Party Time!

Ok, I think I have teased you all long enough, lets get to the actual party time! I think last time I left off my blog bearley 5 minutes before guests arrived and just ready....

Set Scene: Doorbell rings, moments of heart palpitations and light sweat from hostess....Compose one's self with a swig of Kir Royal and open door, cue smile.

All of Gavin's and my guests arrived quite quickly (except 2) and drinks of Kir Royal were quickly in hand, yes, I did share the alcohol....and we mingled around the very small entry area, as my lounge room had been converted into a floating style restaurant. I passed around the salmon mousse and croutons, unfortunately the croutons were not as toasted as I would have liked, and instead were more like stale bread rounds, oh well. People were however suitably impressed by the decor, if not calling me just a little crazy for 'pizazz' factor of the decorations and layout of the dining area. 

It soon became apparent that unless we were about to start a game of sardines, that it would be better for all guests to be seated in the dining area, to give them more comfort. Once people were comfortably seated I went into the kitchen to check on how the entree was heating up. Almost done, I layed out the entree bowls, served another round of drinks, and as they would say on Masterchef, plated up. It took 2 people 3 trips to the kitchen to get all the bowls to the dining table, but yum! The entree was (I think) yummy. (I can say this because I just mearly copied a fabulous recipe in a book).

Conversation was thankfully flowing fine, so I set off back across the hall to check on main. Big problem number one. All dishes required did not fit in my oven as I had predicted. No matter, I solved the problem by placing one tray of pumpkin into a steamer and cooked one lot that one. Big problem number 2, more than 40mins later the pork was nowhere near done. No matter, just ply said guests with more alcohol. That done I went to check on the pork again. Still quite rare I put plan B into action. With Gavin's help we removed the 2 and a half racks from the oven, sliced them into cutlets and set about searing them in our two large frying pans. Problem number 3, the smoke alarms went off...twice. Thanks to my brother Justin who worked out how to hush them... By now I had worked up a minor panic, as guests had arrived at 7pm and has so far only eaten a small amount of salmon mousse and a small entree. And I had been giving out a lot of alcohol. Deciding between making my guests wait a little longer or give them food poisoning, I choose the first option and main was served a little before 9. Everyone loved the pork (Phew), and the brussle sprout and pancetta salad was yum. The pumpkin could have been cooked a little more evenly but overall I thought it was passable.

After dinner has settled a little while and conversation was still flowing nicely I went to finish plating up my favourite course for the evening, Eton Mess. mmmm Eton Mess. This was by far the easiest course to prepare and serve (except the chocolate truffles) but I am biased, I do love to cook and eat dessert and sweet things! Unfortunately once I had divided up all the desserts I realized that due to 2 bowls being broken in storage I realized I was 2 desserts short. Feeling my heart break just a little, I bravely faced up to the fact that I would have to sacrifice Gavin's and my desserts so all my guests would have one. But, to my fabulous surprise, Rav, one of my fabulous guests, informed me she could not eat egg. Shame, oh well dessert for me, her partner then announced he was not really a sweets fan and passed it bowl to Gavin. This course of the meal sounded like this. Nom Nom Nom Nom.

Next was coffee and chocolate truffles of which a person who shall remain nameless took two (Yes you Philip), and more wine, beer and Kir Royal. The evening began to wind to an end, and guests departed between 11pm and 2am. Gavin and I dragged ourselves to bed to face the cleanup in the morning...