or: A Dinner Party That Has Changed The Way I Think

From time to time I come across ideas that I’m disappointed that I haven’t come across earlier. This happened to me on Friday night.

Anyone that has been out for lunch or dinner with me (or even a buffet brunch) knows that I look at the dessert menu first and then order my main meal accordingly. I want to make sure I have space to fit in whatever dessert caught my eye.

Desserts are one of my 974 favourite things as I have half a mouth of sweet teeth and half of savoury. Desserts are how I balance out my cravings for Smiths Salt N Vinegar Chips.

Having been raised in the era of “you can’t have any dessert unless you finish your dinner” (not that we had dessert offered at ever dinner either) and the times of “think of all the starving children in Ethiopia,” it is ingrained in me to finish whatever is put on my plate.

I struggle with this in some countries though and I am pleased that in some places, I can take the leftovers home with me.

It doesn’t seem quite right to do this at a dinner party at someone’s house.

Friday lunchtime, I ordered a small meal as I knew I was going to a dinner party later and I wanted to make sure I could fit in my meal and appreciate it. Our hosts are known for their cooking skills and dinner parties and I wanted to ensure I was in the best possible position to appreciate it.

For this reason, I didn’t order the moussaka which I had been putting off eating until the weather was cool enough for me to enjoy it as it’s a heavier dish. I’ve seen it sold in most local restaurants as well as a few of the international ones here. Friday was a cool day and great moussaka weather.

I had soup instead. It hit the spot and tasted great.

At 7pm, we arrived to pre-dinner drinks and some nuts and chips. I was careful to pace myself as they can be quite addictive. Conversation flowed as easily as the prosecco and before we knew it, we were being led to a beautifully laid table by the pool for the main meal.

Moussaka.

Happy days.

As our host was serving, she informed us that there would be not one, but two desserts. Two desserts! Yes, you read that correctly. I was flabbergasted. I was excited. I was such a bundle of joy that it is a wonder I could contain myself. This is one of my ideas of bliss. I have never been offered two desserts outside of a buffet meal at a restaurant. It was’t to be a choice of two. We were each eating two. I would need to pace myself accordingly and keep my dessert stomach as backup. It’s important to plan.

When second helpings of moussaka were offered, I politely refused. There was no way I was missing out on two desserts no matter how good the moussaka.

I was pleased I refused when the lemon sponge pudding arrived. I think it is impossible to have a bad dessert with lemon. It just makes everything that bit better and this was no exception.

Seconds were offered of this too and because I do have a dessert stomach, I took some.

Next dessert was a rhubarb roulade. Similar to lemon, it is difficult to go wrong once rhubarb is added to a dessert too and when it is combined with meringue, that really is a match made in heaven (actually, meringue with anything is also an excellent addition).

Two desserts, one main meal at someone’s home.

Bliss.

The other side of this is when it comes to cooking for myself, a main meal is more of a functional affair and I don’t particularly enjoy cooking it unless I have plenty of time and can do it with a glass of wine or two. That said, I do enjoy cooking desserts. I like the fiddley aspects, the design elements and licking the bowl…

Now my future guests will benefit too.

My life has changed and the way I host dinner parties will never be the same.

Two desserts.

Brilliant!

* Thanks to Def Leppard for the title to this post.