Upping the ante

I started it. I invited the girls over for lunch on a Friday.

The girls are the mums of Ethan's friends and we all take our little darlings swimming on Friday morning. So now you know why my Friday afternoon hair is so comical - swimming pool hair.

Clearly if you're inviting mums for lunch you also have to feed the children. So I did.

Lunch for the children was something easy, quick and simple. Pasta with meatballs in a tomato sauce. The pasta just needed cooking. The meatballs and the tomato sauce just needed heating up. Lunch for the grown ups was equally simple. Fresh soup that just needed heating in a pan and bread that just needed heating in the oven.

It was great to catch up with the girls and we thought it would be a good idea to do the same thing every week, taking it in turns to play host.

Louise was next and she also did soup but her bread was posher than mine.

Janet coped with more adults and children and still delivered a great lunch.

And then we went to Mel's. And this was the step change that means Friday lunches will never be the same.

Firstly Mel laid the table with placemats. And then there was the food. We had a freshly prepared salad including avacodo (now that's posh). She'd made a quiche and cooked new potatoes served with butter and parsley garnish (I have never ever made a quiche). And to top it all we had cheesecake and cream (cream served in a jug no less).

This isn't just lunch.....this is lunch at Mel's.

It's official. Mel has upped the ante.