Tell us your most stressful and/or embarrassing dinner party story.
I rarely throw dinner parties these days. Mainly because I live in a part of town that is within walking distance of any number of excellent, reasonably priced cafes and restaurants. Anyone visiting my place at dinner time knows that we are destined to make the short walk to nearby Little Italy, or one of the other nearby dining strips at Newtown or Glebe.
This wasn't always the case, however. When George and I first set-up house together, back in the 1970s, we lived down on the Northern Beaches, which wasn't particularly known in those day for its scintillating cafe society! We used to entertain quite a lot back then - and I was the designated cook. Not that I was a better cook than George. That was just the way the cards fell. George used to entertain the guests while I prepared the food in the kitchen.
But I digress. My most embarrassing culinary blunder occurred one night when we were entertaining two female friends who ran a smart eatery in the city (Sydney), which catered to an affluent, business clientele. Lynne and Barbara were dear friends, so I shouldn't have been nervous. Having said that, however, I was always acutely aware they were "professionals," whenever I prepared food for them, which did heighten my stress levels. On this particular occasion, I had prepared a Bavarian goulash recipe that had been given to me by a German friend. It had lots of chili in it, the heat of which was tempered by the addition of generous dollops of sour cream, added just before it went to the table. And of course, I forgot to add the sour cream, didn't I! Maybe because of the animated conversation or perhaps because of the wine that was generously flowing, I didn't actually notice my blunder until after Lynne and Barbara had gone home. Not known for his tact, over the washing-up George declared, "You forgot the sour cream!" "Oh shit!" said I, "I thought it tasted quite hot!" Neither Lynne nor Barbara ever mentioned it, but I'm sure they noticed. Cringe!
