Episode 1, Bahamas, part 3: the actual dinner party

 So, having made decisions, time to put them into practice. I invited 2 friends (thank you, Diane and Tina!) for this first retro dinner party, and it took me a very relaxed 2 days to make the preparations.

First, the cocktail: the Moonwalk, made in honour of the moon landing, and supposedly the first thing given to the astronauts as they arrived back on earth. I purposefully didn’t try it before the dinner, as I wanted it to be a surprise for me as well as my guests…and it was gorgeous! Light, refreshing, and then a nice kick.

Recipe: 1 measure of grapefruit juice (I used the bigger side of those measuring cups that come with cocktail shakers), 1 measure of Grand Marnier (well, I used Cointreau, because that was the orange liqueur that I had in the house) a couple of drops of rose water (I don’t know that I’d worry about including that again, because I couldn’t taste it) and 2 measures of sparkling wine, per person. I got 6 glasses out of the bottle, and rather happy we were…

Starter: pate and melba toast. I made the melba toast on the day before, just in case it all went a bit wrong and I had to redo it. Thick slice white bread, in the toaster, LET IT COOL! Then cut the crusts off, slice horizontally through the slice, so you have 2 very thin slices, cut in half diagonally and then crisp up the middle in the grill…and KEEP AN EYE ON IT! It goes from just done to burnt very quickly. Keep in a tin, not Tupperware. The pate was easier: a nice shop bought one, but whenever we as a family have pate, mum always used to mix it up with cream cheese. I’m not really sure why, but it made it a lighter, really spreadable, almost dip-like thing, perhaps better for our children’s palates? So I served half normal, half mixed…nice contrast.

Main course, the fondue: this almost has to be the easiest meal ever, as everybody cooks their own food! I made three dips the day before, a BBQ one, the spicy Marie Rose one from the conch fritters, and a blue cheese one. On the day I cut up steak, prawns, sausages, mushrooms and halloumi (not something that mum would have had, but I wanted to try it out, and it worked very well!) Potato salad and pasta salad to accompany…all nice. 

I don’t think I’d do a fondue for a group larger than 4, just because of the logistics of dipping…the 3 of us all had 3 forks in play, and it was a bit crowded at times. However, it was great fun, and quite leisurely in a way, as there were lots of small bites going on.

Spicy Marie Rose sauce: ketchup, mayonnaise, lime juice and Tabasco to taste. Blue cheese sauce: I used Stilton, chopped/crumbled, then creme fraiche and mayonnaise, with a dash of lemon juice and black pepper.

Dessert: trifle. I mentioned that I was doing trifle to a few people, and they all seemed to get this faraway look in their eyes and say something like ‘I haven’t done trifle for ages…’ Well, neither had I, and mum’s recipe was really simple, but no mention of jelly! So I did the trifle I remember her doing: Swiss roll, then tinned raspberries, using the juice to make up the jelly. Pour the jelly over, let it set, top with shop bought custard, then top with softly whipped double cream…and bits (hundreds and thousands in real terms!)

2 final touches: liqueurs and Black Magic chocolates, the posh choice of chocolates at the time…although the choice of what was available was only on the bottom of the box, leading to some interesting contortions as we tried to read them without spilling the chocolates…and music from 1969 courtesy of Alexa (obviously other digital assistants are available) I just asked her to play music from that year, and all the old favourites came up.

I have to say that this dinner party, I think, is going to be one of the easiest I will ever do: the late 60’s saw the introduction of fast food, snacks, and labour saving devices like the freezer, and this dinner was bought and assembled, rather than being cooked. Mum would have been getting it all organised, AND putting my brother and myself to bed, so it would have needed to be an easily created dinner. I think the success was in the quality of ingredients that I chose: the cut of the steak, king prawns, finest vanilla custard, and taking the time to assemble all the bits and present it all well. I even used properly folded napkins: mum taught me how to fold them, and it was always my job when she was setting up a dinner party. 

It was also my job to dissolve the jelly and watch the toast under the grill…really lovely to revisit those beginning days of learning to cook with her.