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Party! Party! How to organise a brilliant bash: the essential guide Polly Betton Get together guru - Harper’s Bazaar Kyle Books www.kylebooks.com Contents Introduction 6 1 Party basics 22 Themes Themes Titanic Pyjama party Futurist Colourscape Roaring 20s/Prohibition Floral Creative concepts Types of party Invitation design, production and delivery Hosting 70 Creating a soundtrack for the evening Helpers Cleaning up Scene setting: lighting, texture and scent Weather 2 Daytime entertaining 36 Dressing the part Logistics Health and safety Unusual venues Themes Al fresco dining Themes Film noir Celebratory picnic 7 Large-scale parties Seven deadly sins The rituals and etiquette of afternoon tea 140 Sports day picnic Setting up a bar Glow-in-the-dark Tableware and linen 160 Choosing your venue Themes Victorian afternoon tea 5 House parties Entertainment 96 How many guests? Coffee and cake morning Considering neighbours/ Noise regulations Art brunch 3 Dinner parties 6 Al fresco parties 4 Drinks parties Quick and easy props and decorations 52 Seating Table dressing Wine and food pairing Making use of the whole house Setting up a sound system and finding a DJ Planning timings Prop and furniture hire Themes Love Bal Argentée Day of the dead 8 Great parties in history 180 Index 206 introduction main intro has more to offer than you think: from breakfast to brunch, lunch and afternoon tea, it’s no cop-out to entertain your guests during the daylight hours. Family friendly planning Daytime entertaining is a family friendly choice, so you’ll probably want to be as accommodating as possible to all age groups. Small details - such as the time your party starts - can make all the difference. For example, small children and older guests often have regular habits that it pays not to mess up. You may need to provide specific/additional seating, or tailor your menu. These things seem obvious, but it’s very easy for them to get lost in the bustle of pulling together an event. You’ll feel dreadful if a guest has a problem at your party, so make a note to think the event through from start to finish beforehand with a view to identifying and fixing potential pitfalls. Extending your hospitality Aside from its family friendly qualities, daytime entertaining is a great way to extend the party experience. Lunch, afternoon tea or late afternoon cocktails can all work as a gentle precursor to an evening party, while breakfast or brunch is perfect for recovery post event. That said, don’t overestimate your guests – a 7am breakfast is no good if everyone went to bed at 5am, and a day of entertainment that stretches from lunch to late night may leave your guests needing a little time to themselves. To drink or not to drink? Daytime drinking is a moot point. Some people consider it entirely unacceptable, while others see a special occasion as the perfect excuse to indulge. Try to be sensitive to the general mood of your guests and be prepared to cater for exceptions without fuss. If you’re going to offer alcoholic drinks keep them as appropriate to the time of day as possible – Buck’s Fizz works in the morning because orange juice is a breakfast drink and Bloody Marys go down well at brunch because they’re quite ‘food-y’. Guests who start to drink early in the day are likely to need a restorative (or a little sleep) after a few hours, so have a comfortable sofa ready for the inveitable crash outs and encourage guests to match each alcoholic drink with a soft drink during the party. Extending your hospitality Aside from its family friendly qualities, daytime entertaining is a great way to extend the party experience. Lunch, afternoon tea or late afternoon cocktails can all work as a gentle precursor to an evening party, while breakfast or brunch is perfect for recovery post event. That said, don’t overestimate your guests – a 7am breakfast is no good if everyone went to bed at 5am, and a day of entertainment that stretches from lunch to late night may leave your guests needing a little time to themselves. To drink or not to drink? Daytime drinking is a moot point. Some people consider it entirely unacceptable, while others see a special occasion as the perfect excuse to indulge. Try to be sensitive to the general mood of your guests and be prepared to cater for exceptions without fuss. If you’re going to offer alcoholic drinks keep them as appropriate to the time of day as possible – Buck’s Fizz works in the morning because orange juice is a breakfast drink and Bloody Marys go down well at brunch because they’re quite ‘food-y’. Guests who start to drink early in the day are likely to need a restorative (or a little sleep) after a few hours, so have a comfortable sofa ready for the inveitable crash outs and encourage guests to Party! XXX 1 party basıcs party basics party basics Creative concepts Most parties have a purpose: to celebrate, whether a birthday, an anniversary or the start of a new adventure. A group of well-wishers, a couple of bottles of wine and voila! A party. But there are parties and there are parties. Every person should get to be at the centre of an utterly brilliant party at some point in his or her life. Central to a successful shindig is a good concept, an idea beyond the sentiment the party represents. It should be an extension of the person(s) being celebrated: a Bal Argentée for the glamorous type, a scavenger hunt for the outdoors type or an art themed tea for the creative type. Coming up with themes can be great fun – the more bonkers the better in my opinion – but it does require some thought. All themes have potential, but are they appropriate? Consider your audience carefully: try to make sure that everyone you invite will understand and enjoy the party. Your theme should be versatile – it will influence your invitations, your venue dressing, your entertainment, your food and drink and your guest’s clothing. The fancy dress party has been known to strike fear into even the steeliest of adults, so choose a theme that can be referenced with little fuss, as well as giving scope for extravagant dressing up. Try to work with your interior rather than against it. There’s no point pretending that a suburban semi is the Palace of Versailles, but with a couple of cleverly pinned Army Surplus parachutes and some scatter cushions it can make a decadent setting for a Roman Bacchante. Inspiration can be found in all sorts of places, but history is always a good start. Look at famous parties in the past (see the last chapter of this book) or think about eras with a style you admire. You can also look to television programs you enjoy, books that you’ve read or pretty much anything that sparks your imagination. Just remember to really give it some welly, half hearted efforts won’t cut the mustard. XX Party! party basics Types of party There are a lots of options open to you as a host, most of which are dealt with in subsequent chapters. Deciding what sort of party to throw is a simple matter of evaluating your circumstances and finding the format that fits. If you’re lucky enough to have both a reasonably large house and relaxed outlook (or perhaps very reliable friends and very few possessions) a house party may be in order. If you have a little budget available and want to make an impact, a large-scale party in a hired venue will fit the bill. For more intimate entertaining an elaborate dinner is a great opportunity to flex your culinary muscles. If you want an elegant event with a fixed start and end time a cocktail reception is a neat solution, but if you prefer an earlier party then afternoon tea is perfect. For those who enjoy going a little off-piste anything from a picnic to a pool party can be executed in style with a little forethought. Think about the venues available to you, the number of people you’d like to host and how much you’d like to feed them. All of these factors will influence the type of event you choose to put together. Never take on more than you want to out of obligation and be realistic about the amount of money you have to spend from the very start. Invitations Your invitation sets the tone of your party. Of course these days not all invitations need to be as thick as a plank of wood and hand engraved to be special, it just takes a little care. If you’d like to produce a polished printed invitation it’s advisable to visit your local printer. Go in armed with a collection of printed items you like to give the printer a bit of guidance on the style you’re aiming for. There are several different printing methods open to you: a) Letterpress: expensive but beautiful, printing process indents the paper lightly b) Litho print: expensive in short runs, but not too bad if you’re printing hundreds. Will allow for unusual or textured paper that digital machines can’t print onto. c) Digital: great value with a good finish, but can only print onto smooth papers up to a certain thickness Of course there’s also the home-made option: buy some nice paper and create your own design. Wedding websites and blogs are a great source of links to decorative fonts that are free to download. If you don’t have a design program it’s still possible to create a beautiful invitation using desktop publishing programs like Microsoft Word. XX Party! Party! XXX party basics party basics A smart envelope makes a big difference to the impact of an invitation. They only come in standard sizes so do a little research before deciding what size to make your invitations: you don’t want a mis-match. For an extra special effect line your envelopes with a contrasting colour. Or add a personal touch by trying your hand at calligraphy: the equipment is cheap to buy from art supplies shops and introductory guides can be found for free online. The environmentally friendly option is to email your invitation. Put the relevant information in the body of your email and attach a JPEG that illustrates the theme of your party. Be careful if emailing lots of people from a free web account – most have a limit on how many messages you can send in a day so you may find your account frozen for 24 hours. Sending out a single email to lots of recipients can also mean that the email is assumed to be junk by the invitees email server, so it’s best to email people individually or in batches of no more than 5. If you don’t want people to see who else is invited put their email addresses in the ‘BCC’ section so that they can only see that the email has come from you. Hosting By the time you’ve made the party happen, you may feel like you’ve done enough. I’m afraid your work is not yet over, because you are The Host. Fortunately you’ve invited all your favourite people along so it’s not too much of a hardship. Make an effort with your outfit – even if it means being 20 minutes late for your own party, dash into the shower, comb your hair and put on some clean, smart clothes. If you want to spend serious time getting ready for the party, just factor it into your schedule when planning your day. And finally, but crucially, keep your ‘phone at hand and on ‘loud’. People will need directions, want to come along at the last minute or have a mob they want to bring along. Make sure you can field these requests in good time by being reachable. Hosting is about welcoming people and making them feel at home. Greet each guest personally, and speak to them before you dash back to the kitchen or bar. Introduce guests to one another and keep an eye out for anyone looking a little lost. Of course some people quite like sitting quietly, so if you’ve tried a few times and they’re still flying solo you can safely leave them to it: there’s no accounting for taste. Make sure all newcomers are relieved of their coats and supplied with a drink, and don’t forget to smile – you’re having fun after all! Don’t spend the whole evening with only one or two people, it’s not the moment for a serious catch-up. Even a small dinner can go awry if you end up with a clique at one end of the table. Make every guest at your party feel thoroughly welcome and you’ll be well on your way to a great time being had by all. XX Party! Helpers Whatever type of party you intend to host, you’re probably hoping to enjoy it. That’s not at all likely to happen if you don’t have good help on hand. ‘Good help’ can mean all sorts of things, from flat-mates to agency waitresses, but the quality they should all have in common is a certain level of commitment. In return for their commitment, it is necessary to treat your helpers with respect, and to be realistic about what you expect from them. Most importantly, don’t forget to thank people for a job well done: a little appreciation goes a long way. Friends and family are the people you can rely on in an emergency. They may not be quite so reliable at a cocktail party, where happy distractions are rife. Thus when working with kind volunteers: l Recruit as many as you can, break down tasks into manageable chunks and distribute duties widely. l Make sure that for every boring job there is a fun one to balance it out. l Schedule twice as long as you think you’ll need for preparations so that you won’t feel the need to nag when people stop for a chat. l If you think someone will be more of a hindrance than a help, politely refuse their assistance. There’s no point making it harder on yourself. l Don’t expect more than an hour’s consecutive help from any individual: part of the trade-off from your helper’s perspective is the opportunity to have fun. If you plan in advance this won’t be a problem. l Bear in mind people’s social habits: the heavy drinker won’t be any use past 10pm, but the teetotaler will be happy to help out at 1am. Ask the former to set up tables for you and the latter to take on late night taxi procurement. l If anyone ends up putting in long hours for you – for example working the door all night – then make sure that you check up on them at regular intervals, bringing drinks and offering lots of thanks. Remember to arrange a thank you gift post-event. Paid helpers are a rather different matter, but you won’t need those unless you’re throwing a bigger event – find more information on this in the Large Scale Parties chapter. Cleaning up The most successful parties leave behind them the most monumental mess (even the ones with only six guests). Cleaning isn’t rocket science, but it is an important factor to have considered in advance. Most venues have a cleaning service, and will just charge you a fee as part of the hire agreement. You’ll still need to make sure that someone is designated to pack up your treasures safely at the end of the night, it’s never advisable to leave small items behind at a venue – this is a good job for your general helpers, who can be briefed before the party, leaving you free to have fun. If Party! XXX party basics you want to have props collected at a later date this must be arranged with the venue’s management beforehand, otherwise it’s possible they’ll go out with the bins! If your party is in your home it’s a good idea to book a cleaning service to visit the day after your party. It’s a bit of a luxury but it really takes the sting out of the hangover. The parsimonious among you may prefer to do their own cleaning, but even that dreadful task will be a lot more fun if you’ve arranged to have some friends help you out and are all set to follow the cleaning with a nice brunch and a good film. Weather and other disasters There are some things that simply can’t be avoided. It’s sad but true that you may fall victim to a whopping great thunderstorm on the night of your party. The first thing to do is to have a little breathe: it’s not the end of the world. Don’t have a drink, it’ll just mean that once you’ve finished panicking you’ll immediately want to go to sleep and that’s no use to anyone. If the thunderstorm is the start of an epic natural disaster, send all of your guests a message that the party is cancelled and go home to get out the sandbags. If it’s just rubbish weather, hang in there. People are remarkably resilient about carrying on regardless and the more dramatic the weather the more likely it is to ease off quickly. If people are going to arrive soaking wet then try to get hold of some towels and arrange for hot toddies to be provided. If your guestlist is cut in half then scale down your celebrations to something more suited to the circumstances. Five people can have as much fun as – if not more than – five hundred as long as an upbeat mood is maintained and plenty of drinks are available. This applies to sudden transport strikes, cold snaps and an accidental clash of dates with another party. These things happen, in fact they happen more often than not. There’s always an excuse for a rubbish party, but there’s as much of a reason to make sure that it’s a great one whatever happens. XX Party! 2 DAYTIME entertaınıng daytime entertaining Daytime entertaining has more to offer than you think: from breakfast to brunch, lunch and afternoon tea, it’s no cop-out to entertain your guests during the daylight hours. Family friendly planning Daytime entertaining is a family friendly choice, so you’ll probably want to be as accommodating as possible to all age groups. Small details - such as the time your party starts - can make all the difference. For example, small children and older guests often have regular habits that it pays not to mess up. You may need to provide specific/additional seating, or tailor your menu. These things seem obvious, but it’s very easy for them to get lost in the bustle of pulling together an event. You’ll feel dreadful if a guest has a problem at your party, so make a note to think the event through from start to finish beforehand with a view to identifying and fixing potential pitfalls. Extending your hospitality Aside from its family friendly qualities, daytime entertaining is a great way to extend the party experience. Lunch, afternoon tea or late afternoon cocktails can all work as a gentle precursor to an evening party, while breakfast or brunch is perfect for recovery post event. That said, don’t overestimate your guests – a 7am breakfast is no good if everyone went to bed at 5am, and a day of entertainment that stretches from lunch to late night may leave your guests needing a little time to themselves. To drink or not to drink? Daytime drinking is a moot point. Some people consider it entirely unacceptable, while others see a special occasion as the perfect excuse to indulge. Try to be sensitive to the general mood of your guests and be prepared to cater for exceptions without fuss. If you’re going to offer alcoholic drinks keep them as appropriate to the time of day as possible – Buck’s Fizz works in the morning because orange juice is a breakfast drink and Bloody Marys go down well at brunch because they’re quite ‘food-y’. Guests who start to drink early in the day are likely to need a restorative (or a little sleep) after a few hours, so have a comfortable sofa ready for the inveitable crash outs and encourage guests to match each alcoholic drink with a soft drink during the party. Party! XXX daytime entertaining Celebration breakfast is a wonderful start to a special day, whether an intimate affair for two or a morning gathering for 20. Making time for a special gesture at the start of a busy morning is the perfect way to show someone how important they are to you. Setting a beautiful breakfast tray Banish chipped mugs, novelty china and mismatched cutlery to the back of the cupboard. The ideal starting pont is a large tray with raised sides (to prevent eggy incidents). The natural inclination is to overcrowd the tray, but I have a way around this that also adds a little more ceremony to the breakfast: provide your guest with a tray carefully laid with a linen napkin, bud vase, cutlery and condiments. Plate up your menu into covered containers and arrange on a nearby table. Then serve your menu course by course, lovingly presenting each to your guest in turn. You won’t end up with a precariously balanced tray, the food is much easier to serve hot and all of your hard work will be properly appreciated. XX Party! Thoughtful extras Just as no two people are the same, no two ‘perfect’ breakfasts are the same – we’ve all got our own ideas about indulgent breakfast food. When you’re planning the breakfast include your guest(s) favourite items, even if they’re not quite your idea of the best thing since sliced bread. This approach can extend beyond the menu, taking in the music, the reading materials provided, the particular flowers on the table/tray and the colour of the table linen. Timing your breakfast to perfection Breakfast is the hardest meal to time well because the components are so quick to make (and quick to cool down). Slightly cold toast is fine if you’re going to be eating it, but it’s not going to work for guests. It sounds ridiculous, but have a practice run - it’ll become clear pretty quickly what the plan of attack should be. If you’re making a tray breakfast then serving from containers (as described above) is helpful. If you’re serving a larger party break things up into courses. You may want to cook some items to order (for example eggs), which is a little more time consuming but gives better results. Incorporate plenty of cold components to give you a little time to breathe and join in. celebration breakfast Home-made Granola 225g rolled oats 35g flax seed 165g shelled chopped natural pistachios 225g sultanas 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1 1/2 tsp muscovado sugar 180ml runny honey 1 1/2 tbsp butter Home-made granola is wonderful stuff - no additives, since you’ve made it yourself from scratch, considerably cheaper than if bought by the box and delicious to boot. If you’d rather have your granola in a bar, just pile more of the mixture into a smaller pan, press down tightly and bake for 20 minutes instead of 5-10. Allow to cool a little before cutting into bars and turning out of the pan. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Scatter the oats, pistachios and flax onto a lined baking sheet and toast in the oven until nicely browned, giving them a stir so that both sides get some attention. Keep a close eye on the baking sheet, it’s really easy to burn them. Remove from the oven once toasted. Leave your oven on, and pour the oats, pistachios and flax into a large mixing bowl. Add the sultanas, cinnamon, nutmeg and muscovado sugar and stir well. Pour the honey into a small pan with the butter and heat gently until the butter is melted and combined with the honey. Pour into the large mixing bowl and stir together well. Re-line your baking sheet, plus another sheet, and lightly scatter your mixture across it. It’s fine if it clumps together a bit and you don’t have to worry about leaving space between clumps, just don’t pack it in too thick and tight or you’ll end up with granola bars (see note above). Pop sheets into the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes. Baking time depends on your oven and how thickly you’ve layered the granola, so keep an eye on it. When it’s slightly crispy andgolden brown you’ve hit the perfect balance. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for a couple of hours before decanting into a jar or serving. Yoghurt with blood orange, granola and honey Greek yoghur t, Granola (see below) Blood orange, peeled and sliced thinly Runny honey This is a great combination of flavours and textures, especially if you’re able to take the time to make your own granola. Choose a pretty glass container (transparent is best) and layer up the ingredients - it’s up to you what order to layer in, but I generally prefer to go: greek yoghurt, blood orange, granola then honey. Make this dish extra special by creating your own granola: Party! XXX celebration breakfast celebration breakfast Frothy coffee Most of us don’t have a proper coffee machine at home, but on a celebratory occasion nothing less than a proper frothy coffee will do. Fortunately there are ways to achieve the effect without all the fancy kit. First prepare your coffee; instant if you really must, but I’d recommend investing in a little stovetop espresso maker, they’re not very expensive and make infinitely better coffee. Pour the coffee into a glass designed to hold hot beverages: a normal glass may crack under the heat. Put the amount of milk you’d usually add to a coffee into a small pan and set over a medium heat on the stove. Whisk as the milk heats up – this will stabilise the milk, so that it holds the ‘frothy’ shape you’re beating it into. Don’t let the milk boil, it’ll taste icky. Keep beating until you’ve got enough froth, then pour the hot milk into the coffee cup, holding back the froth with a spoon. Spoon the froth on top gently. If you have time beforehand, cut a stencil of your guest’s initial and hold it over the finished cup of coffee while you sieve cocoa powder on top, leaving a cute little cocoa initial on top of the coffee. 124 Party! Mini tarte tatin 4 apples (go for crispy rather than floury varieties) Juice of a lemon 3 oz butter, plus a little spare 3oz Golden caster sugar, plus a little spare 1 tbsp water Pack of pre-rolled puff pastry A tarte tatin may sound like a bit of an intimidating baking project, but it’s easy to cheat a little and still end up with a beautiful result. I would recommend finding small individual tins to use for this. Using a muffin tin - even a silicon one - could prove a bit of a disaster when unmoulding. NB: don’t use a springform tin, the syrup will run out of the bottom! Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Peel, core and thinly wedge your apples (you can slice them if you prefer). Pop into a bowl with the lemon juice and give them a stir - this will stop the slices from going brown. Put the sugar, apples and water into a small pan over a low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved and the apples cooked through. Dot the blobs of the butter on top of the mixture and swirl together in the pan. The syrup will caramelise – you’ll see it turn a light golden brown. Once caramelised, take off the heat straight away and fill your tins _ full with syrup and apples. Sprinkle your apple syrup mixture with the extra brown sugar, then dot with a little of the extra butter. Cut discs to fit the top of your mini tins from the rolled puff pastry and place on top of the apples. Put your mini tatins into the oven and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked through and golden. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate and serving. These can be served cold or gently warmed with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Either way, they’ll be universally enjoyed. Party! XXX celebration breakfast Fruit jams 450g Raspberries 450g Jam sugar with pectin Vanilla pod Home made jam is utterly, brilliantly better than the store bought stuff and super easy to make. There really isn’t any excuse not to have a go, your guests will love you for it. First sterilize your jam jars by putting them into a hot oven for 5-10 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the jars in there until you’re ready to use them. Rinse the raspberries and put them into a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sugar and the split vanilla pod, stir in well and continue to heat until the sugar has dissolved. Keep heating until the mixture has reached a rolling boil, which is when it’s bubbling away and doesn’t stop when you stir it. Keep it on the boil for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat. The jam should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Fish out the vanilla pod and carefully pour the jam into the pots. Pour through a sieve first if you don’t like jam with seeds. Cover the top of your jam with a circle of waxed paper and seal the lid firmly. It’s ready to enjoy once cool and will keep for a couple months in a cool dark place. 