Dinner for 25 !

Yesterday, I held a dinner party at Balintore Castle to thank everyone who has supported the restoration over the years. Some of the guests are involved with their own restoration projects and have provided advice and a shoulder to cry upon, when things have not gone to plan. There was a contingent from Wales and a contingent from Orkney, so quite a gathering.

The event, more or less, was at full moon (actually tonight) so was one of the castle's Lunar Dining Club soirées, albeit one at a larger scale than usual - 25 guests rather than just a handful. In fact, I catered for 32 to be on the safe side, but there are always last minute cancellations and no-shows.

Naturally, I was too preoccupied to take any photos, but friend of Balintore James sent me these rather splendid ones, so I thought I would share.

I love to see light shining out of the windows at Balintore, as it is a sign that the building is alive. The photo below shows the full moon. It is actually a night shot, but digital cameras perform miracles with exposure nowadays.

I had pleaded with my builders Craig, Gregor and Gavin to clear the chimney in the Servant's Dining Hall in the basement  for the event so we could heat this space with a wood burner. Finally on Friday, after several months of encountering impenetrable blockage after impenetrable blockage, the stove was installed. Result! For several weeks, Gregor's chimney rods were stuck up the chimney, it was Craig's refusal to give up that eventually retrieved them. This chimney goes from the very bottom of the building to the very top, so challenging is the word.


Here, in another night-time shot you can see smoke coming from the Servant's Hall:

I picked up the massive wood-burner from an architectural antiques yard outside Bath for £60. I put a large pan of water on top of the stove, just to clean the surrounding fireplace, and the water boiled in just 3 minutes. I was so pleased by the sheer quantity of heat pumped out by the stove, and it was gratifyingly warm during the meal. Below you can see the stove on the go and the red wine chambre-ing on the mantel shelf above

We set up 4 tables each with 8 place settings, and did our best to create a festive ambiance for the guests. Winter is now beginning to bite and I have been suffering from some health issues, so we all badly needed distraction and cheering-up. The dinner party was just the ticket.

The menu so you can recreate your own Balintore dinner party at home:

starter - stuffed mushrooms

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/triple-cheese-tarragon-stuffed-mushrooms

1st course - Mark's pheasant and apple stew

https://www.gressinghamduck.co.uk/recipes/pheasant-breasts-casserole-with-bacon-and-apples/

main course - venison casserole
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/succulent-braised-venison

dessert 1 - Bailey's and Coffee Cheesecake

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/baileys-cheesecake

dessert 2 - Veronique's French Apple Tart

venison casserole

Bailey's and coffee cheesecake

A special thank-you to all my friends who stepped in concernedly to help, given my health issues, with the catering and clearing up. They were amazing. I was told just to sit at the dining table and enjoy myself, which I did, flitting between tables during the meal like a social gad-fly. :-)