Tis the season to be sociable

I'm a big fan of socialising at home, somehow making just a little effort to entertain and bring friends together seems one of life's pleasures that keeps many of us from going mad.


Whether its a cheeky Wednesday, mid-week drink, a Saturday afternoon in front of the telly with latest DVD release or bringing friends together for a special occasion (Eurovision and Christmas seem to have equal footing in my life), what better way to show you care about your family and friends than to present them food that not only looks and tastes good, but that shows you have thought about them and says "I hope you have a great time".

This message needn't take very long and you can always build a little individual support over a number of days/evenings before, whilst cooking dinner.    For example, whilst re-heating that lasagna from the previous evening's dinner, why not put a tray of halved tomatoes below it, these, along with the olives you bought on the way home and a little crumbled feta makes a great filling for tortillas that, cut the diagonal will make great munch platter along with the regular accompaniments of nuts and crisps and dips.

If you have a little more time to put something together you could look no further than turkey papettes or tarragon parcels, the filling of latter can be prepared much earlier.

Simpler starters and snacks I've listed further below, but remember that the simple method of slow roasting tomatoes can be applied to so many other things that will later be added to any number of dishes.

Try slow roasting small baby onions with just a little olive oil and scattering them with fennel seeds, roasting for 30-35 minutes.   These are perfect tossed with blue cheese cubes and some roughly chopped parsley and added to pastries as an alternative to the chicken in the tarragon parcels.

Roasting your own peppers also brings more options to your table, rather than those bought in jars, you can add your own flavours (garlic, ginger or a little madras or tamarind spice) so that when they come out of the oven, they need no other dressing and can be chopped and added to wraps or used with pasta for a quick supper the following day.

Financiers - my Spanish take on a French classic
Simple asparagus rolls - a little fiddly, but so rewarding!
My three best (and most popular) dips - use them for fillings for pastries as well
A cheeky, spicy addition to pre-dinner drinks - baby chilli aubergines
Summer parties have never been so good - bloody mary tomatoes
Midweek cheeky one - a few ideas for quick tapas style snacks