Wooden pants... and a tale of two dinners

It was a brainwave for David and Stephen to come up with the idea of a 'secret Santa' - also, come to think of it, a gold-star-worthy leap of lateral thinking to come up with concept of alternative Christmas. So combining the two in one delightful evening of food, drink and presents was always going to be a medal-winning performance.

And so the four of us - Liz, David, Stephen and me - gathered once again at their house to raise a toast and fill our boots at our alternative Christmas dinner. One month on from the C event proper meant that enough time and tide had passed under the bridge of any hastily-made virtuous new year resolutions to allow us a guilt-free evening of indulgence.

One of the 'rules' of the evening is that we each contribute one course to the meal. So we enjoyed a starter of chicken breast stuffed with Stilton and bacon; a main of delightful roast beef (with all the trimmings, naturally); and finished off with a choice of chocolate torte or blueberry cheesecake (or both) for pudding - accompanied by crackers and party hats and all washed down with champagne and lashings of thick double cream.

Stephen was my allocated person for secret Santa - anonymous gift to be to a value of a maximum of £5. So of course I made him a pair of wooden pants out of a piece of fire wood. I'm pretty sure that wasn't something that he already possessed...

***

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with my old school friend Sarah for the first time after twenty two years. Today, she had kindly invited me to her home for Sunday lunch, so I also met her husband (Simon) and son (Issac) for the first time. As well as their four cats, three chickens, two love birds, and, well not a partridge in a pear tree exactly, but two tanks full of fish.

Sarah had excavated some old school photos - those long, whole school affairs that took about half a day to take as I recall and mostly involved the younger ones getting told off repeatedly for fidgeting as the camera rotated slowly from one end to t'other. One of the photos was from 1985, just on the cusp of when Sarah and I were about to sit our O Levels and then to go on and leave the Convent for a 6th form elsewhere. Coming face-to-face with my 16 year old self was not something I'd anticipated today...

Another delicious roast (lamb today), followed by date and fig steamed pudding with custard and lots of fantastic cheese and biscuits. Wonderful. Although I remain puzzled how one can eat two such enormous (and delightful) meals barely more than 18 hours apart and still have room, let alone stand up afterwards. Good food, like sleep I've often thought, is something that can be enjoyed afresh on a daily basis with no hangover relating to what has gone before. Fantastic.

Now, where's my supper...?