done events and celebrations: December 2009

stuart’s birthday party

With starting up our business, we did not have much time to organize this birthday party. Nevertheless, it took two wonder women only three days to bring this beautiful celebration to life.

Our venue was a stunningly designed patio, overhanging a large pool and overlooking and indiginous garden second to none.

We are both aspiring chefs (self trained of course), so we decided to do the catering ourselves. Designing the menu was our first challenge - the only request from our client was tiramisu for desert. Considering the warm November weather, as well as limited availability of cutlery and crockery, we decided that the starter should be something light and cold, the first main course something that can be eaten with hands, and the second main course something simple, made with a bit of a twist.

dinner menu

Gazpacho with Crostini
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Lemon, Coriander and Ginger

Fish Skewers

with Pineapple and Peppers
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Lamb with Buerre Blanc

and Veg Crisps
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Tiramisu with

Lindt Dark Orange
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Coffee / Whiskey / Brandy

Toblerone

Wow, what a feast. We had a few hic-ups (excuse the pun), as the veg crisps turned out to be a little bit more tricky than expected. Even though we had done a trial run on Thursday, the gas cooker ran out of gas. Our problem solving skills came in handy, so we quickly improvised by using a portable gas cooker. Once again our plan failed as the veggies just would not crisp. We had to make another plan, or else our guests would go hungry, so our trusty gopher (Greg) purchased 5 packs of Lays Lightly Salted Crisps from the nearest garage. No-one even noticed and compliments were the order of the day. We ended off the meal with the beautifully prepared tiramisu, followed by the customary coffees, whiskeys and brandies with choccies. Although we had followed the weather reports and were sure we would not get rained on, the wind came up after the starter, so we had to move all our guests inside. Luckily, this plan B was catered for, so it was not too much of an issue. Unfortunately, all the candles and lanterns glowing in the garden and pool were very quickly extinguished, but the stars did a brilliant job of replacing them. The evening was rounded off with a good selection of Music – Chill-out Sessions, Cafe Del Mar, James, etc. In the end all our planning and hard work paid off.