Mission Control

Well hello everyone. Today is a big day in the United Kingdom, it’s our general elections! We cast our vote shortly after 8 am and I have to say I was surprised by how quick it was. We did not have to wait, there was no queue, we just walked in, made our mark and walked out. Of course it is lovely not to have to spend hours queueing which has always been my experience when living in South Africa, but it is a bit disconcerting and I hope that it is not a sign that people are not voting.

Anyhoo, tomorrow we shall find out who will be running our country for the next 5 years – exciting days 🙂

Speaking of exciting days – I am currently planning my DH’s and DD’s birthday BBQ which is this Saturday. Below is my A5 Filofax Malden which I use as my ‘mission control’ for all things related to my home and any work relating to my Etsy shop, writing deadlines and blog. I’ll be sure to do a post next week some time giving you a tour through my planner.

So like I was saying, this Saturday we are putting on a South African Braai (that’s an Afrikaans word for BBQ) for DH and DD. We have around 16 people coming and I’m doing all the catering, so planning is essential.

I started my planning with the guest list and all the details of the event, the whens, what’s, hows etc. Then I put together a menu which consists of some interesting dishes for our guests, a dessert bar and drink options.

I then split the work over three days – two days before and on the morning. I printed out my recipes for various dishes and popped them into my planner along with an allergy card which has a list of foods that one of our guests is unable to eat. All catering takes her food intolerance’s into consideration – I don’t want any of my guests to feel awkward with limited choices due to allergies which are beyond their control.

Look at the colour of that Watermelon Lemonade! Just stunning – tastes good too 🙂

I’ve spent a large portion of today shopping for all the groceries I need and I have made the drinks – Crunchy Punch (delish) and Watermelon Lemonade. On the day I will garnish the lemonade with mint leaves and lemon slices and put the crunchy punch together just before the guests arrive.

Here’s a quick look at the menu:

Main Meal

Boerewors

 (Afrikaans name for a South African speciality – literally translated it means ‘farmers sausage’)

Chicken Skewers 

(for those who might not be that enamoured with the boerewors)

Broccoli Salad

Mediterranean Potato Salad

Cheese and Onion Home-baked Bread (no yeast)

Garden Salad

Roasted Butternut

Beetroot Salad

Drinks on Tap

Crunchy Punch 

(you can probably make out my recipe in the photo above but if you can’t I have linked a recipe found on Pinterest)

Watermelon Lemonade

Dessert

Ice-cream Bar with lots of topping options

Peach Cobbler

White Chocolate and Raspberry Icebox Pie

Marshmallows for toasting on the coals

tea and coffee to follow

BTW – for those of you living in England I bought the drink dispensers from The Range (this week) for around £14.99 each. I think they are fabulous to have for entertaining. Something to note however is that you should only fill them 2/3 of the way. If they are full up the pressure does not release the liquid – I found this out after twiddling about for ages with the dispenser in the picture above. It is now 2/3’s full 😉

Blessings to you all…