124 Party! Party! XXX daytime entertaining Art Brunch This is a fun theme if you have an erudite bunch of friends to entertain. It’s inspired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which serves an adorable Mondrian cake in it’s café. Art Brunch Decor A large part of your décor will be the food itself, but that’s not to say that you can’t throw in a few extra embellishments that make a sly wink to artists and/or artworks. Have some fun applying a little lateral thinking to translate your favourite artworks into decorations. For example, floral decorations are made very straightforward with an art theme – after all there are hundreds of artworks featuring flowers to choose from. Whether you choose Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ or Henri Fantin-Latour’s ‘Bouquet of roses’, remember to consider the backdrop and lighting as much as the vase and the flowers themselves. You don’t have to kill yourself trying to make a perfect replica, you just need to capture the spirit of the thing. Jackson Pollock martini For the classic martini 2 oz. Gin 1 oz. Dry vermouth 2 dashes Orange bitters Ice cubes Purchase a selection of coloured, flavoured bar syrups (Monin is an excellent range) and put each into a squeezy bottle, or supply in a glass with an eye dropper if you’re going for a more elegant look. Tell your guests to squirt as much of the syrup around the inside of the glass as they like, then top with the martini recipe below – the syrup with stay on the glass, giving a ‘Rothko’ paint splatter effect, then slowly dissolve into the Martini, giving a colourful dash of extra flavor to this classic cocktail. Stir ingredients briskly with ice, then strain into a chilled glass (on top of the syrups, in this case). XX Party! art brunch Art food Since all of this food is inspired by artworks/artists, it makes sense to present each dish as if it were an artwork in it’s own right. Try to light each individually (clip on mini spotlights are excellent for this, and can be found inexpensively online), and consider the backdrops and props. Some of the items I’m going to suggest work as a direct copy of the artwork, others just reference the form, so use your judgement on how far to go. I also recommend that you label each item with information on the artwork, artist and the contents of your replica /inspired by plate. E.g: Piet Mondrian, Composition No. 8, 1939-42 Red velvet cake, natural food colouring, icing Not included here, but worth thinking about if you’re inclined to go for something a little monumental, is a recreation of Wayne Thiebaud’s painting, Cakes. Display this alongside a colour copy of the painting to give your guests the full effect of your artistry. Cezanne ‘Compotier, Pitcher, and Fruit’ fruit platter, Clara Peeters ‘Slice of butter on a porcelain plate, on a cheesestack on a pewter plate, with a jug, a wineglass, a bun, crayfish, a knife and shrimps’ platter, Antoine Vollon ‘Mound of Butter’ All three of the above are examples of artwork you can more or less exactly replicate. Simply buy what you see and create your best approximation with the aid of lighting, fabrics and props.. XX Party! Party! XXX art brunch Rothko trifle Sponge flan base (large enough to cover the bottom of your container if using a single large one) 150ml Orange juice (best if fresh squeezed from really nice oranges) 150ml Water 50g Caster sugar 3 leaves of gelatin (always use leaves, never powder) 2 Vanilla pods 600ml Cream 6 Large egg yolks 2 tsp Cornflour 50g Caster sugar 200g Plain chocolate, grated Cointreau or other orange liqueur This dessert is based on ‘No.9’, painted by Rothko in 1954. It’s not so much a trifle as a lovely custardy dessert, but since it also features a sponge base and a jelly layer I’ve designated it one anyway. The idea is that the cross section (i.e. the side view if we make it in a transparent container) echoes the colours and proportions of the painting. For the best possible view it’s best to use a square glass. The effect works as well with lots of little ‘Rothkos’ as it does with one big one. Start off by preparing the sponge base. This is really easy – just turn your container upside down and press it into your ready made flan base so that it marks out the size and shape for you. Then cut around the marks – slightly smaller so it’s easy to get in. You’ll need to do this a few times if you’re doing lots of trifles in little containers, since you’ll need one for each. Then pop it into the bottom of your container and drizzle it with a little Cointreau. The next layer up is the vanilla custard. This is really straightforward to make and incredibly yummy. We’re actually going to make a double batch and split it to make the top layer of chocolate custard. Split the two vanilla pods and scoop out the seeds. Pop the seeds and the pods into a pan with the cream and heat gently to simmering point (NB: don’t boil). Meanwhile beat the egg yolks, cornflour and sugar with an electric mixer on a medium speed until pale and fluffy. Take the vanilla pods out of the cream and decant the hot cream into a measuring jugs. With the mixer running pour the hot cream very slowly into the egg mixture, then pop the whole lot straight back into the pan and continue to heat gently until the custard is thick and smooth. Decant to a jug to cool. Once at room temperature pour half of the custard on top of the sponge base and set aside the other half. Pop the half made trifles into the fridge to chill. Wait until they’re properly chilled through and the top has set firmly before starting the next phase. Put your gelatin leaves in to soak in a bowl of cold water. Pour your orange juice into a pan with your sugar and heat gently to dissolve. Once the sugar is dissolved give your gelatin a quick squeeze to get rid of excess water and pop it into the pan. Stir continuously to melt the gelatin leaves. Then take the heat off and add the cold water. Stir to incorporate and pour the lot back into the measuring jug, then set aside to cool. Take your trifles out of the fridge and pour a thin layer of orange jelly on top of the vanilla custard layer. Pop back into the fridge to set – again, wait until the jelly is completely set before starting the next bit. This is really important because if the previous layer isn’t completely set the warmth of the next (even if it’s quite cool) will cause the layer to bleed into each other. Next you need to pour the reserved custard back into the pan and heat gently. Throw in 150g of the grated chocolate and stir until it has completely melted into the custard. Pour back into the jug and ste aside to cool. Once at room temperature get the trifles out of the fridge and pour on the final, chocolate layer. Pop back into the fridge to set, and keep in there until you’re ready to serve. Just before you serve the trifle sprinkle it with the remaining grated chocolate. 124 Party! victorian tea Victorian tea One late afternoon in the early 19th century, the seventh Duchess of Bedford experienced “that sinking feeling”. At the time people only ate two meals a day, so it’s hardly surprising she was suffering from a mid afternoon energy dip. Her problem was solved with a pot of tea and a light snack in her boudoir, a solution so successful that it quickly became a habit. Tiring of snacking alone, the Duchess started to invite guests to join her for “tea and a walking in the fields”, a practice that caught on among society hostesses, and thus began the evolution of the afternoon tea. For a long time you could have either ‘high tea’ or ‘low tea’. Confusingly enough, ‘low tea’ was served by the upper classes at around four o’clock, while the middle and working classes served a more substantial ‘high tea’ at five or six o’clock. The names came from the tables the teas were served on – ‘low tea’ was a more informal affair on trays placed on low occasional tables, while ‘high tea’ was eaten at the taller dinner table. Eventually the two forms of tea were consolidated into the traditional afternoon tea, as served today in the hallowed halls of the Ritz, London. The Victorian afternoon tea is the ultimate traditional tea: when it came to cake those Victorians really meant business. Hardly a surprise really, when you consider that Queen Victoria lent her name to that most famous of cakes, the Victoria Sponge. Table settings A Victorian tea party is a midpoint between a dinner and a buffet, because you’re offering finger food to formally seated guests. Therefore a place should be set at the table for each of your guests, but they will serve themselves You will need to provide napkins, cups and saucers, dessert plates, dessert forks, teaspoons and butter knives. Forks should be placed on the left, spoons and knives on the right, with the knife blades pointing towards the plate. If you’re serving any items that are a bit messy you should also provide finger bowls with a couple of rose petals floating in each. Decant the loose teas into pretty containers and provide several teapots, strainers and an urn (or other source) of hot water. Tea accompaniments should be provided in the form of lemon wedges, sugar (with tongs or a spoon), a jug of milk and a pot of honey. Serving loose and exotic teas Loose teas can seem like a bit of a palaver, but they’re well worth the effort. Spend a happy afternoon in a specialist teashop talking to the staff and giving the teas a good sniff. Discuss the food you expect to serve and the theme of the afternoon tea: you’ll find that there is a tea suited to every eventuality. It’s fun to investigate some of the more flamboyant teas, for example a flowering variety. They are actually dried buds that unfurl in the hot water, which look quite incredible served in a glass teapot. Here is a quick list of the various types of tea, so you don’t feel totally lost: Black teas: fully fermented, best served with sugar or honey, can be served with milk if necessary. Oolong teas: partly fermented, best served with sugar, milk not a good plan. Green teas: unfermented, best served plain, never with milk. Yellow teas: similar to green teas, originated in the Imperial Court of China, best served plain. White teas: the tip of the tea leaves, best served plain. Infusions: Herbs, flowers and roots steeped in boiling water to produce flavor, best served Party! XXX victorian tea Floral arrangements Fan flirting The Victorians weren’t an especially shy and retiring bunch, as abundantly reflected in their floral arrangements. The Victorians liked colour, volume and as many decorative twiddly bits as possible. Think of any traditional, formal flower arrangement and you’re imagining something the Victorians came up with. Continuing the theme of covert communication, fan flirting is another Victorian activity that is fun to explain to your guests. This has a lot in common with semaphore, the only difference being the exuberance required – a husband takes slightly less flapping to land than an aircraft. If you’d like to put together your own arrangements bear in mind the following: Supply a cheap folding paper fan for each guest (found online or at a novelty shop) and either include a fan language ‘dictionary’ sheet as part of each place setting or stand up to explain the various moves to the whole party. Either way your table will soon be shrouded in intrigue as your guests communicate frenetically (and silently) across the table. l Victorian arrangements were round or oval in shape l Blooms should be tightly packed: more is more l Your arrangement should be one and a half times the height of the container l Seasonal flowers are most appropriate (since hostesses would use flowers from their gardens) l Fashionable flowers included roses, tulips, carnations, daisies, lilies, peonies, freesias, dahlias and baby’s breath l The Victorians favoured strong colour contrasts and brightly coloured flowers l Use lots of foliage to increase the volume of your arrangement, e.g: ferns or ivies. Another element to consider in your floristry is the meaning of the flowers you’re using. Victorian society had all sorts of rules, so people found other ways to communicate, one of which was by exchanging posies made up of flowers with secret meanings (some of which weren’t all that nice). You may find it amusing to send your guests a message, even if they’re unlikely to work it out. Full dictionaries can be found online, but here are a few examples: l Red carnation = ‘Alas for my poor heart’ l Chrysanthemum = Love l Daisy = Innocence / ‘I feel the same way’ l Fern = Sincerity l Gardenia = Ecstasy l Geranium = ‘You are childish’ l Lavender = Luck XX Party! A quick fan flirting glossary (online research will turn up many more variations): l Fan placed near the heart = You have won my love l Half open fan pressed to lips = You may kiss me l Resting fan on lips = I don’t trust you l Hiding eyes behind open fan = I love you l Opening and closing fan quickly several times = You are cruel l Fanning slowly = I am married l Fanning quickly = I am engaged l Twirling fan in left hand = You are being watched l Hitting her hand’s palm = Love me! l Looking closely at the fan = I like you l Dropping the fan = I belong to you l Hitting any object = I’m impatient victorian tea Lavender Lemonade 7 Lemons (6 to squeeze and 1 to slice for garnish) 1ltr Water 500ml Lavender syrup (see below) Ice cubes Liquid refreshment is essential: it’s only fair to provide an option for anyone who isn’t a fan of tea, and an extra refreshing option for anyone who isn’t a fan of spending a party sober. Lavender lemonade is a light, floral variation of a traditional favourite. Heat 250ml water, 200g of caster sugar and a handful of lavender buds until the sugar is dissolved and the lavender infused – this is your lavender syrup. Set aside to cool. Fill a large pitcher with ice and arrange lemon slices and lavender stems among the ice cubes, decoratively. Pour in the lemon juice, water and cold lavender syrup, muddle gently and serve. Sneakily add vodka should your guests so desire, and it’s fine to use a little violet food colouring if you feel the lemonade isn’t quite lavender enough. Swiss roll 3 Large eggs 75g Caster sugar 75g Self raising flour Raspberry jam Swiss roll may be redolent of childhood birthday parties, but a home-made version is an entirely different prospect to the squashed packet versions you’ll find in the supermarket. Light, sweet sponge rolled around fresh piquant raspberries and whipped cream: irresistible. Not to mention the feeling of achievement a person experiences having successfully rolled up a sponge – it really is quite something. Whipping cream 1 tbsp Icing sugar, plus extra to dust 1 tsp Vanilla essence 100g fresh raspberries, Beat together the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on a medium speed until pale and fluffy. Fold in the flour using a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into a greased swiss roll tin – be careful to distribute the cake mix evenly so that you get a nice flat sheet of cake. Pop into an oven preheated to 200 degrees and bake for 10 mins (keep an eye on the colour and test with a knife before removing). Let the cake cool a little before turning it out – upside down, as with petit fours sheet onto a piece of greaseproof paper. While the cake is resting, beat together the cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Spread the sponge sheet with a nice thick layer of (preferably home made) raspberry jam. Follow this with an equally generous layer of cream and a sprinkling of raspberries (cut the raspberries in half if they’re enormous). Take a deep breath and roll up the sponge – don’t apply too much pressure or the fillings will squish out of the ends! Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve, at which point you should dust the roll with icing sugar and cut into inch thick slices with a sharp knife. Party! XXX victorian tea Sandwiches Sandwiches don’t have to be repetitive. We tend to forget that there are lots of different options for sandwich presentation beyond the plastic wrapped triangle. Smoked salmon Dill (to garnish) Dill butter (see below) Rye bread (preferably a long, thin loaf) Cucumber Mint (chopped) Mint butter (see flavoured butters below) White bread Thinly sliced ham Watercress, chopped Basil butter Sliced white bread Boiled eggs, finely chopped Mayonnaise Spring onions, finely sliced Wholewheat bread Salted butter Salt and pepper Open sandwich: Smoked salmon and dill Slice the rye bread into 1/2cm thick rounds. If your rye loaf is large, halve or quarter the slices. Spread each slice generously with dill butter and top with a roll of smoked salmon and a spring of dill. Finger sandwich: Cucumber and mint Cut your bread into slices around 1/2cm thick. Cut the crusts off, then spread with mint butter and sprinkle liberally with chopped mint. Slice your cucumber thinly and lay out, overlapping slightly, on top of the mint. Place another slice of bread butter side down on top. Cut your sandwich in half, then divide each half into dainty fingers. Pinwheel sandwich: Ham and watercress with basil butter Cut the crusts off your white bread and then make it as flat as possible with a rolling pin. Spread with basil butter and layer with chopped watercress and sliced ham. Carefully roll up your bread (like a swiss roll) and wrap the resulting long thin roll in cling film. Refrigerate for at least an hour, then unwrap and carefully slice into 1cm thick rounds with a sharp knife. Triangle sandwich: Egg mayonnaise and chopped olive on whole wheat Mix your boiled eggs with a couple of dollops of mayonnaise and a pinch of salt and pepper. Slice the wholewheat bread approximately 1/2cm thick and spread with salted butter. Spread the egg mayonnaise over a slice of buttered bread and sprinkle with sliced spring onions. Place another slice of buttered bread face down on top to close the sandwich. Slice diagonally from corner to corner on both sides and serve your sandwiches as dainty triangles. Flavoured butters Flavoured butters are sometimes called compound butters (or beurre compose if you feel like showing off). Flavoured butters can be savoury or sweet and were a particular favourite at Victorian low tea. We’re all familiar with garlic butter, but not many people know there are so many other options out there. Excellent flavourings include: brown sugar, chive and marmalade. All flavoured butters are made using the same method: soften the butter and beat in the flavouring ingredients at medium speed until blended. Leave to stand in a cool spot for a couple of hours so that the flavor develops, then shape or press into containers and refrigerate. 124 Party! 3 al fresco partıes al fresco parties al fresco parties An outdoor party is one of the great simple pleasures in life. The picnic became popular in the early 19th century and the general form is much the same today as it was then – alfresco eating in a pleasant setting. An invitation to a picnic conjures images of balmy summer days, bodies lounging on fragrant turf and toes dipped in icy cold flowing water : the ultimate in relaxed entertaining. Planning ahead Preparation is the key to outdoor entertaining, whether it’s disposing of dirty plates or being ready for a downpour. Set up a specific point for plates and servingware to be cleared to, with a bin for rubbish, bottles and scraps. Have an indoor option and/or umbrellas and canopies in case of rain, and plenty of soft drinks and parasols in case of high temperatures. There will be considerations specific to your venue, so think through any potential problems and do your best to minimise them. Al fresco menus The ideal al fresco menu has the following qualities: - served at room temperature, so that you don’t struggle to keep it hot or cold keeps well, so that it can be packed up and transported once prepared light, because no-one wants to feel too havy for a post-picnic game or two mainly finger food to minimise dirty plates and cutlery Essentially you need to reduce faff to the minimum. There’s no need for elaborate techniques or construction when you’ve got a beautiful natural setting and great friends to share it with. Unusual locations The best way to make an impact is to take your guests to a place they’ve never thought of as a party venue. A little research will reveal a host of interesting and unexpected spots, from farms to luxury boats, lighthouses, tipis or double decker buses. You often need to apply to the local authority for permission to dispense alcohol or provide entertainment in unusual locations: ring your local authority for more details. For larger parties it’s often most practical to rent out a whole campsite or country estate – don’t just assume that they won’t do it if it’s not on the website, ring and ask. Those who are happy to negotiate are blessed with the best deals. Party! XXX al fresco parties Sports day pıcnic The sports day picnic is perhaps the most accessible sort of picnic – perfectly suited to the local park, easy to put together and high on fun kitsch value. Setting up You’ll need lots of large blankets to make one long eating and seating area. Scatter with big, brightly coloured cushions and blankets: anything from your house that you can bundle up and bring along is good. Parasols, to offer some shade and a battery-powered radio to tune into a jazz station are also great if you have them to hand. You’ll need a big bag of tent pegs and some thick white string or plastic tape. Use the tape to mark out the lanes for your races, anchoring it at either end with pegs. Even in a public space a little decoration never hurts, so bring along some bunting to hang in the trees, some flags or some streamers. Bunting is very easy to make – purchase felt or quilting squares and cut into lots of triangles, XX Party! then sew them onto ribbon or bias binding. Flags are just as simple, you just need some PVA glue, coloured tissue paper and bamboo garden stakes. Cut flags from the paper and use the PVA to attach to the stakes. If you’d like your flags to be rigid you can dip the paper in watered down PVA and hang to dry. Races Fun races that don’t require lots of equipment include: l Egg and spoon l Wheelbarrow l Three legged l Space hopper l Sack race Buy in a big bag of medals from a party supply shop, or if you have a little more budget invest in beautiful ribbon rosettes (you can even order them with your own text at the centre if you have time). You could even go bananas and knock together a winner’s podium. sports day picnic Homemade sausage rolls Packet of ready rolled puff pastry Packet of good quality sausages Couple of sprigs of thyme, chopped Couple of sprigs of rosemary, chopped Zest of a lemon 1 egg The humble sausage roll is widely under appreciated, but no sane person can possibly resist the lure pf crisp flaky pastry and gently flavoured sausage meat. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Open up the sausages and empty the filling into a bowl, discarding the casing. Mix in the rosemary, thyme and lemon zest. Lay out your pastry sheet and cut into two rectangles. Beat the egg with a little water, and brush some of the mixture over the pastry, then spoon the sausage meat down the middle of it. Roll up the sausage roll and press together, then brush on another layer off beaten egg and cut to the size desired. Pop into the oven and bake until the pastry is risen and golden, about 20 minutes for smaller rolls, 30 minutes for larger ones. Try not to eat all of them before serving to your guests. Vegetarian option Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Open up the sausages and empty the filling into a bowl, discarding the casing. Mix in the rosemary, thyme and lemon zest. Lay out your pastry sheet and cut into two rectangles. Beat the egg with a little water, and brush some of the mixture over the pastry, then spoon the sausage meat down the middle of it. Roll up the sausage roll and press together, then brush on another layer off beaten egg and cut to the size desired. Pop into the oven and bake until the pastry is risen and golden, 124 Party! Party! XXX sports day picnic Red berry smoothie 500g Frozen summer fruits 60g Caster sugar 300ml Raspberry juice 500g Plain yoghurt Your guests will be thirsty after straining past the winning line in the sack race, so make sure you’re ready to offer them some nice cold refreshments. Pop all the ingredients into a blender and process until completely smooth. Pour through a sieve into a jug to get rid of any seeds, then decant into thermoses or bottles. Super quick, nutritious and yummy. Banana bread 120g Muscovado sugar 1/2 tsp Salt 360g Self raising flour 1 Large egg 125ml Full fat milk 50g Melted butter 4 Ripe, mashed bananas Handful of sultanas 2 tsp Cinnamon 1 tbsp Golden syrup 124 Party! More of a tea loaf than a cake, this stuff is incredibly moreish. I like it completely plain, but others enjoy it thickly spread with butter. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Lightly oil a medium loaf tin. Mix together the sugar, salt, cinnamon and flour in a large bow. Add the egg, milk, golden syrup and butter and beat well with an electric mixer. Fold in the bananas and sultanas with a metal spoon. Pour into the loaf tin and pop into the oven for an hour or until golden and risen. Insert a knife or metal skewer into the cake, if it comes out clean the loaf is cooked. Allow to cool a little before turning out onto a cooling rack. al fresco parties Picnic supper Eating outdoors in the evening can be a very dreamy, romantic experience, whether it’s in your garden or at a beautiful public spot. If you intend to use a public space, double check you don’t need to apply for special permission beforehand. Setting up for outdoor dining Choose a nice, sheltered spot (you don’t want your guests to be windswept) and set up your table. If you have a trestle table and enough folding chairs to do the job then that’s the way forward, but if not unfold a large rug or blanket and set up a low table on it made from a large piece of wood and some blocks or bricks, with oversized cushions for seating. Lighting is the next essential, since your guests need to see each other and the food. Hang storm lanterns with church candles and jam jar tea light lanterns. Tea light lanterns are simple to make once you’ve got the knack. Cut two long lengths of thin ribbon or garden twine, fold both in half and tie together at the midpoint. Place your jam jar with the base facing upwards and arrange the twine in a cross shape over the jar XX Party! with the knot in the middle of the jar’s base. Tie another piece of twine around the middle of the jar, then knot each of the four pieces of twine from the cross to it at equall intervals. Do this again around the neck of the jar, tie the loose ends into a loop for hanging and you have a neat little hanging tea light holder. Prep, prep, prep If you’re in a public space and therefore don’t have access to a kitchen bring a ‘clean’ box, a ‘dirty box’ and a bin bag so that used items can be cleared after each course without a mix-up. It’s also a good plan to bring a second table along to use for food prep and plate clearing. Give yourself some sources of light or you’ll get into a proper pickle. Pre-prepare and box up as much as possible at home. This isn’t the moment for technical wizardry, you really want to be in a position to just plate up and serve. Decorative touches Since makeshift tables are rarely beautiful a nice tablecloth will be helpful, and co-ordinating fabric napkins are a luxurious touch. Bring proper cutlery, glass and china from your home and add a sense of occasion by bringing a candelabra and flower arrangement along too. picnic supper Sangria 2 Bottles of red wine 250ml Brandy (can be cheap stuff) 125ml Triple sec 250ml Orange juice 250ml Pomegranate juice Sangria is a delicious Spanish cold wine punch, and a great way to use up random bottles of wine left over from a dinner party. Simply mix together the ingredients, seal in a container and leave to sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Taste it before you pack it up for the picnic – as the flavours develop they’ll become sourer so the mixture may need sweetening. Caster sugar or gomme, to taste Orange slices Strawberries, hulled and quar tered Mango, peeled and sliced Gazpacho 1 kg Ripe tomatoes 1 Yellow pepper 1 Cucumber, peeled and seeded 3 Spring onions, chopped 3 Garlic cloves, crushed Salt and pepper 1 tbsp Chopped thyme 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar 160ml Olive oil Chili flakes Feta, crumbled 8 diced cherry tomatoes 30g diced cucumber Gazpacho is the original refreshing cold soup. As the name suggests, it’s a Spanish dish that originally comes from Andalusia. It’s delicious, easy to transport and won’t spoil between preparation and serving. Blanch the tomatoes – just drop them into boiling water and fish out after a minute. Run them under cold water straight away to stop them from cooking further. Peel, then remove the core and seeds and dice the flesh. Sling the diced tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, spring onions, garlic, thyme and a big pinch of chili flakes into your food processor and blend until smooth. Pour in the sherry vinegar, olive oil and a twist of salt and pepper (to taste), and give it another quick blast. Pour into a container and pop into the fridge overnight so that the flavours can develop. Make up a small tub of crumbled feta, diced cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, died avocado shallot and basil and bring it with you. Sprinkle the gazpacho with the feta mix just before serving. _ Avocado, diced Shallot, diced Basil, chopped Party! XXX picnic supper Salade nicoise 300g Ripe tomatoes on the vine 150g Rocket leaves 1/2 Cucmber cubed small 400g New potatoes 100g Cooked and cooled french beans 2 Shallots, peeled and minced 300g Tinned tuna in sunflower oil 3 large hard boiled eggs 1 tin of anchovy fillets 50g Black olives 124 Party! Simple, fresh and decidedy delicious, this recipe has the additional benefit of being eminently transportable – simply pre-cook all the bits and assemble on site. You can use a ready made viniagrette if you prefer, but if you have time it’s lovely to make one of your own. I like to use a jam jar : start with a couple of twists of ground sea salt, followed by a couple more of ground pepper. Crush in a couple of cloves of garlic, a good teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a big dash of balsamic vinegar and a couple of pinches of finely chopped fresh herbs. Mix together, then add plenty of olive oil. Pop the lid on the jar and give it a really good shake. To make up the salad, simply layer the ingredients, drizzling each with a little dressing as you go. Arrange as prettily as possible and serve with fresh crusty baguettes and salted butter. picnic supper Summer fruit terrine 500ml Diluted elderflower cordial 5 Leaves of gelatine 50g Caster sugar This is a very traditional pudding, but it’s still a little bit magic to see the fruit suspended in clear jelly. Serve with fresh cream to complement the picquant fruit. 