Seafood starter

I had neighbours over for dinner last night which was really lovely.

For mains I made steak and chips with green beans and baton carrots.  For starters I intended buying some party food from M&S and just throwing it in the oven.

But strangely enough they only do their party food at Christmas :-(

So I had to make my starter :-(

First I got all my glassware arranged.  The mini glasses are actually schnaps glasses from Ikea.  I have always wanted mini martini glasses but they are so expensive, so these are a great compromise.

In the middle of the tray I have two little mini kiln jars which I think are so cute!  I filled these up with hummus from M&S.

The mini little tea spoons were given to me by a school friend - via facebook - I asked on fb did anyone know where I could buy mini spoons and she said she would post some to me (her husband is Turkish and they use these spoons with their tea/coffee which they serve in mini cups).  Wasn't that nice of her!  I love social media for things like this :-)

Mini Prawn Cocktail

Crackers & Peri Peri Hummus

Prawns & dip

Deconstructed Brown Bread & Salmon 

(If you'd like step by step instructions to make the salmon click here)

So that was the starter!  I wish I took a picture of the main because I had it laid out much nicer then the way I normally serve steak and chips - I had the chips laid out criss cross 3 on top of 3 etc.  Plus the beans and carrots were stacked nicely as well.

My neighbour Dee brought dessert.  Homemade from scratch!  

A pecan and redcurrant bakewell.  FABULOUS!

We also nibbled on some 60% dark chocolate which tasted very nice with the wine.

It was a lovely evening.  And bonus my head is okay this morning.

Canapes

You may recall, some time back I posted about the canapes I was planning for Christmas.

Step by step guide below to my "now famous" Deconstructed Brown Bread and Salmon.  

Sprinkle crumbled up brown bread in bottom of mini martini/schnaps glasses

Squeeze of lemon juice for flavour and moisture

Pipe salmon mousse on top of brown bread

Sprinkle more crumbled up brown bread on top

Garnish with lemon

Et voila!

Mini bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon.  

Pork belly squares.

Deconstructed salmon and brown bread.

Coquilles St Jacques!

Moi.  Tres happy with my work :-)

Christmas Canape planning

I am planning some canapes for Christmas.

This year I am going to really focus on the presentation.

I am thinking of serving all the food as little mini bites or in little mini glasses.

These are schnaps glasses from Ikea.  I was preferably looking for mini martini glasses but they are quite expensive so this is a nice budget alternative.

An Irish staple at Christmas is brown bread and smoked salmon - I am thinking of doing a "deconstructed" version in these glasses!

I think these will be perfect for a cold soup/gazpacho (Ikea again)

And finally! I bought these small cute kiln jars today,

I will use these for hummous dips with veg crudites.

Aren't they adorable!

I've put them beside a carton of juice below to show you their scale