The best part about having a birthday in January is that it helps us deal with the Winter. The cold and wind chill don't matter much, and the snow is celebrated (with sledding, snowmen, snowball fights, snow castles and igloos - but that's for another post)...
The birthday in January also keeps Christmas and New Year in the air - the rush of the holiday season lingers on. We are still in 'hearty meals' and 'desserts' mode...And when the birthday finally arrives, we fall into it naturally, sans overdrive.
January, by the way, is my firstborn's birth month.
I remember how my son's birth moment itself felt as though the entire world were reborn, his first roar, loud cries, and the way he squinted at me with his left eye shut, when the nurse brought him over to say hello. The anaesthesiologist said, "That's a very cute, chubby baby", before they took my son away to be cleaned and weighed. Darling 9 pounder! Of course, given his genes, it was only to be expected that his dear chubbiness would disappear as he outgrew toddlerhood. He is now a very active and curious (skinny) child who wears out his tennis coach with his constant chatter and non-stop nonsense, God bless him :).
As I was saying, the birthday in January keeps the holiday cheer going. We don't stop till we reach the middle of January, and if the official birthday party is held post the 20th, that's even better! This time, on the D-day itself, we called home some dear friends, for playtime and a vegetarian meal (given their food preference). And thus it happened that my son's favourite salmon was scheduled to be savoured a day earlier. The S.O. (significant other), who happens to be the first-mover of salmon enthusiasts in our home, bought the holy grail of salmon - Norwegian - the week before, and solemnly offered me the frozen, pre-cut steaks as the first step in a sacred ceremony.
So it was that I found myself mashing boiled potatoes and cauliflower with butter, cream, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. I then diced 2 ripe avocados, and tossed the luscious, creamy, jade chunks with 1 finely chopped onion, 1 de-seeded and chopped tomato, a tablespoon of fresh chopped coriander, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, salt and pepper to taste.
I had marinated 1 lb. of salmon steaks (9 - each the size of half a palm) the entire afternoon in a mixture of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp garlic, 3 tbsps oil, the juice of 1 lemon, and some pepper. While these were grilled by my S.O., I bunged a few Pillsbury biscuits in the oven, just in time for dinner. Our sons were thrilled with the result, and ate their meal like bear cubs, without a fuss :). That was compliment enough! Here's how it turned out...not bad at all...:
The birthday in January also keeps Christmas and New Year in the air - the rush of the holiday season lingers on. We are still in 'hearty meals' and 'desserts' mode...And when the birthday finally arrives, we fall into it naturally, sans overdrive.
January, by the way, is my firstborn's birth month.
I remember how my son's birth moment itself felt as though the entire world were reborn, his first roar, loud cries, and the way he squinted at me with his left eye shut, when the nurse brought him over to say hello. The anaesthesiologist said, "That's a very cute, chubby baby", before they took my son away to be cleaned and weighed. Darling 9 pounder! Of course, given his genes, it was only to be expected that his dear chubbiness would disappear as he outgrew toddlerhood. He is now a very active and curious (skinny) child who wears out his tennis coach with his constant chatter and non-stop nonsense, God bless him :).
As I was saying, the birthday in January keeps the holiday cheer going. We don't stop till we reach the middle of January, and if the official birthday party is held post the 20th, that's even better! This time, on the D-day itself, we called home some dear friends, for playtime and a vegetarian meal (given their food preference). And thus it happened that my son's favourite salmon was scheduled to be savoured a day earlier. The S.O. (significant other), who happens to be the first-mover of salmon enthusiasts in our home, bought the holy grail of salmon - Norwegian - the week before, and solemnly offered me the frozen, pre-cut steaks as the first step in a sacred ceremony.
So it was that I found myself mashing boiled potatoes and cauliflower with butter, cream, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. I then diced 2 ripe avocados, and tossed the luscious, creamy, jade chunks with 1 finely chopped onion, 1 de-seeded and chopped tomato, a tablespoon of fresh chopped coriander, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, salt and pepper to taste.
I had marinated 1 lb. of salmon steaks (9 - each the size of half a palm) the entire afternoon in a mixture of 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp garlic, 3 tbsps oil, the juice of 1 lemon, and some pepper. While these were grilled by my S.O., I bunged a few Pillsbury biscuits in the oven, just in time for dinner. Our sons were thrilled with the result, and ate their meal like bear cubs, without a fuss :). That was compliment enough! Here's how it turned out...not bad at all...:
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ReplyDeleteWow AA! I am impressed with your content so far, although I am no expert on blogs :) I find your perfect grammar refreshing after spending too much time on Facebook! This will be a wonderful memoir for your children someday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a nice birthday party today. A. had a lot of fun and crashed early this evening, he was worn out. Cheers! K.