Hello, retro food lovers and welcome to 2004!  This month the random number generator chose Pink as the theme for our menu via the pages of Good Taste Magazine. Before we start though, maybe let’s throw around some phrases usually more prevalent in corporate speak than around here…

• Maybe we just need to redefine what success looks like
• It was a learning experience
• And fun.  Don’t forget how much fun it was.

All of this means if the success of this menu lies in its pinkness…this month was a disaster. 

If we redefine success to mean did it taste good?  We are not quite in the pink but certainly faring a bit better than colour alone.  

So back in January 2004, we were all shaking it like a polaroid picture to Ooutkast’s Hey Ya, some of you were still watching The Return of the King and people on mass were still reading the Da Vinci Code.  Surely by January 2004 we had reached peak Da Vinci? 

So, in a new year, where pop culture looks very much like the old year, let’s take a look at a pink-inspired menu.  

The Menu – January 2004

Pretty Pink Drink

Well, how can this go wrong?  There’s pink in the title and for people doing dry January (or Feb fast), it’s non-alcoholic too.  It’s lovely and refreshing.  In fact the only thing wrong with it is…

It’s not overly pink is it?  I mean on a scale of one to Barbie..I’d give it a 5 out of 10. The Pretty Pink drink looks like the liquid lovechild of the two candle holders behind it. It is a pretty colour though, if not as pink as I would have liked.  It was tasty although having to buy three drinks to make one seemed a little unnecessary.  

Pretty Pink Drink Recipe

Open Ham Sandwich

Is there a sufficient amount of actual pink in this?  Yes!  Is it weird to have an open sandwich as a starter?  Also yes. 

I thought this challenge would be an absolute lay down misère.  Apparently, I vastly underestimated the prevalence of pink foods! 

I was a bit worried about the combination of chutney and avocado in this sandwich but they worked well together.  This was a very nice sandwich. 

Open Ham Salmon Recipe

Salmon Ravioli With Fresh Tomato Sauce

I may have used the wrong sort of wonton wrapper for these because, not only was the “pasta” rather thick it was also not nearly as translucent as the one in the picture.  This was not only not overly pink but also a bit meh…the ravioli were hard to make and bland.  The sauce is pretty accurate though!  I also liked that they used the same colour plate as my bowl!

I am certainly alone in not liking this though, the comments on the recipe are all highly complimentary

Salmon Ravioli Recipe

Peach and Rosewater Sorbet with Peach Schnapps

Peach.  I mean, the clue is right there in the name.  And we’ll leave it to the picture to show exactly how well this met the brief of pink.

Having said that, the peach sorbet was delicious.  I almost wish I had made it back in 2004 so it could have been in my life for the last twenty years.  As a bonus though, last year my mum gave us a…what do you call a really tiny tree?  This was basically a knee-high-to-nothing stick in the dirt when we first got it.  This summer though, we had our first three peaches from it.  So I foresee many summers of peach sorbet in my future life.  And that can only be a good thing. 

It wasn’t anything like pink though!

Peach Sorbet Recipe

My Nigella Moment  – Gravlax Salsa

For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious.  In these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in because it is too good not to share.  

I almost had this as the starter but I felt it was a bit cheaty in a pink challenge to have a salmon starter and main.  This, and the sorbet are the things I will take away from this month to be the things I make again and again.  The recipe for the gravlax salsa came with some caraway wafters – I don’t like the taste of caraway so I made my wafers with everything bagel seasoning.  I won’t make them again.  They were ok but for the time and effort they took I would rather buy some.  I haven’t included the recipe for the wafers.   You also do not need the mustard dill sauce for the salsa.

Gravlax Salsa Recipe

So January 2004 was a total failure in terms of meeting the brief, but also gave me two amazing recipes!  And the drink wasn’t bad either.  Let’s see what February brings!

If you were making a pink menu, what would you include?