Summer Party: Live Blog

8.30 – Get up, wander about in dressing gown and check Important Things online. Like, the counter.

9.10 – Have a shower, wash my hair and shave things that are wild and woolly. Cut myself about three times to celebrate. But at least I smell nice and citrusy.

9.40 – Time for a pop tart. Chocolate. There are no other flavours. I wonder what I’m going to wear today? And should I consider wearing something more than just two towels before Lauren gets here to help with the food?

10.08 – The towels are gone, clothes are on. Lauren’s 8 minutes late. And to think I got dressed for her.

10.30 – It’s Lauren here! only 30 mins late :§ a girl has to get her beauty sleep (and judging by the state of me this morning, i’ve not had nearly enough!). the kitchen smells amazing, and i think i’m going to find it hard not to sample all the dishes that are covered up for later! maybe inviting me to help wasn’t such a good idea…….;)

10.56 – back again, after kneading the dough for the yummy picnic bread. i’m hungry already! the kitchen is a hive of activity, with various quiches, flans and breads being prepared. yum!

11.28 – am getting the hang of this blogging lark – it’s jolly good fun. have even added my own category to Dreamdust (see below), although to be honest, i really don’t know why this hadn’t been added a long time ago…

13.06 – we’ve just finished all the making and shaping, and the guests are due to arrive any minute. hopefully time to get some make-up on and make myself look reasonably presentable before they do! Sarah is just putting the finishing touches to the vegetable balls, which need to be baked for a while, and i’ve just finished the goats cheese pate, which is chilling in the fridge. hopefully not long before we can tuck in! ;)

13.11 – I suppose I should write something here too, seeing as this was my idea! My hair needs straightening, it’s five feet wide at the minute. My T-shirt is covered in, well, everything and so are my jeans. A few guests are here, but I could do with making myself pretty before everyone else arrives. What else needs doing? Surely we can’t turn off the oven yet?

13.40 – Lauren again. think Sarah has gone to make herself look pretty (maybe i can pinch some food when she’s not looking ;). there are some guests here, and drinks are being served. weather is warm but cloudy, although the sun is trying her best. couldn’t expect blazing sunshine really, it is Wimbledon week after all…

15.30 – not much blogging in the last couple of hours, because the food was served! its gone down a storm, with many guests coming back to the house for seconds! John and Sam’s niece Darcie has had us in stitches by pulling faces up against the conservatory window, leaving a nice big wet face print (and some bread and crisp crumbs!).

15.33 – Uff, I always overestimate how much I can eat. Dave’s just put me in a headlock, so I shall have to go and give him a kick. I should also get some more use out of the big lens I rented for today. Maybe I can just clonk Dave over the head with it.

17.06 – ……too stuffed to write……..need a nap……

17.56 – Can’t keep my eyes open. Suzy will be here soon to help herself to the leftovers. Maybe I’ll have a little nap.

18.56 – Lauren here again. have had a fabulous day, the party was a great success as usual, and the food went down a treat. it’s been lovely to be involved in the preparation for the day, and to be a guest blogger on Dreamdust. looking forward to the next time aleady. i’m off now, going to sleep off the *huge* lunch that i ate. look out for Sarah’s pictures on flickr, especially those taken with the mammoth lense ;)

Greek spinach rolls. Mmm, yummy.

Our annual summer party is next Sunday, which means Greek spinach rolls are on the menu. We have to have them, otherwise I won’t attend. They’re a bit fiddly to make which means I make them in advance, bung them in the freezer and then defrost them and warm them up again on the day. So here, for your gastronomic delight, is the how-to for these yummy little bites.

The recipe as given in “Reader’s Digest Guide to Creative Cooking and Entertaining” makes about 80, so I halve the quantities for our party. We don’t have that many friends, you see. Though I would gladly eat the surplus. The quantities below are for the half quantity, as I don’t like to think that you have more friends than me. Because really, I’m your only friend. Aren’t I?

225g fresh spinach
butter
1/2 tbsp water
1 shallot, chopped
pinch of nutmeg
115g feta , crumbled
60g cottage cheese or ricotta
25g parmesan, grated
15g fresh parsley, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
salt and pepper
115g filo pastry

1. Wash and drain the spinach, then chop it coarsely.

2. Melt a lump of butter with the water in a large pan. Sauté the shallot in the butter until it becomes transparent. Add the chopped spinach and nutmeg and cook, stirring frequently, until any water has evaporated. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

3. Mix the feta, cottage cheese and parmesan (I used pecorino because Suzy brought me some back from Italy) together in a large bowl. Add the parsley (I didn’t have any this time. The world hasn’t ended.) and stir in the beaten egg. Add the spinach and the shallot and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Prepare the filo pastry. Sheets of filo pastry come in a variety of sizes, so you’ll need to slice yours up in the most economical way that leaves you with strips roughly 8″ long and 4″ wide. Make yourself a little stack of pieces this size and wrap the rest up again so it doesn’t dry up.

5. Melt some butter for brushing on to the strips. The amount specified in the book seemed to be fairly arbitrary, so take my advice: melt a lump and when you run out, melt some more. You’re welcome.

6. Take a strip of pastry and lay it on your work surface. Brush it with melted butter. Place a teaspoon of the spinach mixture about 1″ from one of the ends. Fold up the end to cover it and then fold over the sides. Brush again with butter and then gently roll it up to make a little parcel about 2″ x 1″. Brush with butter.

7. Now make the other 39 parcels and place them, seam side down on a lined baking sheet. Leave some space between the rolls for them to explode expand a little while baking. Bake at 220ºC / 425ºF / Gas 7 for 10-15 minutes until the rolls are plump, crisp and golden.

8. Send them to me for testing.

Click on the photo for the cooking set

7 Days – Day 7: Inside looking out

I was going to go for a walk for a bit of late in the day inspiration, but it was raining. So I took my inspiration from outdoors while still undercover.

Thanks for another great week of 7 Days, guys and gals. You all rock.

7 Days – Day 6: New boots

A new pair of boots. They are in fact remarkably like the boots I already have. Except these are a bit different. They’ve been made by a shoemaker named Marsha Hall. She had a last made of my feet and made these boots to replace the pair I have that are falling apart to an almost “my God, where are Social Services?”-degree. I’m incredibly nervous of them at the moment, as having new boots that actually fit and keep my feet dry feels quite strange.

7 Days – Day 5: Water

Time to wash the wig. Also time to make sure I drown neither the camera nor the remote.
I’ve been busy this week what with having to do Actual Work and keeping up with 7 Days and all the commenting fun. You know, I’m pretty sure I mouth my comments as I type them, which must look ridiculous.

7 Days – Day 4: Say cheese!

Suzy brought me a lovely lump of pecorino cheese back from her holiday in Italy. This was be grated up and melted on top of our Mediterrannean shepherds’ pie for tonight’s dinner. The Mediterrannean part of the title just means that it’s fancier than Russ’s. And tastes better. It also means that I’m richer and better looking than him.

7 Days – Day 3: Compost Queen

This shot was inspired by a gift from our 7 Days Angel, Bethany, who sent me the most appropriate bookmark possible. (And, hell, if I can wind up Kirsty by featuring my compost for the umpteenth time, then my day is complete). Illustrated with crown-wearing gardener in a beautiful dress, the text on the bookmark reads “Compost Queen”. Thank you for the parcel, Bethany!

I’ve got my Compost Queen crown, but there’s no beautiful dress for me in this photo. If you could smell what I was standing in, I promise you’d understand why the dress code was casual.