Feeding thirty at forty for more than fifty.

Although it seemed I was organised, little things came to take up my time; they have a way of sneaking up on you, unannounced, wanting immediate attention and becoming silently but stealthily all consuming. Little things are in fact, humongous things in disguise.

With this in mind, my party and the weekend celebrations were wonderful, if not entirely to plan. Fortunately, ever since my wedding when I was but a mere slip of a lass at 26, I learned the lifelong lesson that "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley" translation: the best laid plans of the big and the small can go awry, no matter what you do. It was a great wedding but things went awry ; things I couldn't change, things I couldn't know; I went with the flow as I realised quickly that that which cannot be changed must be accepted. Plus nobody would ever tolerate a braying, bridezilla beastie in my family and they'd soon begin plying me with whisky.

Having spent weeks on the children's rooms, my plan was to spend another few weeks on some home improvements, painting and organising, in time for the party and Christmas, as is the way of women and men everywhere. I wanted the house fresh, spotless and myself rested, having spent a leisurely few days cooking, with possibly some light dusting and a polish the day before. Of course, this was before swine flu hit me like a brick wall and floored me for several weeks, but still, I recovered well enough to continue.

That's when the little things came; a day off school here and there as the children became ill, unexpected visitors. A leak, a break down, a mistake and a job. All these things led to things going ever so slightly not to plan. Thursday, my 40th birthday, I let it all go and was woken to tea in bed, flowers, gifts and was taken for breakfast by Shona where I consumed pastries and lovely coffee before heading to the spa for my massage. My sis and I floated out of our treatment rooms, happy and relaxed as we got ready to go to The Dining Room on Bath Street for lunch.

Susan and I had the pate starter while Louise, Susan's friend went for the soup. I had expertly cooked salmon with a sweet chilli dressing but still looked longingly at the chicken with black pudding mash on the girl's plates until Susan took pity and gave me some to taste. Both the salmon and chicken were lovely and was washed down by a nice bottle of the house white.

Susan and Louise headed to the hotel as they'd booked rooms for the night because her party was being held there. I wandered round a few shops on my way to the train station, where I was to find myself stuck for ages due to a random flower petal hovering over the line or somesuch nonsense but the wine had had a pleasant, soporific effect and I sat staring at the pigeons until the train eventually arrived.

The entire family, including my mum, father in law, big sis, Brian and the kids all went to Di Maggios for pasta and pizza before heading over to Susan's party. The DJ played some good old classics and the place was packed with those helping her to celebrate. We stayed for a while, leaving early for a party but late for the kids and headed home, contented and tired.

The Friday, despite my best intentions, more Little Things came and we arrived at our friend's, Ricky and Irene's house late for the planned fireworks party. We stayed only a few hours but despite the amount of things I wanted to get done on my return, I was too tired and conked out at the sight of my lovely, beautiful bed.

We worked hard all Saturday and the house was transformed into a mellow, candlelit abode with flowers everywhere, and the smell of spices, curry and mint filling the street. As everyone arrived, we hadn't quite finished making all the cocktails although there was a table full of pink, green and yellow drinks. We calmly answered the door and greeted our lovely guests with hugs, drinks and chat, then frantically ran to the kitchen to make more French Martinis, Mojitos and Champagne cocktails. The table was laden with spicy onions, mango dips, poppadums, spicy almonds, chilli snacks, pickles and rice crackers.

The pakora-chicken which had been marinated in yoghurt and spices, mushroom and potato was placed in the oven and the onion bhajis too. I had made a yoghurt dip to accompany them and it looked delicious. By the time I went to try some, it was all gone, surely a good sign; this made me happy and I hope it was nice. As I went to heat up the curries, I suddenly realised something as I searched for my bread: I had missed out an entire afternoon of preparation and it slowly donned on me that I had crossed it off the list, in my tired state on Friday night and that, in fact, there was things still to do.

After the initial cold shiver from my head to my toes, I thought about it for a moment to understand what had not been done; no bread...I was to cook paratha, poori and peshwari naan...I hadn't finished my lamb sauce although the lamb was cooked and I hadn't even tasted the korma. The chicken stew was refrigerated before cooking had been finished and my chickpea stew was nowhere to be found. This was a freakin disaster! I took a few deep breathes and spoke to Brian:
Him: "There is plenty of food; do you have time to cook at least the bread now?"
Me: "...yes....no"
Him: "Is there rice?"
Me: "Yes, lots"
Him: "Then we're fine".

