New Year's Eve Dinner

Thanks to Jamie Oliver, Nick, and the cookbook I got the boys for Christmas (Jamie's 30 Minute Meals), we had a marvellous New Year's Eve dinner.

Nick wanted to be the main chef and chose the sea bass menu complete with drink and dessert. Yesterday morning I took the train in to Frankfurt to get the sea bass, fresh ginger, coriander, mint, a hot pepper, and fennel seeds among other ingredients. The boys walked down the hill to get the sweet potatoes and soy sauce. It was a race against time because German stores close at 2 p.m. on "Sylvester" (New Year's Eve), which we hadn't realized earlier in the morning.

The food was incredible. In German, you'd say "ein Gedicht" (a poem). The sea bass was fried with bacon, lemon peel, and fennel seeds. The drink was a blend of fizzy lemonade with grated ginger and sprigs of mint. The broccoli had a spicy Asian taste with the chopped hot pepper, lime juice, garlic and sesame oil. I even forgot to take a photo of the blueberries and homemade fruit ice cream dessert.

I bought Jamie's cookbook on a whim while at Hugendubel bookstore--beautiful white cover, nice stack of books, appealing title, and the crowd around it. Afterwards I read in "The Economist" that this cookbook has been the fastest selling nonfiction book in British publishing history.

Stay tuned: Patrick will make the next Jamie Oliver meal. His choice is the baked cod, a mashed pea-potato dish, tartar sauce with sardines in it, and rucola salad with bacon and garlic.