Barry looked at the clock and knew he'd better get started on preparing the food. He headed downstairs into the kitchen, gathering his thoughts as he did so.
"Right." Barry said to himself, "I need to get the chicken on, the gammon steaks from the fridge and prepare the glaze, put the potatoes and vegetables on, make the sauce, heat some rolls, put the nibbles out..."
Barry set to it; he gathered up the different ingredients he'd need, and got out pans, bowls and utensils, turning on the oven as he made his way to the fridge. He was making gammon steaks with a maple and walnut glaze (or crust he thought to himself), laying the steaks in a roasting pan he liberally coated them with maple syrup and a little oil before sprinkling chopped walnuts on the top and finishing with a good grind of black pepper. He'd prepared the chicken yesterday, pancetta wrapped chicken stuffed with basil, sun-blushed tomatoes and pine nuts, it was wrapped in tin foil parcels in the fridge and needed to be cooked in the oven for 35-40 minutes, before the tin foil was removed and the pancetta allowed to crisp up for 15-20 minutes.
The oven bleeped to signal that it was up to temperature so he put the chicken in, then he filled the steamer pan with water and added some salt. He opened the bag of new potatoes, washed them and put them on the hob to boil. Taking a large head of broccoli, four good sized leeks and a bag of carrots he prepared the vegetables and spread them in the steamers different sections (carrots at the bottom, the others in the top (who likes soggy broccoli?)).
Looking at the time he saw it was just past quarter to, so he opened a bag of honey roasted peanuts and a family sized bag of crisps and poured them into serving dishes and took them through to the lounge, helping himself to a couple as he did so.
Back in the kitchen, Barry could see the steamer was now boiling, so he turned the heat down a little to let it simmer. He then put the gammon into the oven and went and got the bread rolls. He placed the eight bread rolls on a tray and placed it in the top oven to be gently warmed by the heat of the main oven.
Remembering that the table needed to be set, Barry went through to the dinning room and spread a table cloth and opening the sideboard laid place mats, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, side plates and napkins. He returned to the kitchen to get the butter and the other condiments before taking these to the dining table. Glancing at his wrist watch he saw he'd only about five minutes until his friends started to show up (if they weren't early). He just had time to start the vermouth sauce for the chicken, he finely chopped six shallots, which he put into a pan with some oil on a low heat to start to soften, he added some herbs to the pan.
Just then...
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