Autumn Entertaining

With the cooler months en route to us full steam ahead there will be lots of time to spend in the great indoors. A brilliant way to kill time cooped up inside is cooking delicious food and entertaining your mates. Decide what you want to eat, decide what you want drink then ask yourself: ‘Will I enjoy this food and drink as much if I share it with others?’ If the answer is ‘no’ then scrap the entertaining bit and just get stuck in yourself.

Back in the days of yore, living in Canada I was always a massive fan of a fab catalogue called Food & Drink that is published by the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario- Ontario is the beautiful province I used to reside in) and includes entertaining tips and amazing recipes for all kinds of great food, cocktails and non-alcohol drinks.

It’s always seasonally oriented and perfect for new, relatively easy, cheap and inspiring ideas. Every recipe also has a ‘suggested drink’ that will best accommodate the flavours in the food- whether it’s a red, white or rose wine, fine lager or ale. I’ve already spent too much time looking through the thing and basically can’t say enough about it.

Picked a few sample recipes below:

Please note- Sometimes different countries use different words for foods eg. zucchini vs courgette or egg plant vs aubergine. Don’t panic. Remind yourself why you have a hard head, make use of that thing encased inside your skull and you’ll be able to figure it out.

If you’re not a fan of pulled pork I’d suggest speaking to a neutral third party about it. Once they’ve stopped laughing at you they’ll be objective, discreet and helpful.

Boston Clam Chowder is pretty self-explanatory. They designed it that way because it’s so darn good it needs no further introduction.

Look at this picture. Just look at it. It’s a Grilled Cobb Salad and it will make a mockery of a Ploughman’s lunch with its eyes closed. Read, learn, make, forever be adored.

Now, if you’re a risk taker, likes to mix things up kind of person then give the recipes a bosh in French. You’ll either totally impress your mates and be the talk of the town or the meal will be an absolute disaster and you’ll never be asked to host another dinner party again. Either outcome is a top result.

Tags: Autumn