Strengthening ties with extended in-laws has been an uplifting experience since moving further inland to be closer to my youngest brother and his wife. Turns out I managed to buy five minutes away from them, a very comforting thought throughout my move!
I knew I'd see more of the extended family, but I did not realize that I'd be taken into the fold and be treated like an older sister as well!
The matriarch of the family turned all of ninety-one, and a small celebration was arranged. As always with this family, the responsibility of food preparation is shared. Everyone prepared their own specialty to make up a delicious menu.
The birthday girl took centre stage, and is becoming frail, so she first had to blow out the candles on her birthday cake, which was featherlight red velvet cupcakes with the most delicious fluffy cream cheese frosting.
Crusoe got dressed up in his bad dog outfit and knew he'd have many willing to play football with him. Although I miss my Poe dearly, Crusoe, with his gentle nature, has stolen my heart.
Little Miss Lily is a real madam and gets jealous when he gets more attention.
Back to the birthday party, the meat, usually a spit braai or just a normal braai (BBQ), is my brother's job. He loves doing that. He cooked two legs of lamb and a saddle of lamb on the spit, basting it with his own special sauce. It was tender and absolutely delicious!
The sisters made salads - very different from the usual boring green salad. The main ingredients, as I recall, were avocado, nuts, croutons, feta, beetroot, roasted butternut, and crispy roasted onions served with a pomegranate salad dressing. A close friend brought a kind of Greek appetizer that was a very good accompaniment for the meat.
My job is always dessert, and I made everyone's favourite granadilla yogurt tart topped with sliced kiwi fruit, and a fruity malva pudding, which is a warm baked sponge with a caramel and coconut sauce on top, served with custard or cream.
With this family, there's endless chatter and loads of fun, games, and laughter, as well as some serious chats, as we've all had our fair share of going through deep waters. Probably the binding factor is that we've all overcome them and have learnt to live life and laugh again!
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