birthdays and bolognese

woke up feeling hungover after SUCH a long time.
stayed up with friends till 3am after SUCH a long time.
pulled off a non-stress, happy party after SUCH a long time.
cleaned the house and spruced it up to "entertaining" standards after... say it with me now... SUCH a long time.

And, i cooked. for more than two people. with no back up plan in case everything turned out wrong. actually, didn't even think about it that much. and so, it turned out just fine.

drum roll please:
creamy-cheesy corn to go with crackers.
farfalle pasta tossed in oregano and olive oil.
a bolognese sauce - the tomato and paprika blended with the garlic, not letting any one flavour dominate; and a rich texture that was still runny enough to coat the pasta and hold the meat to it.
a mixed veggie stew - mushroom, carrot, peas and potatoes in a white sauce made with vegetable stock and milk. for the stock, the veggies were cooked with onion and garlic chunks, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, vinegar and dry red chillies. which leaves the stew creamy and smooth, but with a zinging aftertaste.
and bread to go with the stew.

everyone, of course, mixed it all up - bread with the meat sauce, pasta with the stew/corn-cheese sauce. whatever. not much left over. so the cook smiles. while bouncing off the ceiling gleefully.

10 people: big, medium sized and little. and one young lad (ours) who automatically assumed he belonged with the medium sized 12 yr olds. and joined them at the dinner table, managing his pasta and cutlery as if he'd been doing it for years. not minutes.

point of the whole affair being the man's birthday.