Event - Dinner Party

[jack]

In the end we had: Nick, Tom, Alison and Martin, Justin, Tim+Rachel and Jennie+Rich, and George, who I am about to share a house with.

It went very well. Everyone got on well with some people, though there were certain divisions at various points (which is sadder: coporate finance or startrek?). I was worried there wouldn't be
enough food, but there was plenty. I did a pasta bake and potato wedges with readymade topping, and readymade biryani, and salads and garlic bread, etc, from sainsbury's. Tom brought dip & pittas. Alison brought pudding. I could have fed a few more people. With another side dish I could probably feed 20! So my fears of inviting too many people are over bar the trouble of spending all day cooking.

We ended up playing charades of all things. Which was funny. I think my favorites moments were all comments I made. Tom was miming "twice" but going [two] and then [make bigger gesture] and no-one could get it (we tried words starting with the syllable 'too', and words meaning two, but never quite got there) and then I said "three" :) Also, when I was miming "Garfield" for the second syllable I did "mathmos" by pointing at me, tom, alison, martin; and then "ring" by making a ring wiht my fingers; and then "field" by "make bigger" since in maths, a field is an extension of a ring. Alison got it :)

It's almost becoming a regular thing with me! Next time I'll try to vary the main dish, since the pasta bake has come out a few times now, being very convenient for dinner parties. Should it be permanently retired, or brought back in a new incarnation (this one had pesto in, which worked very well, but many different seasonings are possible: garlic? chilli? tomatoes? potatoes? less topping? more topping? a mid-layer of topping?). How about the potatoes and rice - ok? Any other suggestions?

Anyone want to be invited to the next one, who wasn't, or couldn't come, this time?

Comments

[rochvelleth.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you :)

Oh God, you mput onions in it? Noooo! Er, sorry, I just happen to detest what onions to to a good pasta bake. But that's just me, and I have some very strange tastes :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I love onions; they perfectly complement mushrooms especially, and my kind of bake in general. But I do ask for any requests before hand; if you've any suggestions I can manage to make, and other people will eat, I'm happy to give a onion-less variant a go.

I've already constrained myself to vegetarian food. That's something else I forgot to ask: do people feel hard done by about that? I'm not sure I can stretch to cooking two main dishes, and I don't really like cooking meat, but for the sake of hospitality, I might be able to work something out. OTOH, I like to think I do fairly well wihtout it. Thoughts?

[rochvelleth.livejournal.com]

No, no, don't cook carnivorous stuff just because you have carnivores coming. That'd be terribly unfair on you.

If I had a suggestion, it'd be a cheesy pasta bake thing, possibly with potatoes. Possibly in it. Hmmm... did I mention that I can't cook? Perhaps I should stop making suggestions...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Pip. I mean, it shouldn't be, really: I don't think I can morally object to cooking meat, I'm just squeemish. But so long as I can cook good vege food I will, and only do otherwise when someone can't eat anything else I can make (the Harts :)).

A potato bake is a good idea. But I don't have much experience with it. I'm not sure if potato and pasta would really work, but I want to try.

Anyway, you've never had my bake, I don't think, so I might just make that again when you come :)