So, the BIG party is over. It was well attended. Folk left with a smile on their faces and a party bag of retro sweeties in their hands, enquiring about next year's one! It must have been successful.
Daughter1's food went down a treat. Remember, I had only subscribed to buying & heating up sausage rolls - but she had selflessly cooked, from 2pm - 10pm the previous day, an assortment of savoury and spicy nibbles. All tasty.
Oh, and I made cucumber sandwiches on white bread, thinly spread with cream cheese. Cucumber can only be on white.
There was not a dip in sight.
I hate dips. They lie suspiciously in a dish, colour flecked with tiny bits of now unrecognisable vegetables, which always begs the question: what exactly is in that? I always avoid them. Likewise, oozy sandwiches, heavy on the mayonnaise that usually conceal my pet hates of either cold fish or some sort of shellfish. Both yeucky. I only like my fish: fresh from the fish van, hot, breaded or battered, cooked in oil, with chips or buttered bread, and tomato sauce.
My tastes border on the unadventurous. Some say bland.
But I like a good curry. I like spicy. But I like to know what's in it.
As you can imagine, I'm a nightmare to take out for a meal. Suspicious and skeptical of the menu like Miss Marple of people. 'Just try it' has often resulted in a plate of uneaten food. Stacking it to one side just makes the leftovers more obviously taller. All in all, it's very embarrassing.
That reminds me of the gnocchi I ordered - too quickly - when I met up with an old friend that I hadn't seen for a while. I was caught off-guard in the delightful chatter of meeting up again, and I was totally charmed by the menu description of soft pillows and melt in the mouth yumminess, so much so, that when I was presented with a veritable platter of gnocchi and then tried my first bite, I remembered I actually hated gnocchi! Oh, I persevered and talked a lot to disguise the fact that the kingsize plate of soft pillows hadn't noticeably reduced at all. And worse still, the slippy dumplings wouldn't stack!
And it was heavy on the salt. Almost to the extent of a throat gargle. When questioned by my companion, and then by the waitress, my excuse of, 'I wasn't as hungry as I thought', didn't quite cut it!
And this probably leads patrons to the practice of pensioner's portions, which I abhore. 'Cos if I choose something I actually like, then I actually I like a lot of it! I have a good appetite.
So Daughter1 made all the things I myself like - with her own twist and her own artistic presentation. Considering the fact that, when confronted with a buffet of thick oozy sandwiches, odd-coloured doubtful dips, and suspicious savoury pastries, I can only rely on the sausage rolls, Daughter1 made: bite-size Cornish pasties, squares of asparagus quiche, spicy lentil dahl on rice crackers, and tiny cups of panna cotta. Along with cucumber sandwiches, crisps and hot sausage rolls. To me, it was an excellent spread.
It was all washed down with Prosecco cocktails. As I'm allergic to wine - another story - I settled for alcoholic strawberry or orange, spritzers. I'm a fussy drinker too.
When I was a student, I know now why I liked to order from a Chinese menu - because if you ordered Chicken with Pineapple and Cashew, then that is exactly what you got. Nothing else. No sneaked-in tomato etc.
I read somewhere that if you haven't tried a particular item, or flavour, by the time you're 26, then you're very unlikely to try it when you're older.
Well, I'm fairly old now. That last birthday proves it! So there's no hope for me.
I reluctantly tried sushi - with cooked fish - on our last family holiday. (Somehow, I have a family of gastronomes.) Granted, it all looked so pretty: the dark outer of seaweed next to the white rice and all wrapped so beautifully. And I smiled benignly, and ate slowly, as befitting a matriarch on the verge of old age, while the grandkids tucked in - fearlessly - with gusto. As I marvelled at their lack of caution, I looked at the cold sushi squeezed between my chop sticks and concluded that - honestly - I would have preferred a hot sausage roll!
: )
