Dinner for Kevin & Chris

What started off as ‘having a bit of a tidy-up’ turned into a weekend of Spring Cleaning.

After the washing-up and laundry, there was a series of odd-jobs that have been waiting around for a while that finally got done this weekend: For a while the house stank of warm vinegar, as I de-scaled water jugs, shower-heads and everything else in sight. I even contemplated cleaning up the crystal chandelier in the dining room (which SO badly needs it!) but in the end ran out of time. On the whole, a very productive weekend. All of this was primarily so that the house would be in top form for dinner on Sunday night.

Although we’ve lived here for nearly two years now, I don’t think we’ve ever properly hosted friends for dinner. We’ve had parties and laid out a buffet, we’ve even ordered take-out with friends, but never a sit-down at the table with napkins and silverware. The opportunity had my closeted ‘Bree Van de Kamp’ side elbowing its way to the fore as I tried to resist the urge to put on a big showpiece event!

In the end I stuck to the simple menu that Brett and I had planned. I made huge volumes of chilli and rice (although I really misjudged the amount of chilli powder and ended up with a tasty meat and bean stew) and had some rhubarb crumble and custard lined-up for dessert. I couldn’t resist throwing in a cheese course at the end, though, as it’s so easy to do…

Kevin and Chris arrived around five which meant we got a bit of a chance to chat to them before everyone else turned up in dribs and drabs closer to seven. Ping arrived first and hit it off immediately. Scott was next, but was rather quiet throughout the evening and I can’t tell whether he was feeling left out or whether that is just his nature in groups. Rosie and Andy completed the set and seemed to hold their own pretty well.

After dinner we sat down to a game of Trivial Pursuits which was quite closely fought and rounded off the evening nicely. Everyone departed shortly thereafter to make sure they got their trains and Brett and I headed straight to bed feeling that a good evening had been had by all.