Into thin air

Last night, H & I decided to throw a dinner party, hosted by us, but at someone else's house. Our tiny space is not big enough to accommodate anymore extra than 1 guest. Coincidentally, R is leaving this country while we will be enjoying the sun and sand somewhere else. So we thought, what more reason can one ask for? And that's how I cooked myself silly for 2 straight days.

There were only 7 of us, but one is vegetarian, one doesn't eat anything beyond red meat, one eats to accompany his vodka, and R happened to had a major accident the night before that left him with only 1 functioning arm. 6 men and 1 woman, moi. What a perfect storm. But since our gathering tends to be bbq style, hence tons of red meat and beers, I decided to fix a menu with some flair that only a female can conjuncture.

For appetizers, I had
(1) Pizza with caramelized onions, gorgonzola (yes I found it) and avocado
(2) Chorizo with white wine sauce
(3) Pataniscas de bacalhau.

As main,
(1) Beef moussaka
(2) Grilled chicken
(3) Roasted fall vegetables (beet roots, turnips, red + green capsicum, carrots, potatoes).
For the vegetarian, I made him falafel and leek fried rice.

As dessert,
(1) Pear, almond & cinnamon galette
(2) Chocolate panna cotta.

On hindsight, I should not try to be that ambitious. I never knead that many dough in my life and I think my fingers and arms cramped. The ball of my feet was so painful that I couldn't get a wink. My lower back screamed from standing too long (Just so we're clear: I am in my fittest level ever). I had no time to answer calls, nor do I have a proper meal until dinner. Heh.. so maybe the thought of entering this glorious food industry is not going to pan out after all.

But I tell myself that before I leave this place and wave goodbye to tai-tai-hood, there must be some sort of pinnacle to my sabbatical leave. There must be some kind of achievement that I would be proud to flaunt, like having a black belt. Only then I can fully justify the squandering of my 'youth', no?

I will have a good think about it while sipping my caipiblack.

Auf wiedersehen, R! Till next time.