eat, drink and be merry

One of my favourite things to do in the world is cook. The nicest way to bring friends together is to make a huge meal, spending the entire day in the kitchen, trying new recipes, bringing people into your home, talking, laughing, drinking wine and creating new friendships. I spent my birthday doing just that, cooking all afternoon with the best kitchen partner ever. We were inspired by this birthday feast, to create one quite similar. We made a chickpea, pumpkin and apricot tagine; a chicken, preserved lemon and olive one; homemade labneh with harissa and Turkish bread; hummus; spinach dips; spiced couscous with raisins; a tomato and cucumber salad with rosewater; honeyed sweet potato salad; spiced Moroccan carrot salad; roast cumin cauliflower; fresh feta; fresh dates; Turkish delight; and an orange, red onion and black olive salad. There was lots of wine, lots of rum and lots of good music. So much so I forgot to take photos.

I read about Jim Haynes this morning on Katie's Thankyou, Ok blog. He's featured in the new issue of Apartamento, and I love his approach to entertaining. I would love to attend one of his Sunday Suppers one day! My next feast will come from the Ottolenghi cookbook my flatmate Maya gave me. There are so many beautiful recipes in there to try and I can't wait to get into the kitchen...