300g Small strawberries 200g Raspberries 100g Blueberries 200g Mixed redcurrants and blackcurrants Put the sheets of gelatine into a bowl of cold water to soften. Gently heat 250ml cordial and the caster sugar in a small pan until the sugar is melted. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine and add it to the warmed cordial. Continue to heat and stir until the gelatine is completely melted into the mixture. Pour the warmed mixture into the remaining cold cordial and stir through. I’d recommend using a silicon loaf tin, but if you don’t have one an ordinary tin lined with cling film will do. Arrange the prettiest fruit at the bottom of the loaf tin (since this will be the top once it’s turned out) and pour over a thin layer of the cordial. It shouldn’t quite cover the fruit. Pop into the fridge to set. Once set, arrange another layer of fruit, topped with another layer of cordial. Continue to do this until your tin is full. Leave to set for a couple of hours. Don’t worry if you elderflower starts to set in the jug between pouring layers, just pop it into the pan and gently re-heat for a moment. It’s actually best to let the elderflower mixture cool as much as possible between pouring layers as it’ll set faster. When you’re ready to serve turn out onto a pretty plate or stand and decorate with some extra fruit. Party! XXX al fresco parties Picnic reception A picnic is a great low cost, relaxed option for a large celebration, such as a wedding reception, birthday or anniversary: it’s in the same price bracket as a buffet but can be much more stylish if executed with care. Creating an extra special setting Go bananas with the decorations: lights aren’t much use in the daytime so instead use paper lanterns, honeycomb balls, banners, streamers and outsize round helium filled balloons all in your theme colours. Set up some outdoor furniture: blankets, cushions, hammocks, sofas, parasols and side tables, where possible in white or your colour scheme. Place flowers in mismatched containers around the space. You’ll soon have a scene set for a fiesta, rich in movement and colour. Lawn games such as boules, croquet and badminton offer gentle entertainment for anyone not in need of a lie down after the feast. Should you want to push the boat out, invest in an acoustic jazz band and an ice cream stand as the final touches to a perfect afternoon. Planning the menu The considerations listed at the start of this chapter apply to all picnics, but the scale of a picnic reception means that durability becomes an especially important element. Since your picnic components will sit for a while before serving it’s really essential that they don’t XX Party! include anything that will start to look a little limp over time (e.g. lettuce). Salads including grain such as quinoa or cous cous will last a lot better than any including salad leaves. Sandwiches can include condiments to deliver flavour and moisture, but very wet ingredients such as tomatoes should be avoided because the bread will become very soggy. Don’t package anything that’s too fluid (again tomatoes stand out) in a non-watertight container. Supply dressings and sauces in separate pots so that they can be added to taste (this will also help to keep ingredients fresh). Avoid ingredients that are heavily coloured, for example beetroot, which will dye everything around it and cause a disaster if dropped onto an outfit. Packaging your picnic Your picnic will be presented in a gable box, one for each of your guests. You’ll need lots of sheets of labels, which you can print with personalized text and designs. You’ll also need food bags, greaseproof paper, little plastic food pots or paper cartons and disposable cutlery. Package up your picnic items - which could include a filled baguette wrapped in greaseproof paper and sealed with a personalized sticker, salads in pots sealed with stickers and fresh fruit, cheese, crackers, crisps and nuts in food bags - and pop into your gable box with a (screw top) bottle of beer, wine or organic soft drink. Tie the box handle up with a ribbon and pop a sticker on the outside of the box. They’ll look gorgeous all lined up for your guests to help themselves. NB: do take care not to leave them out in the sun for too long. picnic reception Lemon ice cream with a raspberry ripple 550ml Double cream 300ml Whole milk _ cup lemon juice Zest of 2 lemons 1 tsp Vanilla essence 6 large egg yolks 50g Caster sugar 300g raspberries Contrary to popular wisdom it’s entirely possible to make ice cream without investing in an ice cream maker, you just need to have a long afternoon available. This is a great fruity combination that improves immeasurably in a rich ice cream setting. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Put the cream, milk, lemon juice, vanilla essence and lemon zest into a pan and heat until just boiling. Start the mixer up again and beat the egg mixture while slowly adding the hot milk mixture. Return the whole lot to the pan and heat very, very gently for about 15 mins until the custard thickens – it should lightly coat a spoon. Strain through a metal sieve into a bowl and pop into the fridge for a couple of hours. Once the custard is thoroughly chilled you can start to turn it into ice cream: pop it into the freezer in a wide, shallow container. Take it out of the freezer and beat it after 30 minutes, the replace. After a further 45 3 minutes, beat it again. Keep doing this at 45 minute intervals for the next 3 hours. At around the 3 hour point you can puree the raspberries and lightly stir them through the ice cream so that you get the ripple effect. Cover the ice cream and pop back into the freezer overnight. Serve to your guests garnished with a lemon slice, a mint sprig and some fresh raspberries. Party! XXX picnic reception picnic reception Four onion tarts Pink cordial cocktail 300g Caster sugar 2 lemons, thinly sliced 1 orange, thinly sliced This cordial cocktail gets it’s lovely pink from raspberries. It’s a two stage recipe - first the cordial, which can be made well ahead of time, then the cocktail which should be assembled on the day. 500g raspberries, washed Put the fruit and sugar into a large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium hear and add 400ml water. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly. Keep on a rolling boil for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. It’s a good idea to taste the mixture once cooled a little, in case you find it too tart (if so, add sugar to taste and heat gently until dissolved). Bear in mind it’s going to be diluted so it’ll be very strongly flavoured. Line a sieve with a tea towel and strain the mixture through it into a jug. You can give the fruit a good press to make sure you get all the juices through. This cordial can be used straight away or kept in the fridge for up to 7 days. To make up the cocktail in a 250ml swing top bottle: Fill 1/5 with cordial, add a double shot of vodka (raspberry vodka can be used if preferred) and a sprig of mint leaves then top up with soda water. Seal firmly and pop into the fridge until ready to serve. 124 Party! 8-10 Ready made individual pastry tar t cases or one large case 3 slices of smoked bacon, chopped up small 1 tbsp Salted Butter 2 leeks, thinly sliced 1 White onion, peeled and thinly sliced 1 Red onion, peeled and thinly sliced 2 Shallots, peeled and thinly sliced 4 large Spring onions, peeled and thinly sliced 4 eggs 400g Extra mature cheddar, plus a little extra, grated 100ml Double cream 100ml Creme fraiche Bunch of sage, chopped Tabasco sauce Salt and pepper Tangy and delicately textured, these tarts are more than worthy of a special celebration. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Fry off the bacon bits in a heavy bottomed pan until nice and crispy. Fish out the bacon and set aside, leaving the bacon grease in the pan. Add the butter to the bacon grease and melt over a medium heat. Add the leek, red and white onion, shallots and spring onions to the pan, stir through, cover and sweat. Keep the heat on the low side and you will find that they cook through beautifully over the course of 15 - 20 minutes. Keeping the lid on the pot means that they won’t dry out and the slow cooking allows them to develop some wonderful flavours. Once the onions are thoroughly sweated, return half the bacon to the pan and take off the heat. Meanwhile beat together the eggs, cream, creme fraiche and cheese. Add a dash of tabasco, the salt and pepper and sage and beat until well combined. Add the onion mixture to the egg mixture a dollop at a time, stirring well (this is to stop the onions from scrambling the eggs with their heat). Once the mixture is thoroughly combined dollop it into the individual pastry cases then sprinkle each with a little of the reserved bacon and some of the extra cheese. Pop into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until risen and golden. Cool completely before packaging for your picnic. Party! XXX 4 dinner partıes dinner parties dinner parties A dinner party is so incredibly satisfying to get right, there’s nothing better than delighting a few select guests with an interesting menu and plenty of well matched wine. Interest in unusual dining has increased exponentially over recent years, so why not flex your hosting muscles with one of the parties outlined in this chapter. Planning a workable menu Red wines Cheese: pretty much any red wine will match well with a strong cheese Canapes: light, fruity Beaujolais is a good match for a canapé, because it won’t overwhelm the delicate flavours Cooked tomato based dishes (e.g. bolognaise): Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel will all work happily with a full bodied tomatoey flavor Poultry: Beaujolais again, to give balance Pork: Beaujolais or the gentle, light flavour of a Pinot Noir Beef: Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel Chocolate: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Port Red wine is not recommended for mild cheese, seafood, cream or cheese sauced dishes or desserts A workable menu can save you from spending a whole evening staring at the stove while everyone else has a nice time next door. Equally, it can save your guests from starting to eat at 10.30pm and spending an hour getting drunk between courses. It’s a bit of a revelation when you manage it properly, and here’s how to do it: tactical planning. l Canapés that can be made well in advance and either served cold or quickly heated. l A starter that’s had all of the elements prepped in advance so all you need to do is heat and assemble it. l A main course that doesn’t involve watching it like a hawk for half an hour (au revoir risotto), with elements that can also be prepped in advance l A pudding that you just need to remove from the fridge and serve l A separate work surface for assembling and plating l All of your plates, dishes and serving implements counted out and stacked ready for use l A timed plan and a decent timer, so that you can run things to the minute while you’re in the kitchen without checking temperatures and timings in cookbooks constantly Clear the day to chop, dice and otherwise prep everything you need. Pop the ingredients into a series of labeled tupperware containers, get all your bits and pieces ready so that on the night all anyone sees is you sweeping into the kitchen and then sweeping out again almost immediately bearing plates of beautiful food. Good stuff, no? Wine and food pairing Wine pairing is a terrifying phrase if you’re not a wine expert. Find an independent wine retailer that’s run by a genuine enthusiast and take your menu in for a chat. Explain the budget and the flavours you’re working with and he or she will be able to provide you with a comprehensive list of wine options, leaving you able to serve your guests without feeling like a wally. If you’d like to have a go at pairing wines yourself spend a little time on research. Wine and food pairing is literally a matter of taste, which means that it’s actually quite difficult to get it seriously ‘wrong’, you just have to trust your tastebuds. The following are some guidelines to help you in your experimentation: Party! XXX dinner parties White wines Mild cheese: Chenin Blanc, Dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, White Rielsing Strong cheese: Chenin Blanc, Dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay Canapes: Chenin Blanc, Dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc & Chardonnay will all balance but not overpower delicate flavours Shellfish: Chenin Blanc, Dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay Cream or cheese sauced dishes: Sauvignon Blanc Poultry: Chenin Blanc, Dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay Pork: Chenin Blanc, Dry Riesling, Chardonnay Chocolate: White Rielsing Seating If you have more than four or five around your table, create a seating plan – it can make the difference between a good dinner party and a great one. Start with your own seat: traditionally you should be at the head of the table, but don’t do that if it leaves you miles from the kitchen. If you have a co-host, put him/her at the opposite end of the table so that you can each look after some guests. The spot next to the hosts(s) should used for anyone you need to worry about, so that you can include them. Dot your more charismatic, charming guests evenly around the table and fill in the gaps with everyone else, trying to place them according to shared interests or personality traits. Consider splitting up couples: it can often coax people to join in a bit more, although they’ll probably have a moan about it at first. If you have a guest who can be a pain in the bum ask them to help you by bringing out plates or keeping drinks topped up. Try to seat them next to someone who will be able to cope with them, and if in doubt seat them next to you. Or simply consider not inviting them – entertaining is supposed to be fun, so you really don’t have to invite someone who makes a rubbish guest. Table dressing Table dressing is an enormous subject, so I’m just going to cover the basics here. Select a tablecloth that will fit the theme of your dinner. If you want a touch of subtle colour use a plain table cloth and a coloured or patterned runner. There’s a limited amount of space on any table and it’s easy to crowd out the useful stuff. Thus: tablecloth, napkins, cutlery, glassware, spaces for any serving dishes/spoons, and place cards (if doing a seating plan) should be accommodated first. Cutlery is usually laid out so that your guests start at the outside edge of their place setting to eat the first course, moving in a layer with each successive course. You should do whatever you find aesthetically pleasing – as long as they’ve got the right items to hand your guests aren’t going to complain. Some hosts like to provide a glass for each wine that’s on offer, others just stick to a water glass, a red wine glass and a white wine glass – it really depends on the quality of the wine you’re planning to serve. If you don’t want to crowd a million glasses on the table, just put a single glass at each setting and set up a good selection of glasses on a side table, so that guests can chop and change as they want to through the meal. Flowers not only bring colour to your table, they bring scent, which can be a mixed blessing. Don’t go for flowers that are incredibly strongly scented (such as stargazer lilies) because it’ll clash horribly with the smell of your lovely food. On the other hand, some gentle scents will complement your food – and don’t forget that you can incorporate herbs into your arrangements too. XX Party! dinner parties Titanic Whole books have been written about the last meal served on the Titanic, but you’ll probably have much more fun (and be able to move at the end of the evening) if we take inspiration from the menu rather than trying to slavishly recreate every element. The focus should be on that very distinctively Victorian form of lavish entertainment: lots of courses, wonderful ingredients and plenty of good wine. trim your guestlist to either six or twelve, since a bottle of wine serves six, meaning that you won’t be left with an excess of wine when you move on to the next course. Table dressing l A sauvignon blanc will sit well with both the mushroom, pancetta and pearl barley soup and the salmon mousseline l Lamb and foie gras will both pair well with a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot, because they will be complemented by a more robust flavor l The peach chartreuse jelly with vanilla ice cream will match beautifully with a sweet dessert wine such as a muscat. l The cheese platter can be paired with either the muscat from the last course or the red wine from the foie gras course, it’s up to your guests’ preference Since this meal involves lots and lots of courses, you need to leave plenty of space for the various items of tableware needed for each setting. Even if you’re a master of getting everything completely cleared between courses, people who are going to be faced with a quick succession of dishes don’t want to feel crowded in so don’t stuff the table with lots of decorative items. Thus we need to aim for a starched Victorian aesthetic: a pristine, starched white linen tablecloth, which should be lightly ironed onto the table so that it doesn’t have any creases. Starched white linen napkins ironed and then folded simply. The best cutlery you can get your hands on, ideally a matching set. Silver (or just silver coloured) candelabra with classic cream tapers and a couple of low, round floral arrangements made up of the great Victorian favourite roses. If you can get hold of any neat little extra items, such as a silver cruet set, it’s just the icing on the cake. Accompanying Drinks Three of the courses here actually are drinks, so we don’t need to worry about them. It requires a little effort to match a different wine to each course, but it’s worth it for the effect. It’s also pretty economically effective if you can As always it’s a good plan to take your menu to a specialist wine retailer so that they can advise on specific years and vineyards. These are some options to consider for our Titanic menu: Soundtrack Music will set the scene at your Titanic dinner beautifully. The Victorians would have had live musicians of course, but that’s because they didn’t have the benefit of a stereo system. Have a listen to some contemporary classical music and choose something you think suits the tone: l Chopin l Brahms l Tchaikovsky l Debussy l Liszt l Mendelssohn l Verdi l Wagner Party! XXX titanic titanic c R . M . S . T i ta n i 12 19 A p r i l 14 , se First cour s e r v u e O D’ Hors Oysters urse Second co l Consomme O ga Cream of Barley P o a ch e d The original First Class Menu, as served on the R.M.S. Titanic on April the 14th, 1912 was as follows: Not everyone is going to want to eat until they explode, so the trick is to deliver a long series of well paced, small dishes so that a reasonable amount is consumed over a fairly long period of time. It’s a good idea to start your dinner a little early, perhaps 6.30pm to be seated at 7.00pm, and tell your guests to leave out lunch in preparation. Our menu will be as follows: rse Third cou umbers e sauce, Cuc n i l e s s u o M Salmon with urse Fourth co li Filet Mignons Li nnaise o y L , S a u t e o f C hc i k e n arci F w o r r V e g e ta b l e M a se Fifth cour uce a s t n i M , b Lam s C h at e a u P o ta t o e Roast Duckling, Green peas Creamed carrots Boiled rice ta t o e s oiled new po Parmentier and B se Sixth cour ne i a m o R ch n Pu ourse Seventh c cress Roast squab and rse Eighth cou Cold inaigrette a s pa r a g u s v rse Ninth cou P at e d e f o i e g r a s Celery rse Tenth cou ng i dd u p f Waldor s e j e l ly u e r t r a h C P e a ch e s i n eclairs a l l i n a V & C h o c o l at e F r e n ch Followed then 124 Party! Menu ice cream Menu First course Oyster Martinis Second course Mushroom, Pancett a and Barley Soup Third course Salmon souffle Fourth course Hand cut Lamb chop s, Mint sauce Roasted root vegeta bles & purple sprou ting broccoli Fifth course Punch Romaine Sixth course Seared foie gras with lavender honey Seventh course Peaches in Chartreu se jelly With vanilla cream Eighth course Fruit and cheese pla tter Ninth course Port and truffles ses, i t s a n d ch e e by fresh fru s t i r i p s d n a cigars, port Party! XXX titanic titanic Oyster martinis 3 oz Vodka _ oz Dry vermouth 1 Oyster This luxurious, salty version of the classic martini makes for a properly decadent grown up drink. Quantities below make up one martini. Shake the vermouth and vodka with ice and strain into a well chilled martini glass. Slip in a freshly shucked oyster and serve. Mushroom, pancetta and barley soup 2 bay leaves A few stems of thyme 15g butter 3 tbsp Olive oil 225g Pancetta, diced 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 250g Mushrooms, diced 150g Wild mushrooms 100g Pearl barley 1 ltr Chicken stock 3 tbsp Madeira Salt and pepper A delicately flavoured, rich soup that should be served in small quantities so that it doesn’t overwhelm your guests’ palates. Pop the butter and olive oil into a pan on a medium heat until the butter is melted. Throw in the pancetta and sauté until lightly coloured. Add the garlic and mushrooms, cover and sweat. The barley, chicken stock and herbs are next into the pan: give it a good stir and simmer for half an hour. Fish out the thyme and bay leaves, and add salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, gently stir through the madeira. Salmon souffle 50g butter 50g flour 240ml Milk Salt and Pepper (to taste) 175g Poached salmon 3 eggs, separated, yolks lightly beaten 124 Party! Salmon mousseline can be a little tricky, so we’re going to cheat this by making a simple salmon soufflé. We’ll make this version in little ramekins to make it easier to serve. This will also make they keep a nice, light texture. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Make a roux as a base for your soufflé: melt the butter in a pan over a gentle heat, stir in the flour to make a paste then gradually mix in the milk, beating well to make a thick fluid. Stir in salmon and beaten egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and fold into the salmon mixture with a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into greased ramekins and bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooked, place the ramekins onto plates and dress with a lemon wedge and thinly sliced cucumber. Party! XXX titanic titanic Punch Romaine A tub of lemon sorbet Ginger essence Lamb chops with mint sauce, roasted root vegetables and sprouting purple broccoli Hand cut lamb chops, 1 per guest Bunch of fresh mint, leaves stripped from stems 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 3 tbsp Olive oil 150g New potatoes 150g Baby carrots, trimmed and washed 150g Baby beetroot, trimmed and washed 150g Parsnip, trimmed and washed 200g Sprouting purple broccoli This isn’t flashy (the passengers on the Titanic would have baulked at the prospect of molecular gastronomy) and it errs on the side of rustic, but it’s really very yummy and I for one would happily wolf down the lot. It also provides a sturdy heart to the meal, lending some real substance to the series of dishes on offer. This recipe serves 4. Rum 4 egg whites Icing sugar _ tsp Cream of tar tar Sparkling wine Punch Romaine has been around, as my mother would put it, ‘for yonks’. It appears in cocktail handbooks from 1862 onwards, and even pops up in Escoffier’s 1903 cookbook. There are a few variations on the recipe knocking about, some of which are spoonable sorbet-ish things, others straight up drinks. Quite a few feature italian meringue, which might be a bit much to try to knock up in the middle of a dinner party. I’m going to make this a gentler experience by recommending the use of uncooked meringue (please let your guests know about this so that they can choose whether to eat it, and use fresh eggs from a reputable source). De-pot the lemon sorbet ahead of time and beat through some rum and some ginger essence to taste. Pop back into the freezer until you need it, beating every half hour until it’s re-frozen. When you’re ready to serve you need to whip up the meringue – plop the egg whites into a bowl and beat on a medium speed with an electric mixer until they start to form soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar (which will stabilise the beaten eggs) and icing sugar to taste and continue to beat for another minute or so. Now you need to assemble the punch in dessert glasses. Put a nice big dollop of sorbet into the bottom of the glass, pour over sparkling wine and then top with the uncooked meringue. Serve quickly so before the whole thing deflates, and try to avoid tasteless iceberg jokes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Finely chop the mint leaves (keep a few sprigs aside for garnish), then mix with the sherry vinegar, a clove of crushed garlic, a good dollop of olive oil and seasoning in a dish. Drop in your lamb chops, turning them so that they’re well coated on both sides. Leave them in the bowl, cover and pop into the fridge. While the lamb is happily marinating you can make a start on the vegetables. Cut all the vegetables except the broccoli down into similar sized chunks. Line a baking tray with tin foil and drizzle with olive oil, followed by a twist of salt and pepper. Scatter on your vegetables and repeat the application of oil and seasoning. Toss the vegetables so that they’re well coated and pop into the oven to roast for half an hour. When the vegetables have been in the oven for 15 minutes put the sprouting broccoli on to steam, which should take about 8 minutes. Boil if you haven’t got a steamer, but keep a close eye so that you don’t overcook the broccoli. When everything is about to be ready, put a large frying pan on the hob over a high heat. Fry the lamb chops for 3 minutes on each side, then pour the marinade into a small saucepan and simmer for a minute or two. Plate up the vegetables and chops, and finish off by drizzling with the lamb marinade and garnishing with a mint sprig. 