Cannot. Type.

Am. Totally Stuffed.

Have eaten too much...

Just had MrB's family (parents, brother + family, aunt + family) for a very belated Christmas lunch. And because I'm the original control freak, I decided the lunch would be held here in beautiful Bulli. This was so I could control the food that was prepared, because as well as being a control freak, I'm a culinary snob. Unfortunately this was decided at the beginning of December, and since then stuff has happened and I have a lot of stuff on my mind and am not sleeping the best... But, y'know, the show must go on and all that, so I was up all night cooking.

And it was worth it - I'm in that blissful bubble of over-indulgence, and I love it! And I mean to continue to luxuriate right through 'So you think you can dance' (to which I am still addicted, thanks very much)

It was very Italian - not the menu so much, just the different courses that kinda melded into one long afternoon of grazing. With fits and spurts of activity as another dish made it's way to the table. We sat on the deck, looking out to the Escarpment, watching the kids play in the garden, the lorikeets do their mad kiss-chase game through the trees... MrB made the table - it seated all 16 of us quite comfortably, although we're trying to work out if we could rig up some sort of sushi-train mechanism to get the goodies around to everyone, without having to actually move...

And I'm so proud of myself because I made a pavlova from scratch for the first time (I'm oddly petrified of meringues...) and it was perfect! And to use up the 8 egg yolks I made creme brulee (also for the first time - MrB not a fan of custard-based desserts), and they also turned out perfect. So I'm a happy hostess - all the guests have gone home contented and a little overwhelmed that the typical family lunch turned out to be pretty darn special.

Sometimes putting in the effort isn't just about control - it's about making people feel loved and appreciated.