No time to make creme caramel for dessert, and no time to try key lime pie? If you are passing a Morrisons supermarket in London, look for the O'Brien chocolates. They have classic desserts encased in chocolate, and make a great gift for your host or hostess, if you are invited to a dinner at somebody's home or a restaurant.
I sampled them at a dinner club dinner in somebody's home.
Aperitifs and Mystery Wines
We started with olives, cashew nuts, smoked salmon canapés and salamis, standing chatting in the back living room. One of the group of visiting diners, a single widower, was celebrating a birthday and had brought along a half bottle of Sauternes to share as an extra unexpected dessert wine.
Dividing Wines
Each bottle of wine was divided amongst about twelve of us, just a small sample of each wine, less for the drivers. I am not keen on either red or dry wines, so I had just a small sip of most, using a spoon to not contaminate the glass. Then I passed my share on to somebody else. Later I tipped unwanted wine into the overflow beaker. We kept our wine glasses throughout the evening and meal from aperitifs until dessert wines and had to empty our glasses after each wine for the next wine.
We sampled two mystery whites to start and a guessing game to see which country and grape had been selected. Having chosen a chatting companion, we moved into the dining room, no set places.
Main Courses
The giant casseroles of meats were brought in and had a choice of venison stew (similar to beef stew) or pork, or both, with roast potatoes and green beans. The root vegetables of parsnip and carrots were placed on a side table. I was wedged in and had a full plate by the time I saw the extra vegetables and decided to finish my food before opting for yet more. Red wines go with meat.
After that along came the cheese (a runny, soft brie, a hard cheddar and a tasty blue stilton). The cheese was accompanied by two assortments of crackers and biscuits.
I was beginning to think I would get neither dessert nor chocolates, when along came the chocolates which were a combination of miniature desserts encased in chocolate.
Wine Tasting Clubs and Dinner party Clubs
I belong to two or three wine and dinner clubs, run as part of or offshoots from wine societies. They way the club works is, you rotate member's homes. The mailing list of participants, perhaps 10-80 people, is sent the venue and menu of the wines in the circulation list of a wine club, the food in the list of a food club.
To cut down on the time spent cooking, you can serve olives and cashew nuts or peanuts or crackers on arrival. Alternatively, serve smoked salmon with crackers, or bread cut into small pieces.
Dinner Party Clubs
The first dinner club I belonged to was started by some members of a National Childbirth Trust Group. They had become friends whilst attending ante-natal classes. Since they needed babysitters, it was convenient to have a dinner at home. (Some only attended the meal they served.) Or to have babysitters from the group. Or to attend cheaper dinners when they had the expense of a baby. Or to have dinners where other guests were interested in talking about babies. These clubs and dinners were sometimes teetotal, because of the mothers breastfeeding, or not drinking during the recent pregnancy, or to keep down the cost of the dinners as well as reducing the washing up.
Empty Nesters and Triple Venue Clubs
I've heard of other clubs for older empty nesters, couples with teenage children or no children who need babysitters. At least one of these clubs evened out the work and cost by having a dinner for three or four couples at each home. This is done for people who live on the same housing estate, a small village, or one street, or all within walking or ten minutes' driving time. You start at home one for a pre-dinner drink (juice for anybody driving) and nuts or canapés or tiny snacks and get to know you or catch up chats. You might arrive prompts at 6 pm for 6.15 start, 6.45 leave, and fitted minutes walking or driving to the next home. You might have the hosts leaving five minutes before the guests.
Then you drive to home two for the starter, which could be something easy and cold such as a slice of melon with decoration, half a grapefruit. Perhaps serve with bread and butter or a glass or half glass of white wine and/or juice and/or water.
Home Three for Main Course
Home three has the major preparation of a meat or vegetarian (or both) main course, often white chicken or white fish, or a vegetable quiche, made without eggs for vegans. You could have wine provided by another couple, if they make up couple number five. Alternatively another couple, a fifth or sixth couple, could make a second main dish, brought in a pot or dish and heated up in the oven or microwave) or the vegetarian option.
Home Four provides dessert. To save time this can be a cold dessert. (Or one which you heat up in a microwave.) They might also provide coffee. And / or after dinner drinks and chocolates. If you have more couples or wish to spread the time load, effort and cost, you make the coffee providers the Fifth or last couple.
