Wicked’, which was totally unexpected and a wonderful surprise. The show was fabulously entertaining, with a magical set, a great cast and wonderful songs.

We got back home around 11pm, whereupon I zonked out on the bed until the next morning.

I am the luckiest girl/woman in the world!!