Menu for the weekend, part two, in pictures

And our weekend continued with a gregarious group gathering to eat and enjoy at Charlie and Evelyn's Table. Such a privilege to share our home and our hospitality:

Menu for the weekend

This weekend, we're trying something different, two groups with very similar dietary requirements and definitely no mushrooms, if we had a table large enough, we'd be tempted to have them all together! We don't, so we're going to serve the same delicious menu instead:

To start
Last of the Summer tomato tarts with {or without (v)} crab salad

To follow
Sea bream {or Paneer (v)} with Tandoori butter, crushed saffron potatoes and coconut green beans

To finish
Strawberry shortbread cardamom pots with spiced white chocolate and rose sponge

For the first day of Christmas and friends, in pictures.

True to form, I had massively underestimated how exhausted we might be after an incredibly busy and wonderful Winter supper club season. How in need of sleep we were and quite what a relief it would be to allow the house to get steadily messier as the week passed by, and not to have to worry about how it would ever be ready for guests arriving at the weekend. But, already, just one week has passed and I am sitting here, feeling rather glum that tonight E and I will be home alone while C is at his work Christmas party. I think this is a sign that we really love our little club and that I'm incredibly pleased that we can make it happen, here in our home, working with my husband with E in training in the kitchen and another tiny apprentice, growing steadily under my apron!

Anyway, it was unbelievably good to finish up for Christmas surrounded some of our dear friends and loyal fans and to serve up the last of our Winter menus...until the Christmas party that is...

The 1st of December 2012.

Delicate while petals.

To welcome A taste of grouse, horseradish cream, buttery oat biscuits.

and gruyere gougeres.

The Table.

To start Pan fried scallops, crab, apple and celeriac salad.

Griddled aubergines, ready for Wellingtons.

To follow Venison wellingtons, braised red cabbage, sprouts.

or Monkfish Wellingtons.

To finish Sticky gingerbread, orange and vanilla ice cream.

With coffee Tiny vanilla macarons.

For the last days of summer, in pictures.

After a busy day transforming the house and preparing a feast, we welcomed a group of diners, some from near some from afar, all new to the concept and experience of a home supper club. They discovered us here, here and in Woman and Home magazine (which I don't know if I ever shared on the blog.. hum...). Many told us that they had spent the day explaining to intrigued friends what it was all about. Now they were here to discover for themselves and to celebrate the last days of Summer with us: 

To welcome Armstrong's hot smoked salmon with cucumber.

 Tandoori stuffed button mushrooms.

The table with candlelight and sweet stocks.

 To amuse Sweetcorn soup, truffled popcorn.

To start Scallops, crab, avocado and pink grapefruit.

 

Wild seabass queueing for the pan! 

 To follow Pan fried seabass, tagliatelle, rocket and basil pesto. 

To finish Last of the Summer puddings - raspberry, basil and clotted cream.

With coffee Petite meringues with mango and chocolate.

And finally, a huge thank you to our invaluable helper, she may have remained invisible to guests but having Granny Scotland on hand to entertain and calm Eva (and give us a head start on the washing up) was magic. We couldn't have done it without you.

Menu for the last days of Summer.

Not to depress you too much but, we've decided to make Friday's menu the last of our Summer suppers and to eagerly welcome all that Autumn will soon have to offer our diners after that. We've opted for fishy and fruity combinations and a pudding that will make for an apt farewell to our sweetest Scottish berries. Here it is:

To start

Scallops, crab, avocado and pink grapefruit.

To follow 

Pan fried seabass, tagliatelle, pesto. 

To finish

Last of the Summer puddings - raspberry, basil and clotted cream.

For Team GB, in pictures.

Rather unusually, we began the evening huddled and cheering around the TV. Watching Mo Farah become a great, great Olympic champion with his win in the 5000m. And, then the excitement continued with introductions for a group entirely made up of supper club first timers and the going for gold menu we'd created...

Red, white and blue roses set the patriotic scene.

  To welcome: cucumber, crab and radish bites.

 Tandoori stuffed button mushrooms.

To amuse: rocket, courgette soup with goat's cheese.

To start: wild salmon, shaved fennel.

To follow: poppy seed venison, wild mushroom risotto, watercress, jus.

To finish: melon soup, strawberries.

With coffee: honeycomb truffles.

Gently does it.

To ease us back into hosting, we held a private supper for one lovely lady and some friends to gather and celebrate her special birthday. 

We set the table with pretty pink flowers and candles and selected delicious ingredients that showcased the best that Spring has to offer including delicate tulips, baby gem lettuce, locally foraged wild garlic, new season lamb and rhubarb.

Here's how it looked:

Work in progress.

Hazelnuts toasted and used instead of pine nuts in the pesto.

Wild garlic pesto.

More wild garlic becoming soup.

 To welcome Tulip petals with goat's cheese.

To welcome Hot smoked salmon mousse, homemade buttery oat biscuits.

To amuse Wild garlic pesto toasts...

 

...and a taste of wild garlic soup.

 The Table.

To start Crab, apple and celeriac with scallops.

 

To follow Braised little gem lettuce with

 lamb noisettes, broad beans, peas, potato rosti.

 To finish Rhubarb tarts, orange Mascarpone.

A wedding picnic

It still hasn't sunken in. We did a wedding. Yes, we did.

It took many hours of preparation (including three dedicated to peeling quail's eggs), it lasted seven hours and took us over two weeks to recover! Words don't often fail but for now, the photos can tell the story.

The aim, the menu.

The first layer.

Scottish blue cheese mousse.

In the kitchen.

Prawn, cucumber, mint and feta skewers.

Quail's eggs.

Perfect baguettes.

Courgette chutney.

In a pickle.

Wedding day cucumber pickle.

Teaspoons (for the chutneys).

A Fortnum (the collective noun for hampers of course).

The second layer.

New potatoes.

Courgette and lemon salad.

Stacks of salad.

Green beans and Parmesan.

The second layer of the hamper.

Spinach leaves with mango.

All set for the feast.

The hall.

Wild, homegrown flowers.

Sweet smelling.

Top table.

A hamper...

...or two...

or 33!

Pretty table setting.

All ready.

The dashing couple.

Main course.

Horseradish marinated salmon.

Monkfish and smoked bacon skewers.

There's more.

Bunting.

The children's party.

Jelly cups.