You can also have an arrangement where the host of each section provides only the seating and a cleared or laid table and glasses. One or more of the guests brings the contribution such as a box of chocolates, bottle of wine, bottle of juice, biscuits or bread, cold vegetables or salad.
Another variation has each couple given the entire menu. Each cook prepares food enough for two couples. The food is brought to one host's house. To your amazement, although everybody has cooked from the exact same recipe, you get to taste either two half portions of each course, or a tiny mouthful of each. But the result is that you get six totally different versions. For example, apple pie, simple. Either you don't bother giving out a recipe.
Or you give out a recipe - but still get six different results. Either one person could not get sultanas and used raisins. One person forgot the cloves or left them out because of not liking them. One person mis-read the recipe and made crumble topping. One person cooks a pie shape and give you a clock face cut, almost an elongated triangle. Another does squares. Another makes an individual circular pie for each diner in disposable foil or even a china ramekin. The result is different flavours and presentations.
Self catering holiday dinner parties
This would also work on holiday as a dinner party idea in a house party in a villa, or a complex with several self-catering flats. You could plan it at one or more venues for a group dinner on the last night, or first night, or second night.
For the easy end to the dinner, cook miniatures or buy the Lily O'Brien chocolates. Note the use buy and temperature control requirements of chocolates when travelling.
Go to the website of the lilyobriens company and you can watch the video made by the founder of the company about how she was inspired to start her chocolate company when she was travelling. The company is based in Ireland and is named after the daughter, Lily. According to the website, you can order a box of mixed gift packs, and chocolate boxes with your family photo printed on the outside.
https://lilyobriens.co.uk/
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author, speaker.
I sampled them at a dinner club dinner in somebody's home.
Translation
Torte - French for tart
Posset - an English word for something like a syllabub.
"A posset was a British hot drink of milk curdled with wine or ale, often spiced, which was popular from medieval times to the 19th century. The word is mainly used nowadays for a related dessert similar to syllabub. Wikipedia
Syllabub is an English sweet dish described by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a drink or dish made of milk or cream, curdled by the admixture of wine, cider, or other acid, and often sweetened and flavoured."Wikipedia "
Banoffee - a combination of banana and toffee
Crème Brulée - French for burned cream. The down accent on the first e means you pronounce it as crem to rhyme with hem or them. The up accent on the first e in the second word means you pronounce it as ay to rhyme with say or pay or day. The word burned is because in some recipes you use an electric flame to burn and turn the sugar scattered on top into a rock hard lid. But in these chocolates as in many modern versions it is served just as a very rich custard cream.
Key Lime
An Indian friend asked what was key limey.
'Key limey pie', which I read as Key Lime Pie, is a variation on the American favourite, Key Lime Pie, served in many restaurants and fast food outlets as a dessert or tea time snack, in Florida's Florida Keys area and the South of North America.
The pie is a strongly flavoured lime pie, like lemon curd but made with lime, usually open top so you see a yellowy green. Heavenly. Limey was a word for British sailors who took limes on ships to prevent scurvy, caused by lack of (fruit containing) vitamin C.
Aperitifs and Mystery Wines
We started with olives, cashew nuts, smoked salmon canapés and salamis, standing chatting in the back living room. One of the group of visiting diners, a single widower, was celebrating a birthday and had brought along a half bottle of Sauternes to share as an extra unexpected dessert wine.
Dividing Wines
Each bottle of wine was divided amongst about twelve of us, just a small sample of each wine, less for the drivers. I am not keen on either red or dry wines, so I had just a small sip of most, using a spoon to not contaminate the glass. Then I passed my share on to somebody else. Later I tipped unwanted wine into the overflow beaker. We kept our wine glasses throughout the evening and meal from aperitifs until dessert wines and had to empty our glasses after each wine for the next wine.
We sampled two mystery whites to start and a guessing game to see which country and grape had been selected. Having chosen a chatting companion, we moved into the dining room, no set places.
Main Courses
The giant casseroles of meats were brought in and had a choice of venison stew (similar to beef stew) or pork, or both, with roast potatoes and green beans. The root vegetables of parsnip and carrots were placed on a side table. I was wedged in and had a full plate by the time I saw the extra vegetables and decided to finish my food before opting for yet more. Red wines go with meat.
After that along came the cheese (a runny, soft brie, a hard cheddar and a tasty blue stilton). The cheese was accompanied by two assortments of crackers and biscuits.
