Penblwydd Hapus, Tad...

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Today would have been my Dad's 95th birthday, so Happy Birthday, old man! We sat down to an early evening repast of slow-roast shoulder of lamb cooked with the natural accompaniments of anchovy, rosemary, thyme and bay - the herbs from our garden, as was the mint for the essential mint sauce. A sauce of good chicken stock, white wine and shallots, reduced by half; and olive-oil roast potatoes, plus purple sprouting broccoli and carrots: very fine, so it was. Present and consuming said meal were the two of us, number one son and husband, and my mother-in-law Joyce, who predates my Dad by nearly a full year: there's continuity for you! I'm too full of good food and frankly rather pleasantly too tired to rail against the world at this moment, so I won't. Normal service will no doubt be resumed in the near future...

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