We have friends coming round for dinner tomorrow night. Which means we have to cook for them. And apparently we have to do three courses, all of which have to “flow”. Please. Who wrote the dinner party rule book anyway? The last time I checked the only rule was “don’t poison anybody”.
We started having the discussion about what to cook when we first made the invitation, last Monday. It’s pretty much all we’ve talked about since then. And when I say “we”, obviously I haven’t been doing it. I’ve been talked at mostly. But now I find myself on a date with Tesco and desperately hoping I find inspiration for a dish (yes, I have to do one) that is “English”, won’t cost the earth, and that flows with the other courses, none of which have been confirmed yet.
My current thinking is pea and ham soup, which, frankly, flows quite well when you pour it. Pea and ham both seem to be quite English foods, and it’s probably very reasonably priced. I think I’ll plump for that. If I’ve been murdered in the next 24 hours I think it will be very obvious to work out who it was and why.
Maybe I should put more thought into it. I’ll search for Delia’s recipe for pea and ham soup and make it myself. There’s normally some sort of offer on ham, and peas are quite cheap. Maybe I’ll get some sugar too in case I have to sweeten it to become the dessert course. But which sugar? What would Delia say? Has anyone ever done a pea and ham soup for dessert?
They must have. There’ll be a forum out there for it somewhere. And maybe they’ll be one for ways to avoid getting murdered. And ways to get out of your own dinner party. Is life really supposed to be this difficult?!
Man without substance 