A manic day!

We had Sarah and Liam coming over for dinner this evening, and Sophie and I were in charge of the cooking. The night was Italian-themed, and we had asked Keith to get the ingredients for panna cotta. We had planned on making this, and then going shopping for the meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board as a starter. However, when Sophie took the tub of cream out of the fridge, she realised she didn't have enough... 

We decided to go shopping at once and buy everything we needed, and then come home and prepare the dishes. It must have rained heavily in the night, as the roads were awash with water. We sloshed over to Kettering and braved the crowds in the busy supermarket. 

We bought everything we needed, and a box of chocolates for Mum. We called to see her on the way home, and she was up and dressed nicely, which was a relief. I'd dreaded going into her room and seeing her still in bed.

Back home, Sophie made a start on dessert while I chopped up the vegetables for the tagliatelle Bolognese. Sophie discovered that gelatine sheets she'd asked for were actually sachets of powder, so she had some calculations to make! 

She managed it, though, and decanted the panna cotta mixture into pretty glasses. She'd even found time to tie ribbon around the stems, bless her! I made the Bolognese sauce and let it simmer for the rest of the afternoon. 

I then cleaned the conservatory (a job I'd been planning to do last Wednesday), and Sophie made sure all the crockery, cutlery and glasses were gleaming. She ironed the tablecloth and set the table while I draped a throw over the sofa. This area is very much the domain of the cats, and it took a while to remove all traces of them!

After cleaning the kitchen, scrubbing the cloakroom and hoovering the living room, we were all done and could relax for a little while! I had a soak in the bath before applying a coat of clear varnish to my nails, and getting dressed. My allergic rash is still flaring up now and again, and I've had to remove my engagement and wedding rings as they make the irritation worse.

I joined Sophie in the kitchen as she was putting the finishing touches to the charcuterie board, and I lit all the candles and turned on the heater in the conservatory. We were all done!

Sarah and Liam arrived, and I was given a beautiful plant, Italian wine and chocolates. We stood and chatted in the kitchen before moving into the conservatory for the meal. The Italian meats, cheeses and olive bread went down well, and we served Prosecco with the starter. Sophie took care of the pasta and garlic bread, and the Italian wine Liam brought went beautifully with the main course. He was driving, so he only had one glass, but Sophie and I certainly enjoyed it!

We had a pause before the starters, and we were hugely relieved that the panna cotta had set and was delicious served with chopped up strawberries! We also had tiny glasses of Limoncello to accompany the dessert.

Sarah and Liam left at 11:00pm after a great night of chat and laughter, and we promised we'd see each other again soon and not leave it so long!

We did some washing up and then had a real job getting Moonbums in... we called and called, and eventually he emerged from where he'd been when Sophie walked up the road to call for him. We grabbed him, had a cuddle and then went, thankfully, to bed!