Welcoming in 2020

Seven people for dinner at mine. I was on the main course and apéros while the others were dealing with the rest. You'd think that would be easy going especially as the venison casserole was already done but somehow it took hours. 

Austrian red cabbage and dauphinoise potatoes meant a lot of chopping and slow cooking though it was the apéros which took the most time. Sausage rolls, sesame straws, smoked salmon toasts, humous toasts, sausage and apricot balls, pigs in blankets. 

And a coctail of fizz (1 bottle) mixed with 300ml of triple sec and 300g of cranberry juice, well chilled.

For once the dining room was in commission so that too, needed organising. Didn't take long for me to realise why I've been avoiding entertaining.

Still, we (Nicole P, Nicole K, Anna and Gérard, Alvaro and Mercedes from Barcelona) had a good evening; foie gras, a splendid cheese board, turron (a Catalan sweetmeat speciality), dessert etc. We also followed the Catalan tradition of eating a grape on each stroke of midnight. Impossible to do unless you've had plenty of practice. 

I finally made it to bed for 3h15 having stacked the dishwasher and abandoned the rest. There's nothing planned for tomorrow and I'm in danger of spending the day watching a boxset and eating chocolate so at least this chore will give me something more useful to do once I make it downstairs.

Weather:

14°, sun and blue sky

Days Inbetween

30.12.19:

Highlights of these last few days were:

* Dinner at mine with Jeanie, Daniel, Sylvie (French) and Beni (Swiss ). Managed quite well but it just ain't the same. Single hosting is hard work but at least I'm making an effort to be more hospitable!

*  After an apéro chez moi, Martine and I took Nicole to dinner at the restaurant to celebrate her birthday. I had octopus salad for a starter and to my surprise, enjoyed it. Much to our annoyance, there was a table of 4 Brits, two of whom were pompous and overbearing ..... and they left the door wide open when they left! I hung my head in shame for them. We were offered a digestif on the house which made a nice end to the evening.

Back home, I marinaded the venison for New Year's Eve dinner and cleaned the stove (don't ask unless you are desperate to know why!). Eat your heart out Cinders! 

But mostly it was routine stuff; a trip to the market, supermarket shopping with Nick, coffee with Jean and Françoise, also with Nicole, TV (a lot), treadmill (only once; shame on me!)

Weather:

Temperatures between 12° - 18° . chilly morning and beautiful clear blue skies

Season's greetings to One and All!

24.12.19:

Jeanne and Daniel called by bearing gifts and stayed for a glass or two of cava. Made dessert for this evening, did some baking, made lots of phone calls and sent plenty of emails. Then all of a sudden, it was time to climb into my glad rags and head to Kathy's who was hosting the "Révillon" dinner for Jacky, JJ and myself. It had originally been planned as a safari supper but for whatever reason Jacky didn't know the plan had changed so she was waiting for us at her house with the starter she'd prepared while we'd opened the first bottle of champagene! So off we went!

All ran smoothly after that and we finished up at 1am.

Weather:

22°!!  sun, blue skies

25.12.19:

Missed out breakfast, phoned Mum and readied myself for Colin, Lynn and Nicole's visit for a glass of cava and nibbles.

Had Christmas lunch with Terry and Ann at the restaurant. A superb meal (menu in the photo album). So much attention to detail, it was fabulous. Sadly for them, a table for 6 cancelled during the service. How mean is that.

We arrived home at mine for a cuppa just after 4pm. Had a couple of hours rest after which Nicole and I walked over to Ann and Terry's for a buffet of cold turkey. Just as well that there's nothing organised for tomorrow!

Weather:

20°, sun, clear blue skies

Hope that you all had as good a time as I did!