I heart impromptu dinner parties

I love dinner parties.

Even when Gertrude and I shared a flat in our uni days, we loved having people around for a meal. Back then, we had hand-me-down furniture (all adhering to a magical brown 70's theme), mismatched glasses and crockery, and an oven that leaned. If we wanted to bake a cake that was level on top, we had to rotate the cake whilst it cooked. Usually we just ended up with a lop-sided cake.

The best dinner parties were the impromptu ones - you know, when mates would drop around for a quick visit, or to grab lecture notes, or for no reason at all. And hey presto, before you knew it, the wine was flowing, the spag bol was on the table, and the party was in full swing. (And given that these were single, childless, carefree days, we would inevitably end up at the local...again. Because in those days, there was no one to wake us up at 6am by sticking their fingers up our noses, and it was perfectly acceptable to roll into uni looking worse for wear...in fact, it was almost obligatory)

Even now that the kids dictate my social life and there are so many of us crammed into a rather small space, I still love having people over. And since my pretty lovely things that match are all in storage, I'm still using mismatched cutlery and hand-me-downs...never mind. (To be completely and utterly truthful, if I have more than four guests I have to buy plastic cutlery and wash plates in between courses...not very Nigella, I know.)

Being the school holidays, Christian and I usually attempt to catch up with some of our grown-up friends while the late nights won't completely kill us. While chatting in the kitchen yesterday morning, against a backdrop of Weetbix, puppy food and Bindi the Jungle Girl, we realised that time was against us, and if we wanted to see some of our mates before school went back we'd have to move swiftly. A couple of phone calls later, we had ourselves a prospective dinner party for six later that evening!!

I'd love to say I agonised over a menu and spent hours cooking gourmet delicacies for my friends. But that would defeat the delightful nature of an impromptu party, wouldn't it? Instead, I bunged a tray of brownies in the oven, threw two salads together and whacked some chicken in the pan. The kids provided early entertainment, Archie took over from where they left off, and I can only hope the food filled the gaps!

A big thank you to Arby Bec, Uncle Chrissy, Aunty Reghan and Uncle Derryn for putting up with the toddler entertainment (complete with ballet demonstration), puppy breath, cramped conditions, wobbly chairs, minimal cutlery, and thrown-together food. Your company made an ordinary night for us extraordinary!! I had a great time. Let's do it again soon - I'll ring you at the last minute!