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And lo, it was good
Nov. 7th, 2010 08:41 amSo, first of all: thanks for all the encouragement the f-list was kind enough to bestow on me.
And secondly: dinner went well, no incidents, explosions, killings etc.
I actually had a rather relaxed day, partly due to the fact that by now I know that the things one thinks won't take much time are often the most time-consuming ones. Case in point: preparations for IKEA soup, i.e. peeling tomatoes and peppers. That took a solid 1,5 hours, but I did it in the morning before going to play tennis.
After tennis (11 to 12.30) I walked to the paradise of desserts and, since the weather was sunny and warm, and I had more than enough time, continued on foot to the French bakery to buy bread. Home by taxi, made the soup and all the nice things to go into it, polished cutlery, glassware etc., moved furniture. Finished around 5, and the delivery boys with the drinks arrived a few minutes later.
Shower at 5.30, followed by mild outfit crisis.
And I didn't start to fret until 7.30, which I regard as a great personal success. Plus, it wasn't that bad.
Mr H arrived first, looking rather tired after a day spent at the office. Ze boyz, who had retired to their hammock some time before, let themselves be petted, and then I parked my tired guest in a comfy chair and gave him a glass of red wine, and we chatted a bit. The others arrived maybe 5 minutes later, hellos were said and introductions made, drinks sorted out, and then I could actually relax, because the conversation got lively immediately.
After maybe 15 minutes we went over to the table -- to judge by the amount of nuts everybody was eating, the guests were rather hungry, and I didn't want them to spoil their appetite. Mr H sat to my left, Georg (the only other smoker) to my right, Erin to Mr H's left, Petra, Georg's wife, to Georg's right, and Jonas, Erin's boyfriend, at the opposite end.
The food was a success. The tomato-and-red-pepper soup was really good and was eaten up completely. The things to be put into it were: grated parmesan, fried bacon cubes, fried potato cubes with onion, sour cream with parsley and lime, olive oil with lime, cardamom and pepper, oven-cooked garlic with olive oil and pepper, and home-made pesto (with almonds and cashew nuts instead of pinoli).
Then the Selsko Meso, which was soooo tender and tasty. Yummy, yummy. Bread and roasted green peppers (both hot and mild, marinated in oil, vinegar, parsley and garlic) to go with it.
And finally coffee, brandy and the yummy sweets.
No awkward moments, no embarrassing pauses. I was a very happy hostess, and I'm so very grateful for having such wonderful friends, who made the evening a success. I really wouldn't have needed to worry. But then we're always wiser and cleverer in hindsight.
Still zen, by the way, but I have to say I really like Mr H as a person. And even though he seems to behave like an arsehole to most of his staff, he actually *is* nice and easygoing in private. So I hadn't miscalculated when I thought he'd be very happy to have dinner with a group of not-so-very-important people for a change. He really seemed to enjoy himself a lot and to be content to be treated as one of the guys.
Since by 11 he was almost falling asleep at the table -- not overly surprising, given that he'd already been tired and eaten a lot, and I mean a lot -- he excused himself and went home. Since he has to be busy and important today -- something that came up only yesterday -- he unfortunately won't be able to play tennis today with Pinar, Valentina and me, but we'll play next weekend. (He ought to play more, BTW, because I think he's putting on weight. Not too much, and when he's wearing a suit he can get away with it, but in jeans and a shirt it's a bit more visible. Just saying)
The others left around midnight, and I went to bed shortly afterwards after putting the first load of plates into the dishwasher.
Woke up at 6 today, am mildly knackered. But I just talked to Daniel the Lovely Nephew, and now I'll empty and reload the dishwasher. And then I MUST prepare for my interview tomorrow. Running at 1, tennis at 2, till 4. Won't get much done afterwards I'm afraid
Cheers to everybody! *waves*
And secondly: dinner went well, no incidents, explosions, killings etc.
I actually had a rather relaxed day, partly due to the fact that by now I know that the things one thinks won't take much time are often the most time-consuming ones. Case in point: preparations for IKEA soup, i.e. peeling tomatoes and peppers. That took a solid 1,5 hours, but I did it in the morning before going to play tennis.
After tennis (11 to 12.30) I walked to the paradise of desserts and, since the weather was sunny and warm, and I had more than enough time, continued on foot to the French bakery to buy bread. Home by taxi, made the soup and all the nice things to go into it, polished cutlery, glassware etc., moved furniture. Finished around 5, and the delivery boys with the drinks arrived a few minutes later.
Shower at 5.30, followed by mild outfit crisis.
And I didn't start to fret until 7.30, which I regard as a great personal success. Plus, it wasn't that bad.
Mr H arrived first, looking rather tired after a day spent at the office. Ze boyz, who had retired to their hammock some time before, let themselves be petted, and then I parked my tired guest in a comfy chair and gave him a glass of red wine, and we chatted a bit. The others arrived maybe 5 minutes later, hellos were said and introductions made, drinks sorted out, and then I could actually relax, because the conversation got lively immediately.
After maybe 15 minutes we went over to the table -- to judge by the amount of nuts everybody was eating, the guests were rather hungry, and I didn't want them to spoil their appetite. Mr H sat to my left, Georg (the only other smoker) to my right, Erin to Mr H's left, Petra, Georg's wife, to Georg's right, and Jonas, Erin's boyfriend, at the opposite end.
The food was a success. The tomato-and-red-pepper soup was really good and was eaten up completely. The things to be put into it were: grated parmesan, fried bacon cubes, fried potato cubes with onion, sour cream with parsley and lime, olive oil with lime, cardamom and pepper, oven-cooked garlic with olive oil and pepper, and home-made pesto (with almonds and cashew nuts instead of pinoli).
Then the Selsko Meso, which was soooo tender and tasty. Yummy, yummy. Bread and roasted green peppers (both hot and mild, marinated in oil, vinegar, parsley and garlic) to go with it.
And finally coffee, brandy and the yummy sweets.
No awkward moments, no embarrassing pauses. I was a very happy hostess, and I'm so very grateful for having such wonderful friends, who made the evening a success. I really wouldn't have needed to worry. But then we're always wiser and cleverer in hindsight.
Still zen, by the way, but I have to say I really like Mr H as a person. And even though he seems to behave like an arsehole to most of his staff, he actually *is* nice and easygoing in private. So I hadn't miscalculated when I thought he'd be very happy to have dinner with a group of not-so-very-important people for a change. He really seemed to enjoy himself a lot and to be content to be treated as one of the guys.
Since by 11 he was almost falling asleep at the table -- not overly surprising, given that he'd already been tired and eaten a lot, and I mean a lot -- he excused himself and went home. Since he has to be busy and important today -- something that came up only yesterday -- he unfortunately won't be able to play tennis today with Pinar, Valentina and me, but we'll play next weekend. (He ought to play more, BTW, because I think he's putting on weight. Not too much, and when he's wearing a suit he can get away with it, but in jeans and a shirt it's a bit more visible. Just saying)
The others left around midnight, and I went to bed shortly afterwards after putting the first load of plates into the dishwasher.
Woke up at 6 today, am mildly knackered. But I just talked to Daniel the Lovely Nephew, and now I'll empty and reload the dishwasher. And then I MUST prepare for my interview tomorrow. Running at 1, tennis at 2, till 4. Won't get much done afterwards I'm afraid
Cheers to everybody! *waves*
