Over an SMS, I was informed of tea with his non-blogging friends (and am honoured to be included in the fabulous guestlist). But the bubbling bubbly was certainly unexpected.
Having reluctantly turned down a previous invitation (due to geographical reasons), I made it a point to attend this one as I know how fun and tantalising FatBoyBakes' parties can be. I was so looking forward to it!!!
....*crickets chirping*....
It was rather quiet at first, as the guests settled at the dining table. I for one, was part of the silence as I studied the menu and hanky-pankied with my beloved other half. My D40X.
Then, the first bottle of prosecco rolled out. Followed by the second bottle. And the third bottle....then all hell broke loose. And we pay thousands of ringgits/dollars for enlightening companies to conduct those icebreaking sessions. Next time, just get booze-lah! Ok, perhaps booze is a little too unrefined in the case of prosecco. Afterall, we shouldn't really equate FHM to Botticelli's Birth Of Venus, should we? Ok, vino then.
I apologise for the rather insensitive booze digression and more importantly, the fact that I've not unrolled the scrumptious menu FatBoyBakes had created for us that day.
Let's start with the savouries, shall we?
Nigella Express Quesadillas. With ham, cheese and jalapeños wrapped in pieces of tortilla, the quesadillas were delicious. The rich cheese contrasted the hot, tangy pickled jalapeños nicely. Loved the soft wrap as well.
Cream Cheese Spirals. The pastry was light and buttery, but not the point of being too oily. Filling consisted of cream cheese coated bacon bits and coriander. The touch of chopped coriander was thoughtful as it accessorized the rich filling with its scent.
Chinese Rice Dumplings. The dark, Hokkien-style dumplings were flavourful and packed with ingredients such as chestnuts, salted eggs and chicken meat (if I recall correctly). And the group unanimously declared our love for rice dumplings, with lard. Oh, there was the alkaline water type as well. Lovely. Thanks, Paprika!
And the sweets. Oh, them lovely sweets from the fabulous baker.
Homemade Scones. Light and slightly crumbly, the halved, “buttermilk”ly aromatic scones provided a nice palette to splotch on a heavy dose of jam and double cream to mesmerise the palate. Ok, corny pun that was. Jam came in form of Four Fruits from St. Dalfour. Merci, Lemongrass!
Orange Mocha Chocolate Brownie. How thoughtful of the host to show me an example of a perfect brownie (he was unaware of my ‘touched-for-the-very-first-time’ version back then). The perfect brownie was optimally moist and soft. The icing was bittersweet and rich. And it made mine, well, like being touched for the very first time lor. It’s not about the tools. The key is experience, which I certainly lack.
Lemon Tart. I’m not a tart person (really) but I must say it was one of the tartest of tarts I’ve ever had. In a good way, of course. A taste of the custard filling revealed an explosion of zest of lotsa-lotsa lemon. It would have cost a bomb to have this at some starry, 'haute'r than thou cafes.
The jokes and well, more jokes accompanied the setting sun. Just when I thought we were done with the sparkling vino (I lost count of the bottles we had), came the grandest brut of them all. Oui, une bouteille de Moët & Chandon! Followed by more jokes. What a fantastic way to end the night!
And so it was. A great party at FatBoyBakes'.
Thank you for the lovely meal and above all, the jokes and laughters! I’m actually surprised I can recall the taste of the food I had as after the XXXXXXth glass of prosecco, I was already having an out-of-body experience.
Cheers!
*burp, burp*
