For me, the best part about being a frequent dinner party host is the “invite back”. The bit where someone else finally bloody cooks and invites me over for dinner. The last “invite back” was with SAF and JDC.
Attendees, location, time and “bring-to”s: My hosts were a lovely retired couple that I love and have been friendly with for years. I made my way over to their house one Monday evening after work and my bring-to was something for everyone; white roses for her, Butlers chocolates (The Desert Menu) for him, treats for their two beloved dogs (Pedigree Schmackos) and aloe-vera juice for me as it was a school night. (My juice of choice is OKF Aloe Vera King Original 1.5L available in most supermarkets)
Setting: When I got there, they had the table beautifully set. The difference with slightly older hosts and my generation is the quality of their table ware. They had a beautiful white linen table cloth and napkins, Waterford crystal glasses (wine glasses and tumblers for water), and silver cutlery.
The food: SAF went all out for our three courses. For our starter we had chicken pate with thin pate crackers and a small salad of cherry tomatoes and mixed leaves with a balsamic vinegar dressing on the side. It was amazing, tasty, nicely balanced and the perfect size.
For the main, we had fish pie that SAF had made from scratch with hake, salmon and prawn and a potato topping. To make the fish pie, SAF had chopped the fish and boiled it in milk until it had reduced, added onion, black pepper, leak and butter. She then put the fish mixture into an oven proof dish, covered generously with mashed potato and put it into the oven for 20 minutes while we enjoyed our starter. Desert was puffed pastry with strawberries and ice-cream and was again just the perfect desert and the perfect size. Desert was also served in Waterford crystal bowls that they had won at various golfing competitions which was lovely and a really great conversation point.
The invite back: before I left we made sure that our diaries were co-ordinated and that the invite back was set in stone. We all agreed that a Christmas themed dinner at mine once I get the tree up is the way to go. They are in the diary for Tuesday 11th December and have requested my menu options to be sent in advance. I’m working on a couple of options for them because its so easy to have Christmas dinner overload in the run up to the festive season. I’m looking forward to catching up with them soon again.
Lady Dinner-Partaay 