With that, I served two large bowls of rice, lamb curry, which had enough lamb in it to feed a small army, what with four legs of lamb being cooked, with tasty enough sauce, despite it not being finished to my liking, tender chicken korma, again, it was finished by the time I got to the table which I was again happy about because I can assume it was good, having never made it before, Rajasthani chicken, baked after marinading twice and a nice vegetable curry with my own sauce served with mushrooms, courgettes, onions and homemade muttar paneer (cheese).

The tikka bites, chicken stew, chickpea stew with dumplings, breads and tomato and cucumber salad did not get served. The best laid schemes o' mice and men....

Once the food was served, I poured a large glass of champagne and settled in with my friends to talk, laugh and enjoy their company. A good time was had by all. I had managed to prepare fruit petit fours; strawberries, raspberries and tangerine slices dipped in chocolate, some with nuts or coconut in little petit four cases for a wee dessert before moving on to Sam's amazing birthday cake which she had made for me.

The moral of this tale: don't try to make this amount of food a few days before; cook it, freeze it and leave it weeks before, bringing from the freezer 36 hours before serving. Keep one day...the day before...entirely free to cook those things which are better fresh; the dips, the onions, the bread. Don't look at lists whilst tired. When asked to attend a party the day before your own, just say no. When it goes wrong, don't say too much after your initial outburst of "where the HELL IS THE BREAD?!?" and smile and enjoy because, as I learned many years ago, what you can't change, you just need to accept. Plus none of my friends would have tolerated my whining and would have force fed me champagne to shut me up.

Some of the beautiful flowers I received

I do have to add that the Sunday was total bliss; nursing a little hangover, I lay on the couch napping ,watching The Wizard of Oz with the kids, Brian waking me from my various slumbers with bacon rolls, Lucozade and Irn Bru, mugs of tea and chocolate. When ready, I opened my beautiful, wonderful gifts and Brian pottered about all day, cleaning up the mess. It was like Boxing Day; Christmas is wonderful but Boxing Day is for the mums.

Unfortunately, not a lot of pics were taken of the food, despite me reminding the photographers of my food blog...yes, you! But still....

All recipes to follow, including the elusive French Onion Soup; a picture, just to tease.

Beef Olives

This weekend was Kelly's birthday; she just turned 10. How many mums before me have looked around and instead of seeing their wee child, they see instead a tall, beautiful, capable person stand in front of them and ask themselves "when did this happen??". It makes me proud and a little sad at the same time.

The weekend was busy with parties, cooking, hosting and hanging out with the extended family and Kelly's friends . It was wonderful.

I made Beef Olives for dinner on Sunday evening. They are a traditional British meal although the French do a version too, as do many countries, I'm sure, known as paupiettes de boeuf. There are a few different recipes out there but traditionally, beef olives are stuffed with sausage meat. You can buy sliced sausage over here, either square or round; the easiest way to make sausage stuffed beef olives is to buy as many sliced sausage as you do slices of beef and place it in the middle of each slice of beef, skin removed; the sausage meat will already be seasoned and salted and there is little need to add further ingredients, if you're looking to do it quickly. Alternatively, normal shaped sausages can be used with the skin removed. You won't be sorry!

Beef Olives don't exactly look pretty but they taste divine!

There are other types of stuffing though, just as tasty like the recipe on this page. It is utterly delicious stuffed with haggis, a treat I allow us to have on occasion. It doesn't actually cost that much, even though good beef is best used because you buy thin slices and batter each slice a bit more.

The first time I ever cooked anything like this was when I was 17; I had my very first 'dinner party' for friends who were 10 years older than me and was out to impress. I came across a recipe in Keith Floyd's cookbook called 'Paupiettes of Beef with Lemon Stuffing'. Having not a scooby what I was doing, I took his advice and phoned the butcher, ordering everything on the list.

Unbeknown to me, the list contained the ingredients for a large amount of homemade beef stock which used many slices of the best braising steak, amongst other things. I cheerily skipped into the butchers, basket on arm and asked for my order; the bill came to over £100. I did a double take and fainted inside my head, went pale and paid the butcher. I couldn't believe what I had done. To put it into perspective, it was more than a week's wages and I had rent and bills to pay. I decided to make the best of it and cook it to the best of my ability.

I have to say, it turned out splendidly although the state of the kitchen was a sight to behold. Every surface was covered in pots, pans and plates and it took me an entire day to clean up. It was a brilliant night though and I lived off the 'beef stock' for a week.

