Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

Yesterday I posted recipes for an easy Christmas menu. Each dish takes no longer than ten minutes of prep – so you can get out of the kitchen and enjoy the day. I’ve put together the following preparation guide – to make the day even easier: h3. The night before * Baked cod with lime & summer vegetables: prepare the whole dish up to the cooking point, cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight * *Roast potato, ...

Read more 20 December, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

This is a Christmas menu I developed for Life etc magazine last year. It’s an easy-summer Christmas menu. Each dish is designed to take no more than ten minutes of preparation and to keep the cook out of the kitchen. This also makes a light and healthy meal, with a few Christmas treats to follow. I’ll also post a preparation guide, showing what you can do the day before – to make Christmas day even easier! h3. The Menu …

Read more 19 December, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

• Yes more beetroot: How could I not link to Nora B’s beetroot-fest post: how do you beet it?. Look at the colour of that risotto! * Eat more beans: Sophie from Mostly Eating believes tinned beans are the perfect convenience food: “quick, comforting, healthy, agriculturally sustainable and nutritionally multi-tasking”. I couldn’t agree with her more. * Holiday survival: as an antidote to the holiday season craziness, Cranky Fitness has a holiday survival quiz. Take the quiz and test …

Read more 23 November, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

I’ve got a few unfinished blogging strands at the moment, including the dessert from this dinner party. I rarely make desserts, so far there are only three posts in my pudding category and at home we generally stick to the trusty fruit and yoghurt combination. For a dinner party though, I like to do something special, a little bit decadent even, but without tripling everyone’s saturated fat intake. This berry and mango pavlova fits the bill. It’s adapted from …

Read more 12 January, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

This recipe is adapted from the December / January Delicious magazine . Corn is in season at the moment and beautifully juicy. Corn is also a good source of the antioxidant lutein, which is important for eye health and preventing macular degeneration. Rocket, corn&zucchini salad I made this for my dinner party , so quantities below are for 12 people as a side dish. You could also add some lima beans and fetta cheese, to make it more of …

Read more 05 January, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

This is a side dish I make a lot – it’s quick, easy, incredibly good for you and very tasty, which are four very good things from one recipe. One of the most exciting things at my dinner party (for me anyway), was how enthusiastically everyone tucked into this dish – in fact it was the greens that disappeared first! Green vegetables are supremely good for you – they contain iron, folate, magnesium and calcium, but they’re also packed full …

Read more 05 January, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

I’m finally getting back to my dinner party menu . On the night I had twelve people for dinner, including one person who can’t eat wheat (but is okay with spelt) and another friend who is lactose intolerant. For the main course I made two of these tarts. They’re vegan and I used spelt flour for the crust. I’d love to say I came up with this recipe, because it’s inventive, full of flavour and really adds to the …

Read more 04 January, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

While the photo is not brilliant, these were really good – little bite sized morsels packed full of flavour. At one point I thought there was going to be a fight over the last three – good manners won out in the end, but there was a fair bit of “well I’ve only had one, how many have you had?” going on. While fights can spoil the mood of any dinner party, it is lovely when your guests enjoy …

Read more 29 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

Now to the dinner party recipes . I knew everyone would be hungry when they arrived, having come directly from work, so I thought a couple of canapes would be a good idea – just enough to take the edge off the hunger. These little morsels worked well. They’re adapted from a Donna Hay recipe (issue 21 of her magazine) – I’ve changed the quantities around and used goat’s cheese instead of bocconcini. I made the pitta rounds and …

Read more 28 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

Many people who run their own business spend a lot of the working week on their own. While I see clients at a great clinic , I’m not there every day, so the rest of the week I work from my home office. Running your own business is not for the faint-hearted, but there are many positives – autonomy, the heightened sense of achievement, doing something for yourself, flexible working hours, having much more control over your working day and …

Read more 21 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Dinner parties

I’m having a dinner party for 12 people tonight, so there won’t be much blogging today. I will be posting all about it over the next few days, but for now, I’ll leave you with the menu: _ Entree _ Balsamic tomato and goat’s cheese bites Mini coriander fritattas with onion marmalade _ Main _ Natto miso&ginger pumpkin tart Mixed seasonal greens Rocket, corn and zucchini salad Baked potatoes _ Dessert _ Berry and mango pavlova Mixed chocolate and turkish …

Read more 19 December, 2006