January, eh. That dull, cold, post-festivities lull, that trying-to-be-good month. The worst time of year to have a birthday. (Except this year!)
How to beat those blues? Here's how I did it:
Take a trip to see your mates from Uni. Cook Chinese food. Drink cocktails and lots of red wine. Book a trip to New York!
We try and meet up at least once a year, and it's always like we're still housemates. Even with all the marriages, children, divorces, illnesses, career changes, we still chat and laugh as if we were students. Okay so maybe we don't drink so much (ahem, well some of us), but at heart we're all still the same. What better way to celebrate our twentieth year of friendship, and our respective fortieth birthdays, than by heading off on a once in a lifetime trip to the Big Apple?
In order to plan, it was completely necessary to meet, eat and book our seats.
On the inspiring menu, we had our hostess's delicious Thai Salmon fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce and an Asian salad dressing.
Thai Salmon Fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce and Asian dressing |
For mains, I took my trusty Chinese Unchopped by Jeremy Pang across the Irish Sea, and between us we rustled up Sweet and Sour Pork (except it was chicken), Steamed (except they were roasted) Aubergine with Garlic and Spring Onion dressing, and Stir-fried Green Beans with Chilli Hoisin sauce.
All dishes needed to be gluten-free, so one portion of fishcakes was coated in gram flour rather than breadcrumbs, the chilli Hoisin sauce was kept aside, and all other sauces made using a gluten-free soy sauce.
Sweet and Sour Chicken Roasted Aubergine with Garlic and Spring Onion Stir-fried Green Beans with Chilli Hoisin sauce |
Dessert provided by our guest of honour (one of the aforementioned children) was a delicious Key Lime Pie, a nod to our upcoming Stateside visit. The only issue with this was whipping the cream after one or two French 75 cocktails. Some of it may have ended up on the walls (the cream, not the cocktail). Oops!
Love those girls. NYC here we come!
'Dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style' - Carrie Bradshaw