IT WAS A TIRING DAY yesterday, because we had a few friends coming round for drinks and nibbles, and I was making all the nibbles myself. One reason is it's quite difficult to find little bite-sized snacks and even if I could they're never in the flavours I want, and they are really also rather expensive especially if you want say 20-30 of everything.
I believe if you're standing around with one drink in your hand the other should just reach out, grab a nibble, and just pop it into your mouth without having to bite into it as it may crumble to bits, and of course which means bits of pastry or food everywhere and of course all over your lipstick-coated mouth. On top of that if it's just that bit too big and you shove the whole thing into your mouth you end up rather inelegantly mumbling and trying to chew it in a lady-like manner urmmhh ... urmmhhh ... especially if someone talks to you just as you've got a mouthful of the stuff.
One reason is of course they are SO labout intensive, as I found out to my cost, starting with the cheese and bacon puffs, which took practically all day cos they really tiny. I even made my own mini mince pies, although, as I was explaining to a friend who was oohing and aahing over them, I made the pastry, spooned the ready-made Matthesons mince into them then baked them. "That's what I mean by made them," she said. Not many people make their own mince nowadays, although I found the bottled one very sweet.
Anyway another thing I did was to make an edible centrepiece - I bought a few pieces of florists' sponge, stuck them all together in the rough shape of a Christmas tree, then covered everything in foil. Then I proceeded to stick lots of colourful food into it: cocktail sausages, cooked prawns, cherry tomatoes, grapes, salad leaves, cheese squares etc. Unfortunately couldn't find any strawberries as they would have added a brilliant shade of red. However, it was a talking point, and very successful and quite different.
As for drinks, in England one imbibes mulled wine at this time of year: it's red wine cooked with cinnamon sticks and other spices and sugar, served warm to keep the chilling winds out of our bodies. Delicious but quite strong-tasting redolent with cinnamon. Here in the tropics, I went for something different: sangria! Cut up a load of oranges, lemons, apples and even a cucumber, then dumped everything into a large bowl along with a few bottles of red wine and (this is the secret ingredient ...) sunquick orange syrup! With plenty of ice, it's pretty, and delicious, and so wonderful for a warm, balmy Christmas evening. It really got everyone in the mood, because we had a Carol Sing Song after that and everyone joined in. Not too strong, as the wine is diluted, but enough to get rid of inhibitions.
So it was a HO HO HO night last night, and two other reasons for celebrating: hubby and I marked 21 years together as man and wife (as we both totally forgot last year we're trying to make up to each other now!) and also because that was my last day of cooking for 2009. From here on we're out practically every night. WAY TO GO!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
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