Beef Olives (or paupiettes de boeuf)

Oven to 190 degrees Celsius
A thin topside of beef per 'olive' although I used 21 day matured Aberdeen Angus this time.
Stuffing of choice, usually sausage meat (see this recipe). I used a rice stuffing (see below).
A little seasoned flour
Good beef stock, enough to cover the olives, 3/4 pint should be more than enough
A dash of red wine
A little hot oil

Place each slice of beef individually in a plastic bag and bash it! Not too hard now! Place a small amount of stuffing in the middle of the slice and roll as tightly as possible. Tie with string or use these new elastic strings you can buy which makes the job much easier. Repeat until all beef olives are complete and coat lightly in the seasoned flour. Fry in some hot oil until browned and place into an oven proof dish.

Pour a dash of red wine into the pan to get all the extra bits of meat, flour and flavours. Let it bubble for a minute and add in the beef stock, stirring once and removing as soon as it gets to boiling point. Pour over the beef. Cover with two layers of foil and place in the oven. Turn the heat down to 150 degrees Celsius after 15 minutes and cook for 2 hours but you can leave it a little longer if you prefer.

I think the best thing to serve this with is mashed potato although I used Flora light (low fat margarine) this time rather than full fat butter. Mmmm mmm!

Mmm, yeah, still not pretty but still tastes...and smells wonderful

Rice Stuffing

Boil some basmati rice (or any rice) as per instructions. Meanwhile, fry a finely chopped onion and garlic with some chopped mushrooms and bacon or chorizo and any fresh herbs you have lying around; I used thyme and rosemary. Add a good dash of black pepper and some salt. Add any other ingredient you like, to taste. Once the rice is cooked, drain and add to vegetables. Stir fry for a minute and remove from heat. Keep heat low whilst doing this as the rice may stick and burn.

I made some cupcakes for the kids coming back from school today....

Thanks to the lovely Anne McW, I have discovered something wonderful: Nutella can be melted in the microwave! Do you have any idea what this means? I no longer have to mix Nutella with butter icing or faff about with it, trying to top muffins or stuff scones with the stuff. I can simply melt the Nutella and pour. Pour over any surface I require. Evil chuckle.

The wonderful roasted vegetables we had tonight with the Wiltshire Ham and poached eggs.

I was going to just do potato (and sweet potato) wedges but decided to add in some peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, carrots and tomatoes. I tossed everything in olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, fresh thyme, rosemary and lavender. The smell was amazing, I highly recommend this dish. I made entirely too much but the rest will be tossed into my vegetable curry.

Gobby Wordless Wednesday

For those of you wondering what gobby means, it's a description of someone with a big mouth yes, me, go on, say it...you were thinking it... (or gob) who can't refrain from talking, even if they happen to be participating in...oh, I don't know...a wordless day? I accept that title. I have snippets of information, messages to give, certain bits of information to relay so I have no choice but to make this Wordless Wednesday, only partial.

Anyone any idea why I can't see my list of followers? I also can't see anyone elses so therefore can't join any new blogs. Tis a tad frustratin'.

Vintage Kitty, we miss you. Please come back to blogland. Vintage had a wonderful blog full of vintage stuff oddly enough, witty quips and delightful repartee. Unfortunately, she got stalked by an evil troll and decided it just wasn't worth it. How sad do you have to be to actually come online, read a lovely blog and start spewing evilness. Blogland is a sadder place without Ms. Kitty and I hope she shall return one day.

A few of my delightful friends across the globe received their little Scottish goodies the other day there was a saga but it's too boring to go into. There were 8 sent out altogether so I'm hopeful that the rest of 'em have made their way safely since two have so far reached American shores, so let me know if you are one of the recipients!

The lovely Anna from the beautiful blog 'little reminders of love' had engaged me in a conversation about the Queen sometime ago. I told her I'd been to Buckingham Palace and had met her; we engaged in a chat along the lines of:
"No way"...
"WAY!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
You can tell we have a high combined intelligence, can't you? So, this Gobby Worldess Wednesday sets out to show my day at the palace.

Arrival at the Palace

We had a picnic to begin with, served with champagne


My twin sis; a journalist gave us the hats I think; we were in the newspaper




Performers kept us entertained

The Queens Concerts: Party at the Palace

Tom Jones

A couple of swells

The Corrs


Rod Stewart

Annie Lennox; Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton etc.were also performing; so many singers and bands were there


Even Baby Spice...

