The inaugural meeting of the LMC

Following a fantastic birthday dinner party last night in Cape Paterson during which my wonderful friends all pitched in to create the food with me, I realised how much I wanted to keep a record of the meals and food thoughts in my life in a more organised way! And after years of keeping notebooks with my ideas and recipes, a blog seems a much more noughties way to do so. It is also my intention to pay homage to the people who have influenced me and helped spark my passion for cooking.

So I'll begin by recording last night's festivities, which were based on the theme of Mad Men, and thus had a 1960s theme. I wore a Betty Draper-style dress from a great shop in Sydney called Retrospec'd (http://www.retrospecd.com/) that makes reproduction 1940s and 1950s clothes - combined with the red gingham apron my parents bought me in Italy I looked pretty damn retro I think... The menu combined a few classic 196os dishes:

• Hors d'ouevres: Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Rolls and Devilled Eggs
• Entree: Avocado and Prawn Cocktails
• Main: Smoked Fish Pie
• Dessert: Baked Orange Alaska

Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Rolls

These are hilariously retro but also damn tasty. Makes 24.

1 loaf sandwich slice wholemeal bread
12 asparagus spears
150g chevre (soft goats cheese)
250g smoked salmon
Toothpicks

1. Cut the woody ends off the asparagus and steam the spears for around 4 minutes until tender. Allow to cool and then cut in half.

2. Cut the crusts off the bread and discard (or feed them to the ducks if you're into giving wildlife human food). Gently roll the bread with a rolling pin (or a wine bottle if you're in a beach house with limited utensils!) as this will make it easier to work with. 3. Spread one side of the bread with some goats cheese. Lie a slice of smoked salmon and an asparagus spear on an angle so that thespear reaches from one corner to another. Roll up and secure with a toothpick.

Devilled Eggs

I initially made these as a bit of a joke, thinking that they would look great in the photos but wouldn't be exactly popular. I was actually kind of surprised at how good they tasted! Makes 12.

6 free range eggs
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
A few drops of tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika plus more to garnish
A small handful of italian flat leaf parsley

1. Hard boil the eggs. Allow to cool a little, then cut in half lengthwise and gently remove the yolks. Set the whites aside and place the yolks in a mixing bowl.

2. Use a fork to mash the yolks with the mustard, mayonnaise, tabasco sauce, and 1 teaspoon of paprika.

3. Spoon or pipe the egg mixture into the egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika and garnish each with a sprig of parsley.

Avocado and Prawn Cocktails

This recipe is about one million times better than the shrimp cocktails I had to serve customers at my first job, which was at a dodgy pub in the deepest darkest suburbs of Christchurch...

My friend Andrew peeled 50 prawns on the night of the dinner party even though he was extremely hungover at the time!

The recipe can be found at www.taste.com.au/recipes/19034/avocado+prawn+cocktail


Smoked Fish Pie

This is a recipe from my favourite "food porn" magazine Cuisine (http://www.cuisine.co.nz/) - a New Zealand publication that's so good I've even got one of my Aussie foodie friends into it. The pie is a really good option for an easy dinner with friends, as it is quite substantial and contains carbs (golden flaky pastry and potatoes), veges (leeks) and protein (smoked fish), making it a meal in one - no need for side dishes! The addition of kalamata olives and garlic butter really set the flavours off. Serves 6.

The recipe can be found at www.cuisine.co.nz/index.cfm?pageId=53348. My friend Julie and I came up with an unintentional but very worthwhile variation whereby we made a little extra garlic butter and added some to the potatoes - otherwise they can be a little bland. I also double the amount of smoked fish used.

Baked Orange Alaska

I remember this recipe from a school cook book... do they even teach kids home economics these days? Anyway, this is a healthy-ish version, although I'm considering trying a less healthy version by soaking the fruit in alcohol. Makes 6.

3 oranges (try to find ones with flat rather than pointy ends as they need to balance on a baking tray)
3 kiwifruit
4 eggs
1/2 cup of caster sugar
300mL icecream (I used Maggie Beer's vanilla with elderflower - see www.maggiebeer.com.au/contactus/distributors/)

1. Cut the oranges in half around the middle and carefully cut out the flesh - I use a paring knife to cut around the edge and then cut segments out. Peel and chop the kiwifruits into chunks and combine with the orange pieces in a bowl.

2. Spoon the fruit mixture back into the orange halves.

3. Beat the egg whites while gradually adding the caster sugar until they are stiff and forming soft peaks.

4. Preheat the grill.

5. Add a scoop of icecream on top of the fruit and cover with a mound of meringue that completely overs the icecream and fruit.

6. Grill for a few minutes until the meringue is golden brown and serve.

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So that was the menu for my birthday dinner party this year. And while we really enjoyed eating it, what I loved even more was how much fun we had creating these dishes together. It was a really lovely example of how food is a social event as much as it is a nutritional necessity.

And what is the Last Mouthful Club? It's a joke that my foodie friend Kate and I made when we realised we both have the same habit - we'll always save a bite of our favourite elements of what's on our plate until last so that we can end a meal with a mouthful that captures the best of the dish. It can mean having to fend off people who tend to sneak bites off other people's plates! But it's always great to end a meal on a high note.

Ciao my lovelies,

Sarah