London diary, day two (Saturday)
I was fully expecting to sleep late on Saturday, what with my lack of sleep the previous evening, but Luke's brother's girlfriend denied me that pleasure by sending Luke a text message at 7:40am (he'd left his phone in the living-room, where I was sleeping). From that stage, of course, I was unable to get back to sleep.
It was a leisurely start to the day, not setting out to do the shopping in Muswell Hill until the late morning, where we stocked up at Sainsbury's: Luke was making a variety of canapés, bruschetta and miniature Yorkshire puddings with rare beef, horseradish and mustard while I contributed spiced roast new potatoes, the aubergine, feta and mint skewers I'd liked so much from my last party and, at Luke's specific request, banoffee pie.
Herewith the recipe for the last of these - just make sure you're not on a diet before making it! Smash up a 300g packet of digestive biscuits with a rolling-pin. Melt some butter and mix in the biscuit crumbs until they turn golden brown, then flatten into a greased cake tin with a removable base and chill for at least two hours, preferably weighed down. In the meantime, place two tins of condensed milk in a pan of boiling water and leave to simmer for two hours, making sure the pan doens't boil dry. Open carefully - the milk will have turned into sticky toffee and will be very hot so you can expect a little to come out as you release the pressure. Place the biscuit base on a serving plate and spread the toffee over the top; leave to chill until about two hours before serving.
Whip about three-quarters of a pint of cream until it forms soft peaks. Chop up three large bananas and spread them out over the toffee, followed by the cream (I tend to do it so that you can't see the banana). Chill yet again, sprinkling with grated chocolate just before serving. (Enough for 12 portions.)
The guests started arriving in the early evening: Luke's boyfriend Darin first of all, followed by Peter (good bit of slapstick comedy there as I went out to meet him without my phone, so when he rang me Luke set out in search of both of us), Kevin, Andrew and Craig (James' boyfriend, James being out at an REM concert). The food went down very well and was beautifully complemented by Kevin's cocktails, with the conversation being at one stage confined to sex talk thanks to the DVD of Head on which someone put on - if you've seen this film, you'll know who I mean by Captain Birdseye and why he failed to make a good impression on any of us!
From a personal point of view, the evening was particularly memorable for me as Peter and Luke, two of my closest friends, finally got to meet properly (the last time, at my 30th birthday party, Luke fell asleep from exhaustion) and thanks to Andrew, I got back in touch with our mutual friend Marcus, whose phone number I'd lost when my mobile was pinched back in March, and invited him to Edinburgh at some stage of the summer as he's getting bored at home. The low point was going along with everyone's suggestion I leave the room while they discussed a part of War of the worlds which would give away too much of the plot (I was the only one not to have seen it and didn't want it spoilt for me), but that was a minor incident.
All in all, a very pleasant evening, though it did leave me wondering, when we eventually packed up for the night, when my sleep would catch up with me ...
It was a leisurely start to the day, not setting out to do the shopping in Muswell Hill until the late morning, where we stocked up at Sainsbury's: Luke was making a variety of canapés, bruschetta and miniature Yorkshire puddings with rare beef, horseradish and mustard while I contributed spiced roast new potatoes, the aubergine, feta and mint skewers I'd liked so much from my last party and, at Luke's specific request, banoffee pie.
Herewith the recipe for the last of these - just make sure you're not on a diet before making it! Smash up a 300g packet of digestive biscuits with a rolling-pin. Melt some butter and mix in the biscuit crumbs until they turn golden brown, then flatten into a greased cake tin with a removable base and chill for at least two hours, preferably weighed down. In the meantime, place two tins of condensed milk in a pan of boiling water and leave to simmer for two hours, making sure the pan doens't boil dry. Open carefully - the milk will have turned into sticky toffee and will be very hot so you can expect a little to come out as you release the pressure. Place the biscuit base on a serving plate and spread the toffee over the top; leave to chill until about two hours before serving.
Whip about three-quarters of a pint of cream until it forms soft peaks. Chop up three large bananas and spread them out over the toffee, followed by the cream (I tend to do it so that you can't see the banana). Chill yet again, sprinkling with grated chocolate just before serving. (Enough for 12 portions.)
The guests started arriving in the early evening: Luke's boyfriend Darin first of all, followed by Peter (good bit of slapstick comedy there as I went out to meet him without my phone, so when he rang me Luke set out in search of both of us), Kevin, Andrew and Craig (James' boyfriend, James being out at an REM concert). The food went down very well and was beautifully complemented by Kevin's cocktails, with the conversation being at one stage confined to sex talk thanks to the DVD of Head on which someone put on - if you've seen this film, you'll know who I mean by Captain Birdseye and why he failed to make a good impression on any of us!
From a personal point of view, the evening was particularly memorable for me as Peter and Luke, two of my closest friends, finally got to meet properly (the last time, at my 30th birthday party, Luke fell asleep from exhaustion) and thanks to Andrew, I got back in touch with our mutual friend Marcus, whose phone number I'd lost when my mobile was pinched back in March, and invited him to Edinburgh at some stage of the summer as he's getting bored at home. The low point was going along with everyone's suggestion I leave the room while they discussed a part of War of the worlds which would give away too much of the plot (I was the only one not to have seen it and didn't want it spoilt for me), but that was a minor incident.
All in all, a very pleasant evening, though it did leave me wondering, when we eventually packed up for the night, when my sleep would catch up with me ...
posted by Anthony at
22:27
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