I was beginning to think I would get neither dessert nor chocolates, when along came the chocolates which were a combination of miniature desserts encased in chocolate.
Wine Tasting Clubs and Dinner party Clubs
I belong to two or three wine and dinner clubs, run as part of or offshoots from wine societies. They way the club works is, you rotate member's homes. The mailing list of participants, perhaps 10-80 people, is sent the venue and menu of the wines in the circulation list of a wine club, the food in the list of a food club.
To cut down on the time spent cooking, you can serve olives and cashew nuts or peanuts or crackers on arrival. Alternatively, serve smoked salmon with crackers, or bread cut into small pieces.
Dinner Party Clubs
The first dinner club I belonged to was started by some members of a National Childbirth Trust Group. They had become friends whilst attending ante-natal classes. Since they needed babysitters, it was convenient to have a dinner at home. (Some only attended the meal they served.) Or to have babysitters from the group. Or to attend cheaper dinners when they had the expense of a baby. Or to have dinners where other guests were interested in talking about babies. These clubs and dinners were sometimes teetotal, because of the mothers breastfeeding, or not drinking during the recent pregnancy, or to keep down the cost of the dinners as well as reducing the washing up.
Empty Nesters and Triple Venue Clubs
I've heard of other clubs for older empty nesters, couples with teenage children or no children who need babysitters. At least one of these clubs evened out the work and cost by having a dinner for three or four couples at each home. This is done for people who live on the same housing estate, a small village, or one street, or all within walking or ten minutes' driving time. You start at home one for a pre-dinner drink (juice for anybody driving) and nuts or canapés or tiny snacks and get to know you or catch up chats. You might arrive prompts at 6 pm for 6.15 start, 6.45 leave, and fitted minutes walking or driving to the next home. You might have the hosts leaving five minutes before the guests.
Then you drive to home two for the starter, which could be something easy and cold such as a slice of melon with decoration, half a grapefruit. Perhaps serve with bread and butter or a glass or half glass of white wine and/or juice and/or water.
Home Three for Main Course
Home three has the major preparation of a meat or vegetarian (or both) main course, often white chicken or white fish, or a vegetable quiche, made without eggs for vegans. You could have wine provided by another couple, if they make up couple number five. Alternatively another couple, a fifth or sixth couple, could make a second main dish, brought in a pot or dish and heated up in the oven or microwave) or the vegetarian option.
Home Four provides dessert. To save time this can be a cold dessert. (Or one which you heat up in a microwave.) They might also provide coffee. And / or after dinner drinks and chocolates. If you have more couples or wish to spread the time load, effort and cost, you make the coffee providers the Fifth or last couple.
You can also have an arrangement where the host of each section provides only the seating and a cleared or laid table and glasses. One or more of the guests brings the contribution such as a box of chocolates, bottle of wine, bottle of juice, biscuits or bread, cold vegetables or salad.
Another variation has each couple given the entire menu. Each cook prepares food enough for two couples. The food is brought to one host's house. To your amazement, although everybody has cooked from the exact same recipe, you get to taste either two half portions of each course, or a tiny mouthful of each. But the result is that you get six totally different versions. For example, apple pie, simple. Either you don't bother giving out a recipe.
Or you give out a recipe - but still get six different results. Either one person could not get sultanas and used raisins. One person forgot the cloves or left them out because of not liking them. One person mis-read the recipe and made crumble topping. One person cooks a pie shape and give you a clock face cut, almost an elongated triangle. Another does squares. Another makes an individual circular pie for each diner in disposable foil or even a china ramekin. The result is different flavours and presentations.
Self catering holiday dinner parties
This would also work on holiday as a dinner party idea in a house party in a villa, or a complex with several self-catering flats. You could plan it at one or more venues for a group dinner on the last night, or first night, or second night.
For the easy end to the dinner, cook miniatures or buy the Lily O'Brien chocolates. Note the use buy and temperature control requirements of chocolates when travelling.
Go to the website of the lilyobriens company and you can watch the video made by the founder of the company about how she was inspired to start her chocolate company when she was travelling. The company is based in Ireland and is named after the daughter, Lily. According to the website, you can order a box of mixed gift packs, and chocolate boxes with your family photo printed on the outside.
https://lilyobriens.co.uk/
Angela Lansbury, travel writer, photographer, author, speaker.
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