SJ turned 30

So it's the big dirty thirty year for SJ and I and most of our friends. We didn't make a big deal out of our 29th birthdays (no real presents and we bought a house the day before his!) and given we are likely to have kids before our 40th birthdays I figured it would be the last chance for a proper party. We didn't make the decision to have a party until 3 weeks beforehand though, so once the decision was made I had to act FAST.

SJ has a big family and a large mixed circle of friends, rather than have a super crowd at our house, I cleverly decided to host two parties rather than one to make it less effort...Well as you may have guessed, I made it twice as hard on myself with two parties but they both turned out well and I've been sick ever since.

(I apologise for the dodgy photos but I don't want to include any with people in them!)

The invitation for the family party - Curry night!

Some of my cooking in action - I cooked a beef massaman (it's in the fridge), veggie korma (on the stove), lamb korma (slow cooker) and butter chicken (frying pan). Given I don't usually cook, making these from scratch (including the pastes) was a big deal for me!

Some of the garage decorations...party had to be in the garage, we had a very soggy backyard from the heavy rains on Friday still...

The Gluten Zone - i.e. the stuff I couldn't eat

Curries ready to eat!

With the Birthday Boy

Gluten Free Chocolate Olive Oil Birthday Cake (Nigella's recipe with added raspberries in the mix)

The invitation for the friends party - Beer Garden

Garden party set up - still a bit soggy but not too bad

Another gluten zone - would have loved to try a Brezel

I also baked gluten free gingerbread hearts decorated Oktoberfest style. Actually I cooked other things too (lots of hot food!) but I was running around cooking and serving and attempting to socialise so there aren't any more pics of food...

And another pic with the Birthday Boy...did I mention I dressed up? It wasn't a costume party but seemed appropriate.

So I turn 30 in 5 months time, I think SJ should start the planning now!