Classy Drinks

[Dr. Shane]

The "world" serves wine and cheese, coffee and donuts. What do you think is a classy drink to serve guests?

[Gail]

You didn't include sparkling apple (grape, peach) drinks. They come in a bottle that looks similar to wine but it's not. They come from France and are common here

[Dr. Shane]

Sorry.. I guess I kind of lumped them in there with apple and grape juice but they should have their own category. Personally, the carbonization doesn't do much for me.

Now peach juice sounds classy.

[aldona]

Thinking...what do I serve when we have classy non-Adventist guests coming over whom I want to impress?

(remember, we are not vegan and we do eat some fish).

(Disclaimer: This happens very rarely, otherwise we would need to take out a second mortgage. Most of the time we don't even splash out on the fancy vegetarian fake-meats. But sometimes I have to host a doctors' meeting, or our local branch of Amnesty, or some of my husband's business colleagues.)

Upmarket bottled water (Evian, Perrier etc)

Selection of fancy juices (you can get all kinds of delicious juices and juice blends now - recent favorites have been "apple & plum", "mango and mandarin" and "organic apple and strawberry".)

some of the wonderful cordials that are available now, including some imported from England...elderberry, raspberry, ginger & lime...

Selection of herbal teas

And food...

The freshest fresh fruit I can find, on a big platter with a selection of nuts, crackers and local cheese (Yarra Valley, east of Melbourne...big gourmet tourist destination with lots of fancy delicacies)

Appetizers...Little toast things or pastries with things like olives, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, cream cheese, grilled vegies marinated in olive oil and herbs, mushroom pate (vegetarian), marinated grilled tofu cubes, smoked salmon or trout, salmon caviar...the possibilities are endless, even if you don't eat fish.

My favorite main courses that are easy to adapt to folks of all different religions and traditions (Adventist-friendly, halal, kosher, etc...)

- Butternut squash, coconut and garlic soup (vegan)

- Spinach and ricotta cheese canneloni with tomato & herb sauce

- Whole baby potatoes stewed in a tomato-paprika gravy, flavored with garlic, saffron and whole coriander seeds (vegan)

- and fish is always easy to dress up - my most recent effort for guests was fresh fish fillets coated in a breadcrumb crust with sesame seeds and Australian bush spices, lightly pan-fried and served on a potato and green onion "rosti"-type pancake.

But that's just me...normally I don't have time to cook during the week, so when guests are coming over on the weekend I really love to make up something special.

This Saturday night (after Sabbath), we are hosting some of our youth group together with three guests from the local Mormon church. Still deciding what to cook...

aldona

[Amelia]

OOooooo you want classy? Get frozen fruit and skewer them like shishkabob. Use them as swizzel sticks in the fruit juices.

[aldona]

OOooooo you want classy? Get frozen fruit and skewer them like shishkabob. Use them as swizzel sticks in the fruit juices.

I like that. tu

Or big chunky ice cubes with whole blueberries and raspberries frozen in them.

The herb garden in the back yard is a great source of "classy"...any soup, hors'd'ouvre or artistically constructed main course looks even more special when it is adorned by a sprig of fresh coriander, chervil, tricolor sage leaves or snipped chives.

Don't even get me started on the edible flowers...

aldona

[Dr. Shane]

Looks like Aldona is a real classy host.

[DrWhoCompanion]

My girlie and I vote for sparkling (carbonated) fruit juices!

Great ideas, everyone!

C.

[aldona]

Looks like Aldona is a real classy host.

I'm not the classiest of people myself but I love to cook when I get the time...and I'm quite happy to eat baked beans on toast all week so I can afford to put on a spread for guests.

Some of it is picked up from necessity, between having to host my medical colleagues and play "corporate wife" to my husband's work colleagues. You should see some of the classy things that get served by those kinds of people...especially those who have a full-time stay-at-home spouse and/or hired help. I just can't compete.

You can come and eat at our place anytime!

(Just give me a couple of days to recover from last night's Father's Day dinner. Yes, we Aussies have our Father's Day at a different time than our US friends.)

aldona