Let the festivities commence....

St Tomaz

The Christmas festivities begin today with a party at friends' this afternoon. These friends are in the midst of rebuilding their house from the ground up. We are in awe of their project compared to our 'dabbling' in DIY.

They completely gutted their house in the 'Grand Designs' tradition and are recreating their living spaces from the ground up. They currently have a completed bedroom, bathroom and boiler room but their kitchen and dining room (almost as big as our house) are still work-in-progress. They have organised today's party for 30 guests cooking with only two electric rings and a microwave, a couple of slow cookers and a hand basin in place of a kitchen sink. Their kitchen units are waiting to be fitted when they have laid the floor tiles which they were hoping to have done by now but ran out of time.

Our friends asked if I would help by making the canapés which will be served to all the guests when they arrive along with a drink. The aim of the drink is to make everyone relaxed and convivial as each invitee has been asked to do a 'turn' before dinner. Our hosts are performing some sketches and poems. Jon will be playing the piano for carols and accompanying some other friends who will be playing the cello. I decided when the invitation came some months ago, that I would subject the audience to a song or two. Now I'm beginning to panic! I changed song two days ago when I realised that I just couldn't cope with the one I had originally planned, now I have two other songs and I think I might just have learned the words(?)

Yesterday I spent all day in the kitchen making nibbles. Delia Smith's little cheese and olive scones are always a hit, little mouthfuls with a piquant bite to them. There are tiny cheese and tomato puff pastry bites and Serrano ham bites too; feta, pepper and olive sticks, stuffed cherry tomatoes, tiny tuna vol au vents and a pile of bruschetta waiting to be spread with various toppings.

It's the first time I've been asked to provide food for someone else's party and I wasn't sure how much to do. I'm sure there's far too much food here but we can always use the left overs for lunch for the rest of the week if we have to!

If I'm not run out of town for creating a terrible noise I will report back on the party tomorrow.