Garlic Tiger Prawns/Shrimp and my First Italian Feast

 I thought long and hard about how to restart posting after an absence of over two months.

After all, it would take me another two months to fill you in on all the updates and to apologise for the lack of posting over and over again.



Life has taken many twists and turns. Some very good and some not so pleasant.

So I decided I would backtrack and fill you in post by post, since my last update.



If you recall, on my last post I mentioned I had been asked to cook for30 plus guests over a weekend-long birthday party.



This involved cooking a Saturday Lunch of  5 Italian Courses, a Pizza Dinner and a Sunday Lunch of numerous fish courses and dessert.



But let me tell you more, for this was no ordinary weekend!



It was Maggie's 70th Birthday party.

Maggie is my lovely boss.

A tower of strength, an inspiration and a true pleasure to have worked for.



Me and Maggie on the day! Just look at her smile!!

Now what makes Maggie even more special is the fact that, apart from being able to smoothly run the school, she also manages to run-so to speak- the most beautiful Country house in the heart of the mountains in Emila-Romagna, I have ever seen!



And although I do not have a picture of the house I do, however, have a picture of the view from the kitchen window and you can just imagine what an experience it was to cook looking out to this view.

So on with the party.

All the guests were family or life long friends of Maggie's and what a truly lovely, warm and welcoming bunch they were!

They had a wonderful time and were very keen to tell me how much they'd enjoyed the food.

All in all they made the experience truly memorable.



Still, what made it all the more special for me, was seeing Maggie, walking into the kitchen, when it was all over, with such a warm and genuine smile of happiness and contentment.



Only then did I feel I had done a good job!



And in true Foodie Blogger style, lets talk menu.

I have to say I started cooking on the Friday night and literally did not stop until Sunday afternoon. No lunch breaks, no rests, short sleeps.

Was I shattered? Very much so! Did I love it? Every second of it, and would definitely do it all over again!



I have to say I couldn't have done it too, without my assistant's help who did all the washing up and clearing up!!

You know who you are and how grateful I will always be for your undeniable support.



But I digress! Yes, the food!



For Saturday Lunch we agreed the guests should have a full-on Italian experience.



And such was the MENU:



 THE STARTERS

MAIN COURSE

For DESSERT

And the Birthday Cake!!

On With Saturday night!

And we wanted to make full use of that gorgeous pizza oven in the garden, so what better way to celebrate a Saturday night than with Homemade Pizza!!!

And to round it all off, Fresh Fruit dipped in Chocolate Fondue

And Sunday was my biggest challenge yet, a variety of fish courses!



It was a buffet style meal. The food placed on a big table and the guests just helped themselves.



For the STARTERS

And Today's RECIPE



For the Main Course

All served with a variety of salads and homemade breads, pictures of which, unfortunately I have none.

But on with the dessert which was a huge success.

Now, if you have managed to get this far on the post, after so many words and pictures, it's because you really want this recipe, so I think you more than deserve by now!

But before I get on to it, in order to prevent any boredom, if  you would like the recipe for any of those meals, just drop me a line or I might even post one of them here and there, every now and again!



So, just for you, loyal reader, here is the recipe for those yummy Garlicky King Prawns!





                        Garlic Grilled Shrimp