Thanks wuff. Will do!

Another great resource is Saveur.com

For everyday tips and deliciousness, we also love Chef Steps

Love these ideas. What do people think of a soup?

I just had a Christmas in July party and we made turkey-filled sausage rolls with homemade chutney – they were a hit! More here

mushroom tartlets.

I like the idea of a delicious winter soup. But the challenge will be transporting the soup and reheating and serving. If you have a nice big pot with a secure lid its a great idea. And you will need to bring a large soup tureen and small serving bowls too. Its delicious and wintery warming but make sure its not too filling as there will be more courses. Buy some assorted bread loaves with different colours and textures, baquettes, pasta dura, rye....

Parsnip and pear is a nice one I have had. A twist on the usual creamy and blended soup is to add grated veges into the stock rather than to puree it. A lovely flavourful herb and tomato soup could be nice. Pumpkin or other root vegies will bring that wintery feel especially if you use spices like nutmeg for seasoning. However, I think a more watery soup could work better as it won't fill everyone up, I will hazard a guess the main course will be roast with lots of root vegies on the side.

The trick to serving soup at a party is to top it with a beautiful garnish... for example chopped fresh herbs like parsley. A swirl of sour cream and a sprinkle of paprika, fried shavings of sweet potato look amazing piled onto a creamy soup as an alternative to croutons. You use a vegie peeler to make slivers of sweet potato and then fry them in oil till they curl and crisp.

Thanks flanou. Love the idea of parsnip and pear, but thinking the mushroom tartlets could be winners! Thanks

Mushroom starters are always a hit. Last Christmas in July, we had black truffle and wild mushroom arancini balls and I'll be scouring the web for the recipe this year!

Yeah... a bit easier to transport than soup. Soup would work if it was at your house.

Have a lovely party!