GORGE OF THE JUNGLE

I like to celebrate birthdays. I think they're a good excuse to be silly, and better still, to eat.

It's not my birthday. I wish it were, because I just feel like being silly. Having a kid does that to you, which is surprising, because I had assumed it would make me more responsible and ho-hum huff-huff. But it's done quite the opposite. I'm silly all day. I lie on the ground singing songs about poo and make up stories that centre around colourful animal toys, which I waggle. There's nothing huff-huff about it. So I'm feeling sillier than ever, and having strange fantasies about throwing annual themed dress-up parties. Taking silly into my own hands on a regular basis.

This birthday belongs to a couple of noteworthy lads, one of whom is the aforementioned classy and discerning Kris Kringle and is a gastronaut if ever I saw one.

The other, a couple of years ago, claimed to have never eaten a banana. He shared with me his secret recipe for the Best Pasta Bake in the World a little while back:



The Best Pasta Bake in the World

1 packet of pasta, cooked
1 bottle of tomato sauce
1 packet of grated cheese
bacon bits

Mix together. Bake in oven until hot.



Seeing as my Cooking Idol is his mother, I would have been very appreciative if someone had swapped us at birth. He would have loved Janice's fish fingers.

I love my friends (and hey, I love processed food as much as Pasta Bake Boy... mmm, cheese in a jar), and I love cooking for friends so I strongly felt The Magnificent Feast II was in order. The boys strongly felt it was too.

I started flipping through my old Good Taste magazines to get inspiration for the theme, thinking along the lines of class, refinement and sophistication... but everything I came across looked like I'd need to spend three days straight and five cooking classes just to make the entree (ok, having a baby running the show changes your perspective just a tad). I decided I needed to just scale back a little. Simplify. Downsize. Which may be viewed as a reflection of my dedication to the birthday boys, but is actually more indicative of my cooking nous (or lack thereof). So I sighed and picked up my bit on the side, Super Food Ideas.

And there it was. The perfect dinner party. It was everything I wanted and more. There were swamp jellies, monkey crackles, safari sausage rolls and to top it all off, a Lion Cake. It was...GORGE OF THE JUNGLE!

Did it really matter if it was, technically, a kid's party? Is it crossing the line of silliness? Could I get my husband to wear a loincloth to the party?...