An autumnal feast

Last night I decided to have an autumnal/Halloween feast with friends so thought I would share a few pictures.
The evening started with a Vampires Kiss cocktail (Chambord, champagne, frozen raspberries and spooky skull ice cubes!) and then with the help of my takented chef friend Alex we had quite a decadent spread.

The menu was Halloumi salad with pumpkin seeds, potato gratin dauphinoise, aubergines with dukkah topping, mushroom tarts, beef ribs in a coffee and chilli sauce, then chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!
Even better was that my friends unexpected came in fancy dress, so I thought I would share a few pictures and hope all your Halloween celebrations are as successful.

Chocolate dilemma

Having spent the past two weeks utterly immersed in the world of knitting I mentioned to my sister (an incredibly talented cook) that I felt guilty for having not done any baking in awhile. At one point I was definitely earning baking brownie points for my loaf a day but I am afraid I must be currently in the dark, dank, floury naughty corner. So imagine my surprise when she presented me with 5 kg of chocolate to get baking with ! After the initial shock that such a block of chocolate existed panic sent in as I am now in serious need of chocolate inspiration. Any ideas would be gratefully received, meanwhile I am off to find an ice axe as I can't see any other way to chop up such a chocolatey beast!