a tranquil townhouse dinner party...

There was a dinner party here on Saturday night...boy they're a lot of work aren't they! 'Twas fun though :)

This is the dining part of my living room...the tiniest kitchen in the southern hemisphere is where I took this photo from...it drives me batty but I have a cunning plan for some extra storage...once I find a carpenter. I've edited out all the ugly bits...the wall colour, the brown woodwork, the dodgy, boxy fireplace...that will all be gone come 17 December...can't wait!

And because cooking for a dinner party takes so much time and effort I thought I'd get some bloggy mileage out of it! The makings of the marinade for the baked lemon grass and chilli chicken (I used chicken thigh fillets with the skin on...they were delicious). Do you grate your garlic...I never crush...I'm a bit like Nigella that way...but only in that way. More's the pity.

I used recipes from my Annabel Langbein cookbook [The Free Range Cook] that I won at Amanda's blog for the mains and dessert (thank you Amanda...I love this book to bits).  And look, my blueberry cake is just like the one in the book!! I don't think Annabel is quite as messy as me though.

The lovely teatowel is from Thea and Sami...
Richard made the entree...delicious deep fried prawn wonton dumplings with dipping sauce...but because he made them at his place I have no photos...but they looked a bit like this...

There was no way I was going to take photos once people were at my house...they already think my blogging is a bit odd :)
These little potato stacks are from a copy of MindFood...a fabulous NZ magazine...such clever people those kiwis. Mine didn't look quite as good as the photo, but they were very tasty.

The table setting was very simple...bamboo runner and table mats..but the good china and crystal got a run. Actually I use those glasses all the time. The entrée plates are very old Royal Albert, given to me by my friend Chris. Loving my new dining chairs too...and they passed their first dinner party test with flying colours!

The flowers were also very simple...mostly from the garden and some leftovers from work! Small vases, a soy sauce bottle and a water bottle...I would never have done this before blogging began...but I'll certainly be doing it again!

So there you go...it could only have been nicer if you'd been there :)

I hope the week ahead is good to you...I'm going to enjoy looking at the flowers on my dining table...because I sure won't be going outside much...rain forecast all week...sigh.