Emily's 'Home' Hen Do - Special Edition

Emily and Craig's wedding is approaching, in fact it's now less than 4 weeks! Maria and Craig's sister, Gillian, have been busy organising Hen Do (or Hen Party) - we have recently had 'Home' one at the house where she shares with Craig and their cat Bailey.

This is not my usual food blog, in case you are expecting to see any foods....

Emily has so many friends - friends whom she grew up with and went to school with, friends whom she met through Currys where she worked when she was a student, friends whom she studied together at University and friends whom she has been working with at her current work. She also has many relatives from her father's side and extended families, etc.

In the meantime, Craig was away to Berlin for his own stag do so Emily had the house all to herself, with 40 + ladies for her Hen Do at their house, wishing the forthcoming nuptials between Emily and Crag.

In the morning, my husband took Maria and myself to Costco to get party foods - selections of sandwiches, sushi platter, vegetable pakoras (by the way this was rather yummy), prawn cocktails, chicken drum sticks, bags of tortilla chips and big tubs of guacamole and salsa.  Maria was also ordering 6 large size pizzas, garlic breads, 6 portions of different kinds of pasta and bags of chips.  Hope these would feed everyone!!!

We then had to rush to Emily and Craig's as Emily arranged a make-up trial by a professional make-up artist at their house for mid day.  I had never had any make-up professionally done so I was quite looking forward to this.

I also tried fake eyelashes for the first time in my entire life that day. I always have tiny, short eyelashes. What made it worse was that when we went back to Japan for Christmas and New Year earlier, we were very busy, did so many things every day and not much of a relaxing holiday, so I don't know if it's to do with my age or what, jet lag and busy schedule during our visit took a toll on me, my eyelashes fell out after we came back to Scotland amongst others things that made me feel unwell.  Thankfully, they are starting to grow back on now but you can tell how excited I was to have fake eyelashes!

Alas, such excitement was short-lived. No long after the make-up artist left, one of my fake eyelashes started to come off and sort of half hanging. Fearing that my own tiny wispy lashes may go with fake eyelashes if I took it off, I left it, hoping that people would not notice. Well, people do actually notice unless they were drunk already, some even told me that my fake eyelashes were coming off!

Later on, pizza delivery came with lots of boxes of pizzas. For some very strange reason, none of them were sliced, so Craig's mum Christine and I were in the kitchen, slicing away pizzas but Emily's pizza cutters were rubbish, so we had to work really hard to slice them away, really and literally rigourously. Of course, this did not help my already half hanging fake lashes to stay where they were. Luckily they managed to hang onto my eye lids and fortunate for everyone, no one was served with pizzas with my fake lashes on them, phew....

Sorry, digressed. After we got ourselves made up by make-up artist, we were busy preparing for the Hen Do before people arrived - we had to decorate the living room, had to set up tables, prepared cocktails ....

Craig proposed Emily in New York!

Emily and Craig - not long after they started going out each other...
Look how short Emily hair was back then...

Sorry, I would have put more pictures of decorations however some were not quite PG .... I just leave the rest to your imagination - remember this is not my ordinary food blog but it's not a food porn neither. It's about Emily's Hen Do however it did not come with naked butlers in case you are wondering.  Let's just say that, as part of the prep, I was asked to stuff a piñata of certain shape of a man's part with lots of sweets and that was not a nice sight although it must have looked very comical to her. 

Sweets for everyone ???

Changing subject swiftly... here is the centrepiece of the dining table, The Cake for the Bride-to-Be!

There were also lots of drinks....

Making cocktails with rustic looking walls in the background -
actually some wiring work just been done in the kitchen....

Home made French Martini ... this came out of drink fountain ... I forgot to take photo of the fountain, sorry ....

And I think this is Woo Woo.... vodka, peach schnapps and cranberry juice, is it right, Maria?

Apparently this is a popular drink at hen parties ....

Gillian also made vodka jelly...

And the drink to 'her ladyship' Emily .... no idea what was in it ....

This was Emily welcoming guest for her Hen Do....

This was Emily enjoying her Hen Do later in the evening ..