The staff, watching quietly from the gardens below

The Royal family on stage

Ozzy got a rousing welcome


All the performers come on together

The palace from the back gardens at night


The Fireworks at the end were incredible

Buns, pasta and randomness

The kids are sharing a room at the moment because of the painting and decorating. They are driving me round the bend. I've considered all manner of things to make them still but for the love of all that is holy, they just keep at it! They just can't stop chattering like monkeys, even with a two day ban on all electronic equipment. I've even gotten a bit of cheek; not usual in this house, I can tell ya! "I can't turn on the light for you mummy, it's electric!" with a smug grin.

I've had no choice but to pour a large glass of wine tonight what with the abuse and my sore bones....that was the yoga...my legs have seized into a permanent lotus position....I've had to crawl round the house on my ar$£, pulling myself from place to place with my upper limbs...just as well my arms are like tree trunks, what with all the vinyasas.....

I know it's a pretty crappy picture but I stole it, edited it and all in two minutes....I have wine waiting after all.

I made Nutella buns last night; they sure don't look pretty but they tasted divine. The kids bounded down the stairs, two at a time, the smell tantalising their taste buds. When I told them it was Nutella Buns, they practically fainted with happiness. I allowed them a scant half a bun each for supper but that there would be plenty, ready and waiting for breakfast. Probably the sugar rush to the head which made them so wired last night....oh dear, they had cheese and pickles tonight. It's going to be nightmares, isn't it? Sigh.

I used the schneken pastry recipe but instead of slathering over egg and milk mix with the cinnamon filling, I layered on a great big dod of Nutella instead and rolled the dough, swiss roll like and cut into slices. I let it rest for another 15-12 minutes then baked at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. The smell alone is worth it. If you are selling your home, make these. You'd sell your home three times over and for twice the cost.

I made macaroni cheese for the kids and the spinach, feta, spicy tomato pasta for us. I've adapted this from a ricotta cheese recipe and the spinach didn't exactly enthrall me....it's the smell but this is a really tasty little number. Like the Nutella buns, it doesn't look like much but totally tastes better than it looks.

Spinach & Feta Pasta

1 garlic clove, finely chopped
A pinch of dried chillies
A tablespoon of olive oil
1 tin (400g approx.) of plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
A good handful of fresh spinach leaves
Approx. 200g feta, cubed
A handful of pine nuts, dry toasted
Linguine

Fry the garlic and chili over a medium heat in the olive oil until soft. Keep an eye on it, you don't want it to brown as it will go bitter. Add the tin of tomatoes. Do not stir yet. Leave the sauce to thicken and bubble then gently mash the tomatoes with a fork. Add the vinegar and salt and pepper and set aside.

Cook the linguine as per instructions. Steam the spinach for a few minutes above the pasta water. Drain the linguine and add to the tomato sauce, add the spinach and feta and mix. Place into serving bowl and sprinkle over pine nuts. Eat heartily.

And now for some randomness: Lucy wandered round taking odd photographs tonight so I thought I'd share them with you.

A photograph in a silver frame of my first graduation, in my early 20s.


A partial shot of my party invite, still to be distributed.


We were watching Friends.


Lucy's eyeball.

Sunday morning, up with the lark...

Brian woke me at 8am, the morning after the night before. He seemed as fresh as a daisy, heading out to treasure hunt or dive or some such thing involving water. "You're off your head" I mumbles as he cheerily waved me goodbye and I reluctantly got up, I thudded downstairs, on the hunt for water and after aimlessly walking around for a few minutes, went back to bed for an hour or two.

The party was wonderful. I spent most of the day ferrying children to sleepovers, buying items required for all the different events of the day and night, picking up balloons, setting up cakes etc, etc. When it came down to it, I had approx. 30 minutes to get ready and it was a mad dash to get to the party in time.

The garden was filled with hundreds of candles and the tables and chairs set up on the lawn sparkled with the lights reflecting off water bowls filled with floating waxed balls, lit up like Christmas trees. The sound of happy chatter and the chink of ice came from every direction, and the light breeze with the smell of autumn and the rotisserie barbecue was in the air. The bar was set and lined up along it was rows and rows of mojitos and French martinis. The singer, resembling Dean Martin, started to perform his rat pack and swing numbers, belting out tune after tune as we sang along.

It was a cold, clear night but the outside heaters helped and I made sure I had a nice little cardigan to match my outfit whilst Brian, being much more sensible, had worn thermals under his suit and sat there, drinking and eating with a smile on his face all night.

