It's Joe's 21st birthday and he is driving me mad, mooching around the kitchen, sniffing with his man-flu and stinking of menthol lozenges and olbas oil while I am trying to cook his dinner menu, keep the kitchen tidy and stop Joe and Pa fussing and driving each other crazy. Oh, yes, and keeping Joe's OTT table setting under control: some silver, some candles, not the pre-electric Blackpool illuminations and the royal treasury!
Starter
Parma ham with feta cheese salad and olive and basil bread rolls.
(bread rising in the kitchen as I write)
Main Course
Shoulder of lamb casseroled in mint and rosemary gravy with new potatoes, sugar snap peas, carrots and mashed parsnip.
Pudding
Pot au chocolat
Lemon cheesecake
(made yesterday)
Cheese Board of mammoth proportions, celery, grapes.
Fruit
Sweeties - mint and turkish delight chocolate thins, mint imperials, and Cadbury's mini eggs.
Coffee (or tea?)
Much Later
Well, that all went very smoothly.
When I was Joe's age I prided myself that I was not ageist in my friendships and that my friends covered many decades in their range of ages. But I think that Joe takes these things a step or so too far in that his youngest dinner guest is just under 20 years his senior. I didn't have a 21st birthday party (being at home from college laid low with bronchitis at the time) and Pa was saying that he was in a ship just off Iceland for his 21st so maybe we don't know that much about 21st celebrations, but we both found Joe's guest list just a touch eccentric - I mean does a retired vicar, 4 churchwardens, a county councillor, a shop-keeper (ex-policeman) and an accountant sound like a 21 year old's normal choice of boon companions?
Having said that, it all went remarkably well and the party didn't finally break up until after midnight.
