Best of 2018

I always enjoy writing my 'best of' posts at the end of every year. In case you missed it twelve months ago, you can read last year's post here!

2018 had a difficult ending as we had some bad news just after getting back from New York. It's much easier to focus on the negatives when the chips are down, and these types of posts help to remind me that there were lots of good times to be thankful for in 2018.

You might notice that there's a definite 'food and Jessie' theme running throughout which pretty much sums up my day-to-day life. I'm perfectly fine with that.

I haven't been able to include every highlight which is always a good sign that it was a full and busy year, but here are some of my favourite moments from 2018.

Fake Christmas 

The annual Fake Christmas tradition with my university friends continued last January. Liz was my Secret Santa and I think you'll all agree that these gifts are perfect for me. 

Sunday lunch at the Vale Resort 

Neil's parents bought us a voucher for Sunday lunch at the Vale Resort for our third wedding anniversary, and we finally had the chance to redeem it last February. I blogged about it here. 

Went out for dinner with Sophie 

Sophie and I went to Penarth's Etc one evening in February for a nice dinner and cocktails. We left our husbands at home with the Playstation and takeaway pizza! 

Jessie's first snow

We had a crazy amount of snow at the beginning of March. Although she was extremely confused at first, Jessie loved it once her little legs had found their bearings.

Afternoon tea at Machynys Golf Club and Spa

I had a lovely week off before starting my new job last March. The week included a few days at my parents' house and afternoon tea and a manicure at Machynys with Nicola.

New job 

That leads me nicely on to one of my biggest highlights of 2018... starting my new job in March! I bought myself this 'celebration' necklace from Clogau as a treat to mark the occasion. 

Jessie's first birthday 

We celebrated Jessie's first birthday in April and she was spoilt rotten (even more so than usual). I blogged about it here.  

A weekend with my uni friends

I spent the weekend in Bristol with my university friends in April. We don't get to catch up very often so it was lovely to see everyone so soon after our Fake Christmas shenanigans.  

18 months all clear 

We had dinner at Viva Brazil in April to celebrate me being all clear at the 18 month mark. I had a procedure during the same week to get an irritating long-term eye problem sorted, hence the need for glasses in this photo! Horrible procedure, great result. 

Final support group meeting and lunch 

My support group sadly came to an end in 2018 due to funding cuts. The end of the group obviously wasn't something to celebrate, but we all had a lovely afternoon after our final meeting with a plastic jug of pink Prosecco... perils of eating out in Cardiff on a rugby day.  

Walt Disney World 

Neil and I spent an amazing fortnight in Florida's Walt Disney World in May. It's my favourite place in the world, and you can read a photographic summary of our trip here. 

My birthday 

We celebrated my birthday with lots of eating, shopping and more eating. I blogged about it here. 

Finished our major re-decorating project 

We finally finished re-decorating our house (for now), including a beautiful pink, grey and white makeover for our bedroom. I blogged about it here. 

Mad Hatter's afternoon tea with Sarah 

Sarah bought me a voucher for this amazing afternoon tea as a birthday gift, and we went together in August. I blogged about it here. 

Fourth wedding anniversary 

We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with a meal in Llanerch Vineyard and some lovely gifts. I blogged about it here. 

Afternoon tea with Liz and Abbie 

I went back to Pettigrew Tea Rooms in September after a long (for me) absence and had afternoon tea with Liz and baby Abbie. I blogged about it here. 

Afternoon tea in Portishead with Amy 

I visited Amy for the day in September and we had an absolutely MASSIVE afternoon tea in Portishead. 

Weekend with Sarah

Sarah came to visit for the weekend at the end of September. We drank Prosecco, went for a nice walk around Cardiff Bay, and had pancakes in Bill's for breakfast. 

Llangennith 

Neil and I took Jessie on her first holiday and spent a lovely few days in Llangennith, followed by a day at my parents' house. I blogged about it here. 

Visited Fee in Milton Keynes 

I spent a lovely weekend with Fee and Liz in October. The weekend was obviously structured around food... always the best way to structure a weekend. We did do a bit of walking to make up for it. 

Two years all clear 

We had a spectacular meal at Pier 64 in October to celebrate me being all clear at the two year mark. I blogged about it here. 

Christmas shopping trip in Bristol 

I went to Bristol for the day in November for the traditional Christmas shopping trip with my university friends. I blogged about it here. 