My friends, Ricky and Irene really seemed to enjoy themselves and they had a dance and a cutting of the cake in memory of their previous wedding 25 years earlier. Near the end of the evening, we ventured back inside and were handed glasses of Amber, a liqueur made with my favourite malt whisky, Macallan. It tasted just like the Schneken cakes I made last month, what with the pecan and maple syrup flavour and I stopped after just one, which was difficult but I'd had my fair share of French Martinis and didn't want to be carried home.

We left sometime after 2am, even though there was still a good few folk partying into the wee hours. It was a great night and one that they will remember, I'm sure.

I unfortunately didn't take too many pictures but the food was rotisserie chicken and pork, stuffed and marinaded in, amongst other things, sweet chilli and olives, fresh salads with tomato and mozzarella, honey mustard glazed sausages, baby new jersey potatoes and lovely cheesecakes. Delicious.

This morning has been spent rounding up the kids, tea at every location, a few paracetamol...for the cold I have of course, what else......

It will be fish and chips for dinner tonight, despite it being Sunday and we shall all return to normal in the morning.

Fried Prawn Patties

I had a lovely lunch with Maureen today; well, when I say lovely, it was grand to see her but the Burnbrae has been bought over by some cost cutting, penny pinching morons who provided us with half the portion of food we were used to and decided on a 'half hot half cold' theme when providing grub. When asking for a latte, they informed us that it was instant coffee for now. Bill please. We headed to Costa for a proper cup of the black stuff.

So, hunger set in rather quickly on my return and on searching the freezer for some sustenance I uncovered frozen, raw prawns (shrimps) hidden at the back. What to do, what to do? I could stir fry, breadcrumb, curry or chop. Saute, flambe, souffle or plop. Hmmm. Skewered? Fried? Fried! I had a brainwave.

Fried Prawn blobs Patties! Just the thing.

First job was to defrost the prawns. Obviously, fresh prawns would be better but hey, when hungry and frugal, frozen will do.

I shelled the prawns, shoved them in a blender alongside a finely chopped clove of garlic and 2 finely chopped spring onions. I added half a teaspoon salt, a good grinding black pepper, a little cayenne and 60g plain flour. If using Nigella's recipe, you'd add 4 teaspoons of sherry as well but I prefer wine to the mix. I then added water and mixed to make a thick batter, covered with clingfilm and waited 1 hour.

During this hour, I continued painting; I have been decorating. I have one room half completed, five more to go. Why do I start these things? Kelly is moving into the big room so she was first; after some deliberation, she decided on lilac for one wall, magnolia for the rest. She then decided she wanted painted onto the wall, a girl holding a baby dove, looking over at a mummy dove on a branch........yes, this is what she decided. HUH?? Was my first response. What the freakin'......?? my second. "Ooooookay, Kelly" I said "I shall do my best". Well, it's finished, for better or worse....

So, the hour has passed and I heat some olive oil in a pan. I take teaspoons of the mix and fry in the oil, turning after a minute and cooking on the other side. When brown on both sides, place onto plate covered with paper towels.

I like to make homemade mayo for this but Hellmans will do the job just as well! Add some lime and fresh coriander though. If not partial to mayo, squeeze some lime juice over the tasty little blobs and eat immediately. Bleedin' luverly.

Tomorrow is the big silver wedding anniversary party. My friend Sam did the cake:

Isn't it wonderful? I know you can't see the whole thing, I was not averse to pulling it out and setting it up for your perusal but you just know what would happen, don't you? Especially with three wee acrobats around. I shall take some more pics at the event and report back on the deliciousness of this tasty baked lovely.

Have a freakin AWESOME weekend!

The party's over.

It has been a wonderful weekend. Really. Even with yesterday's hangover. The hair of the dog at Ricky and Irene's was totally unexpected but actually seemed to help. Worrying.

The tea party today turned into a brunch as everyone was arriving at 12.30. It seemed appropriate, being a Sunday and having a fridge full of bacon and a cupboard full of eggs and tomatoes. I served bacon, sausages, potato scones, potato frittata, (the potatoes first cooked in olive oil, thyme, rosemary and garlic, all removed before adding the eggs), a cheese omelette cooked in oil and an omelette with spring onions and Parmesan cooked in butter.

