How to self cater an afternoon tea wedding (part 5)

We wanted the evening part of the wedding to be as relaxed as the day with people helping themselves to food as they chatted, danced and drank. The menu we decided on was....

Huge cheeseboards

A hog roast

Chocolate brownie wedding cake

Ice cream sundae bar

Pick and mix

Starting with the cheeseboards. The cheese tasting was probably one of my favourite parts of the wedding planning as I love cheese! We got all our cheese from The Cheese Shop in Truro which is fantastic. I used to live in a flat opposite and used to love going on a Saturday morning to buy fresh bread and a lump of cheese and fig chutney and read the Saturday papers. It all felt very grown up. We took our best man and his wife with us and we decided on.....

Beenleigh Blue (one of my favourite blue cheeses)

A strong Cornish cheddar

A french sheeps's cheese (very like brie) called Brebirousse d'Argental

A Cornish brie

We served them with homemade chutneys and biscuits. We had about 200 people for the evening part of the wedding and we were advised to estimate about 50g cheese  per person. However, we knew our friends would eat way more than that, as well as hog roast, sundaes etc so instead of 10kg we decided on 15kg and that was just about enough (there was a little left over.)

We then had a caterer in to do our hog roast...again enough for 200 people. Now....one thing that always happens at a wedding is some kind of disaster in the planning...recently I found out what our was. Apparently something happened with the hog roast machine which set fire to the marquee it was in. The marquee then melted onto the cooking hog. Anyway the local hotel saved the day and hacked up the roast into lots of piece and cooked it bit by bit. It turns out we'd borrowed the friend's marquee...and I feel awful!

Moving on from the small fire....we decided for pudding to have a chocolate brownie wedding cake...made by my lovely bridesmaid and darling cousin Charlie. (See below).  We also had an ice cream sundae bar with ice creams, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, sweets etc. 

Then there was pick and mix for people to nibble on later on (about 2kgs worth!)

Money Saving Tips

Find someone who loves making cakes and get them to bake your wedding cake! Most wedding cakes cost around £500. Brownies meant people could eat them with their hands and could have them with ice cream if they wanted. Grown up and children loved them. (There were none left by the end of the night. 

What I'm glad we did

We used wooden cutlery in buckets to save on the washing up. 

We over catered. We knew a lot of the guests were staying a week so if there was too much we could always give it to them for lunches etc for the rest of the week. 

Kept it casual. I loved seeing everyone chatting and enjoying themselves.

Chose strong cheeses and a good mixture. 

What I wish we hadn't done

Errrr burnt down someone's marquee?

Flipping out.....

We had a heated debate this morning, my boss and I. It was all over pancakes. She doesn't seem to like them and seemed completely non plussed by Pancake Day tomorrow. (Or should I say Shrove Tuesday?) Whereas I get excited by any event. Valentine's Day, St Piran's Day, Christmas all fill me with excitement. I even look forward to giving foods up for Lent because it means trying new things. (This year I'm being brutal- goodbye ice cream, puddings, booze). So as I wave farewell to puddings I made these yummy pancakes in the true spirit of Shrove Tuesday using up Christmas leftovers.

Brandy Butter Pancakes (serves 4)

4oz self raising flour (this makes fluffier pancakes, if you want thinner ones use plain flour)

1 egg

225ml milk

pinch of Cornish Sea Salt

vegetable oil

1 jar leftover brandy butter

Sieve the flour and salt. Add the egg and milk and whisk until you have a creamy batter. Pour a little oil in a frying pan (you only need a very small amount.) When warm add 1/8 of the mixture and swirl the pan to cover the base. Leave for a minute of two until the batter has dried. Use a fish slice to flip it over. (Don't even attempt to flip- I have the burns and the greasy stains to prove it's a bad idea.) Put the pancakes somewhere warm.

Put the frying pan back on the heat. Wait until it's really hot then and add 4tbsp brandy butter. It will sizzle and quickly turn into a sticky toffee. Stir to make sure it doesn't burn.

Pour over the warm pancakes.

New Year....

Happy New Year! We ate Mexican food and played games.....

It was a good way to start a year!

New Year Party

There must be many of us taking a break from food blogging at the moment. When you can barely sum up the enthusiasm to make a bowl of cereal after the Christmas feasting the last thing you want is the indulgence of new year.

Tonight we are having a fancy dress party at our flat....maybe we'll wander down to the harbour and watch the fireworks lighting up Falmouth bay. But I need to provide nibbles...so I have consulted the Goddess of Christmas and New Years gatherings...all hail Nigella.

Here's what I have planned...

Roasted beef and horseradish yorkshire puddings
Nigella's crab cakes and chilli jam
Nigella's blue cheese dip
Smoked salmon blinis
Sausages with mint and honey
Anti pasti
Stilton and Leek Tart
Wedges
Salad

Puddings bought by guests with a big bowl of clotted cream of course.
Gin and tonic jellies

I may do one massive super blog tomorrow of them all...now the theme of the fancy dress is the first letter of your last name. So mine is "t". Nigella, can you help?

PS Happy New Year xxxx