124 Party! Party! XXX titanic Seared foie gras with lavender honey Jar of Lavender honey Foie gras (sufficient amount to provide 2 slices per guest) Good handful of Lavender blossoms 1 French stick 5-6 Cloves of garlic Foie gras is a controversial ingredient. I won’t get into the politics of the thing here, but I will say that it’s a good plan to check with anyone you think may have a problem with this course in advance so that you can have an alternative on hand. If anyone is likely to raise serious objections it’s probably best just to invite them another time. If you have serious objections, just omit the course – it’s never a good idea to go against your own instincts or beliefs as a host. For those who enjoy foie gras, this is a gentle treatment of a precious ingredient that brings out it’s finest qualities. If you can’t find lavender honey, you can infuse some pale honey ahead of time – just decant a jar into a pan, warm gently and add the lavender flowers (NB: not the stems, and pay attention to the notes on sourcing edible flowers in the floral section of this chapter). Pour back into the jar, seal and leave in a nice dark cupboard for a week or so. Slice a baguette into half inch thick pieces and toast until golden on both sides. Cut a garlic clove in half and rub the cut end against the toasted slices. Slice the foie gras into _ inch thick medallions and briefly sear in a hot pan. Pop two slices of bread and two slices of foie gras onto each plate and drizzle lightly with lavender honey. Garnish with a sprinkle of lavender blossoms and serve. 124 Party! titanic titanic Peaches in chartreuse jelly with vanilla cream 200ml freshly squeezed orange juice Good squeeze of lemon juice 350ml water 50g Caster sugar 8 leaves of gelatine Tinned peaches 50ml syrup from peach tin 200ml Chartreuse liqueur 300ml Double cream 3 tsp Vanilla essence 1 tbsp Icing sugar Fruit and cheese platter This should be just about the point where things are winding down nicely, so this should be an impressive array that your guests can pick from (and you can pick at for the rest of the week). Purchase a selection of cheeses from the best cheese counter you can find locally. Serve with piles of fruit and crackers and a big slab of salty French butter. Chartreuse isn’t something you encounter very much these days, which is a shame because it’s such an amazing colour. I found an old version of this recipe that describes cubes of orange jelly suspended in the chartreuse jelly among the peaches, which sounds like a very pretty solution to me. We’ll make the jellies in decorative glasses because then you won’t have to try to de-mould them. You need to start on this recipe two days in advance, since there are two rounds of jelly making to be done. First up is the orange jelly: start by popping 3 of the leaves of gelatin into a bowl of cold water to soften. Mix together the orange juice, lemon juice and 100ml water in a jug. Put a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water with 50ml of juice mixture and 50g of the caster sugar, heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the gelatin leaves (give them a squeeze to get rid of excess water first) and heat until dissolved. Pour the gelatin mixture into the jug of juice mixture and stir well to combine. Pour into a cling film lined baking tray and leave to set overnight in the fridge. The day before the dinner you can assemble the jellies: first open the tins of peaches and cut the slices into cubes, reserving a few. Unmould the orange jelly from it’s cake tin by pulling up the clingfilm and cut into cubes of the same size with a hot knife. Put the cubes into a bowl and back into the fridge until you need them. Next we need to make up the chartreuse jelly, and for this I’ve deferred to the proportions dictated by jelly experts Bompas and Parr in their book ‘Jelly’. Put the remaining 5 gelatine leaves into some cold water to soak and set up a heatproof bowl over simmering water as before. Mix together 250ml water, 50ml of the syrup from the tin and the chartreuse. Pour about 100ml of the mixture into the bowl and heat gently. Squeeze out the softened gelatine leaves, add to the bowl and heat until dissolved. Add this to the remaining water, syrup and chartreuse mixture and stir to combine. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, pour a shallow layer of chartreuse jelly into your decorative glasses, and add some orange jelly cubes. Put into the fridge to set, which should take about 15 minutes. NB: If your chartreuse jelly starts to set before you’ve finished layering just heat it a little and it’ll revert to a liquid state. Once the bottom later is set in your glasses add another and put in the peach cubes. Return to the fridge to set. Continue alternating layers until the glasses are full and leave to set overnight in the fridge. Port and salted caramel truffles 500g Plain chocolate, chopped 60g Caster sugar 2 tbsp Water 120ml Whipping cream Fleur de sel 125g Cocoa powder The port and truffles mark the perfect close to an extravagant evening. Of course coffee can be swapped for port if needs be, but that’s not much in the spirit of the meal so I wouldn’t encourage it. Melt 8 ounces of plain chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Take off the heat. In another small saucepan combine the caster sugar and water and heat until dissolved. Boil until syrup is thickened and darkened, being careful not to burn (this should take less than 5 minutes). Add cream to syrup and stir on a low heat until combined and smooth. Pour the caramel and a _ tsp of fleur del sel into the chocolate. Cover and place in the fridge until set enough to make truffle balls. Put the cocoa powder in a bowl. Use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out balls of chocolate mixture and roll in your palms to even up. Roll the balls in the cocoa powder and lay out on a baking sheet. Chill overnight in the fridge. Melt the remaining chocolate as described above. Spear a truffle ball on a cocktail stick and submerge in the melted chocolate then lay out on a foil lined baking sheet. Top with a sprinkle of fleur de sel and leave to set. Repeat until all the truffles are complete. These can be made a few days ahead of time and refrigerated in a sealed container until needed. Serve accompanied by a small glass of port. Just before you serve the jelly, beat together the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Pipe onto the top of the jellies and garnish with a peach cube. 124 Party! Party! XXX dinner parties Futurist When you first read the word ‘Futurist’ you’d be excused for thinking of those wonderful 1960s ideas about the future - jet packs, everything in shiny shiny silver and flying cars - and in a funny way you’d almost be right. The Futurist movement came about in Italy in the early 20th century, with the poet F.T. Marinetti at the helm. Futurism was all about the celebration of modernity, and it’s not surprising that the movement quickly spread internationally – this was the Machine Age, an incredibly exciting phase where technology made speed possible for the first time: fast international travel, fast cars, fast communication and fast production. The Futurists were notoriously naughty, calculating their actions and declarations to provoke the public, fervently seeking notoriety (which was rather modern of them really). They were scathing about anything the considered to be ‘bourgeois’, for example pasta, which was far too straightforward for their taste. Marinetti decreed C anapes that in the future all Geraniums on a spit nutrition would be Dates in Moonlight delivered in the form of pills, leaving dining First course an entirely sensory Aerofood experience and to this end he produced the Futurist Second course Intuitive Antipasto cookbook in 1932. The recipes in the Third course Futurist cookbook Carne Plastica range from Ortocubo straightforward to entirely inedible, but they’re all rather Fourth course Sunshine gloriously theatrical Italian Breasts in the so they can make Fifth course for a fun evening if Milk in a Green Light carefully curated. Menu Decoration The Futurists liked things shiny, and as similar to the modern machines they worshipped as possible (thus the aluminium lined restaurant in Turin). They also enjoyed a little tongue-incheek humour and odd juxtapositions – ‘decorative disharmonies’ – all of which are excellent starting points for your decoration scheme. Make use of any shiny tableware you already have – pewter is especially apt – and perhaps invest in some mylar blankets (available from hiking shops), or small mirrors to use as coasters and place mats. Try to keep it clean and modern rather than glitzy: no tinsel allowed. Another quick and easy way to introduce a metallic element is to spray paint some bits and pieces, a brilliant chrome finish spray used for cars is available from a car maintenance shops, which can be used on absolutely anything. Make sure you spray paint in a well ventilated area, protecting any surfaces you don’t want to paint. Continuing on the mechanical theme, think about incorporating model cars, or providing remote controlled zeppelins for guests to play with. If you’re feeling really nifty you could set up a model train set to take the condiments around the table. Instead of flowers, make your own table centres from interesting bits and pieces, creating nonsensical combinations. If you fancy building something, a cityscape is very apt (the Futurists loved cities, which is hardly surprising since they lived in an age of glorious art deco skyscrapers), and very straightforward (all you need is tall, slender cardboard boxes to use as a base, and since the futurists were the opposite of twee you don’t have to go into any detail). Also pay attention to the individual places settings: they don’t have to match, but they do need to provide an apt setting for the bonkers dishes you’re about to present. Have fun with it, and if you feel like you’re starting to push your luck in terms of taste, content or relevance you’re definitely on the right path to the Futurist spirit. Party! XXX futurist Alcoholic Joust _ Red wine _ Lemonade _ Campari Cubes of cheddar half dipped in chocolate, on wooden skewers Created by the Futurist artist Prampolini, this is a surprisingly effective flavour combination, but somehow it really works. Looks and sounds a bit challenging but tastes great – the perfect combination for a memorable dinner party. Combine red wine, lemonade and Campari in a tall glass and then garnish with the cheese block on a skewer – the skewer doubles as a drink stirrer. Encourage your guests to try all the flavours together for the full effect. Inventina 1/3 Asti Spumante 1/3 Pineapple juice (or liqueur if you can get hold of some) 1/3 Orange juice 124 Party! An entirely inoffensive variation on the Buck’s Fizz, using Italian sparkling wine and Pineapple juice for an extra little kick. Pour the ingredients into a tall glass over ice and serve. futurist Pack of dates Pack of pancetta 250g Ricotta Squeeze of lemon Salt and pepper Wooden skewers Dates in Moonlight The Futurist recipe calls for dates and ricotta, and we’re going to stick to that pretty tightly. So: take your dates and very carefully cut in half across the middle (not lengthwise!). Fish out the pit and you will end up with two little date ‘cups’ (cups are somehow a running theme in this menu, as you will see shortly). Before you get into date chopping in earnest, line a baking tray with some foil and lay out some pancetta. Bake until super crispy, but not burned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool break up into shards. Once your dates are halved and your pancetta cooled, pop some ricotta into a bowl with a good squeeze of lemon, and add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into an icing bag fitted with the smallest nozzle you have and pipe a small amount of ricotta into each date ‘cup’. Pop a shard of baked pancetta into the ricotta filling and carefully spear the bottom of the date cup with a skewer, so that you end up with your weird looking canapé fastened on the top of the skewer. Present en masse in a vase, as if a canapé bouquet. Geraniums on a spit Box of neutral/savoury mini cones Edible geraniums 125g Smoked salmon 50g Cream cheese 25g Crème fraiche Squeeze of lemon juice, plus a good pinch of lemon zest Salt and pepper The ‘Geraniums on a spit’ recipe is most commonly interpreted as a long pastry twist accessorized with an edible flower. The problem with this is that simply laying the flowers alongside the twists is a bit dull, and finding a way to fasten the flowers to the stick is a proper pain in the bottom, especially when you have a whole dinner to deal with. My solution to this is both prettier and an awful lot easier, although it does lose a bit of the literal ‘spit’ interpretation. Buy a box of ready made mini cones, making sure that they’re ‘neutral’ not ‘sweet’. These are used by a lot by caterers for canapés and are pretty easy to get hold of – you can even buy coloured ones if you want to get really elaborate. You’ll also need to order in a carton of edible flowers – don’t worry about sticking to geraniums, just buy a nice box of mixed flowers for lots of colour and variety. You can source the flowers from your garden if you prefer, but please look over the Floral dinner section before doing so. We’re going to fill the cones with a super simple smoked salmon mousse, which is delicious as well as alliterative. Just pop the smoked salmon, cream cheese, crème fraiche and a big squeeze of lemon juice into a food processor and give it a good whiz. Season to taste and spoon into a piping bag,, then put into the fridge for a couple of hours to chill. Don’t fill your cones until just before you’re ready to serve them, because the longer they sit around the soggier they’ll get. Pipe the salmon mousse into each mini cone, and garnish the top with an edible flower and sprig or two of dill. There are little stands available specifically for the purpose of serving these mini cones, but it’s fine to serve them laid on their sides surrounded by a pretty scattering of dill and edible flowers. XX Party! futurist Aerofood Aerofood calls for certain ingredients to be eaten while certain textures are touched – the diner eats with his right hand and touches with his left. The simplest, prettiest solution to this is to make small, textured flags from each material for each item, using cocktail sticks. The recipe matches the items up as follows: l Black Olives = Sandpaper l Fennel Hearts = Silk l Kumquats = Velvet Fennel Celery Black olives Mayonnaise Squeeze of lemon juice Salt and pepper Black olives Olive oil Fresh rosemary Fennel seeds Black pepper Garlic cloves Fennel The fennel will be served as a little pile of crunchy, fresh salad. Finely chop some fennel, some celery and some black olives, then toss in enough mayonnaise to coat without caking, with a squeeze of lemon juice. Pile up a tidy spoonful alongside your olive tower, top with a sprinkle of minced anchovy and a couple of fresh parmesan shavings and firmly plant your silk flag. Black olives The black olives will be yummy marinated ones in this case. Simply pop the olives into a jar with a combination of olive oil, rosemary, fennel seeds, black pepper, a couple of garlic cloves and a squeeze of lemon juice and leave to marinate, ideally for a couple of days. Serve in a little pyramid of 4 olives, with the top olive speared by a little sandpaper flag on a cocktail stick. Squeeze of lemon juice Kumquats Kumquats 100ml Water 100g Caster sugar 2tsp Vanilla essence The kumquats, by contrast, are going to be deliciously sweet. Slice your kumquats into cute little rounds and set aside. Heat up the water and the sugar until simmering and dissolved, then add your kumquats and a couple of teaspoons of vanilla esssence. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes, then set aside to cool. Once cool, decant into a container, covering the kumquats with the syrup and refrigerate until needed. When serving, create a little pile alongside your olives and fennel and plant a little velvet flag for the final touch. If you want to make your dinner more eccentric, try presenting your dish to your guests, explaining the theory, and then blindfolding them to optimise the effect of the textures (and make everything an awful lot messier). You may want to provide aprons or bibs. Ideally, the sounds of airplanes overhead should accompany this dish (sound effect compilations can be ordered online). Party! XXX futurist Intuitive Antipasto Assorted thinly sliced cured meats Pickled mushrooms Marinated anchovies Green bell pepper, thinly sliced Ciabatta loaf Butter 1 medium orange per guest Wooden kebab skewers Futurist slogans (e.g. ‘Futurism is an anti-historical movement’, ‘Live dangerously’ and ‘With Futurist cooking, doctors, pharmacists and grave diggers will be out of work’) printed out and cut into small strips of paper, like the fortunes found in Chinese cookies. 124 Party! This is a fun way to serve antipasto, and reliably non-threatening for your guests. It takes a little building, but this can be done in advance, reducing your workload. Cut an orange in half, and hollow out one half so that you’re left with an orange rind ‘cup’. Place the untouched orange half face down on a plate and then balance the hollowed half on top, creating an hourglass shape. Pin the two together with a wooden skewer through the middle. Take a futurist slogan and carefully glue one end to the skewer, manipulating the paper so that it looks like a flag in the wind, then pop a pickled mushroom on the exposed top point of the skewer. This is what we’re going to serve the antipasto inside: the idea is that the orange cup will perfume the food. Line the inside of your cup with cured meats and pop a in few marinated mushrooms. Roll your anchovies around the bell pepper slices and put them into the cup too. Cut a couple of long, thin slices of butter (you may want to use butter that’s straight out of the fridge for this) and stand up in your cup as a garnish. Thinly slice and lightly toast the ciabatta. Once cooled, use a round biscuit cutter to cut out discs of bread. Place two or three discs in an overlapped arrangement on the side of each plate, and serve. futurist futurist Pea jelly 300g Fresh or frozen peas 3 sheets of gelatine Water Carne Plastica and Ortocubo Boil the peas in water for 5 minutes, until cooked, then puree with a stick blender. Pass the blended peas through a sieve lined with a tea towel. Measure the resulting fluid – this needs to reach 300ml. Pour away any excess or top up with water. Put the sheets of gelatine into cold water to soften and pour the pea fluid into a small pan, heat gently. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin sheets before adding them to the heated pea fluid. Stir until dissolved. Pour out into a cling film lined cake tin and put into the fridge to set. Remove from the tin just before the course is served and cut into cubes. The biggest challenge of this dinner party is the dramatic main course: the challenge is to create something visually striking without taking so long that the food goes out cold. This is going to be quite a toned down version of the original recipes, because we don’t want to drift into the realm of the grotesque (look up ‘meat sculpture’ and you’ll see what I mean). Oblong baby carrots Rack of lamb Olive oil Salt Pepper Bunch of fresh rosemary 2 french trimmed racks of lamb weighing about 250g apiece This is super simple, but visually effective. You need to buy the carrots that come with green tops, for the extra colour. Allow two or three carrots per guest. Chop down the green tops so that just a half an inch or so is left. Then cut the carrots themselves into oblongs, with the green tops at one end. I would recommend steaming over boiling, because it’s a lot gentler. On this occasion our carne is going to be a rack of lamb. It’s not quite a carne plastic but the lamb will stack up in quite a nice structural way. The ingredients listed below serve 4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Rub some olive oil into the lamb and season. Brown the racks of lamb on all sides in a frying pan. Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a roasting tin, then scatter sprigs of rosemary. Place the racks on top of the sprigs and roast in the oven for half an hour (this will leave the meat nicely pink). Transfer the lamb to a plate and leave to rest for ten minutes. Slice the lamb into cutlets and stack on each guests’ plate to serve. Courgette ribbons Another really easy method of production – simply top and tail the courgette, then use a vegetable peeler to carve strips off the courgette. Discard the first couple of strips since they’ll be mainly peel. Again, steaming for a couple of minutes is the best method of cooking the ribbons. The Ortocubo actually comes with a neat little diagram showing how the components should be arranged, but we’re going to ignore it because it’s a bit dull. Instead we’re going to experiment with making vegetables funny shapes. The plate will include cubes of pea jelly, oblong baby carrots, courgette ribbons, potato tubes and pureed roasted garlic. Potato tubes Get hold of some large potatoes and cut them down into cube of the same height (width doesn’t matter). You’ll need something to cut the tubes out with – I use an apple corer, it’s exactly the right size. Simply cut a series of tubes from your potatoes, and pop into the steamer with the other vegetables. Bulb of garlic Vegetable oil Pureed roasted garlic Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Break the garlic bulb up into cloves and put into a small ovenproof container. Fill with oil – it needs to completely immerse the garlic cloves. Cover the container with foil and roast in the over for an hour, until the garlic is soft and golden. Fish out the garlic into a bowl and puree with a stick blender. Add a couple of tablespoons of the roasting oil as you’re doing it until you have a nice consistency. Store in a covered container with a top layer of oil. Pipe onto your plate to serve. 124 Party! Party! XXX futurist Italian breasts in the sunshine 400ml Whole milk 100ml Water 1 tbsp Caster sugar 1 tsp almond essence It may not have escaped your notice that in some respects the Futurists had a lot in common with teenage boys. This is one of those instances, but a bit of silliness never hurt anyone, especially at an art theory based dinner. The Futurist’s version is two mounds of almond paste topped with a strawberry and black pepper, but we’re going to go one better and create something with a little more wobble: my all-time-favourite, blancmange. 4 leaves of gelatine A few drops of pink food colouring The main problem you’re going to have here is the moulds. It’s not necessary to get too worked up over getting this perfectly right, the visual joke will still work. I’d recommend a pair of mini pudding moulds, try to buy ones with a rounded shape. If you’re improvising metal is best, followed by thin plastic, try to avoid anything made from thicker or less conductive materials, such as glass or pottery. Put the leaves of gelatin into some cold water to soften up. Mix together the milk, water and almond essence and pour 100ml into a small pan. Heat over a low flame with the caster sugar until completely dissolved. Then squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin and add to the pan, continue to heat until dissolved. Pour the warmed milk back into the cold milk and stir to combine. Add a couple of drop of pink food colouring to achieve a nice fleshy hue. Pour into the moulds and place in the fridge to set. When serving carefully unmould the jellies and top with a rapberry on each secured with a dab of whipped cream. They should be arranged in pairs on the plate to looks Milk in a green light This last course calls for a little stage management – you’ll need to have set up a lamp with a green light bulb in the room, switch this on and all other lights off before you bring the plates in. Our milk will take the form of a small glass of coffee infused Coffee infused milk Put an equal quantity of milk and roasted coffee beans into a pan. . If you want to sweeten the milk a little, add sugar to taste. Heat until just starting to boil. Take the pan off the heat, cover and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes. Taste to test the strength of the infusion, if you’d like a stronger flavor then repeat the process. Strain the milk and set aside to cool. White chocolate and coffee truffles 100ml Double cream 1/2 tbsp Coffee powder 450g White chocolate (finely chopped) 1 tbsp Kahlua 2 tsp Vegetable oil Bring the cream and the coffee powder to the boil in a pan on a medium heat. Pour into a bowl and add 200g of the chopped chocolate and stir continuously until completely melted. Add the Kahlua and stir again. Put the bowl in the fridge to chill until firm (this will take a couple of hours). Line a baking tray with foil and use a teaspoon or melon baller to scoop out little balls of the chocolate mixture. Roll in your palms (quickly so your don’t heat them) and place on the sheet. When the balls are completed put the baking tray back into the fridge for another hour. Coffee beans (to decorate) Heat 150g of the remaining chopped chocolate with the vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl balanced over a pan of simmering water. Stop heating once the chocolate is mostly melted, add the rest of the chocolate and continue stirring until it’s all completely melted (this will help not to burn the chocolate – if you do burn it, add cream a dollop at a time and stir to rescue it). Take the tray out of the fridge and dip the balls in the white chocolate, replacing them on the tray. Pop a coffee bean on the top of each one to decorate. 