Dinner Party Delight

PST Dinner Parties combine some of my all-time favourite things in one evening. I love hosting people, I love cooking, I love my Prayer Support Team, I love eating ... it's brilliant really! :)

Saturday night was the latest of our quarterly get-togethers and it had an extra degree of difficulty ... the mission was to tick off as many recipes from my "40 things to do before I'm 40" challenge cook book!

So the table was set ...

 

Tomato and Caper Bruschetta was served for hors d'oeuvres (but I was busy getting the other courses ready so I didn't take a photo) - recipe #1.

For entree - Roast pumpkin & chickpea soup with toasted ciabatta - recipe #2 and Pasta with Simmered Veal - recipe #3.

The main dishes were Fish Roasted in Capers and Lemon Butter, Roasted Balsamic Tomatoes and Spinach Polenta - recipes #4 & 5 and Gremolata Seared Chicken with Salted Roast Potatoes, Garlic Roast Asparagus and Balsamic Roasted Red Onions (unsuccessful - needed longer in the oven!) - recipes #5, 7 & 8.

 

 

Desserts were Vanilla and Coconut Baked Apples - recipe #9 and Cinnamon Pear Pies - recipe #10.

Each of the guests got a Caramel Filled Biscuit - recipe #11 as their take-home treat! :)

It was successful by all measurements - ticking off my recipe list, a good meal, great company ... an enjoyable night all round!

Chai Tea - morning and night

I really do love the idea of giving handmade gifts ... and there are soooooo many things to make and create and assemble that can reflect some more creative thought and love ... normally time (aka bad planning) is my enemy. But I got it right this time!! Woot!!

This gift basket is lined with a floral apron (the ties of it are the bow around the front)

CHAI TEA SYRUP

I used this recipe to make the syrup. Actually, I used it twice! The first time I let it boil ... and for a while (I may have got distracted!) and it tasted very bitter! I turfed that and tried again. I added way more sugar than the recipe suggested and found the syrup generally to be a little 'weak' (which is why I suggested 2 parts syrup to one part milk/water rather than the other way around as indicated in the recipe). My only experience of Chai Tea is the powdered, sweet stuff so I don't really know if it tasted as it was intended. There's a lot of room for experimenting and adjusting the various spices and flavours. Go crazy!!

SCRIPTURE MUGS

So, all you have to do is write on the mugs with a Sharpie and then 'cook' them for 30 mins in a nice hot oven. My hand isn't particularly steady and, particularly on the rounded, slippery, awkward surface, I was a little all over the place with direction and sizing etc. GOOD NEWS!!! Before it's been baked on, just a wet cloth or paper towel will wipe it off!!! Yay! I ended up with a cotton bud dipped in water to fix little bits so I didn't have to re-do whole sections.

I looked for a verse to encourage in the morning and one to affirm at night.

These are the 'start' of the verses ...

... and the ends ...

... and the references.

It was a fun project to put together. I'm looking forward to doing some 'tweaking' of the idea for other gifts in future.