A little while ago I read an article in a magazine about hosting a £50 dinner party, booze and all… and I kind of thought, what? Is that hard? I mean, if I had £50 to spend obviously I would be buying a bottle of champagne and maybe a packet of twiglets (no, I jest) but really, is it so hard to feed 6 people? Today I just so happen to have bought dinner for six of the fambly, and it came to a princely £16.27. Including flowers. Here’s how:
1. Flowers (from marks and sparks) £4. (with added daffodils and some little purple flowers from the garden).
2. Main course: Roasted vegetable tagliatelle with parmesan and garlic bread for six.
(2 packs tagliatelle, sundried tomato paste, tenderstem broccoli, a red pepper, aubergine, runner beans, red onions, rye, barley and wheat bread: £9.25, Morrisons).
3. Pudding: rainbow jelly cocktails with raspberries and mint (3 packs jelly £1.02, raspberries, £2, Co-op).
(From the cupboard: garlic paste, parmesan cheese, mint).
And if you were trying to do the whole thing for £50, you now have a splendid £33.73 to spend on BEER!
The moral of the story is: dinner is about the company y’all, and being skint should not mean dining alone in front of the telly every night. And if you have friends who get insulted by a lack of sirloin steak at the dinner table, you need new friends.
Rainbow jelly (raspberries and mint in the top layer) in the sun.
Amy Jardine 