Afternoon tea with Jo 

I caught up with Jo for the first time in ages in November with yet another delicious afternoon tea in Pettigrew Tea Rooms. 

Weekend with Nicola 

Nicola came to stay for the weekend at the end of November. We did lots of shopping and had afternoon tea in Pettigrew Tea Rooms (I'm sensing a bit of a theme here). 

New York 

Neil and I spent a week in New York at the beginning of December and were completely and utterly wowed by all the Christmas lights. You can read a photographic summary of our trip here. 

Work Christmas party 

I went to my first work Christmas party with my new colleagues in December. We ate a lovely meal in Las Iguanas then went on to Rum & Fizz before finishing off the evening at Dirty Martini. 

Christmas 

No highlights post would be complete without mentioning Christmas at the end. I blogged about it here, along with a summary of our new year celebrations.

Have you published a 'best of 2018' post? Let me know if so, I'd love to read it! 

Two years in the clear

Last Friday, I had one of my regular check-up appointments at the hospital and was thankfully given the all clear at the two year mark.

This might sound strange and a little ungrateful, but being told I'm in the clear doesn't immediately fill me with elation and make me want to celebrate. If I'm completely honest, it always feels a little... hollow.

I've blogged in the past about how anxious these appointments make me feel, and it takes me a long time to recover afterwards even if the outcome is positive. And, in addition to the lingering anxiety, there's always that small voice in my head that says, 'But things aren't positive, I'm still left with the impact of the cancer and the surgery and nothing will ever change that.' When that little voice gets louder and more vociferous, it's quite easy to slip into a pattern of feeling angry about the whole situation rather than focusing on the good news.

I've now progressed to annual appointments after being on six monthly appointments for the last year. Again, I've had lots of mixed feelings about this. Part of me is pleased because of the dread that sets in before these appointments, but another part of me likes the reassurance of being told by an expert that there's nothing sinister lurking around. I've also got ongoing appointments at the hospital about related issues which means I won't be able to enjoy a twelve month break away from the place in reality.

So, as you can see, there are currently lots of mixed feelings circling around in my brain and it can sometimes feel as if there's no room for anything else. That's probably a whole other blog post in itself.

Back when I had my first post-op check-up in January 2017, we started a tradition of going out for a nice meal after my appointments. Even if we don't feel as if 'celebrate' is quite the right word to use, it's always important to acknowledge good news, to enjoy the little things and to have something to look forward to. This time around, we decided to book a table at Penarth's Pier64. I'd never been before, but it came highly recommended from Neil and a few of our friends.

I put on a pretty new dress and my favourite burgundy accessories, and we headed to the restaurant by 7pm after a quick photo shoot with Jessie. 

We decided to go all out and order three courses... why ever not? In case you're wondering, I was VERY careful about rolling my sleeves up and not splashing food on my very white dress while I ate. 

I ordered deep fried cauliflower florets to start, sirloin steak with caramelised onions and red wine jus for my main, and lemon posset for dessert. The food was lovely, as was the general atmosphere and decor, and I'd definitely like to go back to Pier64 next time we're celebrating a special occasion. 

How do you 'celebrate' after difficult appointments or occasions? Let me know if you've got any tips on how to deal with the mixed feelings I've mentioned in this post... 

Restaurant Review: Mint and Mustard

*This is really more of a 'look what I ate on Saturday night' post rather than a detailed review, but that title wasn't as catchy and didn't alliterate.*

We went to Penarth's Mint and Mustard restaurant last Saturday evening in advance of me starting my new job on Monday. As I've said before, I will happily use any excuse to go out for a nice meal.

We'd been to Mint and Mustard a couple of times in 2015 but hadn't been back since, so I was excited about giving it another go. It's quite fancy for a curry house which means it's a lovely place to go for a special occasion, so I decided to get dressed up for the event.

We went for poppadums, starters and mains on this occasion. The poppadums are all broken up in a basket when they're served, and they come with three different chutneys. My only complaint is that the little dishes are too small which means the contents run out too quickly! I'm not a fan of lime pickle and always avoid it, but the other two choices were amazing.

I ordered the Onion Palak Pakora for my starter as I had this dish back in 2015 and hadn't forgotten how much I loved it. Mint and Mustard's pakora is basically a fritter of shredded spinach, onion and water chestnuts. They taste just like onion bhajis (in my opinion) which is probably why I love them so much, and the accompanying sauce is delicious too. A little spicy, but just the right level of spice to complement the pakora. 

