Teething and a Dinner Party...

My inclination towards domestic goddess-hood has been severely impaired by the baby's dentistry - namely the molars that are causing her untold misery and bother (we were lucky with the rest - hardly any hassle at all - and now it is pay back time...)

So what do you do when you have had no sleep for a week, are so tired that you can't remember your own phone number and have even stopped eating toast cos frankly heating up the bread is way too much effort? That's right - you throw a dinner party.

Cursing the gene that is scientifically known as the "if you are going to do something you may as well do it properly" chromosome it was an all-out assault on the kitchen. And this was a tricky ask...

Six people - two veggies (proper no fish veggies), one person who doesn't eat cheese, one person who doesn't eat fruit or nuts in savoury dishes, one person who doesn't eat ginger or cinnamon, one person who is allergic to peppers...takes some planning let me tell you.

A simple starter seemed the best way forward - a platter of halloumi, vine leaves, hummous, pitta etc

For the main course a recipe I have been meaning to make forever but as it's something that serves 6-8 and is not easily altered had been hitherto untried...


Pretty easy to make - nothing more arduous than a load of stirring. Past practice in the art of filo made the assembly relatively unstressful too. And it looks way more impressive than it ought to so lots of 'oohs' and 'aahs' and even a 'wow' (though wasn't sure whether the astonishment displayed by guest was a genuine compliment or more of a 'blimey, who'd have thought it?'). Make of it what you will...

Off piste (in Nigella terms) for the accompaniments: Ottolenghi chargrilled brocolli salad, a green bean and sesame salad and a nifty combo of roasted new potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato and cherry tomato. And not a morsel remained.

Desert - and the trusty apple crumble (as per previous post) plus Chocolate Raspberry Tarts (Domestic Goddess again...)

The latter was possibly the bridge too far, the straw that broke this very tired camel;'s back. Looked great, tasted good - but not enough to warrant the time and effort that were already in short supply and ended up in overdraft.

The chocolate pastry was easy enough to make (by hand) but incredibly short - and so by the time it had chilled in the fridge it was more like a big rock-hard lump of crumbliness, rather than a dough you had any hope of rolling. Disloyally perhaps, I recalled a Jamie trick of cutting and pressing slices into the little tins which worked pretty well. But then there was freezing the cases for 30 mins, then baking, then cooling, then filling - all around bath and bedtime and lots of comforting cuddles and teething powders. ..

Went my own way on the filling (when did I ever follow a recipe to the letter?) and mixed melted milky bar with marscapone which was so delicious had eaten half of it before it got near the tarts. One tip - keep at room temperature for while before serving otherwise it's not quite as soft and sumptuous as it should be...

Anyway - lots more wows, replete and happy guests - and another long, long night. We're back on the butties for a while...