I can't imagine anyone was more excited about it than me, but there were some strong contenders, and once lateness had been excused, high pitched shrieks had been exchanged - the fun really began!
Here's the menu
We started off with a cocktail called "Summer Rain" = marvellous! If I can remember, it had grapefruit, vodka, pineapple and .... (see Hannah for details) Anyway it was scrummy and the perfect refreshment for a hot summer's day :)
Then because we were all pretty ravenous, I didn't have chance to take a photo of the starter, which was "nibbles and dips" and was woffed down pretty sharpish. This was tasty and just what the doctor ordered to go with a few bevvys (Y)
Then we had our main (refer back to menu) of "Jamie Oliver's Tomato Macaroni Cheese, with fresh salad and granary bread". Now my heart sank a little when I read this. I don't really like macaroni cheese and was dreading having to force down some stodgy, cheesy concoction. Oh boy, how wrong I was. It was delish!
It had yummy mozzarella on top, and was nice and crispy, yet light and fluffy inside! I asked for a "larger than normal" portion. And this wasn't just on account of my normal greediness, but just because it looked (and tasted) so darn fantastic!
One guest said: "This puts Beryl to shame." Those that know, that is one high order!
Also I would like to add, that although I thought that the bread would bring the whole meal down, again how wrong was I? It was an absolutely necessary utensil to mop up the remaining, fragrant (Y) loveliness. And worked in perfect harmony with the salad! (ha! Toby Young eat your heart out!)
Then we had dessert: Chocolate and Vanilla fairy cakes with Vanilla ice cream
What Han failed to mention was that it would include assorted sweets :O which let's face it, is just a major, slap in the face, bloody big bonus! :)
One of my (many) guilty pleasures in this world is cake and ice cream, it's just not celebrated enough! So I was more than happy to scoff this one down, and sit back and enjoy the sugar induced merriment which ensued.
We all lolled, "o Amy"d and guffawed about Griffindor's (Amy Griffin) appropriate dinner party attire. Note: napkin
And then we did what most mature 17 to 18 year old, dinner party guests do - ttteeeerrrrraaaaaaammmmmmmmppppppppppoooooooollllllleeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnn (trampolining)
Fun fun fun (maybe even more so because of the cake and ice cream?)
Then we all came inside and discussed future child names! ha!
Bloody excellent evening and a great way to kick off Come Dine With Me 2009, which is set to be a summer long bonanza.
Hannah scored a very respectable 38/50 for the evening, and gives Hattie, the next contestant, a tough act to follow. I'll keep you posted along with some facebook-friendly chum photos.
Good day.