After sampling the delicious chutneys and my starter, I was extremely excited about the arrival of my main course. I wanted to try something a bit different on this visit so I ordered the Five Spiced Paneer Masala. As I've become a little obsessed with paneer after my recent visit to Vegetarian Food Studio and prefer vegetarian curries to meaty ones, it seemed like the perfect choice. 

This was SO GOOD. Although it was a little more spicy than the masala sauce I've had in other restaurants, I didn't mind as it was beautifully tasty and chock full of flavour. It was also a realistic portion size which meant I managed to eat nearly all of it rather than having to leave half a bowl of curry behind. I ordered a side of pilau rice to go with it, and we also shared a garlic naan. 

Our meal came to £59 in total. This included poppadums and chutneys, two starters, two mains, two sides of rice, a naan bread, a large diet Coke and a medium glass of wine. This is obviously much more than we'd usually pay for a curry! However, Mint and Mustard is quite an upmarket place and we were happy to pay more as it was a special occasion. 

Have you ever been to Mint and Mustard? Let me know what you thought! 

Ten days of pre-Christmas celebrations

December is my favourite month of the year. Partly because it contains Christmas Day, but also because the build-up to Christmas is just as exciting as the day itself for me.

As I've enjoyed quite a few pre-Christmas celebrations during the last ten days, I thought this would be a very appropriate topic to blog about with just four sleeps to go before the big day.

One of my favourite Christmassy traditions is the annual office Secret Santa lunch with my colleagues. We all bring in a different item of food (the food list is planned with military precision to avoid duplication), we exchange our Secret Santa gifts, and we partake in a quiz and laugh a lot. I was so happy with my thoughtful and completely perfect gift this year... 100 collectible postcards from Disney's Golden Age! I can't wait to frame some of these beauties over the Christmas holidays.

A few hours after our Secret Santa lunch, we went out as a communications team for a few cocktails at our new favourite bar - Be at One. When the menu is about 30 pages long and the cocktails seem to be 'buy one, get one free' whenever we go there, what's not to love? Although we didn't stay out late as we were working the next day, it was lovely to spend some time with the team outside of work and to indulge in some very delicious cocktails on a school night! 

A few days after our Secret Santa lunch, it was time for the annual work Christmas party. We went for a meatylicious meal in Viva Brazil, followed by drinks at Kongs/ Two brand new places for me! The Prosecco was flowing and it was a great evening with lots of laughing and catching up. I even bought new sparkly shoes and a sparkly bag for the occasion. If you can't wear sparkly shoes at Christmas, when can you? 

We were supposed to go out to Neil's work Christmas party the night after my party, but we were both exhausted so we had a Saturday night in with two massive Papa John's pizzas and Home Alone instead. I then continued the excessive eating the day after by driving to McArthur Glen to meet Sarah in Frankie and Benny's. I had a cajun chicken wrap but didn't photograph my food... I must have been REALLY tired! 

On Monday evening, we went to Tony's in Penarth with Sophie and Bryan as we hadn't caught up with them for a while. We had a lovely meal (I went for pasta rather than my usual pizza, due to the pizza overload over the weekend), then we all went back to our house to play Monopoly on the Nintendo Switch. Jessie was ridiculously excited about having visitors... there was a lot of barking, leaping and general over-excitedness on her part. 

I finished work for Christmas on Tuesday and Neil randomly had the Wednesday off work, so we took the opportunity to go in to Cardiff to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I was slightly lost for parts of the film as I'm not a Star Wars fan and haven't got a clue about the back story, but I thought it was a pretty good film overall. Also, I love love love BB-8. 

Lastly, to finish off this very Christmassy ten days, I went for afternoon tea with Jo in my favourite place - Pettigrew Tea Rooms. We've both had a rubbish couple of years in many ways so we thought we'd treat ourselves to afternoon tea just before Christmas. I had to get my slice of cake boxed up to take away because I was too full to eat it after my massively indulgent hot chocolate, sandwiches and scones! But don't panic, I ate it a couple of hours after I got home and loved every bit of it. 

I'll be blogging about our actual Christmas celebrations next week, if I'm not in a food coma by then... in the meantime, hope all my readers have a lovely Christmas! 

Restaurant Review: Restaurant James Sommerin

Last Friday, I reached an important milestone in my recovery journey - all clear for a whole year. We always eat out somewhere nice after my three monthly appointments, but we decided we needed to go somewhere extra special on this occasion. It's been an incredibly tough year for both of us so I think it's fair to say that we deserved to treat ourselves.

