Friday 20 May saw us host our first big event at home since the arrival of Jessica late last year, and seeing as it is kind of our trademark, it was time once again to pull out the fondue pots and brandish our long sharp forks.
A good indication of the ever rising cost of food meant that the this particular fondue cost almost twice as much as what it used to cost back in the day, but nevertheless we soldiered on, with Chantelle organising a fantastic platter of ready to fry goodies on the evening, complemented with a delectable selection of breads and ugh, salad (because she says that we have to).
And for pudding?
Well let us just say that it was once again the turn of the world famous chocolate box cake to make its appearance in Country Mews! :)
As for the guests, despite having to arrive in the pitch black darkness of Winter and then having to kind of sit through the period where we battled to get Jessica fed, bathed and into bed, the list included the welcome faces of Ryan and Michelle, Damen and Michelle, Evan and Natasha, Karl and Trish, and of course Mr. Brown (who rumour has it won’t be on our sunny shores for all that much longer!)
What followed was a fun evening of fondue pot battling as the eleven of us elbowed for space in the three available pots, ducked my concerted photographic efforts, laughed at Ryan impaling his hand with a fork bad enough that the blood was flowing freely, attempted to find a working exit strategy for fried samoosas that didn’t involve them going to pieces on you, and of course just enjoyed a fun and stress-free evening of friends, food and cheese sauce. Heck, even the cats were enjoying all the welcome attention they were receiving from everyone!
Oh, and needless to say, the cake went down a right treat with the hungry horde as well!
In terms of the finishing entertainment for the evening, I whipped out our copy of 30 Seconds and gathered together those with the acumen and will to tackle this fun knowledge test. What resulted was some thoroughly enjoyable and unbelievably close 30 Seconds battles as the two geographically split (i.e. by means of the position around the table) teams tried to mercilessly overcome one another.
All in all it was a fantastic evening with the friends, and a definite good return to the hosting fold.
Now if only doing this didn’t generate as much dishes for me to tackle the next day as it currently does :(
(And in case you were wondering how we rounded off the rest of the weekend, well our plans revolving Andri’s birthday celebrations on Saturday fell through thanks to a sudden bout of sickness striking that side of the world, but Sunday then went and made up for it with a long waterblommetjies potjie lunch with the Montgomery Clan and a pleasant coffee and cake session with Mom, Dad, Ryan and Granny Bothma. And now you know, you curious thing you! :P)