I think everyone enjoyed her Hen Do and I think both Maria and Gillian did very well organising this, despite lots of stress and tears at times. 

Later in the evening, Emily and all young ones went to Glasgow for the Home Hen Do, part 2 of the evening. Meanwhile, Craig's mum  Christine and I stayed on and tidied up the house  - which we kinda enjoyed it, in fact it was rather therapeutic. By the time Emily and Maria came home they did not recognise that Hen Do was even held in the house earlier .. except some decorations on the wall which we did not touch and which unfortunately I can't show to you as it's definitely not PG. It was part of the Hen Do game .... I also leave that to your imagination. 

Next day, sitting in my own house, I enjoyed a slice of Emily's Hen cake with a cup of Nespresso. The cake was really delicious. It was just a simple sponge cake with white icing, cream and jam but it was really really yummy.

People signed the book at her Home Hen to leave message for Emily. There are lots of message.
Emily is surrounded by lovely friends whom she has been growing up with - they are literally 'friends forever' and she is lucky being surrounded by so many lovely people who loves her.



Maria and Gillian have also organised 'Away' Hen Do and both Christine and myself are privileged to have been invited to this weekend event with girls. Maria has warned me many times not to say anything (any more) about this event as I sometimes slipped information inadvertently so I won't say anything.

I want Emily's friends to remain being her friends forever so I will try to refrain myself from taking their food pictures and just take my own foods only at restaurants this weekend.  Maria recently said, 'Can't we just tuck into our food right away once when it is served.' Yes, I see her point....

Anyway, in less than a month, our Emily will be married to Craig, they are such a lovely couple and will surely live happily ever after.

Baby picture is actually Gillian's baby Sophia. 

That's all forks!

Chaophraya, Glasgow - Thai Restaurant

We are getting our kitchen done at the moment. This means that we can't cook and we can't store foods as the fridge/freezer is out of action. We have been eating out, relying on take-aways or microwave meals if not inviting ourselves at someone else's house for dinner!

Well, I have finally made it to Chaophraya Thai Restaurant (http://chaophraya.co.uk/venues/chaophraya-glasgow/) at The Townhouse, by Buchanan Street in Glasgow (see my earlier blog about Topolabamba).  According to their website, Glasgow restaurant was opened in 2012, set over four floors and is the largest Thai restaurant in Europe!  Wow! And, its name Chaophraya takes from the main waterway in Thailand.

It was Easter Sunday. We went there just after lunchtime. The reception are was rather clouded with people (tourists?) taking photographs, however we did not have any problems to get seated this time.

Reception area

We were taken to the upstairs restaurant. We thought that the restaurant is just on the first floor but we were wrong about that....

These chairs are really comfortable!

We were seated right next to the Champagne cabinet .... very tempting....

We decided to stick to sparking water instead ...

We also decided to try out their set lunch menu, £13.95 for a starter and main course each.
So, my husband ordered Tod Mun Khao Pode (Deep fried sweetcorn blended in red curry paste served with sweet chilli sauce) and I ordered Poh Piah Jae (Crispy golden spring rolls stuffed with white cabbage, mushrooms, carrots and vermicelli served with sweet chilli sauce).

While we were waiting for our starters to arrive, we looked around our surroundings.

Each table had a small but real cut flower, not plastic, that's a good sign....

With functional cutleries ...

When you look up, you see beautiful ceiling...

We turned around and looked up, we saw what they describe 'the romantic Buddha Balcony for two' behind the clock, which is located on level 2. Well, unfortunately the clock was behind but I guess they may be more for decor ...?

My husband also pointed out to the ornate plaster work with initials of GLC, which stands for Glasgow Liberal Club. The entire building was the Grade A listed former Liberal Club dating back to 1911, which is now a 4 story Thai restaurant!

And our starters have arrived. My husband's Tod Mun Khao Pode (Deep fried sweetcorn blended in red curry paste) are basically corn fritters with spicy chilli and peanut sauce, however with some curry flavour, combined with sweet chilli sauce with peanuts, it was quite tasty. 

Deep fried sweetcorn in Thai style ...