124 Party! Party! XXX dinner parties Floral A floral dinner is at once a lovely, rustic affair, with all the charm and simplicity of a flowering hedgerow in the summer and a rather avante-garde dining experience, since eating flowers is still quite unusual, outside of the usual stuffed, deep fried zucchini flowers and nasturtium garnishes. l Make sure the variety in your garden is EXACTLY THE SAME as the one listed as edible (for example the flowers of the edible pea plant are delicious, but the flowers of the decorative sweet pea are quite poisonous) l Your plants must have been grown without the use of any chemicals Sourcing flowers For these reasons it’s not a good plan to source your flowers from someone else’s garden unless you can double check things with them, or from a garden centre/florist, and it’s definitely not a good idea to go on a picking tour of the local park (not to mention the anti-social nature of such a spree). If you don’t have a garden, or aren’t confident about eating its contents, there are a few edible flower suppliers, some of whom will ship internationally, to be found on the internet. Since flowers are seasonal, so is the availability of some of the ingredients listed here, although if you’re prepared to pay for it, it’s possible to get the flowers shipped in from other countries all year round. The best place in the world to source flowers is, of course, your own back garden. There are a couple of provisos however : Menu Welcome cocktail Shrinking violet Canapes rage flowers ster leaves and bo oy th wi e tar Tuna tar m os with bean bl so Roasted Scallops Starter oot , apple and beetr se ee ch Goat’s lad, sa s es cr let scar with a rocket and jasmine flowers ple blossom and garnished with ap Main course roast potatoes, rlic and rosemary Lavender lamb, ga e uc sa mint baby carrots and Pudding th a trowel pansies, served wi th wi ’ rth Chocolate ‘ea site) (see picture oppo Digestif Flowering teas XX Party! Using flowers as ingredients It should go without saying really, but I will anyway: be gentle. Flowers supplied by a grower will come in little tubs, ready to eat. Flowers from your garden will need to be prepared: as a rule the flower served to guests should consist of just the blossom – no stem or leaves. Bear in mind that flowers have a limited shelf life before they start to look a bit sad, so keep them in the fridge (or ideally on the plant) until you’re ready to use them. Flowers don’t only come fresh, so consider dried flowers and floral teas as ingredients in your cooking. Fresh flowers give lovely pops of colour and fresh, zingy flavours but dried flowers will respond better to prolonged heat (for example baking in a herb crust) and teas are excellent as a basis for marinades or cocktails. floral Shrinking violet Champagne or prosecco Creme de Violette Edible violet blossoms to decorate A very pretty violet hued cocktail that’s made in a flash. You’ll need a bottle of Crème de Violette, which can be purchased from specialist retailers. It’s best served in an old fashioned chamapagne coupe, which you should pop into the fridge on a tray for a few hours before use. Pour a dash of Crème de Violette into the bottom of the glass and top off with champagne or prosecco. Experiment beforehand to find your ideal proportions, it’s very much a matter of taste. Give it a quick swirl to incorporate, perch an edible violet on the rim of the glass and then serve. Canapes We’re reversing the usual course order here by introducing the fish before the salad, but the recipes are so delicious that hopefully your guests will excuse the departure. Scallops with bean blossoms 12 scallops 75g Breadcrumbs 2 tbsp Parsley, finely chopped 1 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano 2 garlic cloves, crushed 3 tbsp olive oil 4 Slices of bacon, finely chopped 1 tsp red chili flakes 2 tbsp White wine These succulent scallops are roasted in white wine with breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and olive oil and presented topped with bean blossoms which are not only delicious, they’re also terribly pretty. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Season the scallops to your taste and lay out in an oiled heatproof dish. Pour in the white wine. Combine the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, parmigiano, bacon and olive oil in a bowl and sprinkle the mixture on top of each scallop in a pretty pile. Put the scallops into the oven to roast – cooking time will depend on the size of the scallops, but it should take around 5 minutes. Carefully transfer to serving plate and garnish each scallop with a bean blossom. Salt and pepper 12 Bean blossoms Party! XXX floral Tuna tartare 75g sushi quality fresh tuna steak, finely diced _ Green chilli, very finely diced 1 Spring onion, very finely diced 1cm lump of Ginger, peeled and very finely diced 1tbsp Soy sauce 1tbsp Sesame oil 1tbsp Clear honey Juice of half a lime Oyster leaves (1 per canapé) Sesame crackers (1 per canapé) Wasabi powder Borage flowers (to garnish) Sesame seeds (to garnish) Salt and pepper 124 Party! The tuna tartare is fresh and zingy, providing an interesting texture that complements the oyster leaves. Oyster leaves are quite extraordinary because they genuinely do taste like oysters, your guests will be astonished. The fishy flavours are complemented by the subtle, cucumber-y flavor of the borage flowers. Quantities below make enough for 6-8 crackers. This canapé needs to be assembled just before serving, because the lime juice will start to ‘cook’ the tuna,. Mix together the tuna, chilli, spring onion, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and lime in a bowl and set aside for a moment. Lay out your crackers, then mix up a little of the wasabi powder into a thick base. Dab a very small amount of wasabi paste onto each cracker and lay an oyster leaf on top – this will provide a little kick while helping to anchor the oyster leaf to the cracker. Spoon a small amount of tartare on top of each leaf and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Garnish with carefully placed borage flowers and serve. floral Starter A good lump of goat’s cheese (allow one 1cm thick slice per guest) Our floral starter is goat’s cheese, apple and beetroot with a rocket and scarlet cress salad, garnished with apple blossom and jasmine flowers. The best thing about this salad is that it’s super quick to plate up and it’s components can mainly be prepped in advance. Large beetroot, cooked and peeled A couple of apples (whichever variety is in season) Rocket Scarlet cress Apple blossom Jasmine flowers Olive oil Lemons Salt and pepper Your rocket, scarlet cress, apple blossom and jasmine flowers are all going to turn up bagged/boxed and ready to go. You can slice your beetroot ahead of time and pop it into a tupperware box, we need super thin, almost transparent slices of an even size. Discount the very first and last slices as they’ll be smaller than the rest. We’re going to do the same slicing trick with the unpeeled apples (discarding the core), so that we end up with similarly sized, slender discs of beetroot an apple. Beware: apple goes brown in the open air, so you’ll have to either plate up pretty quickly or put the apple slices in a solution of water and lemon juice until the last minute. Pop the rocket and the scarlet cress into a bowl and toss gently, then slice the goat’s cheese. To plate up, first create a ring of alternating beetroot and apple slices, overlapping slightly. At the centre of the ring place a neat little heap of rocket and scarlet cress. Pop a goat’s cheese disc on your heap and carefully place a couple of sprigs of apple blossom on top. Sprinkle jasmine flowers around the edge of the plate – sparingly - and lightly dress with a swirl of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Serve. Party! XXX floral Main course It’s important to include something substantial at the heart of any dinner, no matter how elaborate or airy the rest of the food may be. It’s easy to forget that the whole point of a dinner is for your guests to go home satisfied. Lavender lamb Rosemary sprigs 2 tbsp Lavender blossoms (separated from the stems) Lavender lamb is a lovely, gentle adaptation to the theme, incorporating an interesting floral flavor into a much-loved classic. It’s especially delicious when accompanied by garlic and rosemary roast potatoes and baby carrots and mint sauce. _ Red onion, sliced 125ml White wine 250ml Olive oil 5 Garlic cloves, crushed 1 tsp Black pepper 200ml Lamb stock 500ml white wine 1 _ large red onion, sliced 2 bay leaves 2 tsp lavender blossoms (separated from stems) 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 tbsp Dijon wholegrain mustard Olive oil Lemon juice Salt Bunch of mint, stalks removed Pinch of salt 4 tbsp water 4 tbsp White wine vinegar 1 tbsp Caster sugar Baby carrots – three per guest Potatoes – one large potato per guest Goose fat Rosemary Two cloves of garlic, crushed First we need to marinate the lamb: this should be started the day beforehand. Give the lamb a good wash and dry gently. Lightly score the lamb and put into a deep heatproof dish. Mix together 2 tbsp of the lavender blossoms, half a red onion (finely sliced), 125ml of the white wine, the olive oil, 5 of the garlic cloves (crushed) and a good twist of fresh ground black pepper. Pour the whole lot over the lamb, cling film the container and pop into the fridge. Turn it over twice in the course of the day. You can also make the mint sauce at this point. Pop the mint leaves, vinegar and salt into a bowl and blitz with a hand blender. Pour into a pan with the water and sugar and simmer for ten minutes to infuse. Set aside to cool, taste and add seasoning, sugar or water to taste. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until needed. Pre-heat your oven to 190 degrees. Put the lamb stock into a pan and heat to boiling point. Add 250ml of white wine, followed by a red onion (finely sliced), the bay leaves and a teaspoon of lavender blossoms. Continue to boil until the mixture is reduced by about two thirds. Meanwhile put a clove of crushed garlic with the remaining half of a red onion, which should be finely diced, and a good glug of olive oil into a bigger pan over a low heat. Cover and sweat until translucent. Pour the lamb stock into the pan with the garlic and add the other 250ml of white wine. Heat to reduce again for 10-15 minutes, until you have a nice thick, glossy sauce. Strain into a new saucepan, add the Dijon and olive oil and whisk to combine. Stir in another teaspoon of lavender blossoms and season to taste. Pop your lamb into the oven. You’ll need to roast for 30 minutes per 450g of lamb. Take half an hour off if you like lamb to be pink, a bit less if you like a midpoint. To test your lamb pierce with a small, sharp knife – the pinker the juices that run out, the pinker the meat will be. Once the lamb is cooked to your liking, it needs to be removed from the oven and set aside to rest for half an hour. This allows the juices to seep back into the lamb, leaving it wonderfully moist for your guests. You need to start on the vegetables about 20 minutes before the lamb comes out of the oven. Put the tin you intend to use for the roast potatoes into the oven to warm up. Cut your washed (but not peeled) potatoes into evenly sized wedges (not too big) and pat dry. Put the roasting tin onto the hob over a medium heat and drop in a nice big spoonful of goose fat. Increase the heat to melt down the goose fat, keep going until it’s sizzling. Spoon in your potatoes, rosemary and garlic and give them a good stir to coat with fat. Put into the oven with the lamb – when the lamb comes out move the potatoes up to the top tier of the oven. Wash and peel the baby carrots once the lamb has come out of the oven. Chop down the green tops so that just a half an inch or so is left. I would recommend steaming over boiling, because it’s a lot gentler – the carrots shouldn’t need any more than ten minutes to be al dente. Put your plates into the oven to warm as the carrots go in the steamer. 124 Party! floral Pudding This pudding is great fun, a wonderful talking point and absolutely delicious. Your chocolate ‘earth’ is moreish chocolate crunch that’s a little like cheesecake base, with a piquant hint of salt. Serve in a garden container, whether a trug or a plant pot – NB: buy new containers from a garden centre and wash thoroughly before use, don’t just use bits and pieces from the garden. Dot the top of the ‘earth’ with edible pansies. To complete the look, you should provide trowels (also brand new and washed) for guests to serve themselves. The rich chocolate custard should be provided in small watering cans (the type usually used for houseplants, also new and clean) with the sprinkler heads removed. Chocolate earth 125g Caster sugar 125g Almond flour 75g Plain flour 50g Cocoa powder Large pinch of salt Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients, then beat in the butter with an electric mixer until you have a smooth, glossy batter. Use a palette knife to spread thinly onto a baking paper lined baking tray (even up with a palette knife, if you have one). Bake for around 15 minutes, being careful not to let it burn. Leave to cool in the pan, then crumble and serve decorated with edible pansies. 65g Melted butter Edible pansies Chocolate custard 600ml Milk 190ml Double cream 3 tbsp Cocoa powder 4 Egg yolks 100g Caster sugar 1 _ tbsp. Cornflour Pour the milk and the cream into a pan, gently heat to a simmer and then set aside. Beat together the cocoa powder, egg yolks, sugar and cornflour with an electric mixer on a medium speed until you have a nice, smooth mixture (you can loosen it up with a plash of the warm milk if you need to). Continue to beat as you slowly pour in the warm milk, then return the whole lot to the saucepan. Stir constantly over a medium-low heat (don’t let it boil, or even simmer). The custard should thicken beautifully, it’s ready when it coats the back of a spoon. If you’re worried it’s too thick to pour from the watering cans whisk in some more milk to thin it. Digestif This is the moment to break out the flowering teas, which can be purchased online. Serve with blueberry macarons, which are a gorgeous shade of blue. Party! XXX 5 drinks partıes drinks parties drinks parties The elegant drinks party has many advantages over the more raucous house party from the perspective of the ‘grown up’ host. Quality over quantity is the watchword for this form of entertaining, from your guest list to your food offering - it’s a great opportunity to take pleasure in the details. That said, elegant doesn’t have to equate to stuffy and being a ‘grown up’ doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun, so feel free to indulge in a bit of silliness should the mood take you. Putting together a soundtrack for the evening Music can instantly transport you to an entirely different time and place, lifting your mood and helping to kick start a memorable evening. It’s therefore advisable to spend a little time beforehand creating a made-to-measure soundtrack rather than just planning to play a selection of compilation CDs. Do a little research on appropriate eras/genres of music. This is pretty straightforward online, most music retail websites will let you listen to a preview before you buy and there are lots of specialist music blogs out there offering advice. Work out approximately how long you expect your party to last, then add on an hour and a half – that’s how much time you need to fill with your music. You can create your playlist using a computer with software like iTunes (which is compatible with both Mac and PC and is free to download). Just drag and drop your tracks into the order you’d like them to play. Consider the narrative of the party as you do so: you need the music to start out fairly relaxed, getting more upbeat at the party progresses and then gradually winding down towards the end. The ideal is to connect your laptop or mp3 player to the sound system – that way you won’t need to keep changing CDs – but if needs be you can burn your playlist onto several CDs (don’t forget to number them) and set yourself timers to remind you when to do a swap. Setting up a bar Setting up a bar is only as complicated as you choose to make it. Don’t feel that you have to offer a full cocktail bar to your guests, it’s perfectly acceptable to offer a limited but carefully chosen range of drinks. The basic bar offers beer, wine and soft drinks. This means you can make your bar self-service if you want to, and if you prefer to have someone looking after it they need not be a professional. If you’d like to offer cocktails you should either choose a single cocktail, which can be a welcome drink, or a selection of 4-5 cocktails, which can be presented in a menu. Once cocktails are involved you need to employ a professional, bartender or at least someone who understands how these things work. Once your menu is fixed you need to work out how much to buy in. This depends largely on your guests – for a big celebration you should allow 3-4 drinks per hour per person, for a more sedate party 1-3 per hour is fine. If you want to ensure that you won’t run out, allow for an extra hour’s worth of drinks. You should purchase your alcohol from a wholesaler – they generally offer sale or return (which means any unopened, undamaged bottles or cases will be taken back and refunded after the party) as well as free glass and ice bucket hire. Party! XXX drinks parties Film noir Film noir is not only an incredibly stylish drinks party theme, it’s also perfectly suited to the pace of this type of entertaining. Your guests can pull out all the stops on the glamour front without worrying about getting sweaty dancing or being able to eat a lot. Plus of course the tropes of film noir are ripe for a little tongue-in-cheek humour, so you can have some fun with it too. Film noir backdrop The obvious thing to do at a film noir party is to show some film noir. You don’t especially want everyone to sit and watch the whole thing in silence, so just show the films with the sound off and switch on the subtitles if you think people would like to be able to follow the narrative. There are a couple of different ways of displaying the films – if you’ve got a TV in situ then it’s fine to just play the DVDs on that. If you have a little more time and access to a projector, it’s nice to project across a whole wall, perhaps in the garden – that way you get to see the dramatic art direction of the film noir on a grand scale. If you have access to multiple TVs then set up several screens around your party venue and play a different film on each one. NB: you don’t want to end up with the dreaded blue screen so set yourself timers to remind you when a film is ending so that you can do a quick swap. Films to consider showing include: l Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), 1930, Josef von Sternberg l Citizen Kane, 1941, Orson Welles l Stranger on the Third Floor, 1940, Boris Ingster l The Lost Weekend, 1945, Billy Wilder XX Party! Double bluff: Poker school A favourite setting of the film noir is the gambling joint, so it makes sense to put together a poker school. Kits which include a felt table cover, cards, chips, dice and instructions can be bought relatively cheaply. If you don’t think your guests will know how to play poker, type up a simple explanation using the instructions that came with the box, format it nicely, print and display. Include chocolate cigars, visors and toy guns to complete the look. If you’re feeling mischievous you can also include a few tips on cheating and some trick items for the enterprising to employ. It’s not a film noir without a little double crossing, after all. Usherettes A film themed party is the natural habitat of the usherette. Simply supply your waiting staff with jauntily angled hats (from the local costume shop) and usherette trays. The usherette trays are very easily made up – you need several identical wooden trays with high sides and handles, and a length of very wide ribbon (from the haberdashers). Tie a length of the ribbon to the handles at either end and use as a neck strap. Your usherettes can then serve canapés and drinks in style. Here are a couple of contemporary canapé recipes to serve up: Whisky tasting The Private Eyes in film noir know there’s only one real drink: whisky. What’s better than whisky? Lots of whisky: and thus a tasting is incorporated into your event. I’m using the word ‘tasting’ in the loosest possible sense, because there’s no need for your guests to go in for all of the face pulling, loud slurping and spitting involved in a more formal tasting. On this occasion we’re just going for a little informed sipping so that people can compare and contrast. film noir Your best friend in this case is your local independent wine and spirit merchant, who will be able to guide you in buying four or five diverse examples. He or she may even be prepared to come along to your party and explain each malt to your guests, but if not just look up the brands you’ve purchased and create little crib sheets listing the different production process and tasting qualities. Set each bottle at the centre of a tray, surrounded with small glasses (shot or sherry) and the relevant crib sheet. You guests can then try each in their own time. Cocktail flasks Film noir characters are often found lounging about in dive bars and gambling dens, but they do occasionally need to go out into the rain to do a spot of investigation. Since no film noir character worth their salt is ever without refreshment, hip flasks are de rigueur. Give your guests an authentically noir experience by supplying one of your cocktails in hip flasks, enabling them to lean moodily against lamp posts like a pro. Punches are best suited to this sort of dispensation – they can be made up in bulk and divided. Planter’s Punch 2 oz. Dark rum Juice of 1 lime Juice of _ lemon _ oz Grenadine _ oz Gomme A great favourite of the late Tallulah Bankhead, Planter’s Punch originated in Jamaica, becoming popular in America and Europe from the 1920s. Shake all ingredients except soda water with ice and strain into a jug. Add soda water, mix lightly and pour into flasks. Quantities shown are for one serving, multiply up by the number you wish to serve. dash Angostura bitters 2oz. Soda water Cheese straws An all time canapé classic, and especially suited to service from an usherette tray. 225g Finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 2 sheets All butter puff pastry (defrosted) 1/2 tsp Smoked sweet paprika 124 Party! Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sprinkle 1/4 of your cheese on a clean work surface. Place pastry on top and sprinkle with another 1/4 of the cheese. Roll into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Cut pastry into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Lift up one end of each strip, give a couple of twists and transfer to baking tray. Dust with paprika and remaining cheese. Pop into the oven and bake until risen and golden, which should take about 10 minutes. Leave to cool and then remove from non-stick paper and serve. Party! XXX film noir Blue cheese stuffed endive leaves 4 Endive heads 200g Blue cheese 90g Toasted chopped pecans 1 Large pear, diced small 2 tbsp Sherry vinegar 2 tbsp Thyme, chopped small These take a moment to put together, look brilliant and taste even better – the perfect party food! Pull apart two of the edive heads so that you’ve got lots of separate leaves, and set aside. Chop the remaining two edive heads finely and add to the cheese, pecans and pears in a mixing bowl. Add sherry vinegar and thyme and stir gently. Pack the cheese mixture into the edive leaves and garnish with a little salt and pepper, and a sprig of thyme. Cucumber caviar bites Cucumber Small jar of caviar 150ml Crème fraiche Dill Lemon Salt & pepper 124 Party! Fresh, clean and light, these cucumber bites serve up a salty shot of contrasting flavour. Cut cucumber into approx 3/4-inch-thick slices (leave peel on). Scoop out most of the seeds from the middle, leaving the bottom of each slice intact. In a bowl, mix together the crème fraiche, chopped dill and a squeeze of lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste. Fill the hole in each slice with a teaspoonful of crème fraiche mixture and top with a small dollop of caviar. Garnish with a small sprig of dill and serve with lemon wedges. drinks parties Glow-inthe-dark First off, let’s be clear – a glow in the dark party does not have to be conducted entirely in the pitch dark, so don’t worry about people impaling themselves on the coat stand while trying to find the loo. Secondly, glow in the dark doesn’t mean that you have to employ the aesthetic of a raver hippie: just because it glows doesn’t mean it has to be fashioned into dreadlocks and/or an astrological symbol while accompanied by a thumping bassline. This is actually a great way to completely transform the space you’re working with, while employing a little simple science to impress your guests. It can look rather slick when done right, provided you acknowledge and embrace the kitsch factor. Black lights The key to your party is black light. Black light bulbs produce a visible purple-ish glow, and non-visible ultraviolet light (not the sort that gives you sunburn). Ultraviolet light makes white things (like teeth and t-shirts), fluorescent things and certain organic things appear to glow. Black lights are easily bought online – you can either buy bulbs, replacing all the normal ones in the house for the evening, or you can buy fluorescent tubes, which look a bit more sculptural and dramatic. Once you’ve got your black lights you need to work out what you want to be visible and what you don’t. Block out anything you don’t want to be seen by draping it in dark fabric. Make sure it’s clean – all the dust that doesn’t stand out in normal light will show up like a sore thumb under black light. Glowing decorations An excellent start for any party is the introduction of balloons. White balloons will glow under the black light and since it’ll be quite a graphic effect it’s a good idea to go for a larger, completely round balloon (such as the Qualatex 16inch). You could use a bit of helium to suspend the balloons in mid air, anchored by some fishing line (be careful not to do that somewhere your guests could wander through, becoming entangled). Even better is to use completely transparent balloons with a glowstick inside, which gives a much more interesting effect. Another bargain – but very graphic – effect can be created using just a ball of string. Use the whitest you can find (some sort of synthetic parcel string would be perfect), and find an empty spot (between stair bannisters is perfect). Just wind your string back and forth in long, straight lines to create a mini-installation that will glow under the black light, highlighting the dimensions of the space you’ve used. This looks amazing when done over a stair bannister that goes up several floors, for example. It’s also worth considering using some drapes to define your space a little – transparency is a little more sophisticated in this context, so use a fine white mesh fabric to drape over a few fittings or items of furniture. Plus of course any all-white decoration will be very effective, from bunting to confetti. Floral decorations are the perfect way to give glow-in-the-dark a grown up twist, since white flowers will glow super white, green leaves will glow red and tonic water can be added to the water in the vase to make it glow blue-white. Whether large, traditional arrangements in white urns or a few artfully arranged leaves and blooms submerged in a transparent glass vase, flowers will pack quite a visual punch. Party! XXX glow-in-the-dark Glowing cocktails Glow in the dark glasses and straws are easily found on the internet, but you don’t have to invest in lots of new stuff when you can get a great effect from things you already have in your cupboard. Glowing ice cubes Quinine glows in the dark, and the best edible source of quinine is good old-fashioned tonic water. You can use any brand, light or regular, just check the label to make sure it contains quinine. Make a 50:50 mix of tonic and water, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. The resulting ice cubes will glow under black light and are safe to eat. They will taste like tonic water, however, so it’s best to serve them in drinks that won’t be ruined by that flavour. Salt rims Salt will glow in black light because it’s so white, so giving your glasses a salt rim is a good glow-in-the-dark option. Run a lemon wedge around the rim of your glass to XX Party! moisten it, pour a little salt into a saucer and dip the rim in – the salt will stick to the lemon juice, creating a pretty, frosty edge on your glass. You can do the same with caster or icing sugar if the drink you’re serving doesn’t suit salt. Light up cocktail fountain This is the sort of thing that can either be totally tacky or utterly brilliant, depending on the setting. In the context of a glow-in-thedark party, it’s definitely the latter. You can find cocktail fountains very cheaply on the internet, most of them will also light up. Simply fill with your chosen cocktail, chuck in a couple of glowing ice cubes for good measure and set it running – your guests will laugh their socks off (in a good way). Glowing canapés Food that contains cholorophyll will glow red under black light – that means any green leafy vegetable such as spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, lettuce, broccoli and salad greens. Add this to white foods such as cauliflower, radishes or cheese – which will glow white – and you’ll have quite an arresting effect. glow-in-the-dark glow-in-the-dark White coconut cake 2 Large eggs Caster sugar (same weight as eggs) Butter (same weight as eggs) Self raising flour (same weight as eggs) Raspberry jam 2 Large egg yolks 40g Caster sugar 1 tblsp Cornflour 125ml Milk 1 tsp Vanilla essence 1 tblsp Butter, softened 250g White chocolate, chopped 100ml Whipping cream 280g Icing sugar 125ml Water 3 Large egg whites This is a delicious, extravagant cake that takes a little time and love to make but is well worth the effort. A classic sponge is made by weighing 2 large eggs and then measuring out your butter, caster sugar and flour in the same quantity. