Mary's Dinner Club Stories - A Christmas Dinner

by Mary Anglberger - A Merry Christmas it was indeed! Just as I had expected, the group for the Christmas meal turned out to be a small one (regulars and friends) and we fitted nicely around just one table. 

For obvious reasons we skipped the intro part - not the welcome drinks though - and did not change seats between courses. this way the ‘guest turned hostess’ had time to enjoy the complete meal for this special occasion - a real treat!

There was lots of time for good stories and good wine. We had a special guest from Hadjiantonas Winery in Parekklisha and got to try their beautiful Muscat which went perfectly with the starters – chicken pâté canapés. Thank you again Chrissie Flint!

The main course was a personal favorite, roast beef in red wine sauce for which I had found a recipe that requires the roast to be stuffed with mushrooms, shallots, garlic, parsley….  And if I may say so, it even surpassed my expectations (I’m always a bit nervous cooking beef) and it was generally agreed that it was absolutely delicious. We had it with baby potatoes baked with lots of rosemary, caramelised pumpkin and a green salad with walnuts and dried sour cherries. And again…. a beautiful wine from the winery - this time their award-winning Shiraz. It was a wonderful combination and at one point only ooh-ing and aaah-ing was to be heard.

It was a fun group and by the time we got to dessert it was established that those homemade chocolate-rum balls are best enjoyed with some more wine. I had greatly enjoyed making those slightly decadent little delicacies and enjoyed even more having them in such good company with such good wine!

We also had some beautiful ‘stollen’ (a fruity, sweet, buttery traditional German Christmas cake) from my friends at the new 'German Freh Baker'. See their facebook page for all their beautiful, festive goodies http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002935048825 of which we had a small sampling.

I had also made brandy butter to go with the cake - something I sent home with my British friends afterwards because I must admit, I find it strange to put alcohol in your butter.  But I did enjoy other leftovers the following day and am just so pleased to have had the chance to share such a nice meal with such lovely people on Christmas Eve. Thank you all!

Now I am looking forward to next Saturday’s New Year’s Eve Buffet. I love making - or shall I say inventing - salads and have already made up a list. I'm sure the meal will mark the start to a great evening and hopefully a great year for us all!

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