I LOVE lunch...and other people's birthdays

in a concession to our new found position as parents of a combined total of six smallfry and the incompatibility of such a situation with late night dinner parties (with smallfry in attendance) the Dinner Circle has recently mutated to Lunch Circle. Inaugural meeting today at the home of my good friends Ms. D and The Wolf. The King and Queen of the Dinner Circle, Anna (who totally stupified me by at the initial DC meeting by whipping up from scratch only the damn finest ever chocolate brownies for pudding WHILE we were sitting around the table relaxing after our main course - I tell you - that's a hard act to follow!) and Fraser were there too, along with their adorable new addition, Ms Martha. Cue gratuitous photo of me with Ms M...(cause it's always nice to have a baby photo when you can)

though she is wearing the kimono cardi I knit her so maybe not so gratuitous after all...
(aside :: the knit I am sporting is a 20 year old creation by Ms D...I am a cold body and had to snatch it while there...it's an amazing fairisle which has worn incredibly well over the years)

Ms D claims she has been suffering a dearth of home entertainment opportunities of late and so in a frenzy of making up for lost time presented us with the following ::

• Jamie Oliver's Caponata as a starter starter while the kids were tucking into their mini version of our main course (see below) - this alone would have made me thought I'd died and gone to heaven
• Fresh beetroot and mozzarella Salad as a starter proper
• Home made tagliatelle (yes, you read that right, the pasta was hanging out in the garden to dry when we arrived - I cursed when I realised I didn't have my camera to hand) with melt in the mouth Lamb Shank and ragout as a main course
• Fig and Almond tart (with thyme...very interesting, not to mention totally delicious) for pudding
• Milk and White Chocolate Easter Egg ring for the kids pudding...somehow I find myself able to vouch for its deliciousness too...hmmm

I am telling you all this as the Lunch Circle members demanded a blog entry of their own...happy now folks?!

It's Ms D's birthday on Friday (Happy Birthday my darling friend) so I rustled up a little soya candle in vintage teacup gift for her...




see that cake in the background there... that was only the bloomin' children's pudding (can you tell I am in total awe of people who can bake?)


Other other people's birthday news ::

I finally sourced the yarn for Nich's socks (which I mentioned in the last post)...

super chunky araucania, in a suitably hippyish hue

finished the dropped stitch scarf for another dear friend's 40th (we are falling like flies I tell ya) - whose name I can't mention in case she reads this blog - made from handspun handdyed yarn from Rosalinde the alpaca which I sourced here...

the yarn came with some photos of Rosalinde (which my animal mad pal will love) and wrapped in with it were two organza bags full of dried lavender...I tell you that scarf was the most relaxing, enjoyable knit I ever had...I was swooning on a cloud of heavenly lavender scent with every stitch...mmmm

Final installment (I promise!) on my own birthday news ::
Lovely, thoughtful, perfect gift from my ex-workmate Midori who I met for sushi during the week (random factoid - I managed to get out for Sushi three nights out of six last week, a record, particularly for me...)

Midori lived for six years in Japan so when she discovered my new found love for Japanese tea knew exactly what to get me...

Tea Tray with Green Tea Caddy and Genmaicha

isn't that tea caddy simply the most gorgeous ever seen?

Thanks Midori, you ROCK!

I'll be back to show what I made for the Time for Tea swap and my Project Improv log cabin square as soon as I know they are safely delivered. In the meantime enjoy yourselves, whatever you are up to...