A lovely, long ladies lunch

Even in households full of blokes there are occasions when a ladies lunch is called for.  The opportunity to be one of @annabellangbein 's free range foodies with an advance copy of 'Annabel Langbein - a free range life', the senior bloke off on a trail ride on his bike and Cromwell being in 'petrol head' heaven with the Highlands motor sport park inaugural meet - gave an excellent excuse for inviting the lovely ladies I work with from Goldfields Primary school for a lunch.  The date was set a few weeks ago - a life with teenagers is busy and within the time frame for being a free range foodie this was the one-and-only weekend that was going to work, but was also a difficult week and some people were unable to attend with family commitments and bereavement, meaning that their time and energy was needed elsewhere.  Special thoughts go to Jac - all our thoughts are with you on your father's passing, we missed you at this event, but we are sure we will have many more to share. #afreerangelife

My day started early planning and organising.  My biggest conundrum was the aperitif - I visited Normandy in France this year and loved the local twist on 'Kir Royale' - a champagne cocktail made with cassis.  Normandy - like Central Otago is an apple growing region and 'Kir Normande' is made with cider and cassis.  I really enjoyed ordering and drinking this in Bayeux and thought it would be ideal for my lunch - major road block - no cassis in Cromwell!  A big rethink in order so I had three @annabellangbein books out looking at drinks.

I decided on a Central Otago twist on another classic champagne cocktail the bellini.  I've asked my guests to come up with a name for the delicious peach schnapps, Benger Gold apricot juice and Benger Gold wild cider aperitifs I decided on.

I chose a mediterranean themed menu :
Aperitif: (yet to be named) Benger Gold Cider - apricot - peach bellini
Entree: Greek olive skewers, Mediterranean fish skewers (with a chicken option)
Main: Lamb and eggplant pitas, cous cous salad, roasted vegetable and chorizo salad,
Dessert: chocolate meringue torte.

Once the planning was done and I had a measure of my day I needed to get lummox number three organised for cricket.

As you can see that is more of a challenge than it sounds, but he's a good kid and after some gentle persuasion, breakfast was in and he was off...

Time for the kitchen scrub down - I am forever trying to instill in my boys that you need to start with a clean, clear kitchen.  A bit of elbow grease and mission accomplished!

Time to get on with the real work of the day.  I got on with preparation for my guests while my lovely lummox number one made a lasagne for Jac's family; a wee gesture from our family.  It's great seeing your children working and helping out.  Lummox number one used the iPad to get on the blog to get the bolognaise and cheese sauce recipes (made without the cheese of course for lasagne)  - I think we both felt a sense of accomplishment at the finished product.

Meanwhile I was making marinades, roasting vegetables, rushing out to get the things I forgot at the supermarket and to the bottle shop for the ingredients for aperitif plan B.  Lasagne complete, lummox number one left for work at the Cromwell Swim Centre.

Lummox number two is a bit camera shy - but features strongly in this story he was cleaning and tidying lounges and dining rooms and getting all the detritus of family life hidden away before the guests arrived.  He also acted as sous chef many times over the day - it's one of our fave family jokes that they are all 'boys named sous".

Cromwell as usual put on a 'pearler' of a day, the cloud burned off and the sun shone brightly.  My guests arrived to me putting the finishing touches to the Greek salad skewers.  Lovely ladies that they are they pitched in so that we could sit and enjoy a drink together as the barbecue heated up for cooking the entrees.

 Sun shining, friends smiling - nothing better!

My family and friends all love olives so I decided to add them to the greek salad skewers - olives are one of my favourite parts of a greek salad and there are some amazing pitted kalamata olives on the market. These skewers just look so good!  I made another wee change by doing a chicken option on the mediterranean fish skewers (one guest with a fish aversion).  I used oregano from the garden with the fish and Central Otago wild thyme, which is wildly in flower in my garden at the moment with the chicken - delicious :-)

Entrees served - fish skewers, chicken skewers, greek salad skewers, lemon and dill yoghurt dipping sauce. Fantastic!

Lummox number three snuck through to claim some skewers for himself and his mate Bob who were busy building some amazing contraption on the other patio.  No need to sneak, they were welcome to join us anytime.

Lummox number one popped home from the pool hoping that he was on time for something yummy and claimed himself a plate of skewers.

We took a wee break over a couple of drinks in the sun and I opened up the bifold windows from the kitchen to the patio so I could be part of the conversation while the final preparation for the main meal was completed.  What a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and thanks so much for the offers of help with finishing touches to the meal from my guests.  

The table was set with all the food and we were set to go.  I am so lucky to have a wonderful bloke who has made me the most amazing dining table that fitted all our tasty dishes and all my guests.  On the table - barbecued lamb, split pita bread, barbecued eggplant, yoghurt, tomato relish, toasted pine nuts, cous cous salad and roasted vegetable and chorizo salad, with a beautiful bottle of Mt Difficulty, Roaring Meg, Pinot Noir - perfect :-D

We loved the flavours in the marinade for the lamb and the suggestion of tomato relish and yoghurt accompanied the lamb perfectly.  A couple of people at the table had never tried eggplant and were surprised to find what the rest of us already knew - delicious.  The salads were amazing and will certainly become part of my regular BBQ repertoire, I particularly liked the fennel seed in the roast vegetable and chorizo salad.  The salads looked so pretty and the flavours were fantastic.

Time for dessert - I chose to make the decadent chocolate meringue torte and served it with lightly whipped cream and a little chocolate 'make a wish' star on the side.  This was a rich dessert with a 'WOW!' factor.  I think I'd like to try this for a Christmas day dessert, maybe with berries to cut the richness.  This was certainly a winner with everyone and a perfect end to a lazy afternoon of food and friends.

Thanks to all my guests for sharing in this event - a great way to spend a Saturday and certainly better than writing reports.  Thanks also to Annabel Langbein the food was fantastic and putting together my mediterranean themed menu was lots of fun.  Let's all do it again very soon!

Post Script:

Lummoxes are hungry beasts - guests all gone home, clean up well on the way and the left over lamb is already in the sandwich press with tomato and feta in pita bread - looks yummy!