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl using an electric whisk. Keep going until it becomes pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat your eggs together thoroughly and then add them a little bit at a time to the butter mixture, giving it a good mix after each dollop is added. Next take a metal spoon and gently fold the flour into the mixture in small amounts. Add a little water if the mixture seems too stiff. Divide between two cake tins and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for approximately 30 mins, until springy and lightly golden. If a knife or toothpick comes out clean then the cake is done. Allow to cool a little, then pop straight into the freezer in the cake tins. First we need to make pastry cream. Heat the milk in a pan until very hot but not burning. While the millk heats whisk the yolks, the sugar and a pinch of salt with an electric mixer until fluffy and pale. Add the cornflour and whisk a little more. Whisk again while pouring the hot milk into the mixture in a steady stream and continue to beat for a moment. Transfer the mixture back into the pan and beat until very thick and smooth, which should only take a couple of minutes. Strain through a fine mesh metal sieve, then stir in the vanilla and butter and mix until combined. Set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate. _ tsp Cream of tar tar 1 tsp Coconut extract Coconut flakes Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Allow the chocolate to cool to lukewarm while stirring. Whisk the white chocolate into the pastry cream and set aside. In another bowl beat the cream until it forms soft peaks. Gently beat _ of the cream into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold the in the remainder of the cream with a metal spoon. Cover and refrigerate. Put a couple of dollops of raspberry jam in cup and mixt with a little warm water to loosen it. Set aside. Feta and beetroot stack Pack of cooked beetroot 200g Feta block Bunch of chives Dollop of cream This stack is a classic, low carb combination, Under black light the beetroot will appear very dark, and the cheese very bright, giving a great stripy effect. Slice the cooked beetroot into approx. 1/3 inch thick slices, and cut into perfect circles with a biscuit cutter. Salt & pepper, to taste Mix goat’s cheese, chopped chives, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add a dollop of cream and combine to get a creamier texture. Pop the mixture into a piping bag with a large, plain nozzle. Build your stack by piping the cheese mixture onto a slice of beetroot. Top this with another slice of beetroot, another layer of cheese and a final layer of beetroot. Garnish by piping a little blob of cheese on the top beetroot slice and laying a couple of short strand of chives across it. XX Party! Remove the sponge from the freezer and the cake tins. Put a cake layer onto a plate or stand, then spread the top with the raspberry mixture. Next get your white chocolate mousse out of the fridge and spread a thick layer onto the cake. Top with the second cake layer. Spoon any spare mousse into shot glasses to serve separately. Beat together your sugar, water, egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric whisk for about 30 seconds in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl on top of a pan of simmering water (as when melting chocolate) and continue to beat for 7 – 10 minutes of until soft peaks are formed. Remove the bowl from the pan, add coconut extract and beat for another couple of minutes until the mixture reaches a good consistency for spreading. Completely cover the outside of your cake with a thin layer of icing. Don;t worry about making it too even or tidy. This is called the crumb layer. Pop the cake into the freezer for half an hour so that the icing sets (cover the remaining icing and set aside in the meantime). Once the icing is set, remove the cake from the freezer and add a second layer of icing – you’ll find it goes on much more evenly and is easier to smooth than if you’d done a single thick layer. Sprinkle coconut flakes across the top of the cake and gently press into its sides. Party! XXX glow-in-the-dark White chocolate truffles 300g White chocolate, chopped 75g Salted butter, diced 3 tbsp Double cream 1 tsp Vanilla extract Stir together 100g of the white chocolate, the cream and the butter in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined. Take off the heat and stir in another 100g of white chocolate and the vanilla extract – continue to stir until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the mixture into a fresh bowl, cover and refrigerate until firm enough to scoop (at least a couple of hours). Icing sugar, to coat the truffles Once the mixture is nice and firm, remove the bowl from the fridge and scoop out into approx. 1inch balls using a teaspoon or melon baller. Roll in your palms to firm them up and set aside on a tray. Line a baking tray with some greaseproof paper and lay out two forks. Melt the remaining 100g of white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Keep the temperature very low because white chocolate is inclined to dry out and burn very quickly. Take a ball and drop it into the melted chocolate. Quickly tuck a fork underneath and fish the ball out of the chocolate, then use your other fork to carefully push the truffle off the fork and onto the greaseproof paper. Set aside to cool and harden, repeat for each truffle. NB: don’t refrigerate, this gives the chocolate a dull finish. Once fully set dust with icing sugar and serve. 124 Party! 6 house partıes house parties house parties A house party is the default for any putative host – what could be more convenient than a knees-up on your own doorstep? No rules, no fixed end time, no penalties from the owner in the event of damage, and no-one to squash your plans: perfect. How many guests? Having the right number of guests turn up is crucial to the success of any party. Too few and it feels unsuccessful, too many and it’s an unpleasant experience for all involved. Consider the areas you want to open up to the party (and don’t forget that you’ll need at least one space that remains private and another where people can smoke). Then think realistically about how many people you can comfortably fit into each space. Add it all up and you have your capacity. Of course, not everyone you invite will be able to attend. If you want 50 people to attend you need to invite 70 and so forth. If you’re tight on numbers create a main list and a reserve list. Send out the main list invitations, and as people decline invite people from your reserve list. That way you won’t end up oversubscribed. If anyone rumbles your tactics feign ignorance and blame the postal service. Encourage people to RSVP so you’ve got a good picture of who will be attending and make sure you’ve got someone intelligent regulating the influx of guests on the night. Being kind to your neighbours Thinking of your neighbours is an obvious precaution when throwing a house party. The perfect situation is that you’re such good friends with your neighbours that they’ll all be there with you, in which case no-one minds what goes on. But we’re not all so lucky, so it’s worth taking a few simple precautions: - Give your neighbors at least a week’s notice, and if possible, invite them along at the same time. Let them know what time you intend to start and finish, and give them your mobile number so that they can give you a shout if it’s all too loud. - Put up signs in any outside areas (including by your front door) asking guests to try to keep noise to a minimum after midnight. It’s outdoor sound that travels the most, and while your immediate neighbours may be on side, the ones two doors down may not be. - Talk to your DJ – or whoever will be in charge of music – and agree on volume levels for different times of the night. DJs often get carried away and just play louder and louder as the night goes on. - Keep windows closed as far as possible to contain the noise. - Bear in mind that sound travels through floors and ceilings, and where possible put your sound Party! XXX house parties house parties system well away from your neighbour’s bedrooms. Quick and easy props and decorations If you want to play down the ‘homely’ aspect of your house, there are a few quick and easy cheats that will make all the difference: - Lighting: coloured bulbs or lighting gels can completely change a room. Try to use lamps rather than your main overhead lights as this will create a more atmospheric effect - Army surplus stores are a great source for interesting cover-alls, from camouflage netting to parachutes - Ebay is a great source for weird and wonderful items of set dressing. Get a general idea of what you’re looking for and set aside an afternoon to have a really good investigate. NB: remember to do this a couple of weeks before your party to allow a window for things to be shipped to you. - Simple seasonal decorations (Christmas for example) can be used year round, for example strings of coloured beads, fairy lights and large plain baubles. Just wait until the January sales and stash them away ready for your next party. Making use of the whole house The thing that makes a party special is it’s individuality – the fact that it could only have happened in this place with these people. So try to look at your house as a series of interesting spaces, and make the best use of all of them. Everyone will remember your party if you hide surprises all over your house: a mermaid in the bath, a boudoir dressing up room in your bedroom, a palmist in a teepee in your garden, a ‘science lab’ bar in your kitchen. Once you’ve decided your theme, think about what experiences would be appropriate, and from there you can decide which are suitable for your house, and which can be created without blowing the budget. NB: things don’t have to be ‘real’ for people to understand and enjoy them. Your quick-witted friend slathered in eyeliner with a gypsy scarf around his head is just as funny as a real psychic, especially if you can find him a deck of tarot cards and a nice big paper-weight to use as a crystal ball. Setting up a sound system and finding a DJ Setting up a sound system is a bit of an intimidating thought, but it’s really not so bad. You have two options: use your own equipment or hire it in. If you hire in equipment, you need to do the following: XX Party! - Always get quotes from at least three different companies - To get the most accurate quote, describe the rooms you want to install in: ceiling heights, approximate sizes, flooring, curtains etc. - Explain the purpose of the system (DJing / live music / speaking) and the number of people you expect - Let them know whether you want to play CDs, Vinyl or from a computer /ipod so that you get the right kit Using your own equipment is also pretty straightforward – there’s a limit to what you can achieve, but most systems will allow you to wire in two sets of speakers. Play with the positioning of the speakers beforehand so they’re covering the maximum area possible, and the sound isn’t warping. Finding a DJ is often the least of your worries – you will probably have a few friends who will leap at the chance to inflict their music collection on your guests. But if you’d rather have a professional, I’d recommend that you bypass agencies (who will add a hefty percentage to the DJ’s fee) and just keep an ear out when you’re out and about instead. If you find that you’re enjoying the music at a party or club, go up to the DJ booth and ask if he or she would be interested in playing at a private party. Payment is negotiable: on the one hand you have finite resources, on the other your DJ may be turning down other work to play at your party so you’ll need to be competitive. I find that honesty is the best path, so offer what you think is reasonable and see what they say. Do remember when you make your offer that DJing is work and a party can mean an eight hour shift: try not to be unrealistic about what constitutes fair compensation. If you fancy yourself a bit of a DJ, take the time to have a little play with the decks once they’re set up. It’s easiest to start out DJing with CDs, make sure you’ve got a nice big tower of them on hand because you’ll go through more than you expect. Essentially you have two CD players, side by side. The decks will have readouts showing which tracks you’ve selected and whether they’re playing or not. You’ll also have two sets of buttons to play, change the volume and skip the CDs back and forth between tracks. You can play both at once if you want to, there will be a slider in between the CD players that allows you to ‘mix’ the music. If the slider is all the way to the left you will hear only the left hand CD, ditto if it’s all the way to right. As the slider moves between the two you’ll hear a mix of both. This is how you transition from one CD to the other. Your decks should come with headphones, Party! XXX house parties Pyjama party is the perfect theme for a house party: completely appropriate to the intimate surroundings of your home, quirkily retro and open to a wide variety of interpretations. Plus you need very little in the way of decorations or props, so it’s kind to your budget. Séance The séance is a fun activity that harks back to childhood sleepovers. There’s no need to do a real one (I’m as superstitious as the next person), much preferable is an entertaining fake. You can buy or make a simple board with the alphabet distinctly marked out, and use an upturned glass as a pointer. Seat your guests in a circle around a table, holding hands. Make the room as dark as possible and secret someone behind a curtain to make noises at the appropriate moments. You can have great fun working out various tricks to give your guests a little fright. Go as far as you deem appropriate – do be careful not to scare anyone too much, there’s a fine line between fun and genuine fear. Games No pyjama party is complete without games. These should be a combination of organised XX Party! group games and fun diversions left out for guests to discover and engage with. A great example of the former is sardines, which generates very enjoyable mayhem. Sardines is like hide and seek in reverse: one player hides and the others search for him/her. When someone finds the hiding player they join him/ her, and this carries on as the hiding place gets more and more crowded – like a tin of sardines. The game goes on until the last person finds the sardines. The winner is the one suffering the least claustrophobia. All sorts of board games are good to leave out for people to find, ranging from Twister (always a hit) to chess. Scaled up garden games such as Jenga and Connect 4 also work very well to incite your guests’ competitive urges. Bed cinema A cinema is a great relaxation spot for guests who need a sit-down – you’ll see I’m a great fan of them in their various forms in the course of this book – and this party cries out for a bed cinema. Simply put some clean sheets that you’re happy to throw out (if necessary) after the party onto a bed, pile it high with pillows and set up a TV or projector alongside a stack of classic children’s films. If you’re feeling generous you can make a mini-bar with decanters and spirit glasses alongside sweet and savoury snacks. Here are two simple but sophisticated snack recipes that you could serve: pyjama party Cheese and pineapple hedgehog Whether fondly or with a shudder, we all remember the cheese and pineapple hedgehog from childhood birthday parties. Think of it as a weirdly presented cheeseboard and it suddenly seems a perfectly reasonable proposition. Avoid torturing your guests with sweaty cheddar and pop some of the following combinations onto cocktail sticks instead: l Torn mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto and a basil leaf with a small squirt of balsamic glaze l Thinly sliced quince jelly, thinly sliced brie and thinly sliced pear l A small cube of goat’s cheese with a couple of blueberries l Half a strawberry, hulled and filled with any blue cheese l Ripe quartered figs with a smear of stilton and a light drizzle of honey l Fresh or dried apricot slices with little wedges of camembert Halve a grapefruit (or a melon if you want to fit more ‘spines’ on), wrap in foil and spear with your yummy cocktail-stick’d morsels. Truffle popcorn A lovely grown up twist on the traditional movie-goers’ snack. Butter Truffle oil Truffle salt Parsley Parmesan Popcorn kernels First melt down a knob of butter, mix in a good dollop of truffle oil and set aside. Finely chop a couple of sprigs of parsley, then mix in with some grated parmesan and a couple of pinches of truffle salt and set aside in another bowl. Pop the plain corn kernels in a pan as per the packet instructions, replacing half the oil with truffle oil. Once the popping has stopped, put the popcorn into a large metal bowl and toss with the butter and oil mixture. Then sprinkle over the cheese, salt and parsley mixture and toss again. Do this in small batches if you’re making a lot of popcorn so that the whole lot is thoroughly flavoured. Try not to eat the lot before your guests get to it. Party! XXX pyjama party Naughty biscuits 125g Softened unsalted butter 125g Plain flour 125g Self raising flour 100 Caster sugar 1 Egg A little milk This one’s good for a giggle. As a child you may have encountered ‘Nice’ biscuits. If not, let me enlighten you: these small rectangular biscuits have pretty scalloped edges, a dusting of sugar and the word ‘Nice’ firmly imprinted into them. It’s impossible to stop eating them once you’ve started. We’re going to re-work the Nice biscuits into Naughty ones. For this you will need a scalloped, rectangular biscuit cutter (or any biscuit cutter you like really) and a cookie letter stamp set (a set of plastic letters that can be clipped together to imprint words onto biscuits). Pinch of salt Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the pinch of salt and the egg and mix again. While the mixer is still running gradually add the flour until it’s all mixed in. If the mixture Is a bit dry add a little milk to soften it (but only if it’s not sticking together properly, you don’t want a gooey mess). Take the mixture from the bowl and plop onto a floured surface. Knead lightly until it stops sticking to your fingers and starts sticking to itself. Roll out to around 6mm thick, and cut out nice little biscuits with your biscuit cutter. Then ruin everything by stamping rude words into them, firmly so that they don’t warp when baked. I like to write ‘bugger off ’ on mine, but do feel free to use whatever expletives are closest to your black little heart. Dust well with caster sugar and bake for 8 minutes. Keep them in longer if you prefer a crunchier biscuit, shorter if you want them more or less raw. Popping chocolate rice crispy cakes 200g Dark chocolate (the best quality you can find) 200g Popping candy (either from a sweet shop, or a specialist supplier of molecular gastronomy ingredients) 60g Rice Krispies 1 tsp Nutmeg 1 tsp Ginger Petit four cases (the super tiny ones) Coloured sugar sprinkles (to decorate) 124 Party! I have to concede that giving rice crispy cakes an extra popping element doesn’t make them much more sophisticated. It does make them quite a lot more fun, though, and using excellent quality chocolate goes some way to mitigate the childishness of feeding an unsuspecting guest a sober looking treat that then goes ‘bang’ in his or her mouth. Because popping candy gradually loses it’s ‘pop’ when exposed to moisture, it’s best to make these the day they’re going to be served. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. NB: watch it like a hawk, because the darker the chocolate, the more likely it is to burn. Stir continuously and keep the heat very low. Once the chocolate is melted, pour into a larger bowl and add the ginger and nutmeg, followed by the popping candy and the Rice Krispies. Mix together until well coated with chocolate and carefully spoon in little dollops into the petit four cases. Top with a few sugar sprinkles and refrigerate until set. Serve to your guests with quiet glee. house parties Colourscape is a theme that works for all ages, from children’s parties to grown up psychedelic extravaganzas. The premise is simple: colour, piles and piles of vibrant, exciting colour. It needs to be all-out in the execution, this is not a theme for the feint hearted. Colourscape lends itself to some wonderful dressing up, in head to toe monochromatic outfits, and is one of the rare parties that is easy to dress up for without buying anything new or feeling too outlandish. Since you’re probably not all that keen on re-painting the rooms in your house, this party calls for some smart set dressing. As per usual, I’m going to recommend coloured lightbulbs and/or lighting gels as a starting point. Ideally, you should assign an area to each of the seven colours of the rainbow and light it accordingly. Because this party is light and bright you should tint your overhead lighting rather than using lamps. Balloon room One of my absolute favourite party props is the humble balloon. They are cheap to buy in bulk, easy to assemble and available in all sorts of shapes, not to mention sizes ranging from 8” to 8ft. Fill with helium and you have props that add both height and volume to the room. When using balloons, more is more: for this specific theme it’s great fun to literally fill a whole room with balloons of a single colour in lots of shapes and sizes. They should be at least knee deep (do it in a small room for the sake of your fingers). Your guests will have hours of fun kicking, popping and throwing balloons around, and they will take some great pictures in the process. Bouncy castle Now, I know a lot of people think that bouncy castles at adult parties are a health and safety nightmare. But they really are very good fun indeed and if you hire from a reputable operator they can provide someone to lay down the safety law so that you don’t have to. Essentially this entails having the castle out when guests arrive and for the first hour or so, with the usual ‘no shoes, no drinks on the castle’ rules, and then safely packing it up before anyone gets too drunk and silly. If you really want to cover yourself you can provide signage making it clear that guests use the castle at their own risk and outlining the rules of use in writing. Once your conscience is salved, you will be free to bounce around in your colourful inflatable idyll to your heart’s content, and you’ll find that it really does create quite a marvellous sense of euphoria. Rock and roll face painting Parties are a great opportunity for adults to let go of the need to be ‘grown up’ and indulge in a little play. Face painting is an excellent case in point: it’s a simple form of dressing up and make believe that takes people out of their everyday characters. The only difference is that instead of tigers and butterflies, our reference points are Ziggy Stardust and glam rock. You can either hire a professional face painter and brief him or her, or buy a cheap set of face paints on the internet and provide a mirror and lots of inspirational pictures. You’d be amazed at the difference a couple of red and silver lightning flashes to the face can make to your party guests! Rainbow cocktail bar At a colour themed party, it only makes sense to serve a rainbow cocktail menu. Brightly coloured drinks are great fun, and offer a good opportunity to experiment with some interesting liquors and flavours. Party! XXX colourscape Rhubarb gin and tonic (Red) 4 Medium stalks of fresh chopped rhubarb The addition of tart, fruity rhubarb to any drink would be a very nice surprise. Delivered while you’re working your way through an innocuous gin and tonic, it’s rather astonishing. 230ml Water 230ml Caster sugar 2oz Gin 5oz Tonic water Mint sprig to garnish Put your rhubarb, water and sugar into a heavy bottomed pan and bring to the boil. Lower heat so that the mixture simmers, and cook for about 20 minutes, until the fruit is soft and the fluid has thickened. Line a fine metal sieve with a clean tea towel and pour your mixture through it. It’s fine to give it a bit of a press to encourage all the liquid out. You can do this without the tea towel, but it really does make all the difference to the clarity of the syrup. Pour your syrup into a bottle, seal and refrigerate until you need it. To make the ice cubes Don’t ignore this bit, they’re not just ice cubes! Make some normal ice cubes in a tray, the bigger the cubes the better. Once thoroughly frozen get the trays out of the freezer and grab yourself a thin handled teaspoon or metal skewer. Dip the end of the skewer or teaspoon handle into freshly boiled water to heat it up (careful not to burn your fingers) and then use it to melt a hollow in the centre of the ice. Make it a nice, big hollow, but don’t melt away the cube entirely. Tip the tray to get rid of the melted water and fill the hollow cubes nearly all the way to the top with rhubarb syrup. Put back into the freezer to set. Once frozen plug the top of the hollow with a little water and put back into the freezer. Add two or three rhubarb cubes to a glass, pour over the gin and tonic, and garnish with a sprig of mint. Your guests will start out drinking a normal g&t, gradually getting more and more of the rhubarb flavor (and lovely red colour) coming through. If you think your guests will get through the drink too quickly to appreciate the ice cube, just make them bigger, stronger drinks to slow them down a bit. Mini cheese biscuits Assorted food colouring Cream cheese Mini cheddars (or other small savoury biscuit) These are a bit of a cheat but they look adorable together on a tray (as well as being yummy of course). A word on the subject of food colouring: the ones you buy in the supermarket aren’t very accurate. If you buy red food colouring, the only shade it will reliably achieve is red. Of course you can add less to try to get pink but you probably won’t get the shade you want. This problem is easily solved – invest in small bottles of specialist food colouring from a baking supplier. For this purpose you want red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Divide your cream cheese into seven small bowls. Add a little colour to each and beat well until mixed through. If the colour isn’t strong enough add a couple more drops and repeat. Lay out your mini cheddars, load some coloured cream cheese into a piping bag and pipe onto the biscuits in a neat little swirl. Make an equal number of each colour and line up in rainbow rows to serve. You can also create a multicoloured effect by using disposable icing bags. Fill two or three bags with a colour each and snip off the ends (no nozzle). Take another icing bag with a star nozzle fitted and place the filled bags inside, snipped ends pointing into the nozzle. Twist and secure the tops of the bags with a rubber band. When you squeeze the outer bag the different colours will be forced through the nozzle on all together, creating rainbow rosettes. Very exciting stuff, believe me. Don’t 124 Party! colourscape Fresh fruit jelly Raspberry 200g Raspberries 1 tbsp caster sugar 3 leaves gelatin Water Clementine 10 clementines 1 tbsp caster sugar 3 leaves gelatin Water Lemon Zest of a lemon 100ml lemon juice 2 tbsp caster sugar 3 leaves gelatin Water Fresh fruit jellies are a lovely revelation to anyone who grew up on the packet varieties – the flavours are just astonishing. I was introduced to jellies and their many possibilities by the talented Bompas and Parr, the reigning masters of jelly making. I like to set jellies in little sherry or shot glasses. Mismatched vintage ones are sweetest, but any collection of little glasses is fine. These look really pretty together on a tray as the light filters through their jewel colours. Put the raspberries and sugar into a heat-proof bowl and cover with cling film. Balance the bowl over a pan of simmering water for around 30 minutes,,until the juices have run out of the fruit. Line a metal sieve with a clean tea towel and use this to strain the raspberries and juice into a bowl. Feel free to press with a spoon, or just leave it to process and come back in a couple of hours. Pour into a measuring jug and make up to 300ml with cold water. When you’re ready to make up the jelly, place the gelatin leaves in a small bowl of cold water and set aside for five minutes to soften. In the meantime heat up a little of your strained juice in a pan. Give your softened gelatin a good squeeze to get rid of the water and pop it into your heated juice. Stir thoroughly to dissolve your gelatin. Mix with the remaining juice, return to the measuring jug and pour into glasses. Place in the fridge to set for at least two hours. To make clementine jelly Squeeze clementines and strain through a fine metal sieve into a measuring jug. Make up to 300ml with cold water. Soak gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes to soften, meanwhile heat up a little of the juice in a pan. Squeeze excess water from your softened gelatin and put into the warmed juice with the caster sugar to dissolve. Mix in the rest of the juice and stir in thoroughly, then return to the measuring jug. Pour into glasses, and place in the fridge to set for at east two hours. To make lemon jelly Place the lemon zest, sugar and 200ml water in a saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and strain through a tea-towel lined metal sieve into a measuring jug. Soften gelatin and combine with lemon juice mixture as in clementine jelly method, pour into glasses and refrigerate for at least two hours. 