For Invited Guests Only

We have been talking about coming over to my place for a while. So I took this opportunity since it's a school holiday to invite the lovely couple over. I also invited one of my swinging single friend over. Even though they do not know one another, I didn't think they would mind knowing more friends.

So, it was for my special invited guests only- for dinner. I didn't prepare the dinner, all were done by my helper, except for the dessert. It was meant to be a simple dinner, just happens that it falls on my birthday week.

My invited guests are none other than Grace & her spouse! Both of them are no stranger to me, but are definitely new to my family members. It was the first time they met my children and my spouse, and of course, my friend, Lee Juan.

The simple dinner fare was a mix of West & East. East were all done by my helper, while I just prepared the West. The dishes served were (1) yellow plum tomatoes in olive oil and basil leaves, (2) Japanese cucumbers with almonds, (3) baked swiss brown mushrooms with garlic and cheese, (4) potato wedges with olive oil and rosemary, (5) stir fried shanghai green with oyster mushrooms, (6) stir fried yellow and red capsicum with prawns and (7) 3-cup chicken. I also served them with refreshing lemongrass tea which I made.

After dinner, I proceeded to prepare desserts for them. Grace was eagerly waiting for my desserts. She was sure I will have one served. She knows me too well. I made Lemongrass Creme Brulee for them, I baked the custard the day before. Before serving, I used a blow torch to caramlise the sugars. The overall look was rather presentable. The taste was pretty nice. However, as I didn't bake the custard long enough, it was a bit watery towards the bottom instead of firm. :( I will bake longer in future. As this was my first attempt, my guests were very forgiving, they finished it all despite "drinking" it towards the end. I'll provide the recipe for Lemongrass Creme Brulee at my next post.

Ah... then came an unplanned surprise event. Grace baked a light chocolate cheesecake for me. When I brought it out, they insisted they wanted to sing me a birthday song. Despite my resistance as I was getting rather shy, Grace spouse insisted and gathered my children. Aiyo...*shy*shy* And so... it was birthday song for me again. I felt like I'm growing older again. It was really such a wonderful feeling and be blessed by their sincerity. Grace's cheesecake needs no further elaboration of the taste. ;)

After all the locomotion, the ladies sat around to chit chat, while Grace's spouse joined my spouse and kids to watch some movies on the tv. We chatted and share baking and cooking experiences as we browse through some recipes.

It was really late when they left my place. Even though we were tired, we enjoyed the night thoroughly. Grace not only gave me presents, she also gave me her bakes - Wholesome Blacky bread, pandan kaya, peanut spread and chocolate chips & nuts cookies! It's very HER! Lee Juan also bought a box of wonderful assorted biscuits which my kids opened up and almost finished them off after they left! Hahaha...

It was a memorable evening for me. By accepting my invitation, it means that I'm worth it. By coming over, it means that they treasure our friendships. I'm so just so happy to have friends like them. Thank you for such a lovely evening, dear friends!