RIPPER...

I had to work on 31 December. This meant that Malcolm, Adrian and Nicky had to do the shopping for my cheese board, a very foreign experience for me as I am usually the one doing the shopping and getting the house ready for a party.
Fortunately we got to leave work at 15h30 so the three shoppers joined me in town and we went to Kehoe's for a couple of drinks before heading home to get ready for the evenings shenanigans. I unwrapped cheese, arranged crackers and got ready for the evening, we made the mistake of making pizza for dinner, if we had known how big the mountain of food would be once everyone brought their contributions I think we would have foregone that option!

When it all first kicked off we had 4 screaming children under 8 and it has to be said that it seemed like the adults would be outnumbered, but the other adult re-enforcements soon arrived and the balance swung back into our favour. The 12 + age group snuck off to the quiet relaxing attic while the youngsters watched DVD's and played with the doll house. a few altercations were dealt with and I made Kaprioskas, a cocktail made with lime wedges, brown sugar, vodka and ice, a party starter of note. Once all the adults were nicely intoxicated the music got louder and before I knew it I was dancing with the under 8's and having a grand old time. MUCH later in honour of my little sister I hopped onto the coffee table and did an honouree Tracy dance - she will be so proud!At 04h00 we said goodbye to the last guests who were leaving and made beds in the lounge for the bodies that were staying, seeing all those sleeping people in my lounge is a weirdly satisfying sensation for me.













January 1 only began at 11h00 for our household and we had coffee and a delicious panettone for brunch and then Nicky and I walked to the store to buy fixings for a roast lunch. I could not find a big enough beef roast so I ended up buying a small fillet of lamb, a beef roast and a chicken....I made broccoli and cauliflower cheese, crunchy roast potatoes carrots and parsnips and sweet corn. We feasted and celebrated the beginning of a New Year and finished off with Irish coffees and bread and butter pudding....now the diet has to begin, I am sure I have gained at least 3 kg's over the festive season!