124 Party! Party! XXX colourscape Multi-coloured mini pavlovas 3 Large egg whites 100g Caster sugar 100g Icing sugar Pinch of cream of tartar Raspberries Blueberries Bananas Apricots 200ml Whipping cream Powder(s) also used for meringue colour(s) Icing sugar to taste Fresh fruit (same as fruit used to make powder) I have always found meringues uniquely difficult to make – I just have no feeling for them. I love to eat them, but every time I try to make them the traditional way I end up with sad, hard little dollops of failure. So I was delighted to hear from experimental caterers par excellence Blanch and Shock that I could make them in a dehydrator with no margin for error at all. The traditional baking process is actually more a process of drying out, so it makes sense that dehydrating is just a much more reliable way of doing it This recipe will make pretty mini pavlovas with swirly stripy meringues, coloured fruity cream and corresponding fruit topping. NB: all of your equipment must be super clean – any hint of grease or grime will spoil things. Give your mixer bowl a quick once over with the cut side of a lemon before you start just to make sure that all traces of grease are gone. Put your egg whites into the mixer bowl and beat on medium speed until they are firm enough to form soft peaks. Continuing to mix on the same speed, slowly add in the sugar, as small amount at a time. Once the sugar is well mixed in and your meringue mix is starting to form stiff peaks, add a pinch of tartar and mix a little more. Next you need to add the flavor and colour to your meringues. Doing this is pretty simple – just smear a dollop of your powder onto a plate, using a metal spoon take a spoonful of your meringue and gently roll it through the powder so it takes on a smattering of the stuff. Then plop it into the dehydrator, make a little hollow in the middle and repeat. NB: you want lots of small dollops unless you’ve got an enormous dehydrator. Once you’ve made all your meringues dehydrate them for about 6 hours, or overnight. To make fruit powder This is a gloriously easy and effective technique, which also makes use of the dehydrator (may as well get your money’s worth). Just dehyrdrate the fruit overnight (about 8 hours), then blitz in a coffee grinder. To make pavlovas Once your meringues are all nicely dried out, beat your whipping cream and icing sugar until thick. Separate off some of your beaten cream for each flavour and fold in some of your fruit powder with a metal spoon. Dollop the cream onto the corresponding meringue (raspberry goes with raspberry etc) and top with some of the relevant fresh fruit. Refrigerate for an hour or so to set the cream properly before serving. 124 Party! house parties Prohibition Roaring 20’s is a very popular variation on the vintage party. Of course Prohibition only happened in the USA, but no-one’s going to bash you for a few historical inaccuracies at a house party, so don’t feel you have to make the rest of what’s going on authentically American – just focus on the good bits: gin, jazz and flapper dresses. Dressing up A 1920’s party brings out the peacock in a chap. Pander to this urge with a selection of disposable dressing up items for your guests to raid at will. A mantelpiece is always a good spot for this sort of display. Start by investing in two or three polystyrene heads (the sort used for wig and hat display). There are several different shapes to choose from, personally I’d go for a standard male, a standard female and a swan necked head for variation. If you can beg, borrow or steal a couple of dressmaking dummies or mannequins that’s good too. Next you need your dressing up items: wigs (flapper bobs with fringes), feathered headbands, long strings of ‘flapper pearls’, long gloves, great big costume rings, long cigarette holders (with joke shop cigarettes), bowler hats, cravats, false moustaches and a couple of flapper dresses. All of this can be sourced from joke shops, second hand shops or online at very little expense. If in doubt buy the cheapest, since they’ll be thrown out after the party quality isn’t an issue. Arrange and drape your bits and bobs as artistically as possible and let the free-for-all begin. Don’t be surprised if you end up with the men in frocks and the ladies sporting moustaches, it’s just the way things work. Prohibition bar The Prohibition bar is great fun, because it’s all about a bit of subterfuge. Drinks should be XX Party! served in mis-matched teapots or teacups. Ideally there should be some clandestine process to getting hold of the drinks too, perhaps a special knock / password to get into the room housing the bar (which should be somewhere odd like the bathroom), for example. Of course a prohibition bar should serve nothing but the most classic of cocktails: most were invented during prohibition because the spirits available were too horrible to drink neat. Here are a couple of examples to start you off: Silent films The 1920s was the era of the silent film star – from vampish Theda Bara to physical comedian Charlie Chaplin. Add atmosphere to your party by projecting a selection of classic silent films onto a large, white wall (or a sheet if you’re a fan of colourful interiors). Since the films will all be subtitled your guests will be able to enjoy them regardless of the surrounding noise. Films could include: l Metropolis l City Lights l Sunrise: a song of two humans l Un chien Andalou l The General If you can get hold of a pianist and piano / keyboard, a cute alternative is to have a seated screening of a short silent film with a live piano accompaniment. Food for Jazz Babies One has to wonder, what did jazz babies eat? The simple answer is ‘not much’. Slender, androgynous figures were fashionable in the 1920s and people went to great lengths to trim off any fat. Canapés first came into fashion in the 1920s, largely due to the advent of cocktails, and then of course cocktail parties. Here are a couple of contemporary recipes (note the almost total lack of carbs): Party! XXX large-scale parties: love Smoked salmon roll ups 400g Pack of thinly sliced smoked salmon Small tub of cream cheese Zest of one lemon Chopped fresh chives Salt and pepper Who knew that your Auntie was actually being trendily retro when she served smoked salmon and cream cheese canapés at Christmas? Mix together your cream cheese, zest, chives, a pinch of salt and plenty of pepper. Lay out your slices of salmon on a piece of cling film so that they form one large piece of salmon. Dollop your cream cheese mixture generously along one edge of the salmon ‘piece’, then carefully lift the salmon and roll it over the chees so that you end up with a salmon ‘tube’ filled with the cream cheese mixture. Wrap tightly with cling film and refrigerate for a couple of hours to set. When ready to serve remove the cling film and slice the salmon ‘tube’ into half inch thick slices. Stack prettily and serve with lemon wedges. The Flamingo 2oz White rum 2oz Pineapple juice Dash grenadine Dash lime juice 124 Party! This cocktail has a fantastic colour (hence the name) and a smooth, fruity flavor. The recipe is thought to have originated in Havana during the Prohibition era. Shake with ice and pour into a chilled martini glass to serve. Garnish with a lime twist. prohibition prohibition Lemon curd tarts Devilled eggs 10 Large eggs 2 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp Mayonnaise Worth serving for kitsch value alone, plus they’re actually properly delicious NB: it’s a good idea to sit your eggs on their sides for a day before you make this recipe, so that the yolks are centred. Older eggs work slightly better than super fresh ones. 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp Cider vinegar 1 tsp Red wine vinegar Salt 1 Dried red chili, minced super small Chives, sliced super small Place eggs in cold water in a large saucepan (if you’re having to pile them up, use a second saucepan as well, they should all sit at the bottom of the pan). The water level should be a couple of centimeters above the eggs. Put the heat on high, so that the pan begins to simmer, then turn off the heat and leave the eggs to sit in the water for 20 minutes. Then take the eggs out, peel and slice in half with a small, sharp knife. Remove the egg yolks and put them into a bowl with the olive oil, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegars and blitz with a stick blender until completely combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the egg mixture into a piping bag set aside (a handy way to do this is to set it nozzle down in a pint glass). Choose 10 egg white halves that are in the best shape and discard the rest. Pipe the egg yolk mixture back into the egg white halves, filling the empty space left by the original yolk and building up into a little mound. Dress each egg with a sprinkle of salt, chillies and chives, then serve. 124 Party! Four large egg yolks Zest of one large lemon 115ml Lemon juice 145g Caster sugar 150g Unsalted butter Pack of sweet pastry dough Dehydrated lemon slices Flappers weren’t so keen on pudding as a rule, but lemon curd was very popular in the 1920s, so I’m making a stand on the behalf of people everywhere who have been blessed with a sweet tooth. These lemon curd tarts are lovely little fresh bites garnished with dehydrated lemon slices for an extra twist of flavor. Roll out the pastry and press into tartlet moulds. Cover and chill for an hour. Once chilled, prick the base of the pastry shells with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Once cooled remove from moulds and set aside. Put the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice into a saucepan and mix together. Stir over a low heat until it starts to thicken – NB: don’t let it boil. Once thick enough to coat the back of a spoon remove from the heat. Gradually whisk in the butter until the mixture is smooth and shiny. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until needed. Once the lemon curd has cooled, stir it and pour into the tart shells. Decorate with a dehydrated lemon twist. Tip – dehydrated lemon slices are completely edible and delicious, even the pith and peel sections. Party! XXX 7 large-scale partıes large-scale parties large-scale parties There are some moments where nothing less than really big party will do. It can seem a bit of a project, but if properly planned you’ll not only have a wonderful time yourself, you’ll also have the pleasure of entertaining a wide circle of friends: there’s nothing better than making lots of people happy. Comprehensive planning Planning, like much in life, is dull but worthwhile. Good parties look pretty chaotic, but that’s because the host has a good enough grip on the important bits to let everything else fly. Nothing is less pleasant than an overbearing host, so don’t mistake planning for complete control. You can’t make people do everything your way, but you can make sure that everyone who needs to, knows approximately what should be happening and when. First work out roughly how you’d like your party to run. A good start is to fix times for the party to begin and end. That makes it easier to decide when you’d like to introduce food, entertainment and music. Once you’ve got an outline you can review the evening and choose to add or remove items until you have the right balance. Next you need to look at the prep on the day of the party. Hire items will need to be delivered, performers will need to arrive and get ready and caterers will need to set up. Try to stagger the arrival of helpers and equipment so that you will have time to deal with each person’s needs. Don’t forget to ask people how long they will need to set up. Simple things can take a surprising amount of time so it’s best to ask the experts. Finally you need to schedule the prep to be done in the run up to the party. If you want to be super organized you can schedule your time from the moment you first decide you’d like to throw a party. These are sensible deadlines to set yourself: XX Party! Party! XXX large-scale parties large-scale parties The Schedule party and make sure that it is at least as many as you will need to clear the minimum spend. If you’re planning to put money behind the bar, use the same rationale to make sure that you’re not committing to buying more drinks than are needed – most bars will offer stock instead of a refund to make up the minimum spend. - Confirm venue, caterer, menu - Performer/musician/DJ search (based on venue features and theme) - Invitation design (based on theme) - Confirm entertainment - Advance prep (purchase small props) - Caterer search - Decide guestlist (based on venue capacity) - Send out invitations - Put together call sheets, email out - Reminder email to all guests who RSVP’d yes, or haven’t yet RSVP’d 2 months before 6 weeks before 2 weeks before 2 days before - Decide theme - Venue search (based on theme) 1 month before The toilet facilities are a good measure of a venue. If they’re pleasant and well maintained, the venue will be well managed by attentive staff. If they’re horrible the service probably will be too. Never hire a venue with a nasty loo. As per schedule Day of event Call Sheets Budgeting These are a great way of letting everyone who is working on an event know what is happening. All you need to do is set up a table in a Word document and fill in the following information: Budgeting is obviously a very important part of event planning. Either you will have a fixed amount to spend, or you’ll have a specific idea in mind and need to find out how much it will cost to achieve it. In either case it’s useful to keep an up to date Excel spreadsheet with a breakdown of all costs. It’s an effective way of keeping your budget in control and means you can shuffle the numbers to try out different options. If you have a fixed budget, I would recommend setting aside 15% as a contingency fund. There is almost always an emergency cost, and this allows you to be adequately prepared. l Date l Event title l Address of event l Start and end time l Brief schedule (showing when each person will arrive, do their job and leave) l Contact details for you and any other relevant people Choosing your venue Simply save the document as a pdf and send it out as an email attachment. It’s a good idea to have printed copies on hand on the night for staff to refer to. XX Party! Big parties need big venues, and unless you live in a castle that means hiring. Start your venue search with the general location. An ideal venue is close to several modes of transport and within easy reach of a taxi stand. Venues in the middle of nowhere with lots of parking aren’t always a good plan: the last thing you want to end up with is guests too drunk to drive being landed with an enormous taxi fare home. Once you know where you’re looking you can narrow down your search. As a rule venues fall into two distinct groups: those who will let you use a space for free but require a minimum bar spend, and those who charge you for the space but don’t have a minimum outlay. Think carefully about the number and personality of your guests before committing to a minimum bar spend. It looks like a good deal but it’s easy to end up having to buy a couple of cases of champagne from the bar to make up the shortfall at the end of the night. Drinks allowances vary, but as a rule of thumb I’d allow 8 drinks per person for an 8pm – 2am party on a Friday night, when everyone is out to party. For a more relaxed party on a week-night, 5 drinks per person is plenty. Work out approximately how many drinks you’d expect each person to consume at your l Decide your non-negotiable requirements, e.g. capacity, facilities, price, date or location. l Decide what you’d be prepared to compromise on and how much. l Try to choose a venue that has a permanent bar in situ: the hire fee will reflect the profit they’ll make from drink sales. Venues without bars won’t give you a discount on the basic hire fee and you’ll have the extra cost of setting up and stocking a bar yourself. l If you like a venue, get yourself penciled in for the date you want. It’s fine to be penciled in for several venues, but remember to let the ones you don’t end up using go as soon as you’ve made a decision. l When you confirm your venue, get it in writing. At the very least get the date written down and a receipt for your deposit. Ideally get a full set of terms and conditions so it’s completely clear to all involved what has been agreed. l If you’re at all worried by the attitude of the management, don’t hire the venue. Your gut instinct is nearly always right. l Check up on the available (and functioning) equipment before you confirm a venue, and check whether making use of it will incur extra costs. There’s nothing worse than realizing you’ve got to hire an un-budgeted-for DJ setup. l Get a firm grip on licensing rules: regulations will dictate the finish time of the party, and the type of entertainment you’re allowed to have – the venue will be able to tell you what’s what. It’s sometimes possible to apply for special permission or an extension on a license for a small fee, you just need to get the paperwork in on time. Positive points to look for in a venue: l DJ equipment and sound system (ideally CD and Vinyl decks along with cables to connect to a laptop) l Dancefloor (should be wood or varnished, carpeted dancefloors are just depressing) l Large bar (small bars create big queues) l Stage area (great for performance) l Variable lighting (to ensure you don’t get stuck with bright lights all night, even dimmers are a bonus) l Reasonable bar prices Paid helpers Paid helpers are wonderful, because they have to listen to you. Their keen listening skills don’t generally extend to telepathy, so make sure that you remember to manage them properly. Hopefully you will have planned out the various tasks and their approximate timings. Use this plan to work out how many staff you need. Never assume that someone will work more than 8 consecutive hours for you, and make allowances for regular breaks. It’s often a good idea to feed staff before their shift, a nice plate of pasta helps to keep people working happily into the small hours. You will need to provide adequate toilet facilities, and somewhere to store personal belongings securely. When choosing event staff look for the obvious qualities: reliable, well presented and hard working. There’s no point employing someone who is obviously not suited to the role because it saves you having to find someone better– it’ll just lead to stress on the night. Try to avoid bringing complete strangers into your home, make sure that anyone you employ for a house party comes with a personal recommendation or via an agency. Advertising for help is fine, but take the time to check up on references beforehand. Another good alternative is to ask waiting and bar staff at a local restaurant if they would be interested in working for you (make sure you give plenty of notice – you don’t want to leave the restaurant short handed). Party! XXX large-scale parties Bal Argentee A luxe silver themed ball combining futuristic entertainment with good old fashioned fun. Featuring space age technology, tongue-incheek new age practices and a significant dose of serious dressing up, this theme is sure to put the sparkle back in your step. Decoration Decorating in silver is a lot of fun, and the best bit is that there are so many silver materials available in such large quantities for so little money. For a start: tinfoil. There are some amazing pictures on the internet of whole rooms where absolutely everything has been carefully wrapped in tinfoil as a prank, and they look a-m-a-z-i-n-g. A couple of hours and a little concentration later and you too could have a completely tinfoil wrapped bar, for example. This has the added bonus of masking whatever is underneath, so you can hide ugly things and botched bits and pieces under a lovely metallic cover-all. There’s also Mylar and spray paint, which I’ve talked about in the Precious Metals theme of the Afternoon Tea chapter. You can also make use of traditional decorations, such as the strings of silver beads used on Christmas trees. These are perfect for making an ordinary light fitting into an extraordinary modernist chandelier. Stars are a lovely design theme for a silver party, silver card stars with a hole already punched for hanging can be bought in many sizes from party retailers, and can be hung in constellations around your venue using fishing line. XX Party! Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Bar You’ll definitely need to find a professional to do this one for you; look up experimental caterers, or try asking a restaurant with a more experimental menu if they’d be prepared to cater it for you. I use London based experimental caterers/mixologists/people the Robin Collective. It may sound like one hell of a faff, but the effect is quite arresting. Liquid Nitrogen is extremely cold (hence the need for professional handling), and can freeze pretty much anything on contact. You may have seen science demonstrations where vegetables dipped in the stuff are used to hammer nails into wood. On contact with the item to be frozen, lots of steam is given off giving a wonderful, dramatic mad scientist effect. This can be used to your advantage with an ice cream bar. Your guests will be able to choose flavor options and see the raw ingredients poured into the bowl of an electric mixer. The mixer is set running and liquid nitrogen is poured into the bowl, causing the mixture to freeze while being churned, making delicious creamy ice cream. Another fun thing to do, if you have Liquid Nitrogen on site, is to offer Dragon’s Breath Popcorn, an item developed by a New York based chef called Marcel Vigneron. Popcorn is incredibly dry stuff, so it’s possible to dip it in liquid nitrogen and eat it immediately (it won’t burn your tongue because there are no frozen fluids to do so). Thus when you breathe out while chewing a puff of steam comes out of your nostrils, like a ‘Dragon’s Breath’! bal argentee Moon Walk There’s nothing better when everyone’s all gussied up than breaking the seriousness of it all with an opportunity to be silly (and it doesn’t hurt if the silliness makes for some great pictures too). Thus the Moon Walk: since we can’t conjure up zero gravity, we’ll do the next best thing to make our guests feel weightless, we’ll give them trampolines. It’s up to you how you go about this – it very much depends on the space you’re working with. You can hire in enormous trampolines from specialist companies, they’ll be able to advise you on the health and safety aspect of using their equipment. On the other end of the scale large children’s trampolines can be bought for very little money and require far less space (do make sure they’re properly padded and anchored though, you need to second guess any accidents). If you’re going for that option make sure you buy at least four or five – the idea is to fill a whole area with the things. Add in lots of 14” round silver balloons for people to play with and you’ve got the perfect moon walk! Constellation Croquet & Shooting Star Competition These are two very sweet options if you have access to an outdoor space. The first is constellation croquet: set up your croquet hoops in the rough shape of a constellation (I use Orion). Mark each hoop with a burning garden taper and either spray or purchase silver or glow-in-the-dark croquet balls. Croquet is a very romantic sport at the best of times, but even more so in the dead of night while wearing a fabulous outfit. The next option is one for the boys: a shooting star competition. Purchase a giant slingshot online, and read the operating instructions carefully. Spray a large pile of lemons silver and make sure you have a fat black permanent marker to hand (each person should write their name on their lemon before shooting it XX Party! so that the best shot can be identified). And finally, try to acquire two suitably dressed ‘cherubs’ to operate the slingshot for you. The aim is simple: to see who can shoot the silver lemon ‘star’ the furthest. The giant slingshot is an astonishing thing, and can reach very long distances, so this one is only for those blessed with a whopping great garden. Do give it a test beforehand, just in case any property is likely to be at risk. Performances and experiences Large parties are the perfect arena for performances. These can take several forms: Walkabout This is where costumed performers mingle with the crowd, interacting with your guests. A good example in this context would be a spaceman. Interactive This is a roaming performer who involves guests in small, interactive performances throughout the evening. A good example in this context would be a mobile tarot reader. Site specific This is where a performer is set up in a specific space, decorated for the purpose. They can either interact with wandering guests or give a series of identical performances. A good example in this context would be putting a ‘mermaid’ in the bathtub or swimming pool (if you have access to either). On stage This is the traditional performance on a stage area, where guests are required to stop and pay attention to a performance. A good example in this context would be a silver clad troupe of high kicking dancers, Busby Berkeley style. Please see the information at the start of this chapter for further enlightenment on the subject of sourcing and booking performers. Party! XXX bal argentee bal argentee Zodiac Cocktail List A cute way to frame your cocktail list at a silver themed party is to offer an astrologically themed selection. Try to choose your cocktails to complement the qualities of each sign; l Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are fire signs so should be assigned spicy, warm cocktails, l Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are ear th elements so should be assigned botanical and vegetable cocktails l Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are