Happy Birthday to Me

It was my 30th birthday on 21st February and I had the most amazing weekend. I haven't done any cooking or baking for a few days so am writing a post about my birthday instead.

On Thursday evening my wonderful husband Paul took me out to dinner to celebrate. We went to The Guildhall Tavern in Poole. We hadn't been there before but it had been recommended to us by a friend so Paul booked it up as a surprise. It was just a short walk from Poole Quay. We both love seafood so this restaurant was fabulous as the menu is mainly delicious seafood that has been caught locally.

After perusing the menu for ages I finally decided on what to have. There are so many delicicous sounding dishes that it was difficult to decide. Eventually I settled on mussles in a cream, white wine and garlic sauce followed by red sea bream filled with mango, pineapple and plum sauce. Paul had scallops followed by halibut in a champagne sauce. After all that we were both quite full so we shared a dessert of creme brulee which was scrumptious.

There was a French themed evening going on while we were there. I'm afraid to say that we didn't do very well in the French quiz and only scored 10 out of 20. That was with a few lucky guesses and a bit of help from a friendly waiter. The food was delicious and the staff were very friendly and helpful. I would definately recommend this restaurant and I hope that we can go back again soon.

After the meal we went for a drink in one of the wonderful traditional pubs on the quay. Paul then surprised me again with another birthday present. He has booked us a holiday to Cuba in May. It is for us to go diving and I am so looking forward to it. Isn't he wonderful? I did joke that he only got me that so that he could have a holiday too!

We then spent the weekend with my parents. My lovely mum and dad have bought me a cream KitchenAid mixer. I have been lusting after one for ages and am looking forward to trying it out. I told them off as it was too generous of them but so lovely all the same. My brother bought me some book tokens as he knows I love buying cookery books but didn't know which ones I would like. I have a bit of a thing about buying shoes and my sister bought me the most amazing pair to add to my collection.

On Saturday evening we went out for a meal with my parents and my brother and his girlfriend. We drove out to a pub called The Winterton Arms which is near Eartham on The South Downs. It was a real traditional country pub with roaring fires and it served the most delicious homemade food. If you are anywhere nearby then I would recommend a visit here. On the Sunday everyone came to my parents house for a roast dinner. My gran, auntie and uncle weere all there too and it was lovely to see everyone. We had a rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and veg. I made a pavlova for dessert which tasted delicious even though it didn't look too good once I'd started to cut it up.

I had the most amazing birthday and weekend. Everyone has been so kind and generous to me so thank you.