APHRODISIAC THEME DINNER PARTY

Do you remember the last time that you ate waaaaayyyy too much and how it felt? Goddamn awful, heh! Well, that's exactly what happened to me on our last "Dinner Party" organized by Rachel (see her blog)...

On the 3rd of March, our congregation of foodaholics was invited to gather around the table for another of our memorable "foodathons" (a term used by Claudia) that lasted from 4pm till around 11pm. This time, we had to create dishes around the theme of "aphrodisiac food". Twelve people showed that day and the atmosphere was hotter than hell!!!

Boy, we ate so much that I thought I was going to faint! I have never felt so bad after having eaten and never had I swallowed so much good food in my whole life. Generally, I am reasonable, but here, I surpassed my limits! The leftover food turned my stomach which was already hurting, I felt slightly sick and I could not concentrate anymore. I guess that's the price to pay for all that shameless gluttony ...

It really keep on getting better and worse every time!!!

~ From left to right: Hedwig (Hal's Norwegian sister), Al, Maria and Claudia. ~

Here's what we ate:


Rachel (USA, see her blog "Ugly Fruit" for recipes and report) made wonderful "Brie Puffs" with phyllo pastry (starter) and they were all gone in a few seconds! She also made a very tasty "Tomato Soup" with cream and basil (starter). Delightful and aromatic! Another dish she made was "Oven-baked Green Asparagus" with garlic, lemon and olive oil (side dish). They were crunchy to please! Not to forget her gorgeous "Strawberry Cheesecake" (dessert) which's crackers (Mc Vites) and almond crust was exceptionally yummy. As usual, Rachel made gallons of her special "Raspberry Juice" from heaven!...

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Kiriel (Australia, see her blog "Papillon Pantry" for report) treated us with the most delicate steamed dish, a "Fish A La Chinese" which was marinaded in rice wine, soy sauce and ginger, and was served with fresh coriander leaves sprinkled over it's top. It was perfect, very light and succulent! The fish was not overcooked and the sauce was well-balanced. It was served with fragrant Thai "Jasmine Rice". She also brought cute "Ricotta Flans" (see recipe) which contained pistachio kernela and which were smothered in a sweet ginger sauce. Heavenly!

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Hal & Al (Norway & USA) made our tastebuds sing with their delightful "Sizzled Spicy Beef Steaks" that were firstly sizzled, and then cut into slices and dipped into a hot Asian-style ginger sauce. Wow, that was in-cre-dible! We also tasted their "Pasta With Arugula Pesto" with dried cranberries and pine nuts. Very fine! Hal & Al's "Banana Bread Pudding" wasn't bad either! With it's butter rum sauce, it was very comforting and scrumptious.

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Mélanie (France) made an "Indian-style Vegetable Curry" with cashew nuts, cauliflower, zucchinis, leeks, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and a mix of spices. I really liked this light vegetarian dish as it was exotic and flavorful...

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I (Rosa) contributed with my beloved "Caribbean Jerk Chicken" (see recipe) that was a hammer and with Tish Boyle's incredible version of "Death By Chocolate" called "Chocolate Intensity" (see recipe) served with a "Chinese Five Spice Crème Anglaise"...

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Claudia (USA) could not cook as she was/is in the process of moving, but she nonetheless made our heads a little lighter with her fine Champaign and classy red wine!

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~ From left to right: Kiriel, Rachel and Hal holding one of Rai's cute kitties. ~

Now you can understand why we were all exploding, because we overloaded our plates a little too much and had too many second helpings (wink)! I know that on that evening I thought to myself, "Well, I don't want to eat as much food anymore! Never again!!!", but I know that it'll happen again and again as there will be other food odisseys in the future and the food will again be more scrumptious than the preceeding time...

Please stay tuned as I will soon post my report on the "Secret Theme Dinner Party" we had on the 31st of March(we will soon be attending another dinner party this month)! I will keep you updated anyway.

(Dinner Party -Pic by www.voutsadakis.com)