Yeah, I'm a hostess. I am one who hosts.

Last night I threw my first England dinner party, even if was a bit impromptu and scatter-brained. It still felt nice to have people over and to feed them. It began as a dinner for 2, and then 3, and then 5, and then 4, and then 5 again, all in a 24-hour period.

I went with what I had on hand, except for the fresh cilantro, because who even has something like that lying around? As the guest list grew I kept tossing in new things to make sure that people wouldn't turn on me and perhaps burn my house down if they weren't full enough at the end. Which, you know, Goldilocks is totally capable of . . .

But here was the menu, which I felt really good about until I saw what my showoffy wench of a sister was up to. Hmmph.

Anyway:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts--I marinated these in a lime/garlic/olive oil/cilantro concoction which turned out very well if I do say so myself.

Cilantro-lime rice--I got the idea from Chipotle which is not in UT yet but needs to get there, dangit. It kicks Cafe Rio's trash. And they play Pink Martini there. I love their chicken burrito bol with a pure and deep love. I made the rice like normal (I chose to burn the bottom third of the rice to the saucepan, but not everyone may feel comfortable doing this). The top two-thirds I removed and tossed with lime juice and fresh cilantro.

Cucumber-tomato salad--English cucumber and English tomato, diced, tossed in a Paul Newman vinaigrette.

Ciabatta rolls--On sale from Sainsbury's (4 for 50p), baked for 10 minutes.

Grapes and English strawberries--Obtained from market just before latest England match. Suckahs . . .

Individually packaged strawberry trifles and chocolate pudding--because I wanted dessert but couldn't be bothered to make one. Also it's just fun to eat things with those twee little dessert spoons.

Water--because I don't do that squash mess. I can find absolutely no redeeming quality to squash. There's enough there for a separate blog post, so I'll save it for later. I would have offered orange or pineapple juice or milk if I'd had any, but I didn't.

So even though I didn't have fresh-cut flowers on the table or nice jazzy music playing, and even though we had to rush to make it to a church thing afterward, and even though one friend missed her bus and thought she wasn't going to be able to make it, and even though I was still cooking when people arrive (this always happens) it was a nice time. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, and my sweet Chinese friend even brought me a box of chocolates, which I was not expecting. It's this amazing Lindt collection and nearly every one has hazelnut of some kind in it. So yeah, heaven, pretty much. I've got to start doing that. I've written thank-you notes after dinner invites, but getting an actual present seems way better.

Posted in: England