Prince Philip – Food, Fashion and Fitness

Happy New Year, everyone – I hope 2013 is treating you well so far! I posted a preview of my New Year costume for my parents’ murder mystery evening the other day – and here’s the full run down of my outfit and accessories.

First of all, I have to show off my new Miss L Fire shoes, which were a Christmas present from my husband – I love them! And, the Art Deco detailing was perfect for the party…

I love those details on the back… The shoes are also available in green or black at Miss L Fire’s shop.

I had a beautiful sequined dress, which consisted of black netting over the top of blue fabric, which created a really nice, two-toned effect. It showed up bright blue with a flash, but in natural light was much darker.

The dress is from Principles, but I got it on eBay – I’ve been stalking flapper style dresses for years so it was great to finally get one after all this time!

Both of my accessories in this photo were from Primark – I love picking up accessories from here, as they’re so cheap and usually great quality, all considering. Both of these items have served me well over the years! I also wore three strings of fake pearls I bought last year from Tesco… Dead upmarket, me!

For my hair, I used a brilliant tutorial from YouTube, which you can find here. I couldn’t get my hair to curl properly, but it turned out it didn’t really matter in the end as I was able to pin it up in curls even though it was fairly straight! It came out pretty well, I thought.

If you have long hair and you wanted a really easy and straight forward flapper hair style, check out this video about how to fake a bob. I tried it last year and it worked really well – everyone thought I had a hair cut!

We all had a brilliant time – everyone did really well with their costumes, and my nan even managed to guess the murderer was the maid! I definitely recommend murder mystery nights – they’re great fun, and really cheap, plus they give you a chance to dress up… Like I need one, right?

1920′s New Year. Get ya flapper out! (immymay.com)

Image via Wikipedia

When it comes to preparing your menu for your Kate and William wedding-watching party, I reckon there are a few themes you could employ to keep the nosh in the spirit of the day.

My personal choice is the English afternoon tea idea – you can’t get much more patriotic than cucumber sandwiches and scones. It’s also ideal for a buffet as it’s all finger food. Take inspiration from some of London’s great hotels which offer afternoon tea – you can read the Ritz’s menu here. I’m thinking smoked salmon sandwiches, fairy cakes (not cupcakes, fairy cakes are more English), and plenty of nice china. Oh, and doilies – I’ve already bought mine from eBay (to avoid the rush, dontchaknow).

A more alternative idea is to page homage to the location where the happy couple were engaged – Kenya! Unfortunately, it’s difficult to pin down Kenyan cuisine or get some of the staple ingredients, but a quick look online should help. You could try serving some exotic animals instead (there’s an online butcher here) – I’ve seen loads of episodes of Come Dine With Me recently where they’ve been chowing down on zebra, for some reason!

Perhaps you could try a menu composed of Will’s childhood favourites? Sadly, we have no idea what Kate Middleton enjoyed eating as a child (WHY NOT? Did no one THINK to ask her this vital question?) so this idea seems a little lopsided to me, but hey. I seriously doubt that cottage pie as most people know it will be gracing the banqueting tables (although I wouldn’t put it past a chef to try a ‘deconstructed’ version or some such nonsense), but it would make for a nice, easy hot buffet lunch. And pate and smoked salmon canapes – and champagne… I can do that!

You could always try to replicate some previous Royal weddings. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother) enjoyed a meal of Consommé à la Windsor, Suprèmes de Saumon Reine Mary, Côtelettes d’Agneau Prince Albert, Chapons à la Strathmore, and Fraises Duchesse Elizabeth in 1923. In 1947 for the marriage of Prince Philip and our present Queen, diners enjoyed “Filet de Sole Mountbatten; Perdreau en Casserole, Haricots Verts, Pommes Noisette and Salade Royale; Bombe Glacee Princesse Elizabeth; Friandises; Dessert”. However, I’m not sure harking back to Will’s parents’ wedding would be in the best of taste, so best to avoid the dishes that appeared at their wedding breakfast in 1981: brill in lobster sauce, chicken breasts garnished with lamb mousse and strawberries with Cornish cream. Mind you, that last dish sounds pretty good…

Considering it’s, y’know, just another wedding (in the grand scheme of things, anyway), you could just serve your idea of fantasy wedding fayre. If you’re already married, maybe serve a few of the dishes you enjoyed on your big day. If you’re not married, maybe come up with some things you’d love to have for your wedding. Or just go with your classic wedding breakfast menu, which seems to be pate, soup or melon for starters, overcooked chicken breast in a mushroom sauce for your main, and something gooey and chocolatey for pudding (this is based on my memories of weddings past and looking through FAR too many brochures for my own wedding!) And don’t forget that wedding cake…

Finally, you could serve something based on the couple’s actual meal. No information is available about this yet, but there’s loads of speculation online. This is a particularly good article (and here) that details previous wedding menus and discusses some British produce that could be served – nab some ideas!