After much deliberation, we took the plunge and booked dinner at the Michelin-starred Restaurant James Sommerin on Penarth Esplanade. If we can't treat ourselves to an extravagant meal for this level of occasion, when can we?!

In an extremely rare burst of optimism, I bought my dress for the occasion from New Look months ago.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were shown to our table straight away. As we were visiting on a Friday evening, the tasting menu was the only option on the menu. A few people had already told us that we might as well go the whole hog and opt for the tasting menu if we did go there, so we were perfectly happy with that. We were presented with two options - the standard tasting menu or the surprise tasting menu. As there were a couple of items I didn't fancy on the standard menu, and just because it was a special occasion, we decided to go for the six-course surprise tasting menu with wine pairings. When I told the waiter that I don't like fish, he was very understanding and assured me that my menu would be planned accordingly. 

Before I get started on talking about the food, I should make a few things clear... firstly, I apologise for the terrible photo quality. The lighting wasn't very good in the restaurant (and I didn't think using the flash would be appropriate!) so my photos definitely don't do the food justice. Secondly, as I've admitted before, I'm a terrible food blogger. This means that any detailed descriptions below have either been taken from Google or just vaguely guessed at as I could never remember all those intricate ingredients myself. I also haven't gone into detail about the specific tastes and textures because I'm rubbish at doing that, quite frankly. All you need to know is that everything was amazing. 

We were served a few 'snippets' before the first of our six courses which were a pleasant surprise. These were made up of a wild garlic espuma with toasted seeds, cheese gougères, and tapioca crisps with taramasalata and hummus.

We were then shown a huge platter of different breads and asked which we wanted to try. I assumed we could only choose one but Neil chose two, so I went ahead and chose the same two - a caramelised onion wheel and a rosemary focaccia. The bread came with a dollop of unsalted butter and a seasalt and seaweed butter, served on a pebble from Penarth beach! 

Next up, it was time for our first starter and our first glass of wine. Although I was quite nervous about the prospect of drinking lots of red wine as I'm not usually a fan, I've since come to the conclusion that I must have only tried rubbish red wine in the past as I loved the varieties we had on Friday night. This course was a lovely concoction of wood pigeon, black pudding, raspberry and beetroot.

It was soon time for our next savoury course and our first glass of white wine. Neil was served trout for this course and I was given the vegetarian option as I'd asked for no fish. I can't find a detailed description of this course anywhere, but it was basically made up of mozzarella, basil, pine nuts and heritage carrots. I never thought I'd say this sentence, but they were the best carrots I've ever had in my life. 

We both had a vegetarian offering for the next savoury course - potato, garlic foam, mushroom shavings and an additional mushroom concoction (you might have guessed by now that I often use the word 'concoction' when I don't know what something is called). I don't like mushrooms so this was probably my least favourite dish, but that potato really was spectacular. 

It was time for our main course and I think this was my favourite dish of the night. I could have eaten it three times over! We had a beautifully cooked steak, shallots, roast parsnips, mushrooms, root vegetable puree and a red wine jus. It was absolutely spectacular and blended perfectly with the accompanying wine.

In the blink of an eye, we moved on to desserts. I was THRILLED to discover that there were two dessert courses, as you can imagine. The first one was the best dessert I've ever had (and I've eaten a lot of desserts). It was a deconstructed lemon tart with blueberries, shortbread, meringue and the most amazing lemon sorbet. And who doesn't love a bit of lemon-scented dry ice action? The accompanying wine was my favourite of the evening as it reminded me of the ice wine we sampled in Toronto. 

While I was still waxing lyrical about my first dessert course and the wine, out came the next one. The second dessert was a raspberry souffle with a quernell of violet ice cream, and it was absolutely exquisite. This was actually the biggest course of the evening and I struggled to finish it, but I was determined to finish every bite. It was too tasty and too expensive not to! 

We absolutely loved our experience at Restaurant James Sommerin and I wish we could eat there every weekend. All the staff members we spoke to were very attentive and every course, both food and wine, was described in great detail. We ate at our own pace and were there for a good three hours in total. 

Although it's not cheap and is by far the most expensive meal we've ever eaten together, it definitely lived up to our expectations and 100% deserves that Michelin star. 

Have you ever been to Restaurant James Sommerin? What did you think?