Special birthdays need special celebrations: those rites of passage of 18 and 21 should definitely be celebrated in style. And when one enters one's thirties, another rite of passage - for often by the time one may be married, settled, with a new baby, or one on the way - some kind of celebration is in order. And then there's the forties - a time when one perhaps feels well settled, in life, career and family and a party might be just the thing to stave off the dreaded "middle aged, middle class" ("we were wild in the old days" - Joni Mitchell)
Fifty is significant, no getting around that. It's a Big One, the half-century, the golden one. To party or not to party, that is the question? My Significant Other celebrates his half-century this month and was adamant there would be "no party". But not to celebrate seemed churlish, and so a low-key Sunday lunch with friends and family, which will extend into the pub with more friends and family in the evening, seemed in order.
Eight is about the most I can cater for comfortably without getting stressed - and we can't accommodate more than eight people around our dining table either. The gathering will be convivial and relaxed, and the food I am cooking reflects that. I'm also making two of my husband's favourite dishes - Banana Tarte Tatin and Lemon Polenta Cake.
Here is the menu for Sunday lunch:
And here are links to the recipes:
Pissaladiere
Chicken Marbella
Spinach, feta & pine nut salad
Banana Tarte Tatin
Amaretti ice cream
Lemon Polenta Cake
Fifty is significant, no getting around that. It's a Big One, the half-century, the golden one. To party or not to party, that is the question? My Significant Other celebrates his half-century this month and was adamant there would be "no party". But not to celebrate seemed churlish, and so a low-key Sunday lunch with friends and family, which will extend into the pub with more friends and family in the evening, seemed in order.
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| Banana Tarte Tatin |
Eight is about the most I can cater for comfortably without getting stressed - and we can't accommodate more than eight people around our dining table either. The gathering will be convivial and relaxed, and the food I am cooking reflects that. I'm also making two of my husband's favourite dishes - Banana Tarte Tatin and Lemon Polenta Cake.
Here is the menu for Sunday lunch:
Tapas & antipasti (chorizo, Serrano ham, Pissaladiere, Dukka & olive oil, homemade focaccia)
Chicken 'Marbella' with spinach, feta and pine nut salad, and new potatoes
Cheese & biscuits (Picos blue, applewood smoked Cheddar, goat's cheese)
Banana Tarte Tatin, Amaretti Ice Cream, Lemon Polenta Cake
And here are links to the recipes:
Pissaladiere
Chicken Marbella
Spinach, feta & pine nut salad
Banana Tarte Tatin
Amaretti ice cream
Lemon Polenta Cake
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