That's so 70s dinner party!

I was born in the 80s, but I've always loved the idea of the 70s. The fashion, the music, the rise of feminism and of course the dubious décor! So when Whitby Seafoods asked if I would like to host my own 70s dinner party I was very excited.

With 70s fashion everywhere on the high street, our thirst for all things retro continues to the dining table with 44% of us eager to see the return of Scampi, Black Forest Gateau and Lemon Meringue Pie to our menus. Let's face it, dinner parties these days are sorely missing a Prawn Cocktail starter and After Eight Mints. I was eager to test out some 70s classics on my Besties.

So what was on the menu at our 70s do? Well we kicked off the evening with a classy 70s aperitif: Babycham. And the classic 70s canape: A cheese and pineapple hedgehog. The tones of 1970s Number Ones set the atmosphere. A disco ball hung from my ceiling. You couldn't get more 70s than that!

Our starters were Whitby Seafoods Scampi with a retro cocktail twist. I mixed 1 part ketchup with 1 part salad cream and added a splash of tabasco, a tablespoon of brandy and a twist of fresh lemon juice. I served the oven roasted scampi on a bed of shredded lettuce drenched in the sauce and some carrot sticks for dipping. For my veggie friend I substituted the scampi for avocado. On the side we had some homemade multiseed bread. It was my first go at baking bread so I was proper pleased it came out so well. It was all delicious!

For main I slow cooked a Coq au Vin for the meat eaters and pan fried Mushroom Stroganoff for the veggie. Both dishes contained brandy so I'm guessing everything in the 70s had brandy in! I served them with good old boiled potatoes, cooked just like my late Granny used to cook them; on a low heat for 4hrs without ever boiling. The plate looked rather brown/beige which matched the 70s table décor.

Dessert was a raspberry roulade with a meringue crust. The 70s loved a rolled sponge pudding, in fact I was after an Arctic Roll but Tesco haven't stepped that far back yet - I should have gone to Iceland! We moved on to Mateus rose over dessert, no 70s dinner table would be without a bottle, and enjoyed some 70s TV trivia. Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man and Dallas featured heavily. We were pretty useless being of the wrong generation, but we did enjoying laughing at the shocking spelling on the cards. As more wine was consumed the dodgy fake tashes came out! Apparently mine really suits me which is worrying! Thanks Whitby Seafoods for a fab, retro evening! #ThatsSo70s

You can celebrate the 70s with Whitby Seafoods party games and serving suggestions at www.whitby-seafoods.co.uk or join in the conversation on Twitter @WhitbySeafoods

Whitby Seafoods provided the food for our party but the fun and opinions in this feature is all our own. Survey stats courtesy of Whitby Seafoods.

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