A lazy afternoon - and the mother of all lunches!

So we finally got around to visiting SG's new place. The cozy apartment is on the 13th floor of one of the few high-rises in a locality dotted with bungalows and lots of trees, so SG and her husband N get an amazing bird's eye view for miles around. Plus lots of natural light and a scuttly breeze through the day - so much so, that we were comfortable without an AC even at high noon. Though the lovely refreshing peach iced tea that SG kept plying us with might have something to do with this!


N had betaken himself to a friend's for the day - can't say I blame him, the thought of facing a gaggle of gabbing girls can be daunting - so we had the place to ourselves. Which worked out just fine, as after lunch, we made quite a sight as we lolled about on the floor groaning about how we had eaten way too much. :)

And what a lunch it was! Methinks SG had gone out and ransacked all the stores in the neighbourhood the day before - there was such a bounty of food! And almost all of it was light and healthy, appropriate for the heat of the sweltering day. There was a GINORMOUS salad (overflowing with crisp lettuce, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, onion (white AND red) and boiled shredded chicken)




.........to be dressed with a dressing of your choice - choose from diet mayo, tartare sauce, mushroom-and-tomato herb sauce, teriyaki sauce (yum yum!), mustard - English and French, schezwan sauce, gourmet bottled Italian dressing and French dressing...



Chicken salad!
PLUS there were sandwich fixings - generous loaves of bread (white and whole wheat), to be piled on with butter or cheese (or both!) - need I mention that there was a choice of cheeses? - sliced veggies, chicken patties, eggs (to be made to order - scrambled/boiled/Frech-toasted...) and, for the sweet tooths, 2 kinds of jam...whew! (Never mind that we never got around to making or eating sandwiches)

PLUS there was a dish of mushrooms stir-fried with sundried tomatoes and garlic (delish!)


and my quick and easy pasta(my small contribution to the lunch fiesta)


The other attendees (SP and CG) contributed sweat equity and helped with all the chopping-cutting-dicing-slicing (especially SP, who withdrew to the drawing room with a mountain of veggies and a chopping board, away from the confusion in the kitchen)

Finally, after umpteen trips between the kitchen and the drawing room, to ferry across all the goodies - we were ready to eat!


There is something indescribably amazing about sitting cross legged on the floor, with the breeze ruffling your hair, having a gab session with your closest friends - and munching on some fabulous food, while at it. :)

Equally indescribable was the girls' reaction when they got their first taste of Nutella (incredibly, neither of them had tasted it before) - the second of my contributions to our lunch. (Things were getting almost too healthy - we needed SOME sin!)




The voluptuous chocolate-hazelnut spread has a way of taking you into the stratosphere of bliss. I will not go into the details (strict rotation of the jar, watchful glances of the others when one of us was serving herself (to ensure equal rationing!) - sufficient to say that more than half the jar had disapperead by the time lunch was over. By which time we were too full even for dessert, leave alone the planned-and-prepared for-sandwiches. Sigh.


My plate - before

My plate - after! :P

The wreckage
But an hour or so of lolling about on the comfy outsize cushions and pillows which adorn SG's drawing room, we felt curious about SG's afore-declared "you will all DIE over it, its so awesome!" dessert - individual fruit bowls. SG had painstakingly halved 2 melons, scooped out the flesh, and filled the halves with strawberry jelly mix. She then had stirred in cubes of fresh fruit into the jelly as it set - and served up the wondrous creation with scoops of vanilla ice cream. So what we got was a beautiful orange-pink-white dessert that was cool, light and delicious.





The day was too hot for a rich dessert like chocolate mousse ( though we all are chocaholics!), so this was the perfect end to a gorgeous meal.

Great ambience, awesome food and the best company ever- all boxes checked for a fantastic afternoon. :) Compliments to SG for truly being the hostess with the mostest!

P.S. : This is T&F's 50th post - golden jubilee! Many thanks to all readers - its knowing that there ARE people who like reading my ramblings that has kept me going and reach this milestone. Ahoy for the 100th now!