air elements so should be assigned fragrant cocktails l Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are water elements so should be given long cocktails ranging through clear, green and blue tones Gold quail eggs on a bed of salt and pepper Quail eggs A gilded take on a classic combination: positively regal in its stateliness. Sea salt Lightly ground pepper Gemini: Capirinha 2 oz Cachaça Dessert spoon of brown sugar 2 Limes Crushed ice 124 Party! A beautiful, light and fragrant Brazilian cocktail that packs a serious wallop. Also an excellent opportunity to vent any lingering range on a tea towel full of ice. Quarter the limes, squeezing each into the tumbler and chucking the quarters in as well. Spoon in the brown sugar and smoosh the whole lot together for a minute or so with a muddler (or the end of a wooden rolling pin). Pop some ice cubes into a tea towel, twist to secure and use a spirit bottle to smash the ice. Open up the tea towel and scoop the crushed ice into the tumbler. Pour over a double shot of cachaça, garnish with a lime wedge and serve. Gold food spray Iridescent gold food powder Grapefruit, halved Boil your quail eggs for 5 minutes, and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, put enough salt and pepper into a saucer or small plate to completely cover all but the rim. Peel the cold quail eggs and insert a cocktail stick into the bottom of each egg. In a draught-free room, gently spray the eggs with gold food spray one by one while holding them by the cocktail sticks. Once the egg has been sprayed, push the end of the cocktail stick into the grapefruit half so that it can be left to dry. When all the eggs have been sprayed and are dry, use a dry paintbrush to lightly dust the eggs with iridescent powder to give them an extra shine, remove the cocktail stick and place them carefully on the bed of salt and pepper (bottom side down, so that the hole from the cocktail stick isn’t visible). Party! XXX bal argentee Precious fruit Fruit selection Silver food spray A fun bit of trompe l’oeil that your guests will enjoy discovering. Choose a selection of fruit to make a central table display. Think about different shapes and sizes, try to get as much variety as possible. Carefully lay your fruit out on kitchen paper. Ensure that all doors and windows are shut so that the spray isn’t pushed off course by a breeze. Silver food spray can be quite intense, and is quickly used up, so it’s best to build up colour in layers, holding the spray at least 30cm from the fruit. Gently move the can from left to right, spraying each fruit lightly. Allow to dry for a moment, turn over and repeat. Keep going until you’re happy with the finish. A light dusting can be as effective as a solid colour. Once dry, stack the fruit in a striking silver or white dish, people will be astonished that it’s edible. White rose cake Two boxes of cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box 475g Caster sugar 10 large egg whites 900g butter 2tsp Vanilla essence 450g White chocolate Edible silver balls This white rose cake is a classic vanilla sponge with elaborate icing that’s actually super easy to complete. It’ll make any occasion special. Because your time will be limited in this context I’m going to recommend taking a shortcut and using a cake mix, but you can substitute with the instructions for a classic sponge that can be found in the recipe for Coconut cake in the Glow-in-the-dark section of the Drinks Parties chapter. Begin by making up the vanilla sponges. I’ve recommended two boxes of cake mix because you will need to trim the sponges a little before assembly and some cake mixes can end up a bit small. Bake in two cake tins. Once baked and goldlen set the cake layers aside to cool. To make up the icing set a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and melt the white chocolate. Remove from heat before completely melted and stir as the residual heat melts the rest of the chocolate. Set aside to cool. Set another heatproof bowl over the simmering pan. Add the caster sugar and egg whites, insert a thermometer and whisk by hand until the sugar is dissolved and the temperature has reached 140 degrees. Remove from the heat and continue to beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks start to form. Add the butter a dollop at a time, beating in after each addition, followed by the vanilla essence and melted white chocolate. Your frosting should be thick, white and delicious. Trim the top of your cake layers so that they’re completely flat. If your cakes have a thick layer of browned sponge on the bottom of the layers, trim those off too, N.B: this will destabilize the cake layers so you’ll need to handle them more carefully. Place a cake layer on your cake stand or board. Tear off sections of baking parchment and tuck them under the edges of the cake so that they will catch excess icing but can be removed without disturbing the cake. Scoop a good amount of icing onto the cake layer and spread evenly to the edges. Place the second cake layer - bottom side up to give a good flat surface - and do the same again. Roughly ice the exterior of the cake and pop into the fridge to set for half an hour. Fit a large piping bag with a large star tip and fill with the remaining icing. To form the roses simply 124 Party! Party! XXX large-scale parties Love is an unexpectedly versatile party theme. It works all year round for an engagement or anniversary party and during February it’s great for a Saint Valentine’s day celebration. Interpretations can range from saccharin sweet to decidedly dark, but the important thing to note is that whatever tone you set your sights on, there’s no need for your party to be predictable. Lighting You can set the scene at your venue very effectively with a few small touches. Start with your lighting: soft and flattering with lots of candles and rosy tones. - Professional lighting gels can be ordered online, cut to size and neatly taped over recessed lighting and spotlights - Low wattage coloured lightbulbs used sparingly are a good way of giving a wash of colour in a room - Floating candles and flower heads in large water filled bowls give low level light as well as being decorative - Tea light candles in jam jars wrapped with red tissue paper give a rosy glow - Red, burgundy, pink or white taper candles in candelabra give vertical interest and a feeling of luxury - Large church candles with small pink, red and green floral wreaths around their bases give both a gentle light and a lovely fragrance - If you have a dance floor, and a suitable anchor point on the ceiling (e.g a beam) it’s well worth investing in hiring a motorised XX Party! mirror ball and a couple of coloured pin spots from a lighting company, it makes an incredible difference Budget decoration If you’re dealing with a lot of space on a low budget it’s well worth considering making use of paper decorations. Paper chains are gloriously retro while giving a design edge if made from single colour craft paper. More is more in this case, so the greater the swathes of the stuff the better the effect. Similarly Mexican paper banners (available online) are a great way of making an impact at a low cost. A strong graphic option is to hang lots of honeycomb tissue balls of different sizes in a single colour. These can be complemented with round paper lanterns (hire in a paper lantern canopy for an instant effect). Aphrodisiac tasting If you’re prepared to be a little daring you could offer your guests an aphrodisiac tasting – and don’t just serve up the traditional oysters, try out a few of the more unusual ‘aphrodisiacs’ used through history. Ingredients could include asparagus, mustard, anise, nettles and sweet peas, all of which were popular for centuries. Of course it’s best to seek out recipes that include these items rather than offering the ingredients in their raw forms! Don’t forget to put together a menu complete with explanations of each of your historic aphrodisiacs and how they were thought to work. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx love Heart piñatas Apothecary bar Of course not everyone is so keen on the love stuff, so it’s a neat idea to give your less loved-up guests a chance to vent their feelings on the subject. Heart shaped piñatas can be bought in most party shops, but if you find them difficult to get hold of they’re also super easy to make. Just buy some heart shaped latex balloons, inflate and lightly papier mache. Once dry, pop the balloon inside with a pin and cover with small strips of red tissue paper using pva glue. Cut a small slot in the back to fill with fun items and attach a ribbon to string them up. For visual effect and to make it more inclusive, it’s good to hang up a cluster of piñatas, so that everyone can have a bash. Supply small sticks for people to hit them with (these can be decorated with ribbons). I’ll leave it up to your sense of humour to decide on the piñata fillings, but it could be anything from the traditional small toys and novelties to heart shaped chocolates to a pound of black glitter that will pour over the guest’s heads. It’s a visual joke after all, you may as well have fun with it… The world moves at a relentless pace, and it’s easy to find yourself worn to a frazzle by the end of the working week. It’s not unusual to self-medicate with a spot of alcohol, so it makes good sense at any party to offer a cocktail list that heals while it soothes. A herbal and floral cocktail list is both interesting and apt - whether you’re soothing broken hearts (and other amorous problems) at a Valentines party or trying to revitalise your guests during the busy Christmas party season. There’s lots of fun to be had creating a menu that describes each drink’s ‘healing’ qualities: these can either be a straight reference to the properties of the ingredients, or a tongue-in-cheek take on the ailments you feel your guests are likely to be suffering from. Love karaoke Love and parties have one thing in common: wonderful arenas for making a twit of oneself. Since there’s no point bucking such an enjoyable trend, you may as well capitalise on it by introducing the ultimate twit platform: karaoke. Up the ante by offering only love related songs (it’s up to you whether to stick to mush or to include all the rather darker, grubbier aspects that people like to sing about). Karaoke sets can be hired or bought online and are very easy to set up and run. XX Party! 24 red roses A midnight feast is a bit of a lifesaver at an especially raucous party. The carbs help to tidy up anyone who’s getting a bit messy, the sugar gives flagging guests a second wind and the whole thing gives people something to do at that make or break quite point in the night, stopping them from wandering off home too early. A Love party requires the most romantic, dramatic of menus, so I recommend one based on that traditional romantic gift: 24 red roses. For this menu each dish should include some reference to roses, whether literally or figuratively, and of course there should be 24 in total. One plate of each is fine, don’t feel you have to make 200 of everything, it’s all about the overall effect of a beautiful and varied table. Here are a few recipes to get you started: Party! XXX love Rosemary infused vodka tonic 2 oz Rosemary infused vodka (place several sprigs of fresh Rosemary in a bottle of vodka, leave to sit for at least five days, strain through a cloth and re-bottle) 5 oz tonic water Rosemary goes well with both sweet and savoury flavours, making it a great cocktail all rounder. Rosemary is used to treat depression, so this drink should be helpful to rejected suitors. Simply fill a glass with ice, pour over vodka and lemon and top with tonic water. Decorate with a nice sprig of Rosemary and enjoy. _ oz fresh lemon juice Rosemary (to garnish) Ice Mini savoury cheesecakes with rose petal pesto Bunch of fresh basil Handful of rose petals 4 Large garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped 240ml Extra virgin olive oil 2 tsp Rosewater Adorable mini baked cheesecakes that are super quick and easy to assemble, given extra interest with a rose petal adaptation of traditional pesto. Rinse rose petals and pat dry between two sheets of kitchen roll. Cut petals into slivers with a pair of kitchen scissors. Combine with basil, garlic and pine nuts, pour into a food processor and give it a whiz. While the processor is still going pour in olive oil and rosewater slowly, followed by Parmesan and Romano. Once thoroughly blended remove to a bowl, cover and set aside. Handful of pine nuts 100g Freshly grated parmesan cheese 100g Freshly grated romano cheese Salt and pepper to taste To make the cheesecakes you can use either a proper mini cheesecake pan or a silicon cupcake tray. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix your ground melba toast with the melted butter in a bowl and spoon approximately a tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cup. Flatten lightly with your fingertips (don’t go bonkers or it’ll bake like a rock). Pop into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool (don’t switch your oven off, you’ll need it again in a moment). 1 Pack melba toast, ground 25g Melted butter 1 tblsp Vegetable oil 3 Minced shallots 450g Cream cheese 2 Large eggs 100ml Whipping cream 100g grated Gruyere Handful minced fresh chives _ tsp Grated nutmeg Salt and pepper to taste 124 Party! Heat the oil in a small frying pan and add the minced shallots. Cover and sauté on a very low temperature until soft, then set aside to cool. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and give the whole thing a good mix for a minute or two. Finally beat through the whipping cream. Fold in the shallots and Gruyere, followed by the rose petal pesto, Mix very lightly, so that the pesto creates a marbled effect. Spoon the filling into each cup so that it’s two thirds full. Pop pan back into oven for at around 15 minutes – ovens vary so test your cheesecakes with a toothpick, if it comes out clean they’re done. Leave to cool in the tray, then remove and set aside ready to serve. Decorate with rose petals. Party! XXX love Lamb, pepper and feta bruschetta with rose harissa 1 Baguette Extra virgin olive oil 1 Small lamb neck fillet 1 tablespoon Honey 2 tablespoons Rose harissa 1 pack of Feta, thinly sliced Jar of grilled peeled peppers Watercress (to garnish) An exotic twist on rose petals, which gives a surprising edge to a classic Mediterranean combination. Slice baguette to around _ inch thick, brush lightly with oil and toast for a couple of minutes either side until lightly golden. This can be done up to three hours in advance. Rub the lamb fillet with honey, and then smear with the harissa. Heat some of the oil in a frying pan and brown on all sides. Cook for around 10 minutes, so that it will be pink at the centre. Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside to rest – this allows the fluids to return to the meat, making it nice and juicy. Take the peppers from their jar, pat dry and slice into slim ribbons. On each slice of toasted bread carefully arrange a ribbon of pepper, a thin slice of feta and a sprig of watercress. Very thinly slice the lamb neck and arrange a folded slice on top of each bruschetta for the finishing touch. 124 Party! love Vanilla panna cotta with rose jelly Panna cotta and jelly are delicious, luxurious and surprisingly easy to put together. 3 Gelatine leaves 250ml Milk 250ml Double cream 1 Vanilla pod 25g Caster sugar 1 _ Gelatine leaves 250ml Rosewater 1 tablespoon Caster sugar Red or pink food colouring (optional) Put the gelatin leaves in some cold water and set aside to soften. In the meantime put the milk, cream and sugar into a pan. Split the vanilla pod and add to the pan too. Bring to a simmer and continue to heat until the sugar is all dissolved. Remove the vanilla pod and either discard or rinse, pat dry and put into a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar for future use. Squeeze the softened gelatin leaves to get rid of excess water and add to the pan (which you should stop heating). Stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Divide the mixture between your containers. A pretty way of putting this dessert together is to use extra tall shot glasses, and lean the glasses at an angle while the panna cotta layer is setting. This will create a dynamic angle in contrast to the rose jelly layer that goes on top. Make sure your panna cotta is completely set before starting your jelly layer – if it’s at all unset the two layers will blend.As before, set the gelatin aside to soften in cold water. Put the sugar, water and rosewater into a pan and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatin and add to the pan, heating gently until it is completely dissolved. Add food colouring if you’d like a stronger colour. Set aside to cool – hot jelly will make the panna cotta layer dissolve into the jelly, making it cloudy. Once cool, pour into your containers on top of panna cotta. Once your rose jelly layer is set you can garnish each with a single red rose petal and serve. 124 Party! Party! XXX large-scale parties Day of the dead Dia de los muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated each year on the second of November. It’s the perfect theme for the Halloween season, because it allows you to throw a colourful, exuberant party at exactly the moment in the year that you could really do with one. This theme also means you can throw the party slightly later than the usual Halloween party, meaning that your guests are less likely to find themselves over subscribed on the evening. There are loads of exciting traditions with which the Mexicans remember and celebrate their dead, many of which you can use as inspiration, although it is perhaps best to stop short of playing the game popular in Tzintzuntzan, which is essentially the same as football, except the ball is set on fire. Decorations Dia de los muertos is a riot of colour, and an absolute pleasure to translate into your party decorations. The first step in doing so is to get hold of as many orange marigolds as you possibly can. If you’ve got the time and space it’s possible to grow them yourself, but if not locate your nearest flower market (where florists buy their stock) and make an early morning trip. Pick up some blocks of oasis as well – trim them to fit your containers and soak overnight in water. You can cut your stems to size and push them into the oasis, which will deliver water to them, keeping them alive for a few days. This way you can build interesting shapes, such as tall cones. Paper star lanterns are another inexpensive, authentic touch – they’re traditionally hung over doorways to guide the dead. You can also go bananas with the incense, which is burned day and night during dia de los muertos. Hang colourful paper banners (called papel picado), which can be bought online, in large quantities all over your party space. Catrina figures are an XX Party! essential – those wonderful female skeletons dressed up in their Sunday best. These can also be bought online from specialist retailers, they’re available in various forms and sizes. Create a lounging area with pillows and blankets, which are traditionally laid out for the dead to have a rest after their long journey: I’m sure they won’t mind sharing with your guests. It’s also a good plan to have a decent supply of skull masks (Calacas) and devil hats in case your guests are feeing under-dressed (although do make it clear to them in advance that it’s considered good form to dress up as the dead). Of course the traditional centerpiece of the di de los muertos decorations is a shrine to the special people you’ve lost. It’s up to you whether you’d like to include one of these at your party, but if you decide to do so it may be nice to ask your guests to bring along pictures of people they’ve lost to add to the shrine. The shrine should be decorated with marigolds, candles and lots of the deceased’s favrouite food and drinks. It’s important to recognize that this isn’t supposed to be a morbid activity, it’s the one day a year that people you’ve lost can join the party. It’s also worth considering a bonfire if you’ve got an outdoor space – they’re absolutely magnetically attractive to party guests. Mariachi band The crowning glory of any Dia de los muertos party is a mariachi band. They should arrive decked out in large gold trimmed sombreros and neat traditional outfits intricately trimmed with gold braid. As with any band, always research them well before confirming your booking, and ask for a sample CD or video. Make sure that you sign an event contract in advance, which includes the agreed fee, so that it’s completely clear what is expected on all sides. day of the dead Traditional games Summoning Baron Samedi Traditional games are something that Halloween and Dia de los Muertos have in common. Apple bobbing is always fun, especially if you introduce a competitive element by having two tubs and seeing who can fish out the most apples in a fixed amount of time. Another, messier, option is to coat several scones in syrup or honey thread them onto a piece of knotted string each and hang them up. Set your guests to eating them without using their hands – the first to finish is the winner. In Haiti, voodoo traditions mix in with the celebrations, an example of which is the playing of loud drums and music in cemeteries to awaken Baron Samedi. You can play off this tradition by choosing a point in the night (midnight perhaps) to play some really drum heavy, frenetic music. In Mexico dancers wear shells on their clothing so that the noise when they dance will help waken the dead, so you can intensify the experience by handing out various rattly noise makers (uncooked lentils in dry tins for example) and encouraging your guests to stamp, clap and jump along to the music in the hope of ‘waking Baron Samedi’. You’ll need to have recruited your own ‘Baron’ in advance so that he can leap out when things have reached fever pitch and lead everyone in a frenetic dance around the venue. Since late October and early November are heavily associated with mysticism of all stripes it’s hardly suprising that divination games are traditionally played. Peel an apple in a long, single strip and toss it over your shoulder – the peel is supposed to land in the initial of your future spouse. Provide a stack of brilliant green apples in a basket and a couple of sharp fruit knives so that your guests can divine their marital fate. Similarly unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror around Halloween, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. Those destined to die before marriage would see a skull, terrifyingly enough! That particular ‘game’ cries out for a dark corner and a bit of ingenuity with a two way mirror. Cocktails A Dia de las muertos party is a wonderful excuse to crack out the Mexican cocktails, which means only one thing: lots and lots of tequila! Tequila is the only alcoholic ‘upper’, making it great stuff to serve to your guests. Tequila sunrise 2 oz Tequila 6 oz Orange juice (freshly hand squeezed) The classic tequila cocktail, which you don’t see very often these days – it hasn’t swung so far out of fashion that it’s cool yet perhaps. Either way it’s enjoyably kitschy to look at and deliciously refreshing to drink. _ oz Grenadine Fill a tall glass with ice then pour in first the tequila, followed by the orange juice and the grenadine, which will create a beautiful chromatic effect. XX Party! Party! XXX day of the dead Pan de Muerto 125g Butter 125ml Milk 125ml Water 550g Flour 2 tsp Dry yeast 1 tsp Salt 1 tbsp Anise seeds 190g Caster sugar 190ml Orange juice 2 tbsp Orange zest 4 eggs Pan de Muerto is a sweetened soft bread baked around the Dia de los Muertos. It is often shaped into skull or bone shapes and is eaten to represent the circle of life. It’s also pretty yummy, which doesn’t hurt. Pop the butter, milk and water in a pan over a medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is nearly boiling. Take of the heat and set aside. Put 165g of flour into a mixing bowl with the yeast, salt, anise seed and 95g sugar and mix together. Once combined, gradually beat in the warm milk mixture, followed by the eggs and another cup of flour. Keep adding in flour until it forms a soft ball of dough that’s not sticky when prodded. Put the dough onto a floured surface and knead for ten minutes until it’s nice and elastic. Pop the dough into a lightly greased bowl, turn it a couple of times so it’s well coated, cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise. It should take about an hour and a half to double in size. Punch the dough down (see focaccia recipe for description of ‘punching’) and form into simple skull and bone shapes – make a whole skeleton if you’ve got the attention span! Cover with a tea towel and return to the warm spot to rise for another hour. Pop your oven on at 180 degrees to pre-heat. Once the second rising is done, bake the bread for 40 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Meanwhile make up the glaze by putting 95g sugar, the orange juice and the zest into a pan. Bring to the boil and keep going to two minutes. Apply to the bread fresh out of the oven while still warm. Sprinkle with icing sugar before the glaze is set. Quesadillas 8 Flour tortillas 250g Grated cheddar 300g Cooked chicken breast, thinly sliced 1 red onion thinly sliced 60g Chopped jalapeno chillies (you can get these in jars) 1 Bunch of coriander, chopped 4 tbsp Sour cream 4 Cloves of garlic, crushed Olive oil 124 Party! Spanish quesadillas always contain cheese, but in Mexico they can have all sorts of fillings. They’re absolutely delicious, so you’ll need to run a bit of a construction line for an hour or so to keep up with demand. Lay out half of the tortillas and sprinkle with the grated cheese, followed by the chicken, chillies, coriander and garlic. Lay out the other half of the tortillas and spread with sour cream. Place cream-side-down on top of the dressed tortillas to make a sandwich. Pop a large frying pan on a medium heat with a dollop of olive oil and sling in one of your tortilla sandwiches. Fry until lovely and golden and the cheese is starting to melt, then turn over to fry the other side. Take out of the pan straight onto a chopping board and quarter the quesadilla then serve while still piping hot. day of the dead Pastel tres leches 6 eggs, separated 2 egg whites 380g Caster sugar 285g Icing sugar 190ml water 220g Plain flour 3 tsp Baking powder 125ml Whole milk 1 Small can of evaporated milk 1 Small can Condensed milk 280ml Double cream 2 tbsp Golden syrup 4 tsp Vanilla Pinch salt This is – literally – a ‘three milk cake’, a sponge soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk and double cream. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Beat six eggs whites until they form soft peaks, then caster sugar gradually while continuing to beat. Add six yolks and vanilla, and beat for another five minutes. Mix together the flour and the baking powder in a separate bowl, then add in gradually, alternating with the whole milk, while still beating the mixture. Pour into a well-greased cake tin and bake for around 30 minutes (check whether the cake is baked through with a toothpick – if it comes out of the cake clean, it’s done). Leave in the tin. Pour the evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream into a bowl and beat gently to combine. Remove the cake from its tin and place on a serving plate while still warm. Poke a regular pattern of holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick and then pour over the milk and cream mix. Put the cake into the fridge to cool while you make up the icing. Put a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and add the two egg whites, salt, golden syrup, the icing sugar, water and 2 tsp vanilla. Beat constantly while heating gently until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency then set aside to cool. Get the cake out of the fridge and coat thickly in the icing, then return to the fridge until you’re ready to serve. 124 Party! Party! XXX