In honour of my dad turning 60

Today my dad - my MOST AMAZING AND WONDERFUL DAD - turned 60. (pictured here changing a tyre with Luca).
The unfortunate thing about this is that I'm on the other side of the world to him.
That fact alone really sucks right now.

And so, in honour of our dad turning 60, my sister and I, my husband and our two boys had a party for him here, so at least we could kind of feel like we were marking the occasion significantly.

Before our evening had even started the phone rang.
"Good morning!" said the deep, familiar voice on the other end. It was my dad.
Hold the phone, the birthday boy is calling us?! It must have been ridiculous-o'clock in the morning (NZ time, who are 11 hours ahead of the UK). But that's my dad - always up at the crack of a sparrow's fart.
So without a moments hesitation I rapidly gathered the troops and we belted out our magnificently and purposefully out-of-tune-and-at-the-top-of-our-lungs Happy Birthday song that the Jacobsen Clan is so well renown for.
Even Luca was in there singing along while Beni just sat on the floor with a toy halfway to his mouth, staring.
No time for skyping as he was on his way to work, but it was very special to be the first ones to talk to him on his 60th birthday.

And so, in honour of my dad turning 60:

- we drank champagne

- I broke my tooth while eating wasabi peas

- we ate lamb

- I covered Beni in lashings of talcum powder after his bath, just like his Scrumpy does.

- we drank a bottle of Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2006 which we had been saving for such an occasion.

Check out the dust on the bottle! Now that is Cellar-Love right there.

- we ate strawberries with balsamic vinegar (recipe at the bottom)
 
- I fell asleep on the couch before the party had ended

Dad - I'm sorry we couldn't be there to share your 60th birthday with you - but I know the family will throw a good knees-up party for you on Friday with good food and lots of laughter, guaranteed.

Here's a song that, whenever I hear it, always makes me think of you.
(because this is in HD it may keep stopping to buffer - just press pause button and wait for a few minutes then it will play)



I love you my dad.

{Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar recipe}
500g strawberries, hulled and halved
60ml good-quality balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons castor sugar
2 teasponns lemon juice
1/4 cup small/thinly sliced mint leaves

PLACE strawberries in a glass bowl. Heat the balsamic vinegar, castor sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, stirring until combined. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

POUR cooled balsamic vinegar mix over strawberries, add mint leaves and toss together. Cover with clingfilm and marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Serve over vanilla icecream or drizzle cream on top.
DELICIOUS!!