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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Friday Night's Nosh

Fridays are a little trickier...but somehow it all came together and tablenosh last night was fabulous (well at least I enjoyed it).  The day started with a very early morning trip to the Sydney Markets, only to find out they were not really set up for the public until 9am (I got there at 6:45am)!  In the process of avoiding being hit by a forklift and try to find my way around vegetable chaos, I met a lovely guy who informed me I needed to come back at 9, he must have seen the look on my face and offered to shout me a coffee.  So, we sat down over a coffee and chatted about the world and all its troubles (it was pretty funny considering he was wearing one of those shirts that says 'sh** happens').  After my coffee with Bob, I hopped back in the car drove home through the Paramatta Road traffic and got to work on some baking.

Take Two...I headed back to the markets at about 10:30am.  Whew, they were up and running and I was able to find everything I needed other than limes (clearly they are not in season at the moment), as I found them at Franklin's for 19.99/kg!  I pulled back into the driveway about 11:45am, unloaded the groceries and went to get my key and realized 'Oh NO I am locked out'!!! Seriously what a day already.  Fortunately I was able to go pick up a key from the real-estate office.

Things calmed down after that and my friend Chelsea came by to help me do some prep-work and be my taste tester.  The only other close disaster I had was almost chopping off the end of my middle finger!!  This is what happens if you take your eye off the knife in the midst of panic, whew I never realized how protective our fingernails are, thankfully it was just a small cut.  I put on a band-aid and kept going.


Okay so tablenosh...what a fun group of people!  Being an extravert definitely makes it hard sometimes to remain in the kitchen when the lounge room is lighting up with laughter, it was fabulous.  The smoke alarm added some extra laughs for the group (as I kept setting it off), I thought this just added to the 'in-home' experience.  A special thanks to my assistant for the evening, Julie Bosma, she was an excellent help!

The guests were welcomed with a pre-dinner cocktail, a Leila original that I called a 'strawberry splash'.  Basically a scoop of lemon sorbet, malibu rum, lemonade and a dollop of strawberry granita...refreshing and yummy!  The starters for the evening were broccoli and cauliflower fritters with a cheesy dip and grilled haloumi. 

The main for the evening was Grilled Swordfish on a bed of rocket & cous cous salad, topped with a mango salsa and fresh coriander pesto.  I am just bummed I did not actually get a bite myself!! (guess I will have to make it for Pete and I sometime)

The dessert trio got a delightful response, Chocolate Mousse Spoons, Mini Berry Rhubarb Crumble and the Petite Citrus Cake with Passionfruit Custard and Lemon Cream.  I think the guests were well pleased, I definitely gonna have to make the crumble again.  Strawberries are in season at the moment, so it was primarily fresh strawberries and rhubarb stewed with brown sugar and I threw in a few raspberries for flavor.  As for the crumble topping, the trick was using ginger cookies and crushing them into the usual topping. 

After dinner we all retired to the lounge room to finish things off over iced baileys, dessert wine and coffee.

What can I say, I am delighted to have had another evening of good fun and good food in my home...my only reget and utter embarrassment for the evening was, I forgot to put napkins on the TABLE - I went to go crawl into bed and there sat all my neatly pressed and folded napkins!!! oops - at least the food wasn't too messy!  

On another note, I am excited to say I have my first tablenosh 'private function' booking!  And as for the next Nosh Night open to the public, it will be on Saturday, October 2.  I am already taking bookings, so don't wait...email me now to get your spot!

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