Party time

It was our 11th wedding anniversary yesterday. We have been together for 17 years - which we celebrate on the 25th October. Another good reason for our weekend away, because it fell in between the two.

I saw my Mum yesterday morning and she knew I was going into town to buy some ingredients for our meal. She asked if we were having a party - and I said 'no', just a 'nice night'.

Don't you just love when a night comes together and you do indeed have a party. A party for two it was, and we had a superb evening together. We started with a little wine, and then when the kids went to bed we adjourned into the bedroom for entree.

We came out and I continued to cook my meal. The meal was absolutely divine. It was exactly how I'd planned it to be. I didn't have a recipe - just an idea.

I cooked the most tender eye fillet steaks. They were about 2" high and pink in the middle, just perfect, Peter's was a little more rare. The vegies were char grilled, potato, sweet potato, onion, garlic, red capsicum and organic asparagus. These were cooked with olive spray oil and then I added a dash of avocado oil at the end. The potatoes were pre cooked in the microwave, so didn't take long, I just basically wanted the 'lines' on them. Instead of piling the vegies on the plate and then the meat beside, I 'built' it up and put the steak on top with a couple of tender asparagus spears. I dribbled a little avo oil and expensive balsamic vinegar around the edge of the plate. The result was absolutely fantastic.

We exchanged gifts too, I had downloaded the latest Led Zeppelin album that was 'remastered'. I even printed the CD covers, so they looked really good. I also bought him two tickets to the PGA at the Hyatt in December. He was pretty rapt. I got a present and was totally blown away. He bought me a fine gold bangle which I had admired in the catalogue earlier in the week. I thought it would make a great Christmas present so was quite overwhelmed with emotion when I opened it. He was surprised at my reaction, had no idea I would be so surprised. I haven't taken it off so far, it's gorgeous.

We drank some yummy wines. My favourite chardonnay, Yellow Tail, the rest of the Yendah Durif that we were given at the Food and Wine Show which was delectable even after it had been open for a week. We finished off with some Galway Pipe port which I had bought him some time ago and never tasted..........gosh it was good. We played music all night long, thank goodness my kids are good sleepers because it was quite loud. I bought some more music...........bit dangerous having me near a computer when I have had some wine to drink lol. I think I only bought a couple of songs, and they weren't even for me!!

We even made a surprise phone call fairly late - to the only person in the world who we would dare to ring so late. When I lived in Springbrook I made friends with a counsellor who worked at the top rate private school near Mudgeeraba. He lived a few doors down from me, and kept an eye out for me. We used to have dinner together and he would cook for me sometimes, because as we were both on our own, it was nice to cook for someone, as neither of us really cooked for ourselves. It is because of him that I love Mundial knives, because Noeli had a great knife which I would use in his kitchen. He taught me how to make the Beef Vindaloo which I still make today. And he also taught me to love good red wines. Needless to say when Peter came up on weekends and then when Peter moved up, we would enjoy many meals together and stumble back up the road to our house. Many a time Peter would walk pass our house and miss the driveway as it was so damn dark and he was so drunk!! We have seen Noeli about three times since we have been back here. He was still on his own, and we were worried about him. He seemed to drink more than he ate. He looked older than his years and I worried about his health and his happiness. He rang us quite a while ago and has a lady friend, which is just wonderful news. Talking to him last night was great, and he assured us he would be up to visit before Christmas.

It was midnight before we went to bed. I couldn't believe we had stayed up so late and had such a fantastic time. We are truly blessed to have the relationship that we share. We share so much more than three children. We share the same values and even though we are so different from one another, it just works so well.