My Poh Piah Jae (spring rolls) were lovely too and were piping hot. What I liked about this was that vegetables inside were nice and crunchy, also they did not have that distinct Chinese spices. I prefer this spring rolls to Chinese ones.

We swapped one of ours each so that we could try each, poured over chill sauce. Lovely and yummy.
Chili sauce was rather addictively spicy but sweet.

 

We enjoyed our starters but I think my husband wants to try Pak Tod (deep fried mixed vegetables in a light batter served with sweet chili sauce) next time.

As we don't eat meat, starter selections are limited for us but if you like chicken or pork, you got other options too (http://chaophraya.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2-course-lunch-menu.pdf).

Then our main course - I had Choo Chee Pla Tod (deep fried sea bass fillet on a bed of vegetables topped with a creamy red curry sauce, served with jasmine rice) and my husband had Pad Udon Talay (stir fried udon noodles with mussels, calamari, prawn, garlic, chilli, fine beans, onions, sweet basil and green peppercorns).

My sea bass in red curry sauce was tasty, creamy and coconutty as well as spicy, quite flavoursome. I am not sure about half sliced cherry tomato on top of the jasmine rice, which reminded me of a Japanese flag.

I tried a little bit of my husband's seafood stir fried udon noodles which were really tasty.  There were also lots of seafood in it. He really enjoyed it.

By the end of two courses, we were really full and did not have any rooms for desserts nor any tea. We did however enjoyed our lunch very much and would definitely come back and try other dishes off a la carte menu.

While waiting for a bill to arrive, I went upstairs for a toilet check. Buddha are everywhere ....

Going upstairs to the level 2 ....

and being welcomed by sacred elephants ....

turning around the corner and voila, another lounge area with big comfy looking sofas outside of toilets! Actually, level 3 has some private function rooms so I can see these comfy chairs can be quite nice for a break-away area for dining guests ....

Inside is clean, nice and spacious, but I had expected something more Oriental to keep in with the rest of the restaurant's decor .... it has passed my toilet check though.

It is a beautiful restaurant, with extensive choices on a la carte menu. I have spotted that they have Jaew Horn Ta-Lay (Thai Fisherman's Soup Shabu Shabu), which is chef's signature dish.  Sounds yummy, I want to try that! Also for main course another chef's signature dish of Pla Song Pee Nong - Chaophraya duo fish of sea bass fillet deep fried and drizzled with tamarind sauce garnished with cashew nuts and a pan-fried cod fillet drizzled with a Panang sauce. Sounds yummy too.

We shall definitely go back to this restaurant.  Sawasdee.

That's all forks!

Topolabamba, a Mexican restaurant in Glasgow

Wedding shopping continues. Last weekend Emily, Maria and I went to Glasgow for wedding shoe shopping. Having gone through quite a many shops, Maria managed to find a lovely pair to go with her bridesmaid's dress. I am still searching for mine....

We did not get to have lunch till almost 3.30 in the afternoon. We thought restaurants would be still quieter as it was not evening yet but not at all - one Thai restaurant we tried did not have any tables until after 8. We decided to try Topolabamba (http://www.topolabamba.com) on St Vincent Street, a newish Mexican restaurant in Glasgow.

Luckily we got a table without any problem. In fact we came at the right timing as not long after that, people started to arriving and some had to wait.

First thing first, we got to order drinks!. Poor Emily had to drive so Maria and I decided to try cocktails.  Don't worry, Emily, you will have plenty of time for 'real' drink opps this weekend for your  hen-do!

Maria decided to have Frozen Strawberry Margaritas and I decided to have Fresh Watermelon Jose Cuervo House Margaritas. 

We were expecting that Margaritas would arrive in typical Margaria glasses but they didn't, unfortunately, however frozen strawberry was very nice and my watermelon was interesting but refreshing taste.

I must however say non-alcoholic drink of Jarritos that Emily had was very very nice.  It is 100% natural ...... SUGAR!!!  According to Wikipedia (what do we do with them!), Jarritos is a popular brand of soft drink in Mexico. It is made in fruit flavours. The word jarrito means 'little jug' in Spanish, referring to the Mexian tradition of drinking water and other drinks in clay pottery jugs. Ah, that's why picture of jugs on the label! I guess this is Mexican equivalent to our Irn Bru!

