Birthday celebrations

I was up very early this morning - 5.30am! - so I made myself a cup of coffee and watched a film I'd recorded, That Touch of Mink starring Doris Day and Cary Grant. Although it was early, it was a lovely way to start the day and I enjoyed the film immensely. I think Cary Grant must be the perfect man!

My pre-dawn awakening gave me a good start to the day as I was making dinner for my parents. It's my Mum's birthday today so I asked them around to celebrate but also to be guinea pigs to try out my recipes as it will be my turn to host Come Dine With Me in December!

I made beef stroganoff before breakfast and then let the meat marinate in the juices all day. It smelt lovely but I was a bit worried it would just be a beef stew. I didn't want to serve it the usual way, with rice, as my Mum is not keen on plain boiled rice so I prepared a lot of vegetables and cut the potatoes into large chunks to roast them. At 11am I took Sophie into work (she swapped days this week as we're busier today) and then battled through the traffic to one of the large retail parks on the edge of Northampton. My Mum is a fan of the big BHS home stores so I bought her some vouchers so she could have a spending spree and while I was in there I was asked if I wanted a free coffee! Excuse me! I'm always up for a free coffee, especially when it was pouring with rain outside and really not very pleasant at all!

The free coffee was courtesy of Starbucks as a very nice man was trying to sell their machines. As I've asked Santa Claus for a coffee machine for Christmas this was ideal! I tried a latte and very good it was too, although it was a tad expensive at 92p a cup. All I really want in the mornings before work is a strong cup to wake me up so I'm not bothered about a latte as I can have those at work. The machine looked lovely and seemed very easy to use so I will tell Santa Claus about my discovery. I'm still looking at the Tassimo machines as well as I think they sell Costa Coffee capsules which I love. I will enjoy doing the research!

Back home I prepared the meringue base for my Pavlova, something I've never done before. I whisked the egg whites, added caster sugar and white wine vinegar and then spread the stiffened mixture over baking parchment and popped it into the oven for an hour. When I took it out I was very pleased with the result!

The horrible weather cheered up a bit in the afternoon and before going to pick Sophie up from work I hoovered downstairs and set the table. I do like having dinner parties in the winter as the light is so low you can get away with not having the house immaculate!!

We had a great evening and Mum loved her presents and cards. The food was great but there are a few tweaks I need to make to the stroganoff to increase the flavour so it was great to experiment. There were four clean plates (the children left mushrooms on theirs) and second helpings and my roast potatoes were very good (so I'm told).

The Pavlova was delicious. I scooped whipped cream on top and then piled strawberries, kiwi fruit and grapes over the cream and I have to say I found it very yummy. So often I try things and they're a disaster so I was very happy with the meal!