April 1st Birthday Celebration

Birthday Celebration

My husband’s 85th birthday was on Easter, April 1. We celebrated with a party on Saturday night. It was delightful!

Though we missed our sons, our daughter Beth and her husband Kelvin helped us enjoy the party.

Wonderful friends from church and town joined next-door neighbors. Two fellow Igbo alumni from Clem’s beloved Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha, came from New York City.

Nigeria was also represented by WSHU’s Ebong Udoma. Our friend Rex Anku is from neighboring Ghana.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the food from our caterer. For appetizers we had

Seared Sesame Tuna with Plum Sauce
Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Asian Dipping Sauce
Gluten Free, Vegan Friendly
Smoked Duck Breast with Kumquat Jam on Wonton Crisp
Chicken Satay with Thai Peanut Sauce

Followed by the buffet dinner:

Sliced, Herb Crusted Filet/PP
Our perfectly seasoned and roasted filet, medium rare, served room
temperature.  Paired with our Horseradish Cream Sauce

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon/PP
Wild Rice with Dried Fruits & Nuts
A savory blend of wild rice, delicately seasoned and dotted with dried fruits and nuts. (vegetarian)
Baby Carrots with Citrus Glaze and Dill
Mixed Green Salad with Seasonal Vegetables and Balsamic

Is your mouth watering yet?

I ordered the cake from Stew Leonard’s, our nearby popular supermarket. Beth suggested “Happy Birthday! 85 Years Young!!” which was perfect with two groups of 8 and 5 candles.

The staff person from the caterer opened and poured wine, passed the appetizers, placed the dinner on the table,, and cleared plates.

Champagne Toast and Clean Up!

When it was time for the toast, he opened, poured, and passed the champagne. We toasted the celebrant who spoke while the waiter passed cake and ice cream.

I was amazed when the guests were beginning to depart to find that the dinner plates were all washed and stacked. Most of the champagne glasses were washed. Wine glasses, dessert plates, and silverware were in the dishwasher and the kitchen was sparkling clean!

My daughter said I should use paper plates and napkins and plastic cutlery. But I’m glad I stuck to my plan to have the beautiful tie-dyed purple, yellow, and red table-cloth, matching napkins, our good china with a few ordinary plates, and our own mix of silverware.

For the champagne we used glasses with gold rims that someone had given to my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary! We supplemented with champagne flutes that I bought from my friend Carol Obianwu when she was leaving Nigeria in 1984!

Nigerian Lace

Clem wore the long red lace shirt that was part of his outfit for our own 50th wedding anniversary in Nigeria.

With the term “lace,” Nigerians actually refer to what are called “industrial embroideries,” as I’ve just learned.

Google tells me that non-experts easily confound certain qualities of industrial embroideries, specifically guipure (chemical lace) or eyelet embroidery, with real laces because they have a very similar appearance.

The use of the term lace results from this confusion. The word “lace” is now a firmly established market denomination for all kinds of industrial embroideries in Nigeria and other parts of Africa, I believe.

I use the term “lace” because I never knew the phrase “industrial embroideries” until now!

At our 50th wedding anniversary party, all the relatives wore similar red “lace.” Altogether about 40 people were dressed in the same fabric.

Our son Sam who lives in Nigeria helped me choose the fabric. Then he bought 300 yards and parceled it out to relatives. People took it to their own tailors or seamstresses to sew in whatever design they wanted.

Music of Nigeria

Last time I sent a link to a Nigerian classical pianist playing Nigerian music.

My friend Brigitte replied with another musical link. She said, “I thought you might be interested in this
recording from the famous Desert Island Discs series. She was right!

I loved the story about the Nigerian-born Chi-Chi Nwanoku. She is a double bass player and founder of Europe’s first professional majority black and minority ethnic orchestra, Chineke!.

From her bio I found, “Chi-chi is the eldest of five children, born to a Nigerian father and an Irish mother. Early on, she discovered two competing passions: playing the piano and 100 metre sprinting. She was aiming to qualify for the 1976 Olympics when she suffered a knee injury which cut short her life as an athlete.” 

And why the double bass?

“Her music teacher suggested that she could have a career as a musician if she took up ‘an unpopular orchestral instrument’. She began learning the double bass a week later.”

If you want to listen to just a little of her music from the BBC link, I suggest “Sweet Mother,” her favorite high-life track. I love it too.

The song was hugely popular in Nigeria many years ago; everyone knew and sang it!