I cut large tomatoes in half and roasted them with olive oil, a large handful of chopped basil, a sprinkling of thyme, a grating of Parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic. I added a great big pinch of Maldon sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and popped them in the oven at 150 degrees Celsius. I slow roasted them for an hour and they really were delicious; the tomatoes were soft and sweet, the basil crunchy...I really recommend these. We served rolls, bread and butter and great steaming mugs of tea, what else?

After brunch, we had birthday cake and coffee. It was a calm, chatty, lovely birthday brunch. When everyone left, I knew I had to move and move fast. I realised if I didn't keep moving that I might fall down in a little heap and not move for a few hours, bar some twitching. So, I went upstairs to repair the damage 10 or 12 kids can amazingly inflict in such a short time.

By then, I wasn't fit for cooking even though Frank my wonderful father in law was here. I suggested pizza at Massimo's as a birthday treat and everyone thought it was a grand idea. Hallelujah! We bumped into the lovely Jo and family who, amongst almost all of Bearsden, had had the same idea as us: they were seating them out the door! The sfiziosa pizza was lovely although not as spicy as normal and I ate only a few slices. The kids hardly ate anything before running outdoors to play. Sigh. Thank goodness for take out boxes.

I laughed heartily when Brian 'suggested' making snickerdoodle cake. Instead, we went to Asda where the kids got to spend some of their birthday money and mini chocolate muffins were bought for those who wanted to partake in a sweet. I know, I hear you all cry...but they didn't even eat their dinner! Look, it was their birthday, we're all allowed a day off from the norm. So yes, I let them have muffins and sweets too. Thrrp.

After all this and feeling slightly faint, I stumbled inside, grasping about in the haze for coffee. But I had a revelation last night. More on that later. The revelation came back to me and I crawled up the stairs at 8pm, shouting instructions for baths (for the children) and went for a 30 minute walk in the sun. The day still isn't over as uniforms need to be found but you know, I'm alive, I'm well and I have three happy children, a smug husband and a reasonably contented father in law. Life is grand.

Staying In

Today, I am cleaning, finishing off a painting commission and creating the menu and food for Friday night's barbeque. There shall be no deviation from this plan or else the world will cave around me. So far, I've spent an hour on the computer, had three cups of tea and two of coffee, chatted with Brian, sent five texts and read Sunday's Style section of the Sunday Times. It's not going to plan. I have also cleaned a bathroom though and it isn't yet noon. I really need to get my bum into gear and stop this procrastination malarkey.

Lucy and Fraser are turning eight this weekend and there will be approx. 30 families coming along to help us celebrate but of course that means food, and lots of it. Lots of food means planning and that is something I sadly, yet happily enjoy doing. Yay.

I had a simple list to begin with but simple lists are made to be laughed and pointed at and therefore I'll no doubt come up with new ideas every 30 minutes or so until shopping tomorrow. I'll have to take in a budget, i.e. clutching the notes in my hand with the cards left at home or else I'll be buying smoked salmon, caviar and Madagascar prawns galore....hmmm.

So far, I'm making up two marinades for 12 chicken breasts, one made of garlic, lemon and olive oil with the other a home-made bbq flavour concoction. I'll batter each chicken breast until flat and tender and cut into two. I'll marinade them tonight until Friday. That way, they will cook really quickly and hopefully be very tasty. I thought instead of the faff of trying to fry onions to go with the burgers, I'll make some onion confit which can sit in a metal bowl over the heat, to be added to dogs, burgers or chicken as required.

I'll be doing my goats cheese pasta with lemon and pine nuts, tomato pasta and am thinking up a new one, possibly with some spicy sausage or chorizo. There will of course be the obligatory salads, one of sliced tomato, mozzarella and basil, a potato salad and homemade coleslaw.

Mairi and Sarah suggested Pimms as a good summer drink so I'm thinking of adopting it into some kind of punch with fruit but I shall wait and see what the weather is like. There will of course be plenty of wine, beer and Bombay Gin!

Birthday cakes will be two of the chocolate cakes I made the other week and I'll place them together to make an 8. I thought I'd also do a few lemon cupcakes, some brownies and a fruit salad. Wow, I hope they'll be hungry. I know the kids will take two bites of a hotdog and that will be it. Excitement, friends and games will get the better of them. We have a treasure hunt planned and the lovely Val has borrowed some sports bits and bobs as have I for game time.

I made up these party bags, if you can call them that; I bought mugs and filled them full of sweets, covered them in lovely wrapping and there we have it; 40 bags of sweets I've had to look at for a few weeks without being able to eat. Woe is me.
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