Post-party. The day unfolded something like this:

7am: Tom wakes up on the sofa snuggled up with his friend, Ben and Alfie the cat. Alan Partridge is still on in the background. It’s been playing for 5 hours. 

9.30am: I come down to find the remains of the coffee cake next to a bottle of Lagavulin. 

10am: Pick up the children from their sleepover and sit through their extended performance of Thriller – the musical. 

11.30am: arrive home with white bread for sausage sandwiches. Tell the kids to go in quietly as there are people still asleep. 

“Asleep!” Daisy shouts, incredulous that anyone should be asleep when she’s already been up for 5 hours. “What’s wrong with them?” She cries. 

Ollie bursts in the front door shouting, “Hi guys!” No one is asleep any longer. He runs from room to room searching for something or someone then flops down in the kitchen sobbing, “I can’t find Brewery!” The wailing escalates until I have to call Daisy in to interpret what on earth is going on. Turns out when I said, “The house smells like a brewery” in the car, his brain re-scrambled it to mean: “There will be a dog waiting for you at home called Brewery”. I didn’t stand a chance guessing that one. He would not be pacified until I opened the packet of Daim chocolate eggs (what a great invention) that I’d just bought and was saving for later. 

Brunch today: restorative sausage & mushroom sandwiches

Dinner: chicken laksa & noodles. Delicious comfort food, gentle on the gut, from a favourite book: 

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1tbsp coconut oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 tsp garam masala
• Salt & pepper
• 250ml chicken stock
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into large pieces. 
• 300ml coconut milk
• Lime, squeezed
• 180g rice noodles
• 200g veg, streamed (broccoli, pak choi, mangetout etc)
• Handful of mint & coriander
• Carrot, finely julienned to serve

Method

• Fry the onion in the coconut oil until soft. 
• Add the garlic and ginger for 1min
• Add the spices (apart from garam masala) seasoning & a splash of water for another minute.
• Add the stock. Bring to the boil & simmer covered for 12 mins.
• Add the chicken, coconut milk & garam masala. 
• Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer until chicken is done (approx 4 min).
• The curry should have a medium creamy consistency. Stir in the lime & season. 
• Cook the noodles. 
• Serve the laksa on top of the noodles. Add the carrot & chopped mint & coriander. 

Absolutely delicious and proof here that Ollie considered eating it (even though he only actually ate the sticks of carrot & bits of chicken):