Revolving doors!

Entertaining comes in many ways. The month of October has been one of what I call “revolving doors”. How is it that you don't have guests for ages and then someone, somewhere flicks a switch – four times we've had guests for food!

As you know our American friends have visited. They were followed by “pie night” - a supper with friends. I've said many times – stick with what you know and as importantly, what your guests love. The pies were steak and cheese, potato and onion. The dessert was H's alternative birthday cake. The thank you note said it all … “the pies were divine!”. I'll take that.

Then came card night … this evening is different because it's time critical. We break for supper so making ahead and being able to bring everything together in the fastest time is what's required.

Entertaining can be stressful enough but it's not just the cooking, it's deciding what to cook that's the biggest headache. The best piece of advice I can give is sit back and think. What time of year is it – what type of gathering is it – i.e. formal ish or informal. A dinner usually means three courses, a lunch or a supper two. I know I've said this recently but you need to know what your guests like or, more to the point, dislike and obviously take into account any specific dietary stuff!

Back to card night … using that formula – it's Autumn, chilly and it gets dark early.

There's nothing tastier or faster than soup and a sandwich – here's my version.