Friends Who Bring Food

I love to bring food. This brownie tower was brought along for our son's birthday party, and was a complete, and rather awesome, surprise.

Do you like to take food to friends' houses? Do you have a special favourite recipe you like to share, or a family dish you like to give? I love doing a different thing each time, having fun with the recipe and the food. I've learnt a lot about food, and I like to try and make it look as appealing as possible. This brownie tower above had a few simple additions, and it just looks so welcoming!

This is why I love to make cakes for people. I think it's the look on their faces when I make them something amazing.  It can take hours of creativity and work, but it's always been worth it.

I think bringing food also shows you care very deeply about someone. Enough to ensure they have a full belly, and that they share bread with you. It's a sharing of a very special bond.

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Sarah

Growing Season has Passed

I did try this year!

Unfortunately, I had an operation in October which absolutely knocked me about. The weeks before were spent preparing as much as I could, and the weeks after were spent drug hazed and then incredibly busy with obligations. I did start a whole pile of diggers seeds, unfortunately I wasn't able to plant them soon enough, and my 2 year old discovered how much fun they could be! They lasted quite a while, given who was playing with them so much...


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Sarah

Dinner Parties with Friends

Food is an important part of life in many different ways. Most of human life has been taken up with the never ending quest to hunt, gather, and prepare, food.

The other important aspect of food is sharing. Sharing food is essential for survival, and essential for good will and good humours. Food may be a necessity, but it also answers so many other needs in humans such as comfort, security, and well being. We had a dinner party the other day with a slight difference - the guests all helped cook.

I took my friend shopping and let her make all the creative choices, and then when her partner and his boyfriend arrived, we set ourselves to work.

We used a home grown pumpkin to make pumpkin, walnut, goats cheese and sage sauce for the pasta, which was also home made by my husband and our guests. Mynxii's partner and his boyfriend made marscapone cream, chopped fruit and handled some quick and dirty child rearing. I made pancakes, realising only afterwards that we were one egg short, so instead of individual pancake servings we made one huge marscapone cream with strawberries pancake cake. I made sure every one had what they needed when they needed it! Garlic bread went in for appertiser, the kids choose 2 minute noodles, and we were good to go. Our main course was roast chicken with salad and stuffing.

(Picture above shows matching plates, soup bowls, tumblers and champagne flutes with a bottle of Chandon Champagne and the pasta with punkin, sage, goatscheese, ready to serve.)

And the food was fantastic! But I am sure it all tasted better for the experience of cooking, and then eating, together.

(Picture above shows roast chicken cut into peices, served on a matching plate, with a garden salad, and a small bowl of stuffing in an old Chinese rice bowl.)

Food is an important part of companionship, and I really love working with my friends on things like this. I'm hoping we get to do more of it in future!

Picture above shows the layers of pancake, strawberries marinated in icing sugar, and marscapone cream. Hald the cake is cut away so we can see the layers. The juice from the strawberries has escaped the piped marscapone cream and dribbled over the cake plate.)

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 Sarah