it's some time since i've cooked for friends. had family in town a couple of weeks ago and keeping them fed and watered was a great endeavour. flattered they prefer what i prepare over the gastronomical delights that abound in london (haha) and spent more time in the kitchen the week they were around than i had in months. but all good and i'm a natural feeder so it was satisfying and gratifying to ply them with home-made goodness. a dear friend was also in london and i've been wanting to have her over for ages! we'd already met up a couple of times during her trip, and for some great meals, and she was craving something home-cooked and veggie heavy. the beauty of london living and seasonal produce is, well, seasonal produce. i love the colours and summer flavour and texture of peppers. sweet potato strikes me as more autumnal but what the hey. tandoori chicken for good measure (hey, i love chicken!) and steamed salmon for a more healthy option. of course we washed everything with choya, courtesy of P who came round for dinner the night before (i'm on a roll!) so it wasn't all that healthy but hey, have to live a little.
what i liked about this combination of dishes was how the veg and chicken were in the oven at the same temperature for the same time, easy peasy! and the salmon needed 10min in the steamer. so pretty much fuss free, and easy to time to their arrival. and after lunch we sort of sat around in food coma, having coffee, mango & peaches, and more choya. W is the genius behind my cornflower wedding bouquet and we'd such fun reminiscing about the wedding. self-indulgent as it may seem, three years have flown by and we were laughing about the advice Z, her husband, gave me the night before the wedding. it was 1am but the sun showed no sign of setting (incidentally, it was midsummer and his birthday!) and i was asking if i should write my own vows. to which everyone laughed and was, like, "seriously?! now?! 8h before the fat lady sings?" so i didn't. and he asked me if he'd been right, and he was. because really, you don't know what it's going to be like, or what promises one needs to make. it was a good night! the wedding party (basically 20 of us minus the >32s) were sitting in the banquet hall pigging out on pizza and kebabs lovingly carted over from the closest takeaway, incidentally an hour's drive away in the next next next town. we tried to get my sister drunk on whiskey coke, and then we went for a walk in the long grass to look for elves as the midnight sun shone on us. my dear bridesmaids couldn't find a male stripper (uh, the closest pizza was one hour away, what more strippers!) so my bachelorette's was perfect i.e. the whole wedding party (including groom) on a midnight walk as the babyfaced hotel intern told us stories about the hotel and environs.
(photo credits to rui)
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