What a cold evening it was on New Year’s eve.. Steve and I braced ourselves for the short (ish) walk to Southernhay House. We stopped off en-route for our first festive drink. They have a wonderful cocktail menu that Steve was eager to tuck in to. I don’t tend to drink cocktails. I like to know how much alcohol I am consuming so I plumped for a chilled glass of prosecco. The decor in the bar has a 1950’s feel. There are black and white pictures of film stars like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn adjourning the walls alongside the ’50’s inspired seating. I had a sneaky peak in the dining room too.. It was decorated with a bold printed wallpaper and the most wonderful chandeliers. I would love to eat there at some point.
After our drinks we braved the elements again walked down to the Hour Glass. It was already busy when we arrived at 7.30pm with diners and revellers. We had reserved a table in the bar so we could soak up the atmosphere. We ordered drinks and took our seats so we could peruse the menu. There was so much to choose from which is rare for a non meat eater. We decided on a couple of nibbles to start. Some rather juicy olives and anchoïade on toast. A salty dip made with anchovies and garlic. It was so delicious I’m going to recreate it and post the recipe soon. We tucked in to these as we decided on our main dishes and enjoyed our wine.
I decided on the braised squid as my main dish and Steve chose the ribeye steak. He had it cooked very rare and it was absolutely delicious. My squid was melt in the mouth and the combination of flavours in the sauce alongside the sultanas and pine nuts were beautiful. Once again the food has been exquisite.
We decided on a cheesecake which Steve struggled to get his head around.. Port and Stilton! It was almost savoury in flavour. I rather liked it but Steve was divided. He preferred the gypsy tart.. A very sweet tart made with evaporated milk and muscovado sugar. It was served with homemade hazelnut icecream. I found it very sweet but Steve disagreed.
We left the Hour Glass and walked home to catch the last bit of Jules Holland on the television. I put my pyjamas on and Steve made himself a whiskey and Lyme Bay winery ginger wine with ice. We sat on the sofa and joined in the countdown with Jules. Steve and I toasted the New Year in and I tootled off to bed. Being such an early bird it was a bit of a challenge for me staying up until midnight but I managed…. Just!
New Year’s day was pretty wet and grey. Steve and I had big plans to go for a walk around the quay so that Steve could play with his new toy. He bought himself a super duper camera the day before and was eager to use it. Unfortunately the weather was so bad that we only made it to Samuel Jones on the quay. There was no way I was going to get Steve to walk any further in the torrential rain. The camera will have to have its debut another time. Steve had an americano with hot milk and I had a hot chocolate. We both needed to warm up from our wet little walk.
We made our way back home for a spot of lunch before heading back into town to the Picture House cinema. We had booked tickets to watch Joy. A movie loosely based on the inventer of the miracle mop, Joy Mangano. It was pretty good and was perfect film fodder for New Year’s day.
After the movie we walked home knowing that we were going to take our Christmas tree down. We both felt a little sad putting the beautiful decorations away for another year. You get so used to the twinkling fairy lights and the decorations. The house feels empty without them.
So, the decorations were put up in the loft and the Christmas and New Years celebrations seem like ancient history. I will have to get some dates in my diary so that there are things to look forward to in 2016. I am already on the case..
In the mean time have a wonderful 2016 everybody!