Saturday, June 30, 2012

Baked Brussels and Experimental Gnocchi

Tonight's dinner of baked brussel sprouts and pumpkin and gnocchi bake. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture until half way through which is why this plate looks so sadly depleted, but even Dad's disappeared.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Yule 2012

I love Yule. It was the first Sabbat I ever celebrated, and it has always been my favourite. This year though was really something special.
My Pagan friends arrived early so that we could have a ritual, and a gift exchange. I wrote the ritual this year. It's only about the second time I've written one, but this came out quite well. The gifts were in lieu of Christmas presents. Giving Christmas presents to Pagans has always felt weird, and while this doesn't actually reduce our costs, it does redistribute them to a different part of the year. I received Infamous by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and some gorgeous oils and sugars and things for the kitchen.
Our other guests arrived once night had started to fall, bringing with them an incredible set of dishes to share. Our menu:
Nibbles: Kabana, Camembert and crackers
Entrée: Pea and ham soup, beetroot and feta salad
Main: Lamb massaman curry, chicken and mango curry, vegetarian chilli with corn chips, coconut rice
Dessert: Pear cake, berry muffins, chocolate tart, chocolate mousse (above), home made vanilla ice cream, pure cream.
Mulled wine
The mousse was Andrew's contribution, though as he was trying to make both the dark and white mousses at once, I gave him a hand with some beating and folding and layering. I only made the ice cream!
The company was the real highlight though. Along with all the regulars, there were a few people who haven't been in a while, and one new guest. Everyone fitted together so well, and there were times I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. I can't wait until next year!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A small catering job

 Double choc chip muffins (and raw sweet scrolls, but they're just a by-product!)
 First attempt at blueberry muffins - appearance fail - and savoury scrolls
 Blueberry muffins - Take 2
Two kinds of scrolls
All packed up, along with scones, jam and lightly whipped cream. I made everything else yesterday, but since scones need to be really fresh - preferably warm - I got up early this morning to make those.
It's probably all been eaten by now. I hope it was a success.