Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Happy Birthday Allstar, Part I [The Planning]

For my 21st birthday in April last year, I was delighted and privileged to receive what is widely known as perhaps the best speech in the history of 21st birthdays – the speech given to me by my friends Liam and Alistair. It was hilarious – we laughed, we cried, drunken stories were shared, and we laughed again.


al & liam


Liam, Sarah, Alistair

So when I was invited to celebrate Alistair’s (aka Allstar) 21st birthday at his holiday house in Red Hill last weekend, I wanted to contribute a bit more than just a six-pack of VB. The basic plan was for a bunch of us to go to his holiday house towards the end of the week, have the big birthday celebration on the Saturday night, and then drive home hungover the next day. I went up there on Friday night, and started preparing my contribution earlier in the week.

Right towards the end of the book, Nigella has a “PARTY FOOD” section, in which she gives advice for hosting a children’s party. The pointers in there are about young children, but I think they could be applied to us as well. I paraphrase…

1. They will be too excited to eat much. Concentrate on one or two star items. [No problemo.]

2. Your child will be more interested in the cake’s icing than in the texture or taste of the sponge itself. Reserve your energies. [I also believe that most young adults care more for icing than the cake. I went for the plain birthday cake in the same section of the book]

3. Build a party repertoire for yourself. [Sure, call me if you want a birthday catered for.]

4. Don’t try to please other parents. The party is for your child. [Well there weren't any parents so I only had to please myself…]

5. Don’t get agitated about the amount of sugar, food colour, salt, cream or butter. This is not the time. [Don’t worry, I’m not agitated… and I highly doubt any of Al’s friends would be either.]


The plan was for me to make…
- The Birthday Cake
- Cheese Stars
- Marmite Sandwiches
- Jam Tarts
- Periwinkles

But as you will see, some of these plans changed over the next few days.

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