With the addition of a few simple tricks, you will have guests in awe at your perfect dinner party.
There is no disputing that dinner parties can sometimes be a whole heap of work only to leave you feeling like your guests weren’t suitably “wowed”, even though you’d spent the best part of a day slogging away over a hot stove.
Well, let me tell you something – sometimes I think less is most definitely more. There are some really simple little tips and tricks that will have your guests in awe of your domestic skills, and I promise they really are very, very simple.
Jazz up your water
Simply add a few sprigs of rosemary to a jug, carafe or bottle of water. Not only will this look beautiful but it will also give the water a very delicate herby edge. Also works well and looks equally pretty with mint or cucumber.
If you really want to go to town freeze some berries in your ice tray with the water – raspberries and blueberries look lovely and are simply delicious in a pre-dinner G&T.
I told you this was easy…
Homemade Butter
Now I’m not expecting you to make your own bread for a dinner party, although I do have a very easy 5 min recipe for a great bread which I shall share with you at a later date, but if you do buy some gorgeous artisan bread then surely it deserves an equally gorgeous butter to be slathered all over it?
Start by letting half a packet of butter cut into cubes get to room temperature. Put into a mixing bowl or if you have one a Magimix. Add plenty of chopped parsley and blend together – the butter will take on a beautiful mottled green colour. Then you can either fill little butter dishes with the parsley butter and allow to set or you can use a piece of grease proof paper to shape the butter into a sausage shaped roll. Tie off each end with some string so that it looks like a long sweetie and leave to set in the fridge. When your guests arrive you can then slice off individual portions of parsley butter and serve on a pretty plate.
Also delicious with lemon, garlic and anchovies.
After dinner mints
This is my pièce de résistance. Hand on heart I’ve never served these without a chorus of “ohhhs and ahhhs”. It’s simple, yet delicious…and that StyleNesters, is what really makes me happy.
All you need is some fresh mint and a small amount of good quality dark chocolate (I usually use the odds and ends left over from cooking but ideally you need about 70g). Boil a kettle and pour about 1 inch of boiling water into a saucepan. Into a Pyrex bowl break up your chocolate and place over the boiling water – make sure that the water does NOT touch the bottom of the bowl.
Let the chocolate melt and then simply dip each mint leaf into the melted chocolate on both sides. Leave to set on a piece of greaseproof paper in the fridge and serve cold with your coffee.
De-lic-ious.