There are so many to choose from the menu despite dishes are all in one sheet - to be honest I almost lost my will to live, just looking at so many words to describe about each dish. I just wanted food already.  So I decided to focus on my Watermelon Margaritas and let girls to choose for everyone. 

So what they ordered?   From Classics menu, they chose Classic Queso Fundido (home made artisan style jack cheese fondue with garlicky roasted peppers & chorizo served with corn tortilla chips). Phew,  such a long description for just an one dish!

Also Jalapeño Poppers (Poblano peppers, Japanenos, Molito cheese and corn, breadcrumbed and served with roasted Brava sauce). Sounds yummy.

Then from Street Food menu, they ordered Shrimp, chunky avocado & salsa verde tostadas; actually this was my request. I somehow liked the sound of shrimp and avocado combination and 4 chilli marks next to it indicating this is really hot!  They also ordered crispy fried fish tacos.

What else did they order?  Guacamore with Tortilla chips, Quesadillas with char roasted vegetables filling and salt & chilli pepper fries.

There are more to choose (http://www.topolabamba.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Topolabamba-Glasgow-alacartemenu1.pdf) but we had to put a stop to this at this point.

Can't wait for the food to arrive .....

Services was very good. All waiting staff were really friendly, like really friendly and awfully cheerful like waiting staff in America.  And then our food started arriving....

First, Jalapeño Poppers. This was really really good but Brava sauce is addictively spicy and hot!

And then came Guacamore with Tortilla chips.  Real home-made like Tortilla chips, not like packet of Doritos. And Guacamore was really tasty. In fact, I could go for this right now.  We were at Costco the other day and a girl was giving away samples of tortilla chips and guacamole for promotion.  I wish we bought some that day..... however these are rather high in calories so just as well as I need to start seriously thinking about slimming down around my waist to squeeze my body in that mother of bride dress. Clearly I have not done any attempt whatsoever to do this....

And you know what, salt & chilli pepper fries were really really dyno! This is soooo bad but soooo good that we ordered another bowl later on!

More foods arrived!

Crisp fried fish tacos. Three little ones so one each. To be honest, I prefer fish tacos at Las Iguanas but it's good to try different things.

Also Queso Fundido or cheese fondue arrived. I am not sure about this but girls seem to like them.

Even more foods arrived...  Quesadillas with roasted vegetables. These were quite good.

Then Shrimp, avocado & salsa verde Tostadas!  By then we started getting full so could not enjoy this as much as we could have, such a pity!

Anyhoo, we were already too full but also still have no problem to create some space for desserts. So what we had? Churros (hot Mexian doughnuts), Mexican chocolate cup and chocolate chilli ice cream.

Well, well, well. Churros were really good. I have tried Churros at few different places in Glasgow but this was the best I have had so far.  (Mind you, I have never tried Churros in Mexico, never mind outside of Glasgow, so my knowledge of what Churros should taste and look like is obviously very limited...).

Just look at the chocolate sauce .... dipping into with hot and crunchy Churros....yum!

Mexican chocolate cup was good too; chocolate was not too sweet and really smooth and creamy. I can't remember why it is 'Mexican'; what is Mexican about it???
Maria has just told me that it had chilli in it. ... was it spicy, I can't remember though....

Then also had chocolate chilli ice cream with chopped chilli in it which sometimes stuck in the back of your throat as you try to swallow ice cream.  Interesting....

Can you see some bits of chilli?

Ah, also to mention that Maria and I went to ladies for toilet check.

The deco was a bit like rustic Mexican saloon bar or shabby chic but somehow confusing, however it was clean so it passed.

Anyway, overall we really enjoyed our foods and cocktails.  Despite the amount of food we ordered, it was not hugely expensive. Service was fairly quick too. We did come in at the right time indeed. The place was really busy by the time we left. Had we come later, we could have waited for while for our foods to arrive.

We would be happy to go back and try some more dishes, but before that, we need to go and try getting a table at that Thai restaurant we couldn't get into earlier.

That's all forks!