Weekly Update!

Celebrations, Clearances & Catering!

This week has been my first official one back at home, and it's been surprisingly good. Not that I thought I would hate being back, but more that I expected more things to annoy me, after being used to having a full house to myself.

On Monday I attempted to unpack most of my uni stuff, before going for some drinks in the evening with two of my friends. We had all got our results by then, so were celebrating. We started with a few drinks in Altrincham, before we spontaneously decided to head into Manchester. After a very embarrassing run for the train, which then didn't show up, we eventually got into 5th Avenue nightclub at about 12.30pm. After an hour or so, we realised my friend had had her phone stolen, so unfortunately the night ended rather badly. It was fun up until then though!

On Tuesday I finished unpacking (finally) and then did a shift at work. Wednesday I journeyed back to Lancaster with my dad and sister to sort out the house as there are some tenants moving in next week. After a couple of hours hard work, we stopped for lunch on the way home at a pub called The Boot and Shoe, where I had a chicken and bacon burger with onion rings and chunky chips- delish!

I worked Thursday morning, and then went to visit Chris for a couple of days. We went into Nantwich once I had arrived, which is a lovely little town, and I bought a few supplies for when I go to Benicassim music festival early tomorrow. I also bought a security chain for my Pandora bracelet which is really pretty; it is one of the new ones that has swirls all over it. The following day we went to see Larry Crowne (see previous post) and then I went back home where I started sorting all my luggage out.

Yesterday I helped mum to prepare a buffet she was catering for (see previous post again) and then in the evening I packed my rucksack, and caught up on lots of blogging. Today I went for a gorgeous lunch with my friend Lydia at La Tasca. We had a voucher where we got a starter, 4 courses and patatas bravas each for £10.95, so I was stuffed afterwards, but it was amazing. the whole table was covered! We had meatballs, two types of paella, pork ribs, calamares, fish in batter, peppers in a sauce, and deep fried mushrooms with garlic mayonnaise dip.

Unfortunately I then had to go to work, but it went surprisingly quickly. I am now anxiously awaiting our minibus arriving to take us to Liverpool airport. I'll be back in a week to tell you all about it!

Homemade Recipes!

Catering Queens!

Today (and most of yesterday evening) I have been busy being a sous-chef to my mum, who is doing a buffet for someone's 18th birthday party this afternoon. We are catering for 50 people, and have done a variety of different things, hopefully to suit everyone's tastes. I thought I'd put a few pictures of the things we're doing on here as a bit of a different blog post.

Aside from all the typical buffet food (vol-au-vents, sausage rolls, pork pies, chicken legs etc) we did a few specialities that were tried and tested at my 21st. We did a variation on bruschetta, with olive paste topped with crumbly cheese, as well as the more traditional tomato and basil version. We made lots of quiches, a traditional egg and bacon, mushroom, a broccoli and blue cheese and a cheese and onion. I don't think you can beat a home-made quiche, and they are so simple to make!

But we didn't just stick to English favourites. We constructed chicken kebabs using coriander flavoured chicken breast and red onions, peppers and mushroom, and they add a nice injection of colour onto the plates as well. On the same platter we stuck meatballs onto cocktail sticks, for a more finger- buffet friendly way to eat them. We also made samosas (with filo pastry for a healthier option) and curried potatoes, that could be reheated when the guests arrived.

As well as savoury, of course we made desserts (my personal favourite). We did a trifle and cupcakes, and then mum made rocky road bites and caramel shortbread which disappeared in an instant at my party! Luckily there are always little squares left around the edges that are a bit measly to serve, so I got to nibble on those whilst cooking. We also bought profiteroles to stack up with chocolate sauce, and little mini cheesecakes that we transferred into petit fours cases so they looked slightly more home-made!

All in all, a hugely successful catering session, and to get paid for doing something so fun is always a bonus!